XUL – A new standard for Lightweight Backpacking?

[Unknown abc]

http://www.adventurealan.com/2-4_index.htm

I think that this guy is blurring the fine line between backpacking and wilderness survival.

What does everyone else think?

-Evan

[Huzefa @ Blue Bolt Gear]

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=13836

[te – wa]

been a while since i have seen that site, thanks for the reminder. i think anyone can do this, with temps above 50° it is completely realistic. He could have shaved off more weight without that heavy caldera cone. or, go cookless meals.
sleep in your clothes, dont get wet, and drink/eat. you really can do this. but, why? 5 lbs is not heavy!
id rather have a few creature comforts, in my experience 1lb of luxuries is worth it.

[Dale Wambaugh]

Alan writes: "Using the above criteria it was harder to get down to Sub-five-pound FSO-BW than I had anticipated. I quickly realized that my primary gear focus was on keeping warm and dry. To do that and stay under weight FSO-BW, I threw out many of the Ten "Essentials" and gear numerous people would consider essential. For instance: compass, knife, [sun hat, sunglasses, sunscreen]*, warm insulating jacket or vest, gloves, spare socks, long pants, TP, toothbrush/toothpaste, and no underwear. I even considered leaving my watch."

Doing an XUL overnighter isn't a big challenge, although my gear list would look quite a bit different than Alan's.

IMHO, when you start challenging systems of any kind, someone is going to get radical.

BUT, I can't see going without essentials like a compass and knife. The clothing selection is more to personal taste and metabolism — he does have rain gear and insulation. His kit would look odd coming down the trail, but that is just the sort of thing we need to get over for XUL travel.

There are so many things I would do differently– clothing selection, swap out a poncho/cape shelter, ditch the trekking poles and use a branch, go to cookless meals, etc.

Philosophically, I want to get out to enjoy my time and prefer to be more comfortable. His omission of a sleeping pad caught my attention as much as anything else. In a survival situation, you can insulate with leaves and evergreen boughs, but that runs against leave no trace for regular hiking. And I can't imagine enjoying trying to cover 75 miles in 3 days, where it becomes another sport altogether. Enough of the Rat Race– don't take it into the woods!

[John Whynot]

>>His omission of a sleeping pad caught my attention as much as anything else. In a survival situation, you can insulate with leaves and evergreen boughs, but that runs against leave no trace for regular hiking.

He had a sleeping pad — a Gossamer Gear Thinlight

[Dale Wambaugh]

Missed that one— he's not as tough as I thought :) Couldn't figure out how he was going to keep his quilt clean and dry.

I'll hold to my point that I want a little comfort and a bit of security— the ol' compass/map/knife/fire starter/signaling stuff. And I wouldn't go 75 miles in 3 days unless a tribe of undead meat-eating zombies were after me :)

[Unknown abc]

>"I think that this guy is blurring the fine line between backpacking and wilderness survival."

Let me rephrase that, I believe he is WALKING the fine line between backpacking and wilderness survival.

If he has so much skill to do XUL, Why not ditch all the gear and go as light as possible?

[Ali e]

Great point Evan. If I could only have one thing in the backcountry it would be my knife. Ali

[Unknown abc]

Sweet knife, Ali!

[Jay Wilkerson]

Ali- Why do you need that big of a knife to go backpacking?
Just wondering

[Ali e]

I dont, I carry it when I leave the backpack home. I usually carry a small neck knife like the dogfish when I backpack. I carry the big mother on survival trips but now that I just turned 40 I am getting pretty sick of being cold so my survival trips may be numbered. Still its a pretty amazing knife. Ali

[David Ure]

nm

[John S.]

Looks like a machete to me ; ).

[Jay Wilkerson]

"SurvivorMan" could build a house with that knife.

[W I S N E R !]

Nice looking knife. What is it?
I'm looking for a burly fixed blade for bushcraft.

[Ali e]

http://www.hedgehogleatherworks.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=16

It was dersigned by Tom Brown "trackerschool.com" comes in two sizes, I have the small but a third medium will be coming out in the next few months. It works great as an axe but has many more usable features. When I want to go super ultra light I walk out my door with nothing but a knife and a water bottle. It wears horizontal across the small of your back and can be completely consealed as not to freak people out. I've always wanted to the AT with nothing but a knife and a poncho. Once you learn to master fire the rest comes easy. Below is more info on uses for knife.Ali

http://trackertrail.com/trackerknife/TrackerKnifeManual.pdf

[Dave .]

I suggest this one:

http://charlesmayknives.blademakers.com/Knife_Info_Style_B.asp?Ref_Num=2267

Or this one:

http://www.skookumbushtool.com/

They're not light obviously, but they're both reasonably priced for top quality hand made bushcraft knives.

[Doug Johnson]

"I think that this guy is blurring the fine line between backpacking and wilderness survival."

HA! "This guy" is our very own Alan Dixon who co-founded BackpackingLight!

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/alan_dixon_bio.html

Sure, his level of SUL (XUL- his term) is a bit, uh, wackadoo. But it's not too far out of reality. You just have to have an extremely disciplined gear list, a very specific kit, and the ability to deal with some discomfort. But it's not too far outside of what's reasonable or safe. And I wouldn't call this wilderness survival- that is NOT Alan's strength. This is a backpacking kit.

Fun to think about!
Doug

[Unknown abc]

OOPS!
Sorry Alan!
I hope my backpacking permission isn't revoked! LOL!!! :)

[Chad Miller]

Just because the person in the OP's video is a founding member of this site doesn’t make him infallible or shield him from criticism.

I have received both incredibly insightful and horribly ignorant advice from staff members of this site. Just like with any online advice you need to view everything objectively and then make an informed decision.

[EndoftheTrail]

Wackadoo is right!

Yeah, it's a free country and each to his or her own and all. The purpose of cutting weight was to enable a more enjoyable hike. To me, once pack weight is down to around 15-20lbs — whatever that point is where a hiker can hike all day without being conscious of the weight — further cutting provides ever-diminishing physiological benefits.

Once into SUL and now XUL — the 'benefits' are no longer physiological at all — but purely psychic. But hey, if that tickles you, then go for it. Knock yourselves out.

[Sam Haraldson]

People like Alan Dixon and Bill Fornshell for instance push the limits of ultralight backpacking for it's purely theoretical value. The information learned, the insight gained, and the discussion which follows is useful to everyone else who's goal is to find a level of comfort and safety.

[John Whynot]

>>HA! "This guy" is our very own Alan Dixon who co-founded BackpackingLight!
I knew that, I figured everyone else did too…

Alan's trip was definitely not a survival trip, everything needed (food, shelter, and even a stove) was carried, nothing was improvised from his surroundings.

I enjoy reading articles like this — it challenges me and keeps my approach fresh. I've been browsing Alan's site since he started it.

[Chad Miller]

I have to disagree with you there Sam.

I personally feel that people who push ultra light principles like Dixon and Fornshell do provide some level of insight to other backcountry. However I think the vast majority of information learned by the SUL crowd is only useful for people who wish to go SUL. I think that the vast majority of lightweight backpacking and climbing principles have been obtained by people simply wishing to make a noticeable reduction in their pack weight, not by people who simply wish to go ultra light weight as a means to say that they have done it.

[John S.]

To keep things accurate, the term XUL was probably first used by Glen Van Peski and Mike Mauer back in abouts Spring 2005 to describe a base pack weight under 4 lbs. This was a couple of years after Ryan J. was writing about SUL trips (< 5 lbs base weight). In 2006, GVP had also done sub 3 base pack weight. In 2007, Alan was trip reporting with a different definition of XUL (< 4 lbs from-skin-out base weight) which is base pack weight plus worn/carried weight. Alan also had a few more criteria such as carrying a stove, weather into the 30's, and solid rain in his experimentation.

[Author]

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