My 15lb Gear List

[Roman Ryder]

My list is down to 8lbs now and is posted in the community gear lists.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/backpackinglight/forums/gear_lists/7920f9c1a74502d0247666405fe1a62e.pdf

[Jay Wilkerson]

You can shave 2oz off firts-aid kit-think simple wound care and meds only.
No water filters-use Aqua Mira and can save 8 oz. easily.

No towls- just use a bandana and save another 7oz

my 3 cents– goodluck

[Roman Ryder]

Yeah…I could definitely shed some weight on the first aid kit. I just took a small generic one and threw in some mole skin, benadryl, and cortizone. At the same time, I'm a certified first responder, so I should probably be carrying more stuff! lol

[CW]

I'm a WFR and carry a very minimal kit mostly just for blisters. With advanced first aid knowledge you can safely carry less since you should've been taught to improvise.

[Kathleen B]

Roman – I see you are carrying over 10 oz. in sacks, presumably for holding gear in your pack that already has a liner. Do you need them to be so heavy duty? If you just need something to keep them dry and sorted, there are lighter alternatives, even large ziplock bags.

[terry a thompson]

roman…looking at your list i don't see any clothing or socks. did you calculate it in?

terry

[Matt Lutz]

A few thoughts:

You can go to a 3/4 (57") Ridgerest and save yourself 7 oz. Use either the Bic or the Firesteel – they are redundant. What is the carabiner for? Bear bag? If so, you can find a lighter beaner. The headlamp and the Princeton Tec Blast are redundant – I recommend losing the Blast for hands-free light. Depending on your terrain, the trowel can also probably go. Finally, You're carrying nearly a pound of water bottles for 2 liters of water. There are lighter options, like a Platy bladder (use with or without hose) or two Gatorade Bottles. Either one will cut off ~12 oz off your load and maintain a 2L capacity.

Already commented on: Stuff sacks, FAK and drop the filter for Aqua Mira.

Otherwise, you're looking fine.

[A. B.]

You say you are planning on replacing your tent with another traditional tent. Have you considered a shelter that would use your hiking poles for structure?

[Roman Ryder]

Wow! Lots of good suggestions! I forgot to include a change of socks…I'll add those in. I'm not a big fan of bugs, so a tarp is out! lol

[Mary D]

Are you planning to hike nude? I didn't see any clothing other than a poncho listed in either your pack or "worn/carried." Aside from other issues, hiking nude leaves you quite vulnerable to sunburn and bugs! Most of us wear at least a shirt and shorts or pants, plus shoes and socks, and carry an insulating layer or two plus a spare pair of socks in our packs.

Consider a Tarptent–fully enclosed, bug-free single wall tent. They are on sale right now at http://www.tarptent.com. They are quite a bit lighter and roomier than the traditional tent you're considering.

[Roman Ryder]

Nah…I just didn't feel like weighing my clothes today. I'll do it when I make the pdf version. lol I'll definitely check out that Tarptent.

Here's the other clothing items I've been wearing in whatever combination is necessary for the weather.

SmartWool Beanie
SmartWool Adrenaline Hiking Socks
North Face Vaporwick Ruckus Tee
North Face Paramount Convertible Pants
Marmot Cauldron Vest
Patagonia Capilene 1 Base Layer

I'm going to pickup a Marmot Ion Windshirt too.

[Stuart Armstrong]

You could save 13.6 ounces by switching to 1L Platypus containers.

I would leave the trowel and use a stick.

How essential is the carabiner, worth 2 ounces?

[A. B.]

Roman, I'm with you on the bugs but you might look into some of the offerings by tarptent. These offer full protection and many models use trekking poles for support.

[Franco Darioli]

It's just amazing that when someone posts a list the Tarptent Mafia sprigs into action. There must be other shelters out there…
Mary appears overly concerned about covering Roman up. Not that I would know but he looks alright to me.

Anyway, Roman, given that you need sticks to walk (I only use them to keep bears at a distance, they have worked well so far for me) I would seriously consider the Tarptent Contrail. Hard to beat at the standard price but Henry is trying to kick start ( single handed) the US economy right now , so go for it !
Franco
The weight saving from the SL1 to the Contrail allows you for another (few) clean pair(s) of socks ( I like a clean pair on after my wash at the end of the walk)

[Paul Tree]

Try replacing some stuff sacks with a sock or cord that you already carry. One overnighter this summer I had zero, not for sleeping bag or anything. Now it's hard to take more than one.

Duct tape roll around the mini-bic is 2/3 of my first aid kit.
Enough to do an ankle+. Some ibuprofen, immodium. A bit of mole foam. I carry a few antihistamine for others.

On lighters, remove the child-proof strip over the spark wheel with pliers by prying up the fire hole tabs, then wiggle it out from behind the gas lever. Much easier with frozen fingers or gloves.

Sticking with the filter because of the expense of tablets.

[Michael Davis]

Roman,
Indeed Tarptents are shelters to consider, but you are in southern Louisiana. It gets about as humid and buggy as Florida where I am and I appreciate the Seedhouse concept of a full net tent. My wife and I share a Seedhouse SL3 using only the net tent with the fly "in ready" in case of rain. It's not the lighest tent, although it does weigh less than most all of it's competition. The Seedhouse design is simply hard to beat for our climate where mosquitoes just hang in the still, thick, humid air and wait for us to walk into them. Lazy bugs!!

[A. B.]

For the record I don't own and have never used a tarptent but it was the first thing that came to mind. They are also a pretty good value if they are still on sale. I don't use trekking poles so this isn't my area of expertise.

There is something to be said for a freestanding tent so I wouldn't second guess the Seedhouse tent at all.

[Mike Clelland]

Roman, Here's my insights…
======================

You should have a base weight UNDER 10 pounds. This is an easy target, but it takes some dedication. There is very little NEW that needs to be purchased, it's mostly just leaving ALL un-needed stuff behind.

1) You could ditch a bunch of the stuff sacks. I like using THREE for organizing cook kit, food and toiletries. And, the weights make it obvious that these are "traditional" nylon. THere are MUCH lighter alternatives. I'll add that I have done LONG trips (30 days) with ZERO stuff sacks, and it was fine. That said, I now use 3 as noted above, these are very light and total less than 1 oz..

2) The backpack itself (37 oz) is pretty big by lightweight standards. There are LOTS of high quality packs in the 16 oz range.

3) Where will you be camping? How cold will it be? You list a combo of a 66 oz tent AND a 39 oz sleeping bag. WOW – That's a LOT. If you have a tent, you should go with something MUCH lighter to sleep in. Wear all your clothes.

4) The MSR Titan pot weighs 4.8 oz? How big is it? Are you SOLO camping? If so, just take a mug.

5) Nix the LIGHT MY FIRE steel thingy, and just take a book of matches (the paper kind) as a redundancy to your mini-bic.

6) Why take a SPOT or a GPS? You could leave both of them saving 12 oz! You have a 1 oz compass, why take anything else? (Also – No map is listed in the gear weights)

7) Carabiner? For what? No need.

8) Two headlamps? Just take the E+Lite. I've used that same one on 3 week trips.

9) Nix the trowel. Use a stick.

10) Nix the towels, use a bandana. (I have a bandana cut in half, and I use that for 30 days at a time).

11) You have almost a full POUND slated for a camel-back?!?!? Nix that and take a 2-liter platypus, or a couple of soda bottles. Where are you going to hike? Is there a lot of available water?

12) Nix the water filter and take either chlorine drops, or iodine tabs. Repackage any drops in a smaller (BPL mini-dropper) bottle.

[Jeremy Greene]

I like the suggestion that you needn't buy much more.

You can save a surprising amount of weight by removing pockets, straps, etc. Does the terrain require your poles to have baskets?

I just saw a picture of your pack model. There is weight to be dropped there. The compression system is pretty hefty with its webbing and extra layers of fabric. Would some guy line work just as well? Do you need a framesheet or will your mat give enough structure? My 5.5# Lowe Alpine Contour 3 is now down to 3# and there is more I can remove.

[Mark Verber]

Seems like it would be pretty easy to drop at least 5lbs.

You can certainly drop more than 1lb if you go with a lighter backpack than the VT… though I can't really speak since I am still using my VT. You could save a bit of weight be doing a bit of surgery on the bag.

You can save 1/2 a pound going with just the pack liner and dropping the stuff sacks.

I would certainly look to save some weight on shelter. Since you see to use a poncho as rain gear, I would suggest using it as your shelter. If it's not big enough get a larger poncho. As for bugs, I would recommend the A16 bug bivy (6oz), or one of the bug shelters from sixmoondesigns or MLD which weight ~8oz. This would save you something like 3.5lbs.

Personally I like down quilts or bags which could save you 1lb … but I will guess you have explicitly selected a synthetic bag so we will leave that alone.

Switch from the camelbaks to playtus with tube (or reuse sport drink bottles) will save you more than 1/2 lb.

Switch from the hyperflow to chemicals or if you really want a filter do a gravity system which will be ~6oz.

What are you using the Carabiner for? Can you lose it? I would generally suggest taking just the e+lite or the blast or something lighter. If you really need a second light, drop a photon freedom in your pocket which weighs .2oz. Use a stick or a stake and leave the trowel behind.

Given the reliability issues with the spot, I would be inclined not to carry it until more sats go up. Do you find the GPS that useful -vs- a decent map and compass. btw: I didn't see a map on your list. Even if you have maps in the GPS you should have a physic map… I have repeatedly seen GPS fail in the field leaving people without maps.

You might want to consider switching to other poles and save 1/2 lb… the drop in swing weight makes a noticeable difference.

[Roger B]

Which pocket towel?
The weight of the Pocket Towel is 1.5 ozs, not 4.3 or did you include the carry case?

However, the Packtowl UltraLite™ from MSR is only 0.7 ozs according to their website (lost mine in a hotel but that is another story) I loved my Packtowl UltraLite™ and am stil trying to replace it.

[Roman Ryder]

I've decided to get the TarpTent Contrail. That should drop about 2.5lbs. I haven't ordered the Z-Lite pad yet, so I'll order the short one and put my pack under my feet. I'm going to put together a survival necklace to get a couple more items out of my pack too. After that, I'll go through all of the suggestions and see what else I can drop or replace.

Some of the high dollar items, such as my pack, sleeping bag, and trekking poles are brand new. I put 27 miles on them last weekend and was really happy with them. The SPOT is actually still in the box and more for my family than me. lol My goal was 15lbs, so I'm pretty happy right now. If I can get closer to 10lbs without sacrificing too much comfort or safety I'll give it a shot though.

[Dave T]

.

[Mike Clelland]

Question:

Where are you hiking? What's the weather like? How long are you going out for?

Also:
Be careful with the food weights. I've seen a lot of people carefully shave their base weight, and then add too much food. Don't go over 24 ounces of food per day.

good luck
M!

[Roman Ryder]

The only extra clothes I've been carrying is a change of socks. This list isn't for any specific locations. It's just my general gear for backpacking. The big trip for next year will probably be the first half of the JMT north to south. I'm sure I'll hit quite a few trips between now and then with similar lengths. The next one will probably be the Buffalo River Trail in Arkansas.

[Author]

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