Ultralight Cheap (ULC) Gear

Miguel, I'm your man.

Workin' on a list as we speak.

Let's see if anyone can beat mine when I finish it!

cheers

I'll offer up the first item. If your bones can handle it…. the good ol' blue foam pad is both lightest and cheapest pad around.

Crap!!! Excel crashed and my spreadsheet is GONE!!!!

Will have to get back with you tomorrow-I'm making an entire list in which I guarantee you will spend no more than $150!

Not sure about others' experiences, but I find going really light or really heavy to be somewhat economical. It's the in between stage that costs money. :)

That said, I guess a Heineken Can/Pot and Cat Stove will be used for the kitchen?

Check out Mark Henley's ultracheap list on GG's website:

http://www.gossamergear.com/cgi-bin/gossamergear/gearlists.html

Good thread, though.

Though not necessarily light or cheap, I remember an article based on the idea of outfitting yourself completely for a backpacking trip at a discount store (think WalMart).

It IS doable, but not particularly lightweight or even functionally satisfactory.

It IS doable, but not particularly lightweight or even functionally satisfactory

Well, that sounds like a challenge to me! :)

What type of weather are we looking at here? Temperature range? Maybe low of 32*F/0*C so we don't die if things go bad. ;) Ability to fend off rain, but nothing too serious?

I'd have to head over to the local walmart or canadian tire but I imagine you could use a big blue tarp for shelter, cheap bag, heiny pot, alcohol stove, blue CCF pad, coat hanger tent pegs, emergency poncho, etc…really not that much different then what I carry now…except my stuff is made from cuben fiber and titanium :)

Kitchen
Heineken/Fosters Pot with a heat tape wrap $3
Long handled hard plastic spork $.50
8oz container for alcohol $2
8oz alcohol $.50
Alcohol burning receptacle $.50
Wire mesh $1
Quart paint can for wood burning stove $1.50
1/3 Scrub pad $1
Lighter $1
Plastic 1L resealable container $1.50
1L soda bottles $Free

The major challenges for me are good production ultralight pack and sleeping bag. The rest I *have* done from thrift store finds. I've always thought that Walmart or discount stores like Ross or Marshalls had plenty of clothing in the running gear vein that would give good performance.

The real difference comes down to a few ounces and a small margin of performance. You can buy all kinds of inexpensive nylon windbreakers in the 7-9 ounce range vs. something like a UL windshirt in the 3-4 ounce range and $100 price tag.

If you can get a bargain on sil-nylon at Walmart, you’re in good shape.

A Sil-Nylon 5×9 tarp made from inxpensive sil-nylon and grip clips from Shelter-Systems weighs about 9 oz and costs around 15 dollars. Likewise, you can make a bivy out of DWR-treated nylon and polycro for the same price!! If you can’t get polycro, just use a plastic drop cloth or vinyl shower curtain…be creative and find something from the dollar store!!

I went this route for a trip to Point Reyes and it worked fine:

Had a few troubleshooting problems, and in the future I’ll just use my oware stuff….biut it can be done on a budget.

Take a look at this thread from a few years ago:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=2059

Alright guys, check out my profile page for it.

I met the goal of spending under 150$ for a summer weekend!!!

-Evan

Here's a link directly to it:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/backpackinglight/forums/gear_lists/acff64f6c2f62f3d829fc07b49a43e0d.pdf

I estimate that this setup would weigh less then 20lbs…

cheers

Hey, you gave me a mission looking at your list. I think I can get this even lighter and, probably cheaper as I have gotten tired of buying gear and have started making a lot of it. I will take a shot at your list and see where I can lighten it and get some of it cheaper. I like cheap. Off to work on it since I can't sleep.

Jason, I'm also trying to see where I can save even more green stuff. The 2 biggest items are the Golite Ion and Slumberjack bag.

cheers