Value vs. Weight Spreadsheet

Usually people use $/oz saved (dollars per ounce saved) to compare the weight savings value of possible new gear purchases. If there's just a few items you're considering buying then it might be easier to just crunch the numbers with a calculator or on a bare Excel page, rather than create a spreadsheet to do it.

Essentially your formula would be:

$/oz saved = Cost of new item / (Old Item Wt – New Item Wt)

So if the replacing the Dbl Rainbow with the Contrail would be:

$/oz saved = $199 / (40oz – 24.5oz)
$/oz saved = $199 / 15.5oz
$/oz saved = $12.83

spend 5 minutes making it just fur u ;)

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AqxhyY1jJYrYdGVIaUNmNHFfdmZ6c1VNS0VpU0ltWGc&hl=en

just got to
– File
– Download As …
– Excel
– Open in Excel

enter old
– name
– resale value (enter 0 for no resale)
– weight in oz

enter new
– name
– cost
– weight in oz

and you get
– cost diff taking into account resale
– weight diff
– cost / weight

only in oz … cause we know the only market that matters is those darn yanks … just change the headers to grams for gram weenies… lol

Eric, you're making me blush! Thanks for putting something together. It is a pretty quick thing to put together, but figured I might get some sort of Cadillac version! Thanks all for the reply.

And upgrading your pack first lets you sleep in that plush double rainbow for a few more nights. Might as well "upgrade" the luxury item last in that situation.

I currently have both of those packs – the Ariel and the Pinnacle. My dilemma, do I really need a third pack or am I better off with a new tent or upgrading some other stuff like clothes.

My Ariel (2003/04 version) weighs 52 oz, my Pinnacle (2008 version) weighs 30 oz. I usually use my Pinnacle but concerned that I need a framed pack for a longer distance hike due to food/water needs.

Can I get away with my Pinnacle using the Bear Vault for stability, or should I use my Ariel because the overall weight savings won't be that great for a new framed pack.

My head hurts…

whenever i enter clothes into my spreadsheet i find i dont actually save that much weight …

what they say about the big 4 (bag, pack, stove, tent) is totally true … after that it becomes cost prohibitive to upgrade per oz … unless you are using some old ski jacket, etc …

as to the ariel/pinnacle .. pack yr pinnacle as you would for a real trip … and take a 6 hour day hike this weekend … see if you can deal with it … one thing that helps with a frameless pack is to put a think piece of plastic or balsa wood between the folded foam pad yr using as a frame pack for weights exceeding 15-20 lbs

most people feel reduced comfort with frameless pack at that point

for more look at

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/00179.html

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/00194.html

i would recommend using a framed pack