New to UL. Please critique my Gear List

[Jared Blank]

I am more or less new to the UL thing. I think its pretty awesome. It makes perfect since. Light and Happy. I have actually been reading these forums for months, gaining info and knowledge. I apperciate the vast knowledge all of you have to offer. I done my research and spent alittle money that I should have saved. I have made some of my own gear, but i think I got my gear list down to what I need. Please critique if willing. I can take it. This is my May to Sept Colorado gear list. Ive had some cold nights with this gear list.

Packing/Shelter/Sleeping
GG Vapor Trail 32oz.
MSR Bivy 9 oz.
MSR Tarp w/ cord 10 oz.
GoLite Ultra 20 19oz
Ground sheet w/stakes and
stuff sack 10 oz.
1 stuff sack for bag 2 oz.
Thermarest Z rest (cut) 8 oz.
Pack Liner (garbage bag) 1 oz.
Platyous 1 liter bag w/
sawyer inline filter 5 oz
1L platypus bag 2 oz
Total 98 oz

Cooking
Pocket Rocket 3 oz
Snow Peak pot, spork, and
lid 6 oz
Total 9 oz

Clothing
GoLite Phantasm jacket 9 oz
Sierra designs Rain Pants 3.5 oz
Montbell UL Down Jacket 6 oz
REI mid wieght pants 5 oz.
Smartwool Light socks 1pr 1 oz.
Stocking Cap and gloves 3 oz
Total 27.4 oz
WORN
REI Base long sleeve
wicking material 2 oz
Prana Mojo Shorts 2 oz
Smartwool Socks 1 oz
Merrel Radius Shoes 17 oz.
BD trekking poles 17 oz
Total 39 oz

Surival/Misc.
First aid kit includes teepee, water tablets 13 oz
Lighter 2 oz
Gerber 3 inch knife 2.7 oz
Compass and map 4 oz
Petzl Tikka Head Lamp 3 oz

Total excluding fuel, water, and food

[Jared Blank]

Opps. Wrong button

Total excluding water fuel and food

159 oz just under 10 lbs.

Please tell me what you think.

Thanks for your help.

[Tad Englund]

Jared, for your first shot this list is really good, here are my comments:

Packing/Shelter/Sleeping
MSR Bivy 9 oz. =you could cut a few oz's here but good for now

Ground sheet w/stakes and
stuff sack 10 oz. =this seems heavy, you don't need a ground cloth when using a bivy and it probably takes up half of this weight, also loose the stuff sack, use a rubber band or your stocking cap to keep them together

1 stuff sack for bag 2 oz. =stuff the bag into the pack liner without the stuff sack, this is great in the bottom of the pack.

Platyous 1 liter bag w/
sawyer inline filter 5 oz =you are carrying tablets so you could loose 5 oz's here

Thermarest Z rest (cut) 8 oz. =hope you are comfortable with this

Cooking
Pocket Rocket 3 oz =for short trips you could use a pop can stove

Snow Peak pot, spork, and
lid 6 oz =maybe loose the lid and use foil
Total 9 oz

Clothing
GoLite Phantasm jacket 9 oz =you could go with a poncho tarp and loose the jacket completely

BD trekking poles 17 oz =a little on the heavy side

Surival/Misc.
First aid kit includes teepee, water tablets 13 oz =this is where you can save a lot of weight. first aid could be 2.5 oz, loose the teepee or just take only what is needed. What else are you trying to survive? Maybe add some fire starter (tinder) and sunscreen (repackaged).

Lighter 2 oz =is this a zippo? mini bic is 0.4oz

Gerber 3 inch knife 2.7 oz =Swiss army classic is 0.7 oz or a safety razor blade is close to 0.1 oz

Compass and map 4 oz =1 oz compass, 3 oz map- a green trails map laminated is only 0.9 oz, one or the other is way to heavy

Hope this helps, I had to do this quickly, wish I could have spent more time.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Tell me more about your rain pants. What is the name of them? 3.5oz is awesome. My Sierra Designs rain pants weigh 7.5oz.

A few gearlist thoughts:

1) The 1L Platybag and inline filter seems heavy at 5oz. How about using a 0.9oz PlatyBottle (not the PlatyPlus Bottle) and then some Aquatabs to treat the water (0.1oz)?

2) Probably the biggest potential area to save weight is with your 32oz pack. Did you trim it to 32oz? Or is it an older version? Granite Gear specs it at 37oz on their site. Regardless, you could shave off at least 10oz with a lighter pack. My 2009 Jam weighs 23oz with a few minor mods (no hydration bladder, trimmed straps) and other packs are lighter still like the ULA Conduit at 17oz. A Conduit would save you 15oz…or nearly a pound.

3) Regarding shelter….you've got a 9oz bivy, 10oz tarp and 10oz ground sheet….that's 29oz which is solidly in one person tent territory. Tarptent has several options that weigh 29oz or less (ie. the Sublite is only 18.5oz) and you'd have the advantages of a tent (ie. room). Just something to consider….

4) 2oz for your Ultra 20 stuff sack is heavy. I'm currently using a dry sack for mine and that only weighs 1.4oz.

5) If you want to spend money, the Marmot Mica jacket is only about 7oz….or 2 oz lighter than your Phantasm. This is an expensive switch though…..sell me the Phantasm for cheap (I'm using an 11oz NF Venture Jkt) and then buy the Mica.

6) No mug? Soap? Toothbrush? Camera?

[Troy Ammons]

I am no SUL expert, but it looks good to go to me.
You could do below any time.

>Ground sheet w/stakes and
stuff sack 10 oz.

You could go polycro here and save.

>1 stuff sack for bag 2 oz.

Cuben – 1oz

>Cooking
Pocket Rocket 3 oz
Snow Peak pot, spork, and
lid 6 oz
Total 9 oz

If you bag cook….

You can do a micro 8oz alum can cup/alcohol stove setup with windscreen/stand, spork, microfiber cloth, alc measure cup, intant oatmeal cup – 2oz, it does not nest, no can protection so it could get crushed in you pack.
Just the right size for 1 – 1.25 cups of dried tortellini.

Same as above only ditch the oatmael cup and the entire rig will nest inside a hard plastic crushproof tang container – 3.2 oz. You can drink coffe from the tang container. Very small tough and bullet proof. This is the one I like.

24 oz fosters can cook pot, alcohol stove setup with windscreen/stand, spork, microfiber cloth, alc measure cup in a hard plastic crushproof countrytime lemonade container- 4.6 oz. Good for more people or if you want to boil 3 cups at a time.

>Surival/Misc.
First aid kit includes teepee, water tablets 13 oz

Sounds heavy. Mine is 4 oz.
What sort of teepee ??
Maybe replace with a large emer blanket for two or a few yards of cuben.

>Lighter 2 oz

In pocket but a bic mini is .5 oz

>Gerber 3 inch knife 2.7 oz

In pocket

[Jared Blank]

WOW.
Thanks for the input.

For the kitchen, I plan on, actually tonight, to make my first pop can stove and pot. I know this will dramitically reduce some weight.

The reason I got the stakes and groundcloth in a stuff sack is becuase it is used as my rock bag for hanging my food. The stuff sack for my bag, is for the food.

The idea with 2 platypus containers is drink one, while the other is being purified with tablets. I have never been a problem where the is not a source of water, therefore I can get away with this.

First aid kit. It is a standard one I bout at REI, though in a new lightweight bag. Honestly I feel that I don't want to cut anything down on the first aid kit. I know it has (3) 2×4 inch gauze pads and so on. I have never had to open my first aid kit in the 3 years of backpacking. But one day I will need to use all 3 of those gauze pads.
Honeslty the map, lighter, and compass where all a estimation on weight.

I know i need to cut down weight in my shelter system. Im not sure yet.

I don't carry a toothbrush if its under 3 days. Some people might thinks thats gross, like my girlfriend, but I don't. No suncreen, I where a long-sleeve UV protection shirt. No camera. Images last a lifetime in memory.

I appreciate all of the input. Thanks so much.

PS. Hiking a couple segments of the CT next week. Maybe from kenosha pass to copper mt. If anybody is interested let me know.

[Troy Ammons]

About the easiest pop stove to make is just a cup. You can put some FG insul in it if you want. A SUL pot stand made out of a heineken can top works well. IT will support a regular coke can, 12oz or 24oz heineken or 24 oz fosters can or any sort of small pot. If the can drops down a lot like a fosters can you might want to drop the top holes down a bit.

A bottle cap or a Red bull can bottom fit fit under it to use as a stove.

Only down side is a flaming spill, so you have to be careful. I am going to work on another one peice stove soon that will help with the spilling. Here is a pic of the pot support. Drink a beer.

You could also make one of these out of a large heineken can and use a 12 oz heineken can stove inside for a bigger pot.

I made about 30-40 pressurized stoves of different varieties. The most efficient of the bunch were 12oz Heineken can bottom, coke can top/burner epoxied together with some space between, IE domes not touching. 2 holes in the center and about 6 on the rim. #40 pin drill or a push pin is close in size. Will rolling boil 1 cup of 70dF h20 on 7.5 ml of alcohol.

[Jared Blank]

Thanks Troy!
I think I am going to jump on that tonight. Ill let you know how it works out.

[Misfit Mystic]

Hi Jared, not sure the areas you typically hike in, but using your sleeping bag stuffsack to hang food isn't a great idea. If the food leaves odors in your stuffsack, these will be transferred to your bag. Definitely something to think about in bear country; you don't want your sleeping bag smelling like dinner, especially with you in it!

[Jared Blank]

Point well taken Scott. I roam the Colorado Rockies. Maybe not "bear country" But yes there are bears. Its the Rockies. Either way, I did not really think about that. I due turn the bag inside out, and package up all my food in the a small plastic grocery bag so hopefully no odor is directly on the bag. But due to what you just said, I no longer using my stuffsack for my food bag.

Side note. I lived in the CO Rockies for 2 years. Every part of the Rockies, from Durango to Estes. I spend alot of time in the wilderness, ie hiking, climbing, paddling. I have not seen one bear yet. I wanna see a bear, or do I?

I apperciate your input. Best of journeys!!

[Troy Ammons]

You never can tell and not just bears depending on where you are.
Cougar, Badger, Wolverine, even worse might be a skunk.

I was in Estes park years ago, and a black bear had harrassed 2 hikers 3 days before we got there for no apparent reason.

I was also working in eagles nest new mexico in june years ago. Thats not to far from Taos. It snowed one day and somebody said look at that. It was a cougar trapsing along up on a mountainside.

Dont know which would be worse, a mountain lion slicing and dicing or dealing with a bear. Either would be hair raising.

I ran into a panther in a swamp hunting hogs last year in Georgia and let me tell you. Scary. Close quarters, in a swamp with 15 foot visability. A week later I bought a bigger pistol, not that I would ever shoot one unless it was a serious threat.

I definately would not want one of those things trying to get into my tent.

[Mike M]

first off the list looks pretty darn good :)

these are probably most repeats, but here goes :)

filter AND tabs- you can go w/ just tabs shave a quick 5 ozs

if you have a pack liner- really don't need a stuff sack for the bag, if your hiking in bear country you DO want a bear hanging kit- you can build (or buy) one in the 3-4 oz range for everything- the line can double as emergency cord

not wanting to add weight to your list, but the small fuel canisters weigh ~ 7 oz- only of which 3.8 oz is fuel- probably need to add 3.2 oz for the weight of the canister into your total weight

TP for three days should be in the sub oz range, tabs for three days are under an oz as well- this leaves the first aid kit near the 10-11 oz range- you can put together a very well stocked 1st aid kit for under 3 oz- there are several good first aid threads floating around to give you some ideas- I'm getting mine trimmed down to just over 2 oz and I feel very well prepared w/ it

again not wanting to add weight, but an additional fire starter isn't a bad idea (you could still be under the 2 oz you have posted w/ a mini-bic & a sparklite)

after years of carrying all kinds of knives and tools- I finally went w/ a Swiss Army classic- 0.7 oz- the little blade is all I need and I use the scissors a lot during the day (mostly cutting foil for the water tabs)

the petzel e-lite is a nice little headlamp only weighs 0.9 oz w/ batteries- I wouldn't want it for spelunking :), for backpacking it's great-could shave a few oz there

[Jack G]

I use four (sometimes two) sections of z lite as support for my frameless pack and then under my legs and feet at night. I combine that with a short neoair. That combination is either 10.5 or 12 oz. depending on the two or four sections. If I were you I would get a frameless pack and a Neoair. The couple of ounces you would add with the neoair/z lite combination would be more than made up for with the pound or so you would save on the pack and you would get a better nights sleep.

I personally would keep the Phantasm jacket for now and swap out the down jacket with a Merino wool layer. You might actually add a couple of ounces but you will gain flexibility. There are plenty of other areas you can cut.

Your shoe weight is for one shoe unless your feet are really tiny. Merrell shoes are nice but not the lightest option.

For $2 you could get a Stanley Mitey knife that weighs maybe .3 oz.

Try a cat can stove, IMO the most efficient of the homemade stoves because the pot sits directly on the stove.

[Joseph Morrison]

If you are going to be carrying nearly 3.0 oz. of knife you should have a fixed blade knife. Two of the lightest and affordable fixed blade knives for there size are:

AG Russell Deer Hunter: AUS8 4/2" drop point blade, 8 1/2" overall. $39.95, 3.4 oz.

AG Russell Bird & Trout: AUS8 3" drop point blade, 6 3/4" overall, 29.95, 1.9 0z.

Both are made in Japan.

The BSA Hotsparks or the LMF Mini are very lightweight and will work when the lighter runs out of fuel or gets wet.

Some tinder should also be in your kit. Petroleum jelly soaked cotton balls in a film canister are the cheapest.. Landmann BBQ firestarters are the least expensive manufactured firstarters that I know of.

[Joseph Morrison]

No hat? That long sleeve shirt wont do anything to protect you face and the back of you neck from the sun.

I personally like a fedora crown with a short brim. water resistant cotton or wool is fine by me.

A boonie is great too but doesn't look as cool!

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