Gear advice.

I would recommend buying the best ultralight sleeping bag you can even if it's pricy. It will not only be light, it will be warm and it will pack small. It will make you happy for a long time. Until I had a decent sleeping bag, backpacking was a miserable experience. Buying the best sleeping bag I could was well worth the money. I can handle all the rest of my gear being relatively crappy but not my sleeping bag.

From one person trying to go light to another, I will give my advise based my experiences. IMO Backpacking light is about determining what you really need. I see both tents you posted are two person tents. Are you sharing that with another person or do you just want the extra space? If your tenting solo, do you need that extra space, because its costly. If you are tenting solo may I suggest a Eureka Spitfire 1p instead. Its half the weight of both of those, at the same or less price and has a proven track record. For the bag, do you need a bag with a 20 rating? That's probably like a 30 or 35 degree comfort rating. If your summer hiking in warm temperatures, your going to wind up sleeping on top of the bag the whole time. Maybe a lighter rated better made bag and some long johns would a more versatile option. Sleeping pads seem to be more of a personal choice. Inflatable vs closed cell, long vs short etc.

I was hoping to get a tent that I could use for both backpacking with the scouts and one that my wife and I could use too. I'd also like to start taking my oldest son out on trips every now and then.

I live in Utah and will be camping in the mountains. The hike we have planned next month will be at about 9,000 ft.

Well the Spitfire 2p is still over a pound lighter for the same price. Having used the 1p, I guess the 2p would be fine for you and your wife, but maybe close quarters for you and your son. In regards to the bag, at that price I don't see much in comparable weigh or temperature rating. The only thing that I find concerning about that bag is the lack of reviews I'm finding for it. When I'm picking gears I generally ask the advice of experts and then confirm it with online reviews.

You can get that Kelty bag on STP for $128 if you sign up for their coupons

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/kelty-20-f-ignite-sleeping-bag-600-fp-dridown~p~9440w/?filterString=s~sleeping-bag%2F&colorFamily=01

I've also been looking at the Lunar Duo Outfitter. Cost is $160 and it weighs 3.5 pounds…saving me about 2 pounds of weight.

Yeah!

Compare the number of stakes to your other choices. Uses your trekking poles too— one less thing to bother with.

That would be a much better choice.

To save more money, or get the lighter "Explorer" model w/in budget, put a want-to-buy, "WTB: Lunar Duo," on the Gear Swap forum and see if you get any bites.

If I were buying a shelter for scouts I'd look at the Oware mids. Light, versatile, inexpensive, well made. Cheers

Here's a link to one of the best articles on what gear scouts need.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/boy_scout_gear_list.html#.VaRwIIr3ZR4

If I understand your question correctly, you are asking about gear for yourself though :)

My recommendation is to get a 3 lb pack with a frame, cheap down sleeping bag (ie: one with 650 fill rather than 850 fill), a 2.5" inflatable pad, and a 4 lb 2 man tent with 2 doors.

The troop will undoubtedly have tents they'll issue to the scouts and you can use those too – but they are usually pretty heavy (ie: cheap and durable). Solo tents are nice too – but heavier than carrying 1/2 of a 2 man tent.

If you need a pack, ask the scout master. Most troops have several extra. My 1970's external frame pack weighs 3 lbs and carrys fine on trails.

The main things that makes backpacking different than camping are:
1: 1 pair of extra clothes total (in case it rained all day). Do NOT bring clothes to change into when you get dirty or stinky.
2: no gourmet cooking (add boiling water and stir instead)
3: no camp chair, lantern, and other niceties.
4: the need to purify water (chemicals are lightest. A sawyer squeeze filter nice too though)

Thank you for the advice! I just purchased a Kelty Ignite Dridown bag. I am definitely going to purchase the Lunar Duo Outfitter in the next few days. I am currently reading the Ultimate Hiker's Gear Guide and it is helping me to figure things out. Hopefully I can help teach these kids to enjoy the outdoors more and get off their phones.

I found a good deal on a therm-a-rest prolite pad for $75, but I am a little worried about it being only 1" thick. Any recommendations on a decent and economical pad that is 2.5"?

Klymit Static V $50 uninsulated, $70 insulated on Amazon.

fyi, the concepts in the Skurka book are great, but some of the specific picks are out of date now. If you want his most current suggestions check out his blog. As I recall, he had something recently on a cheap Big Agnes thick inflatable pad.

I have the outfitter version of the Lunar Duo. It takes a little practice to setup well but it is very spacious for a 2 person tent. Ive got about 15 nights in it (including a 10-day Philmont trek) and always shared with another adult. Never felt like we were cozier than non-spouse ought to be.

Alps Mountaineering makes some good quality gear and their Hiker Direct pricing is great, but none of it is light weight. Between our Troop gear and peoples individual gear Ive seen/used the Lynx 2, Taurus 2 and Taurus 4 Outfitter tents, one of their full size pads, a couple of packs and a couple of bags. The only problem with any of it was the Taurus 2 – it was purchased with fiberglass poles which broke during some strong winds at summer camp one year. We purchased an aluminum pole set from Alps for a fair price and never looked back.

In addition to Skurka's book, you might pick up Ultralight Backpackers Tips from Mike McClelland. A quick read and has some tidbits for someone new to backpacking and aware that lighter is better.

you got some good advice above. I'll add to the chorus, and suggest you look at two of my blog posts, one for adults buying gear, and one for parents buying gear for the scouts.

http://backpackingtechnology.com/scouts/gear-shopping-advice-for-folks-adults-new-to-backpacking/

http://backpackingtechnology.com/packs/scout-parents-guide-to-backpacking-gear/

I have been active with our scout troop through my son's scout years, and a few years beyond that. Backpacking with the scouts will provide you with some great father son experiences, and also allow you to meet some great adult leaders (or that was the case for me).

To the good advice above, I'd add the suggestion to look at the tents made by Tarptent, at tarptent.com. My Squall II is a two man tent that weighs less than 2 lb. Its roomy for me solo, and big enough for my claustrophobic wife.

For packs, a volume of 50-65 L is adequate if your sleeping bag is compact.

For stoves, I've loved the Caldera Cone ti tri (ti = titanium, tri = three fuel options) with a 900 ml ti pot. If your big three (tent, backpack, sleeping bag) are less than 3 pounds each, or preferably closer to 2 pounds each, you will reap the benefits.

My blog has some info on my pack finally getting down to 12 pounds. it took me 48 years to get there, but you can take the shortcut of not starting with heavy gear and working your way down.

http://backpackingtechnology.com/