Hi everyone,
I will be hiking across the “Parc National de la Gaspesie” by the end of July, with my mom, for a 9-day trip. My budget is minimal, so I had to to work with what I already had to lighten my load. Here is my gear list, excluding what I will be wearing, food, water, and fuel:
– Backpack: MEC Alpinelite 45, long (modified)
– Tent: Exped Venus II (modified)
– Sleeping bag: MEC Emperor Penguin Windstopper Overbag
– Sleeping pad: Zotefoams blue, long
– Stove: MSR WhisperLite Internationale
– Stove repair kit: MSR WhisperLite Expedition Service Kit
– Fuel bottle: MSR 33oz
– Batteries: 8 Energizer e2 lithium AA
– Map: (modified)
– Spoon: GSI Tekk
– Pencil
– Notebook
– Compass: Suunto M-3DL NH Leader Baseplate
– Tape: Duct tape
– Headlamp: Petzl Myo 3
– Cookset: Snow Peak Mini Solo
– Matches: 2 boxes of Coghlan's Wind and Waterproof
– Water bag: Playtapus 2L
– Bottle: plastic bottle
– Water purifier: Pristine (small 2 bottle system)
– Camera: Cannon
– Bug repellent: Muskol
– First-aid kit (3 large pads, 2 large gauzes, bandages, alcohol, etc.)
– Small camping knife (victorinox)
– Razor: (modified)
– Toothbrush: (modified)
– Rope: Mammouth 2mm (10m long)
– Extra clothing: 1 t-shirt, 1 pants, 1 underwear, 1 long sleeves, 1 pair of sox, 1 waterproof cap, 1 raincoat (modified)
*Total weight: 17 lbs.*
A few days ago, I started packing my stuff and was discourage how heavy my pack was: All my gears were over 26 pounds, and felt I made an effort. Since I recently had a back injury, I reconsidered everything and took out a pair of scissors. I started cutting the inside of my backpack, where two closed nylon section where present, but I honestly couldn't find any other use than putting walking sticks. After discarding this, I took out two large plastic side loops and the whole frame; I tried my sleeping pad instead, as a frame, and it is working like a charm. For every items, I did cut all obnoxious tags. I took out little ropes on zippers and the tent. I excluded a solid pastic box for my stove repair kit, and simply put it all in a ziplock. I changed the lockable lid for the fuel bottle for an old one, being lighter. The plastic bottle is a light juice bottle. I took out unuseful plastic pieces of my Cannon. I cut my toothbrush and razor to 1/3 of their initial size.
So far, that's the best I could do. I'm having difficulty lowering the weight at this point. Some possible (but dreadful) ideas I had:
– Exclude the toothbrush, razor, plastic bottle, headlamp (with 4 batteries), pencil and notebook, and the stove repair kit, including the compass, since the trail is well marked and I could use the sun.
– Instead of using an overbag, I thought of using a thin layer of polar, since I will already be in a tent, on a sleeping pad, during summer.
–
Maybe taking off half of the insect repellent.
– The tent is the most heavest item, close to 6 pounds. Unfortunately, my mom really wants to sleep in a tent, and I obviously respect that.
That's about it. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Thanks a lot!
