Really pursuing simplicity

I have been trying to build my outdoors gear shelf with this in mind from day one.
Having always gone fairly light, the move to really pursue lightbackpacking was done along with a quest to minimise gear and the focus on it. There is minimal space in my little apartment and also little money as a full time (again) student.

My view embraces the theory of gear with a broad range of usage so flexibilty of use is one of the boxes I tick before a purchase or make a piece of gear.
Functional and light clothing doesn't have to look like a clown suit. So careful selection also allows hiking clothing to be worn to university and socially. (although what is it with pockets?.. really, one is usually more than enough).

Putting up with the occassional gear compromise and not chasing a certain magic number of pounds for the sake of it allows broad usage of gear, saving money, space and complication.
After a certain point a decent bowel movement in the morming will save more weight and put more spring in your step than buying another specialised nano-trinket.
This is not to put a slur on those whose formost concern is to push the boundaries with nano MYOG – as these people are leaders for light hikers.

I think minimal gear and KISS = a 'lightweight material footprint' which somehow also lightens the spirit too. A light spirit makes any journey more enjoyable.

There is a certain point where simplicity of life and lightbackpacking are connected as the same pursuit. Finding this point is just another part of the hikers journey.

"Travel light".

Edit for spellink/grammar

Andrew,
Well said.

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Actually we have two toasters sitting on our "SMALL" kitchen bench!! I hate my wife's (wedding present 10yrs ago) and she hates mine (junkshop 40yr old Sunbeam Toastamatic)

Does this mean I get to have two of everything on my gear shelf? That still means I have to get rid of about 60% of it (Not counting the SAR gear)

Still I agree that would dramatically shorten the packing process.

Rod

Certainly, you don't have to be into the latest UL gear to enjoy backpacking. The converse is also true. Between work and family, I get very little time to hike. In the meantime, man do I enjoy researching gear and trying to put together the perfect kit. By this I mean gear that scores high in the following categories: weight, volume, durability and simplicity. There is something to be said for all of these attributes. For example, I don't think any further reduction in the weight of my current kit will make much difference. For me, volume (bulk) is more of an enemy than weight. Durability is also key. A pack that weighs 7 oz, for me, is useless if it will tear easily scrambling under a branch. Simplicity is also important. Here, I place importance not so much on ease of use, but on less parts, less to go wrong and less reliance on batteries, gas, alcohol, etc. I will continue to investigate and purchase new gear; I love it. I think I would even continue to collect gear if I never made it out of the house. I like to look at it, organize it, weigh it, make lists out it. But if you’re just looking to simplify and buy less gear, what David said is true – all you really need is a good knife and skills.

Hey Joseph,

Yes… well I was inspired by a bushcraft course I just took. We learned how to make cordage from natural materials (which could really come in handy). How to make a debris shelter that will keep you warm and dry. How to make a bow drill and how to use it. How to trap. How to track. Etc. It was all pretty fascinating. Of course… that's apples and oranges since we're backpackers and "weekend warriors". We're not in survival mode when we're out there. But it was a good reminder of how important skills are and how heavily we depend on our high tech gear and the food and things we take with us.

And just one anecdote. The teacher told us about a First Nations fellow who would go into the woods in the Fall with nothing but a knife. Literally NOTHING. He'd walk into the woods completely naked with just a knife. He would come out in the spring having spent the entire winter fully clothed, warm, dry and well fed. Wow.

It's a good thread and brings out peoples priorities and different styles well. I like to hit the road with a thumb out so I don't have a pre-ordained plan or car I have to plan a return trip around while I worry about it being sat in a deserted spot for days. I used to carry too many paper maps because I never knew where I'd end up: heavy. Now I have an ipaq with a built in GPS picked up of ebay for $70 and all of the north of england and the Scottish highlands covered at 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 for the national parks on an sd memory card. It also carries music, an internet connection, books, a built in camera and an impromptu torch, all for 165 grams plus the 4oz solar panel I keep it charged with. I love technology.

My pack is an old TNF I picked up off ebay for $15
My tent is a secondhand ID silshelter bought off BPL for $40
My bag was a bargain down bag new off canadian ebay for $45 It has the same down fill and overall weight and is 4" longer than a $350 ME lightline.

I get more fun out of having a rig put together from cheap or secondhand but good gear. It stood the test of one owner, now it's mine for the next few years. :-)

I love woodfires too, and replaced my homemade 5oz gasifying woodstove with a 2oz grill made from Ti spokes and a couple of bits of 8mm tent pole after reading an article on BPL.

I only carry enough water for the next brew and dinner, plus a 2oz military premac filter and a spare plastic bag and bootlace to collect stream water in. Water is *HEAVY*.

I like to brew anywhere I feel thirsty and have invented a 2oz kettle which works in the wind and snow. It's the fun of the challenge and the fun of watching the faces of people on mountain summits when they pull out their heavy thermos flasks of lukewarm coffee as I boil up. :-)

One of my tentpoles is a 2'6" trigger rod. I carry a guitar string to make a snare with. On the rare occasion I catch a fish or a rabbit, less walking gets done and I feast.

Make some time in the day for pitching camp and exploring the locality, peak bagging isn't everything. You never know what hidden corner of tranquil beauty you'll stumble on or what bit off cast off stuff you'll find on the ground which may become part of your kit for the next while.

Joseph, I was thinking about what you said about how you enjoy trying to put together the perfect kit. I read about how if you imagine or think about a deceased person, the same areas in your brain light up as if you were actually interacting with the deceased. I was thinking that it could be the same for backpacking; thinking about your new tarp may actually light up the same parts of your brain than if you were actually in the wilderness setting up that tarp. Maybe that's why we all obsess over gear.

My biggest fear is that I will wake up one day and discover I actually hate backpacking and then I will have all this gear laying around my house that I won't throw away because I will be depressed that I never go backpacking anymore….

I'm going to have to add my thoughts as being with the concensus here, however, to me, that's what UL and SUL really is ….. a journey to simplicity.

How much easier it is to have a quilt to toss out and crawl under with my inflatable 3/4 pad.

Tyvek lasts a lot longer than Polycrow, even if it does cost me a couple of extra ounces.

I keep up with my poncho tarp. Period. It makes a great little shelter, rain gear, and with some noseeum netting and a tyvek footprint, makes a great little tent.

No extra poles, no extra anything. I can pitch it as an A frame, a trapazoidal tent like structure, or a lean to …. or just leave it in the outside pocket of my pack.

Water bottles are much simpler to keep up with than hydration systems and whatnot.

I have a Jetboil for when two of us are going out, but most times I use my whitebox stove and a Hiene can. Simple. If I tear up the can, or get it too sooty over a campfire, or whatever …. drink another Hiene. A cheap $1 acrylic sock hat makes the best food cozy for less than an ounce.

My clothing stuff sack is my pillow …. stick a water bottle in the middle and your spare clothes around it …. works great.

A golite ether windshirt with a hood … works great with an insulated vest and a long john shirt. Keep my gloves in the pocket. A simple warm balaclava hat works great under the windshirt for sleeping.

Tie loops of shock cord around the ends of your guylines …. no further adjustment needed. Just pull and set the stake, the shock cord will tension the tarp perfectly.

One clothing kit.
One tent/poncho set up.
One water purification method.
One ground sheet.
One stove.
One first aid set up.
One Sleeping pad.
Although I do have a cold weather quilt and a warm weather quilt, it's easy to make that decision. Is the nightime record low below 40? Take the warm quilt.

Zip offs make great rain pants … just take off the bottoms and wrap the groundcloth around you like a kilt.

A good, if small, knife is worth it's weight in gold when everything goes to crap.

Simple is better.

Mark, thanks a lot man! That was exactly the kind of contribution I was imagining when I started this thread!

I'm no Zen master but I have found my own little piece of enlightenment – the Equinox Lite Tripper. I take great pleasure in having virtually all small articles at hand, first time everytime. It's 1.5 oz of compartmentlized bliss.

Stop to cook? Put your back to a tree and pull out the Lite Tripper, unzip it and hang it from it's handy loop. Lighter, spoon, soap, tinder, spices are all right there. No getting up to get anything. Everyting goes immediately back into it's assigned pouch after use. Need something and there it is!

At bedtime it's hanging open next to me. If I need the Photon it's right there. Same with soap, toothbrush and meds in the morning. Zip it closed to break camp and all is secure. It easily holds all the following in five compartments:

Equinox Lite Tripper 1.5
lamp 0.5
Steripen 3.0
lighter 1.0
tinder tabs 0.5
spoon 0.5
spices 0.5
soap 1.0
TP 0.5
toothbrush 0.5
medicine container 0.5
prescriptions 0.5
aspirin / antihistamine 0.5
Micropur MP-1 tablets 0.5
spare compass 0.5
spare lamp 0.5
repair kit container 0.5
waterproof matches 0.5
spare tinder 0.5
needle / thread 0.0
duct tape 1.0
spare cord 1.0
licenses, cash, credit 1.0

Less searching, less movement, less up and down. I understand the gist of this thread is doing more with less but the Lite Tripper lets me do less with my more.

My Pleasure.

It's funny ….. but the journey I've taken with regard to Ultralight gear is similar to the attitude I've adopted concerning backpacking in general.

It's not about the destination, it's about the journey.

I've learned a lot about myself in the process … what's important, and what's chaff.

It's another reason why I like soloing sometimes …. it's about getting to know who you really are … and becoming who you really want to be.

So … focus on the Journey …. and learn what you can along the way, but smell the roses from time to time as you go.

Paul …. if it works for you ….. then it's simple enough.

When you get frustrated with the "fiddle factor" on anything, then you know that simplification is in order.

The Lite tripper sounds like a winner …. happy trails.