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One Luxury


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  • #1219202
    ian wright
    Member

    @ianwright

    Locale: Photo - Mt Everest - 1980

    If you were to pack one luxury or one ‘upgrade’ what would you consider ?

    I like the idea of a bigger/thicker sleeping pad, maybe a slightly bigger tent . . .

    And you . . .

    #1360506
    john Tier
    Spectator

    @peter_pan

    Locale: Co-Owner Jacks 'R' Better, LLC, VA

    A Hammock with quilts….ultimate camp lux…but I really consider it a base system…

    Pan

    #1360524
    Ken Helwig
    BPL Member

    @kennyhel77

    Locale: Scotts Valley CA via San Jose, CA

    a light but thick sleeping pad that would not take up too much space. If we are talking luxury, then single malt scotch!

    #1360567
    Eric Noble
    BPL Member

    @ericnoble

    Locale: Colorado Rockies

    3 footbag/juggling balls.

    #1360570
    Scott Ashdown
    Member

    @waterloggedwellies

    Locale: United Kingdom

    Hmmm, that would have to be a sleeping cot. I know LuxuryLite® make the ‘Low Rise Cot™’ That would be infinitely more comfortable than the BMW Torsolite pad I use now. (The BMW is comfy too, it just couldn’t compete with a cot for comfort – IMHO).

    However, can’t bring myself to pay the weight penalty, unless I could lose weight elsewhere in my kit to compensate).

    #1361443
    larry savage
    Spectator

    @pyeyo

    Locale: pacific northwest

    The challenge Eric would be to find the right balance of weight and shell fabric to work well for juggling, pertex with puffball filling? Granite gear is making a football cut stuff sack maybe they would like this challege…or you could carry three xs stuff sacks and fill them with camp fodder.
    I have no room to talk I still carry a bota bag with wine.

    #1361446
    Mike Storesund
    Member

    @mikes-1

    Ah yes… Single Malt Scotch. I DO like to snuggle up to an 18 year-old Macallan every now and again ;O)

    #1361504
    Eric Noble
    BPL Member

    @ericnoble

    Locale: Colorado Rockies

    Larry, I used to juggle with punctured tennis balls full of sand. My “professional” juggling balls are filled with bird seed. I thought of making some filled with dried food, that way they would be consumable weight and I could carry more. Carrying 7 balls would be ideal. By the end of the trip I would be reduced to contact juggling (one ball). If I could just figure out a way to make clubs out of trekking poles or pack stays, then I would be on to something. hmmm.

    #1361519
    larry savage
    Spectator

    @pyeyo

    Locale: pacific northwest

    I can see me climbing up some huge pass at the end of a long day to come upon you tossing one ball up and down, up and down, it would probably send me to the bottom of the pack where I hide the cat food and secret medication.

    #1369351
    Laurie Ann March
    Member

    @laurie_ann

    Locale: Ontario, Canada

    I know that this is an old thread but I thought everyone could use a good laugh – and you are sure to get one when you read what my luxury is…

    A small kite (one that doesn’t have the little sticks). It weighs almost nothing and if I am lucky enough to have a clear spot, big open hill or lakeside site (and the wind is cooperating) it can be a lot of fun.

    If I don’t take the kite I also have a collapsible nylon frisbee that only weighs about a gram and takes up less room than a deck of cards.

    I can just picture you all rolling your eyes now – lol

    #1369508
    ian wright
    Member

    @ianwright

    Locale: Photo - Mt Everest - 1980

    The kite sounds like a fun idea ! I’d need one with a big ‘HELP’ printed on it !

    #1369578
    Robert Humphreys
    Member

    @robhumphreys

    Locale: Oregon

    Some of you talk like taking a single Malt is a luxury. I guess I just assumed that was part of everyone’s base pack weight. If you count it as first aid gear it almost seems like a necessity – a pain killer, a disinfectant, joint lubrication, and mood enhancer. Talk about multi use gear…

    Rob

    #1369600
    Shawn Basil
    Member

    @bearpaw

    Locale: Southeast

    A good book that doesn’t weigh too much. Two summers ago, I had reduced my base weight to about 12 pounds, so I decided that I could justify bringing the new heavy hardcover Harry Potter. I finished it in four evenings and sent it out. It was AMAZING how much lighter my pack was.

    I would say that that was a one time extravagance except that the last Harry Potter novel is due out just a couple of days before I plan to start my Long Trail through-hike…….

    #1369635
    paul johnson
    Member

    @pj

    Locale: LazyBoy in my Den - miss the forest

    imagine, if you will, laying in a small bivy shelter (e.g. ID eVENT UniShelter) with no tarp overhead, and a violent T-storm rolls in. further imagine reading one of the Psalms describing the awesome power of God while this is occurring. humbling experience. puts many things in perspective – for me at least.

    so, my luxury item is a small tiny print Bible, or at least a New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs also included.

    dual use? well, at the risk of being called sacrilegious, and since i’m NOT a Bibliolator, in an emergency,…well…hmmm…i think that it’s better left unsaid so as NOT to offend someone else. [just note that generally, not all of the pages in a bound book are containing the text of that book, though i might, personally, NOT limit myself to such. i know, real UL philosophy would dictate that these pages and the cover are removed b/f the trek begins, or, only the pages one intends to read should be carefully excised from the book and carried on the trek.]

    #1369641
    ian wright
    Member

    @ianwright

    Locale: Photo - Mt Everest - 1980

    The first time I went to Greenland in 1993 I found a 1987 Newsweek or similar and read every word of it, even the boring bits. And one time I found myself reading a milk carton that had some english on it. That made me realise the importance of having something to read, especially after about 2 months in a region where your own language is not used much.
    Earlier in the trip I had a chance to read ‘Catcher in the Rye’ for the first time, what a book ! Only had 2 nights to read it in which was plenty of time though.

    #1369680
    Kevin Pietriyk
    Member

    @pietriyk

    Locale: Northeastern PA

    Mine would most often be my pocket microscope from Radio Shack. Only a couple ounces, especially if you use the AAA battery for some other use. I love to check out rocks, moss, strange bugs, etc. It adds a whole new world, especially if you have kids along.

    I always have my “Tiny Testament” Bible with me, also a couple scant ounces, and a carefully selected reading is welcome in camp even amongst my non-Christian friends.

    I have a friend who, on our non-UL trip to the Catskills carried a folding lawn chair, the canvas with tube frame kind, in its case, during the whole trip. And I thought my Thermarest chair was extravagant!

    One trip I brought vanilla vodka and sugar-free orange drink. Lightweight, and very, very popular!

    #1370195
    D G
    Spectator

    @dang

    Locale: Pacific Northwet

    A tiny snow peak double wall cup that holds about 4 oz. It's the one on the far right. It weighs 1.6 oz.

    Snow Peak double wall cup

    I usually plan to leave it behind but invariably I always throw it in the pack at the last moment.

    I usually take some kind of small radio also. That's one item that provides lots of entertainment in the evening.

    #1370510
    Lyndall McComb
    Member

    @lyndallmac

    Locale: Australia

    Thermarest pillow (with stuff sack attached) and inflatable cushion. Cushion is fairly small when deflated and saves my rear end from getting sore after having to sit on rocks or uneven ground. Also good to sit while playing poker with buddies after dark (oh yes another luxury – tiny poker set I have constructed with beads instead of chips and tiny playing cards…)

    #1370514
    Dondo .
    BPL Member

    @dondo

    Locale: Colorado Rockies

    Montbell inflatable pillow. 2.4 oz. of sheer decadence.

    #1370641
    Denis Hazlewood
    BPL Member

    @redleader

    Locale: Northern California

    The luxury I always regret leaving behind is my SlingLight Chair. I really don't know my pack base weight. My total pack weight, not including water, for 7 days, and carrying a Sierra Designs Bikelight tent, (No Evolution 2P yet) was 28+ pounds. That included the SlingLight. I've had it for 20 years and it's 11oz. of pure comfort. Wad up a jacket for a pillow. Slide down low, with legs stretched out. It's the most comfortable seat in the wilderness. One time, in January, I took it and a flask of good brandy into a hot spring in the Ventana Wilderness. That was pure hedonistic pleasure.

    #1370669
    Don Wilson
    BPL Member

    @don-1-2-2

    Locale: Koyukuk River, Alaska

    Back in the day, my hiking buddies and I had a tradition of bringing large fruit into the High Sierra. Like a watermelon. Or two. Or a couple of pineapples. It was always a fantastic treat. And it was always worth the price if we ran into other hikers on top of a high pass. We'd rest, then break out the watermelon and pass it around. It never failed to make us a bunch of new friends and some great conversation.

    Nowadays my luxury is a double pad – a Z-rest supplemented with a torsolite. Comfy.

    But a good book is right up there. Letters to a Young Poet, by Rilke has been one of my favorite trail reads.

    #1370671
    Brett .
    Member

    @brett1234

    Locale: CA

    Don, I also use the watermelon gambit with my hiking group. The newbies are amazed, and it leads to a discussion of light vs. heavy packing; ironically, going light allows me to easily carry a melon. (and the Japanese group members are shocked that I eat all the seeds) But, I like your idea of pineapples so I am going to try that next..
    Aside from the fruit-group; another luxury I carry is 135ml cans of Asahi beer for my companions.

    #1370729
    Roger Caffin
    BPL Member

    @rcaffin

    Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

    > Hmmm, that would have to be a sleeping cot. I know LuxuryLite® make the 'Low Rise Cot™'
    Ah Scott – my thoughts exactly.
    Your comment about the weight ditto.
    Sigh.

    #1370855
    Thom Kendall
    Member

    @kendalltf

    Locale: IL

    I have to go along with Don. One luxury item would be a large steak to cook over the open fire. Hmmmmm..mm!

    #1370868
    Andy Goodell
    Member

    @geekguyandy

    Locale: New York State

    I was on a two week trip in Mesa, Arizona, and one guy in the group brought 6 cans of Coke, but made sure to keep them hidden until the second to last day, when he took them out and drank every one. He had carried almost no gear in an external frame pack also. I guess he had to make room for the luxury item – it was mostly for shock value.

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