3 season Overnight/Weekend Gearlist

– You could nix the Montbell pillow and use either the NeoAir or Golite Ultra 20 Stuffsack filled with clothes for a pillow. Save 2.3oz.

– Nix the other stuffsack from above that your not using. Save .5oz

– Pick up a torso/short length CCF pad to suppliment the Neo in colder conditions, rather than switiching out for a pro-lite. In fact you could probably get two short CCF pads and still save some weight over the prolite. Your comfort may vary.

– Nix the hose from the Platypus and save 2.2oz.

– Nix the sleep socks, they are heavy at 4.6oz. Have you tried generic dress socks– they weigh less than 2oz. Personally, I use those little ankle socks that weigh just over .5oz. Save 4.1oz.

– Nix the carabiner. Not even sure what you use this for? Save 1oz

– You could probably leave the Fenix at home too. Save 1oz

– Nix the mesh sack for the towel. The isn't really a need.

– Nix trowel. Sticks and stones work just fine. Save 1oz

– Soap and purell?

– TP is personal preferance. Nix and save 1oz.

– Just under 3oz for a FAK for an overnight/weekend trip may also be a bit much. You could probably save 1oz-1.5oz.

NB: I also don't see a lot of insulation should the mercury dip close to freezing. I know the Cap 3 that I own wouldn't keep me comfortable at much below 32 degrees without a down vest or fleece of some kind.

It is all neglibable weight savings and it is just being picky, but still there is close to 1lb of savings.

–Sleep socks are something you could probably ditch on most trips, but I do take a pair when it looks like it'll get below 45 at night. The gloves would also depend on a similar temperature range. If you're expecting warmer weather, you get to save 6 oz between the two.

–If it were me, I'd ditch the TP and the trowel. Sticks dig well and leaves make good backwoods TP. Saves 2 oz.

–I use my Platypus bottle filled with air as a pillow. Works great and would save you 2.3 oz.

–I've always cooked freezer bag style without using a cozy. Never had my food get cold, even when it's near freezing. Saves .9 oz.

–Are you using a pack liner? A trash compactor bag with a couple of rubber bands weighs about 2 oz and saves you a lot of headaches. Plus, you can leave the stuff sacks at home, so you only gain an ounce.

–What are you hiking in for pants? If you're taking shorts, then I guess the rain pants make sense. If you're hiking in pants, I'd skip them. Nylon ripstop dries quick and you've got wool bottoms to change into at camp. Saves you 5.5 oz. This changes of course if you're hiking in the Pacific Northwest or during a multi-day rain storm.

–I bet you could shave another oz off that first aid kit.

–If you're expecting temperatures below 50, I'd absolutely bring a down vest or a 100 wt fleece. The above options give you a chance to save close to a pound, which should still save you 5-8 oz even after you add some light insulation.

Yeah, I ranted about this is another Gear List thread. There isn't a weekender or overnighter out there unless you have diabetes, palsy, heart conditions and COPD where you should need more than 2 oz of first aid kit. Just my opinion of course. I notice you're stuffing your Ultra… why not just leave it lose in the bottom your pack liner. It helps give your pack shape and you can pack around it. I think it is a much better choice. Also rubber band around the neoair and you've saved 1 oz to justify bringing that comfy Montbell pillow you got there ;)

This list looks pretty good. I went thru and nixed some items, and suggested replacements for others.

I totaled up the items nixed, and switched out, and it comes to a 50.4 ounce savings. Over half of that is trading out the Double Rainbow for a tarp.

Questions:
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Waterproofing the pack? A 2.2 oz compactor bag will solve that.
Is it buggy? I don't see a head-net. 0.9 oz
Are you solo? Or is there any shared gear?
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PACK
REI flash 30 (modified) 20.9 —- Modify even more! i bet you can get another 4 ounces off of it!

SLEEP SYSTEM
NeoAir 14.1 —- Replace with a TORSO lite and save about 4 ounces
NeoAir StuffSack 0.5 —- NIX
Montbell Pillow 2.3 —- NIX
GoLite Ultra 20 Stuff Sack 0.6 —- NIX

SHELTER
Tarptent Double Rainbow 40.04 —- Replace with a simple tarp, and save about 30 ounces

WATER
Platypus 1 liter w/ Hose kit 3.2 —- NIX the hoze kit, save 2.4 oz

CLOTHING
Sleep socks (Smartwool MTN) 4.6 (wow, those are HEAVY socks!)

TOOLS/ELECTRONICS
Victorinox Classic SD 0.7 —- NIX and replace with a single edge razor, save 0.6 oz
mini carabiner 0.1 —- NIX (what is it for???)
Fenix E01 w/ cap 1.0 —- NIX (no need for two flashlights, just take the Petzl E+lite 1.0) switched

TOILETRIES
Toilet Paper 1.0 —- easily NIX'd
Snowstake Trowel 1.0 —- easily NIX
MSR face towel/tent rag + mesh sack 0.9 —- NIX

I'll play Devil's advocate. Wow all that stuff and still under 10 pounds. Good job. You could keep it all if it works for you, and keeps you happy out there. I would not sleep on a torso pad anything myself. Weights like these would have been impossible 15 years ago. Love my MB pillow too.

Hey guys! Thanks for all the suggestions. I like the idea of losing the stuff sacks for both neoair and the quilt, and will def do that in the future. Mike, i'm a big fan of the books you've worked on (just picked up "Really cool backpackin' book" and saw the tip about losing the stuff sack on sleeping bags as well)

The carabiner was to be used in combination with the fenix e01 as my tent lantern…but you're right, i could easily just get by using the petzl e+lite as my sole light source.

Yeah the smartwool mountaineering socks are very heavy, but I get cold feet easily…whats a lighter alternative that will def. keep my toes warm? I'm not sure light dress socks will do that…probably possom down socks?

I'll revamp my FAK, and also drop the soap, since I dont have pots/dishes to clean, as i'm for the most part, exclusively freezer bag cooking.

I have a question about the cozy though. I repackage a lot of mountain house meals into quart size freezer bags, and usually just bring the water to a boil, drop water into freezer bag, and all into cozy. I fear that the meal won't properly rehydrate without the cozy. I guess my merino beanie can act as a cozy if i were to nix it?

Will lose the trowel, and lose the mesh sack for the face towel…gonna see if condensation is a problem in this part of town, before i nix the towel itself
Ah, the platy hose…such a luxury…i'll see if I can get by with just the bottles and side pockets.

I'll have to do some more experimenting as to what my comfort zone temp is, and how that holds up using a capilene 3 vs cap 4 vs powerstretch top, and adjust accordingly

Gotta keep the TT double rainbow, as I hardly solo, and my gf is not ready (I dont even think i am) for tarps only

And yes, I must look into getting a headnet.

Thanks all!!!

I generally just cook cous cous or something similar, which needs about five minutes to hydrate correctly. I pour the water in the freezer bag, shake it up, stuff the bag in the pot I just used (titanium cools quickly) and let it sit there until it's ready. Haven't had a cold meal yet. I suppose I could put the pot inside a beanie too, although that might get a bit of food smell on the beanie which isn't really optimal.

For the record, I personally wouldn't lose a bladder hose. I drink way more water and go a lot faster with mine. It's worth the extra two ounces. As for you, if you think you can go without it, do it!

As for socks, I'm not a cold sleeper, but my feet DO get cold. Standard hiking socks don't do the tricks, so dress socks certainly wouldn't. I take a pair of heavy wool socks on trips with colder temps. I think I'd probably pay twice the weight penalty for them, they're that important. That said, if temps are going to be above 45, I leave them at home.

@Konrad — Wyoming Wear fleece socks make great sleep socks, and are slightly under 2 ounces for the pair…

Anyway you could possibly take a picture of your bag loaded up? I have a REI Flash 30 that I've been using as a daypack and have a weekend list that hopefully will be close to yours and I'd like to see how you fit everything. Also i'm interested in how you modified it.

Quinn, my TT double rainbow wont be here for a couple of weeks, but when it arrives, I'll repost on this thread a pic of everything, and include what lil mods I did to the flash 30

Speaking of the Flash 30. I picked up one the other day size large. Got it down to right at 1lb (470g).

This is what I did:

Took out the piece of foam.
Cut out the water bottle holder and the little clips just inside the lip.
Cut off the belt.

There are probably a few things I could do to shave even more off but that would involve sewing, which I am not really into doing. I could probably cut out the place where the foam goes too, but I don't know what that would do the the structural integrity of the bag itself.

I fit all my base gear in with room for a few days of food and a few liters of water. I will probably have more room once my MLD Tarp and Bivy show up and i ditch my tent!

whoa Tony, you cut off the belt? I like the pockets and support it provides, so I kept mine. But check this out. Seeing as how you nixed the belt, the lumbar pad on the back does very little now. Take a seam ripper to it and you can shave another ounce off, if not more. I've examined my own pack and the pad holster. If you are sure that you'll never use the foam pad again, I see no reason why not to cut out the pad holster. Just cut out the silnylon up to the black edging tape. It shouldn't compromise the integrity if you aren't touching the seams. The outer fabric is tough enough as it is, so that extra silnylon pad holster won't provide much more puncture resistance. I also cut off 1 ice axe loop and accompanying ice axe retention strap. My logic was that I would only need one loop/retention at most. Either my trekking poles will be held (both fit in 1 loop) or my ice axe will be there instead. The only time I've used both loops on a pack is if im carrying an axe and a shovel, which means im doing winter overnights. And Winter overnights will never be done with an REI flash 30, so no real need for 2 loops. Also, have you trimmed the extra length off your straps? Since you nixed the suspension system (foam pad and belt) then maybe you don't need the load lifters? Also, you can trim the webbing that they sewed the shoulder straps to..its pretty generous there…Just look on the inside of the pad holster to see what im talking about. I also replaced all their enormous cordlocks with smaller more appropriate ones. You could do the same, and even remove the zipper pulls and replace with strings. You could also bringing down the guage of the shockcord they used on the back. And of course, remove the REI label, all sizing labels etc. You could easily take another 3+ ounces off with this I think. All these mods can be done with a seam ripper. The only stitching you can do, if u choose, is to sew up the ends of the shortened straps so they don't slide all the way through their buckles/tri-glides.

Yea, I am not really a belt person at all and I plan on only using it for 3 season weekenders. Anything longer (or colder) and I'll use one of my other packs. So my pack weight is usually around 10 lbs with food/water give or take a lb.

"The only stitching you can do, if u choose, is to sew up the ends of the shortened straps so they don't slide all the way through their buckles/tri-glides."

This is more or less what I was talking about with the sewing bit. If we were going to extremes =P.

Under $100, 36L capacity, and weighs 7.6 oz with a belt.

Are you sure you want to drop the soap?

haha good call Gary, I'm much too pretty to be dropping the soap.

Hey Quinn, my TT Double Rainbow finally came in, so per your request, here's what it all looks like when packed into a flash 30. A quick note, I've subed out the 2-liter and 1 liter platy on my list with a 1 liter platy and a .5 platy. The Capilene 3 zip has been subbed out with a warmer and lighter capilene 4 crew neck. On colder nights I plan on subbing out the capilene 4 with a montbell down inner jacket. The wool beanie has also been switched out for a lighter fleece beanie. Some other smaller stuff has been dropped or subbed out, ie stuff sack for neoair, small shamwow square instead of a face towel. I forgot to load in the tyvek ground sheet (which will sit in the foam pad pocket), and extra socks, but itll all fit in there.

The double rainbow (w/o poles) the sleep system, cook system, 1 literplaty, and extra clothing are all in the main body of the pack.

In 1 side pocket are the .5 platy, the TT DR poles and stakes. In the other side pocket is my rain jacket and rain pants for quick access

In the top lid are gloves, beanie, snacks, toiletries, tools, first aid kit

In the hip pockets are sunscreen, knife, bug spray, chapstick, flip mino camera

It's a tight fit for a weekend, but perfect for overnight. The DR takes up a lot of space, so you could def fit more if you used a smaller shelter ( I think you have a Moment, double check to see if the carbon struts are short enought to fit inside the pack). Hope this helps.This is pretty much the same load out that I posted in my original post. However, as I experiment, I plan on nixing some items (extra flashlight, hydration hose etc) and maybe even removing the lumbar pad on the back of the pack as I find it kind of unnecessary.

And just for fun, here was my overnight/weekend loadout pre-bpl, circa 2008. I think im pushing 50+ lbs here ( Didn't own a filter and unaware of aquamira at the time, so packed in 1 gallon of water LOL) Its been a very fun journey since then. I guess I've seen "the light"

haha note the useless locking carabiner on the back, and the insulative hydration tubing in 80 degree weather. I think I had one of those folding tripod chairs lashed on the other side the pack :D

Very nice set up, Konrad.

Thanks Ben! You guys on the forum made it possible, I mean it!

Thats awesome Konrad I'll have to give that a try when my Moment shows up (yah backorder). I don't think I would have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.