Heavy noob list

Golite packs are on crazy sales everywhere you look right now. They're solid packs and tend to be quite lightweight.

My wife and I made the transition into ultralight backpacking with Golite Jams, which aren't the lightest packs out there, but are still very light, durable and capable of holding a lot of gear. At roughly 20-22 oz, we still use them today. These packs have been as low as $40 lately. You can also find them lightly used on this forum all the time.

An ultralight tent is going to set you back. Unfortunately, that's just the way it goes. Again, if you buy lightly used from this forum, you'll save some money. Still, you get what you pay for, so you might as well splurge a bit here and get something awesome.

I love my Tarptent. I bought it before we ever even thought of getting trekking poles, so I bought a Cloudburst 2. It's extremely sturdy and comfortable, and it weighs just over two pounds. My wife, dog, and I all fit in it pretty comfortably. It was $275, but worth every penny.

The good news is, you can save a lot of weight without spending much at all. Just leave stuff behind.

For instance, you're interested in a stuff sack system. Why bother? Leave the stuff sacks at home and use a 2 oz trash compactor bag as a bag liner. It's waterproof and white so you'll be able to see the gear inside your bag pretty easily.

One beautiful thing about going ultralight is that you have far less gear, so organization isn't nearly as important. You don't need lots of pockets and stuff sacks to keep things separate. For the smaller items like repair kits and first aid kits, ziploc bags work just fine.

Speaking of Ziploc bags, ever think about freezer bag cooking? How's hot food in under ten minutes with zero dishes sound to you? Awesome? That's how it sounded to us.

This lets you leave behind everything but a small pot and a couple sporks. With no need to simmer food, you can build a $3 penny alcohol stove that'll boil enough water for dinner in just a few minutes. Best of all? My entire cook kit (stove, pot, windscreen, lighter, spork, and mesh bag to hold it all together) weighs 5 oz. When I made this switch, it saved me about two pounds.

Really, going ultralight is just getting used to a different mindset.

I have been thinking about the GoLite Pinnacle bags for her and I. I wanted to get a GoLite Utopia 2 with or without floor (her comfort). I was looking at Tinny from minibulldesigns stoves / cooksets.

I am getting a food dehydrator for xmas and going to buy a vaccuum sealer. Got the book Fork in the Trail cookbook and going to try out some meals on there.

"I know I could spend a good $2000 or more and have all the clothes and stuff you all have…"

Be careful with this viewpoint. With the exception of down sleeping bags, UL gear is generally cheaper than traditional gear unless you get into really fringe custom stuff. Often you can sell your used traditional gear and have enough money to buy UL gear.

On a budget, look at his and hers GoLite Jam frameless packs which can be had for some great deals (ie. they have a 40% off holiday sale right now) and weigh ~ 1.5lbs. TarpTents are a good value (~$260) and light.

For the NeoAir mattresses, get your girl the full length one, but for yourself consider getting the short version and then using the back pad from your new pack under your feet.

I just redid my whole kit.

I got everything I wanted for around 1,200. This includes a lot of stuff that was just me wanting and that I didnt really need like a Tenkara Hane.

If you buy a no frills essentials list from the gear swap or find some really good sales (like moosejaws 5x) then you could probably get a whole kit for 600 dollars and be under 10 lbs.

However, if you are bringing beer and shovels and axes and things the weight adds up fast and in my book makes most of the money you spend wasted.
Maybe look at the Golite Oddysey. Still 4 pounds though.

If you bring two cans of beer, you could slap a stove together yourself that would be good for several days. Just bring a small razor and a push pin.

My point about the heavy stuff is that I won't be going UL every time, and the 6+ lb pack doesn't bother me when doing 1-2 miles and/or carrying stuff for my girl/beer. Just using the right tool for the job etc..

I want to have an UL setup for hiking Knobstone trail in Indiana and any quick trips to surrounding states.

I know the packs are cheap, as well as tarp-tents, the clothing is where I see tons of money being spent (paying retail). My bag was under 200 but it is my Winter bag I will probably go for a 1 lb bag for 3 season here in Indiana.

I guess I need to focus on my pants and shirts along with rain pants (don't need a rain top with this Columbia jacket). The Marmot precip are 80 or so, saw some REI and Columbia for a lot less.

I haven't tried out frameless yet but have hiked with some awkward shaped things and was leaning more to the Pinnacle over the Jam/Jam2. That was one of my points about stuff sacks, potentially less dead space / weird edges poking me in the back on a less padded pack.