Not nearly STUPID enough! Sub 1oz Pack?

[Tim Skidmore]

That's actually pretty cool, not my thing but still a very cool thing.

[Adam Kilpatrick]

Yeah I figured your gear would be down pretty small Aaron!

At 8L, I wonder if a lumbar/fanny bag would be better? It would probably weigh more, unless also built into the shirt.

I love this though, well done!

My first thought is, water, food and gear access during the day? Does that mean taking your shirt off?

Given that your gear load is so small, I wonder if a couple of cycling shirt style pockets would work. Rather than hanging the weight off say the sides of your pack, off your shirt, it just puts it straight off your shirt.

:-)

[Adam Kilpatrick]

Do you have details on your XUL Quilt somewhere Aaron?

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

I like the idea, then it dawned on me: why do you need a backpack? If you used a tee shirt that was one size too large and a good belt, you could stuff things between your body and the tee shirt. In fact, you could load items front and back to help balance the load. Even better, use a leotard and do away with the belt.

[Adam Kilpatrick]

I'd love to start seeing gear stuffed leotard pictures in the SUL forum here…

Another thought I just had was sweat management. Aaron hasn't listed all his gear, I'm guessing there's maybe a waterproof stuff sack in it somewhere. Otherwise, shirt its going to get pretty sweaty, and all the gear in it. Even a traditional backpack (ie not one with say a mesh panel to seperate the main pack body from your back) moves around a bit and allows some circulation to get in between the pack body and shirt.

Guess you could also wash all your gear after you get back, to remove the "funk".

[Jim Colten]

Rod Johnson, founder and still owner (45 years later) of Midwest Mountaineering, had a similar idea in 2009 … a Gear Vest I don’t know the weight but doubt it is as low as 0.65 ounce … all those pocket closures certainly add weight.

Knee problems drove him to abandon the PCT thru hike goal in favor of hiking about a dozen substantial sections covering the more scenic parts.

He abandoned the gear vest in favor of an extremely small light silnylon pack after deciding that an alcohol stove wasn’t working for the food he preferred for day after day 25 milers … couldn’t find space in the vest for a jetboil.

Still, I imagine the vest would work quite well for folks who get their gear volume that low.

[James Marco]

Well Done Aaron!

I used my old fishing vest as I fished along a couple creeks. This was an interesting concept but it was hotter than hell in summer, even wading through 60 degree water.

[Marko Botsaris]

"If you used a tee shirt that was one size too large and a good belt, you could stuff things between your body and the tee shirt. "

I do this a lot at the grocery store lately with a stretchy fleece vest – trying to avoid the bag charges here in CA. I call it "hamster style".

Very cool Aaron! Seems like you may be at the point where you could use the bivy AS the pack in some way. Also where Helium balloons could start to make a real difference in the carry weight. The era of negative weight SSSUL might be right around the corner. :-)

[Aaron Sorensen]

Sorry but I don't think you guys are considering that this gear still weights something more than what you can do as you are referring to.

Go ahead and try putting a gallon's worth of weight in a 2 gallon jug and "just" throw it in your pocket or roll it up into something that magically stays put.

I need it to be a pack.

As far as getting dirty/ sweaty, the padding in the back is over an inch think as my sit pad/ pillow is a piece of GG Nightlite foam so it is all good.

Plus, this works and it's actually pretty comfortable.
Enough so that I would actually use it for it's intended purpose.

[Marko Botsaris]

Yeah, seems like you are right. Almost anything you need to add to turn your bivy into a semi-comfortable pack would probably be heavier than the pack you are using now. When you get things whittled down that much there are not a lot of things you can actually forgo. Anyway, well done.

[Franco Darioli]

Obviously if it works for you it is mission accomplished.

However I can't see how it can unless one wants to make it work for the sake of saying it does.
To access anything from the pack looks to me that you need to take your T shirt off.
At camp you will have a wet T from sweat, I would assume it takes longer to dry having that extra fabric sewn in.
How is "1 gallon" worth of weight not going to cause you T to move up and down and or sideways with so little structure ?
How long will it take for your pot to rub a hole into that 0.67 Argon fabric ?
Are those straps good enough to hold a water bottle without wobbling at every step or do you take the t/pack off to access your water ?
I'm assuming that it does not rain there because I don't see any rain protection in your kit , but if it did ,would the jacket go over the pack ?

Those are just questions that come to mind, maybe not a single one is a valid point.

[Terran Terran]

Just a thought.

[Jeffs Eleven]

Interesting to see in real world use. At first I was like 'a tee shirt!?!?" but what else would it be?

I wonder if you attached your water or something to the front straps if it would help with support. aarnish

I think its cool that you are doing this… wtf man might as well horse around a bit, right!?! :)

Something may be learned, or at least you can be like, "remember that time…"

I Do have a quibble with the word "pad".

Your sleep system has a 20" x 40" Foam… not a 20 x 40 Pad. lol

[Aaron Sorensen]

Franco,

I consider anything non-UL is like, I can "literally" bring my kitchen sink and still be lighter than them.

UL- You can buy this crap at REI.

SUL- Easy, with lots of experience and a lot of homemade gear.

XUL- I can make this work with what I have but it becomes harder to move at a good pace with the limited gear choices you need to make to go this light.

STUPID Light- Uh yeah, ok…

[Anonymous]

Interesting concept and i like the out of the box thinking, though i do agree with some of the criticisms previously mentioned. I’m surprised you bring a cook kit. I’m not that concerned with weight anymore, but even i don’t bring a cook kit most of the time for short trips.

Btw, there is a 3 step program for this addiction. Borrowed and parred down from the more well known 12 step ones–that just had too many steps for the sub SUL’er’s.  Heck, 1/4th the steps, hell’s yeah!

; )

Hey Aaron,

Love the concept, just not sure I would like those wide webbing straps.

I am guessing you have, but have you checked out the latest thing that Matthew Kirk is playing around with, called the Sans Pack?

[Jerry Adams]

Yeah, very creative and out of box.

Is it comfortable enough on shoulders?  Seems like 7/8 inch grosgrain on shoulders could be uncomfortable, but if there’s not much weight maybe not a big deal.  Or is the wieght carried by the shirt material?

[Aaron Sorensen]

This can be comfortable but it’s way too finicky.  I’m more of a fan of plush shoulder straps if I’m going to have all the weight on my shoulders.  This was more of a “can it work” experiment.

[EJVC]

Isn’t that just a big pocket in a different colour than the shirt?

[brian H]

from this same vein…i once challenged myself to try sumthin SUL & outtathebox

i took a long blond hair frommy GF, verry carefully attached to my tippet, verry carefully tied on a very small dry fly…and hooked a very small trout! (true).

[Franco Darioli]

Maybe this thread proves that I don’t target anyone in particular with my “it’s not going to work ” kind of comments.
Many others have had those from me .
What a party pooper I am !!!
(mind you Aaron did start using the Stupid Light clause and we know that there is no such thing as a Sanity Clause)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZQROJsdYF0
Is Aaron still trying to post or is he still in exile ?

[Graham F]

Ah Groucho and Chico. Sorry, off topic, couldn’t help myself.

[Franco Darioli]

I am waiting from an update from Aaron.

I can’t have a go at him if he does not comment…

[David Thomas]

What if the foot of your sleeping bag / quilt had shoulder straps on it?  (i.e. it forms a pouch that you carry.)    Back in the 1970s, for Scouts who didn’t have a pack bag, we’d toss their stuff in their sleeping bag and use a diamond hitch or spider hitch to lash it all to a pack frame.

Structurally, I prefer using your tarp to sew straps onto, and then with some judicious origami folding, enclosing the rest of your gear in that tarp; but if you’re going so SUL, then your tarp is probably also your rainwear.

[Adam Kilpatrick]

I can’t remember what its called, but in Scouts once I learnt another method David, which was to use your groundsheet. Roll everything up in it, and then put an appropriate hitch on each end depending on the kind of sausage you came up with. Not the most comfortable thing in the world, but, a comfortable strap doesn’t weigh in that much…

Could be done more functional too. Eg, have a heavier duty section of a bivy bag for example that forms the outer of the pack.

 

[Author]

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