First (U)L Trip

[Christopher Williams]

Getting ready to depart on my first trip with my (U)L gear and new way of hiking. I won't post the list (I'm tired of looking at the spreadsheet), but I will say that I am in at 13.8 lbs base (down from ~30 before I saw the light), and still have a few improvements to go.

Here's the lowdown:

Core – 138.6oz (Hammock, tarp, quilt, etc)
Kitchen – 25.97oz (includes water bottles, and MSR water filter)
Bathroom – 4.9oz
Packed Clothes – 23.65oz (includes 12oz camp/river shoes)
Survival – 10.2oz
Misc – 17.55oz (includes really heavy GPS, headlamp, spare batteries, etc)

Clothing worn – 63.55oz

There are a few items that I am looking to replace, but the $:weight savings ratio is bad at this time (I.e., new stakes which comes out to about $15 per ounce), and I've bought a lot of new gear in the last month or so.

I'm waiting for a lighter knife (.6 v 2.8), some light weight pill boxes to replace the heavy pill bottle I use, as well as something in which to put creams so that I don't have to carry an entire tube for a couple of days. The warmth:weight ratio for my quilt is also really bad, but my lighter quilt is far too hot for these steamy SE nights, but nothing at all won't work either.

I feel like I can get under 12.5 simply by replacing some of my heavy existing gear with lighter weight alternatives.

Either way, I'll be rocking about 26.4 lbs FSO at my heaviest (includes a day's worth of food and up to 3 liters of water). That's a vast improvement considering my base weight prior to my (U)L conversion was heavier than my total weight now.

When my eyes aren't so heavy, I'll post the entire list. I want to thank all those who have helped me out these last few weeks. I could not have done it without the great help of this community.

[Roger Caffin]

But the $:fun ratio is usually much better!
Enjoy.

[Christopher Holden]

Your FSO is less than your base was before. Don't worry about hitting some arbitrary number on the scale. Keep it safe and comfortable. If you enjoyed it before, you're carrying even less now. Your back, knees and feet will thank you. Best of luck with your next trip.
Chris

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