Southeast Spring and Fall Gear List

Do you plan to wear shoes?

what do you think of the rainsuit?

how is the sizing?

why both lighters (+ Spark Lite) ?

Looks like you are packing the compass and on body. Is this a double entry or are you carrying 2 compasses?

Shoes = New Balance 807 (lost in the cut and paste from excel to notepad)28 Oz. for the pair. Added to gear list above.

Two compasses – I carry only one. This is a double entry. Edited gear list above to delete 1 Oz. from the base and total pack weights.

The Dri Ducks fit is a little “generous”. I’m 5’7″ 145 Lbs and have a size medium suit. I should have gotten a small. Even so, the suit has performed well and is very breathable. I would suggest sizing down if you purchase this item.

I carry two methods of firestarting for redundancy sake.

Sorry for the shabby post. I believe I fixed all of the points made. Nonethelss, I am interested in comments.

Nice list, here is some of my questions/suggestions. (You asked for it. :-)

2.80 Princeton Tec Aurora
0.72 2 AAA Extra Batteries
The Tec Aurora normally use 3 AAA. !!
If however you insert 3 new AAA in the Aurora for a 3 day trip you dont ever need spare batts. If in trouble you carry a backup light.! You might use the new Lithium AAA. (Last longer)
Why not just go for the ION =1.1 oz with lithium. Its quite sufficient.

You carry double rolls of tapes.!? Both in the Adventure Med. and separate. You could lighten the Medic Kit a few oz. (3-4 oz is more than adequate in a cleaver first aid kit.)

Anyway its a good list, but you might save a pound or 2 if you go for the lightest option and not carry to many backups i.e.
Firestarters
1. Bic
2. Zippo
3. SparkLite firekit and tinder or xx
4. Tinder and lighters without gaz/fuel.!(still produzing sparks)
5. Stormmatches 20 pcs.!

3.00 Aquamira
Water 0.75 Katahdyn MP1 Tablets
For 3 days 1 oz Auamira should do. Use the small bottles from BPL. :-)
Dont carry the whole packets of MP1. 10 tablets should do in a survival kit = 0,25 oz

Fire 0.74 Spark Lite Fire Starting Kit
Dont carry the box. Its more heavy then the rest of the kit. Pack in ZipLock

Signal 1.40 ACR Emergency Whistle
Very heavy. 0.3 oz is enough. For 0.6 you cold have whistle and compass
BPL do sell a nice whistle

1.21 Bandana
You already carry a 1/2 in your backpack. Why one (a whole) more.? Bandage, filter or.??

Light 0.25 Princeton Tec Pulsar II
AND
Cell Phone 4.00 Nokia 6010 in Zip Loc
Consider the Nokia 5140 3.3oz, weather/splash proff. Also has a LED light build in.! + GPS option, + FM radio, + camera + a lot more

Knife 2.56 Benchmade Griptilian
I agree with you that a small, but good knife is a must. Personally I fancy the Gerber LST ( or LST2) for 1.3 oz. Actually the first tool man invented was a somekind of a knife.

9.00 Thermarest Ridgerest 3/4
For 6 oz you could have the new full lenght Artiach super light (ridge rest type). Cut to bodysize only maybe 4 oz.

7.50 Thermarest Pillow
Im chocked.! :-; The first trick one learn is to put some clothes etc inside an empty stuffsack or backpack etc. Really.!! Its rule #1 in (en)lightening. :-)

If you not already have seen these two great articles, you should. Then go trough your list again, which already is to minimalistic for many people.:-)

BPL 101 article

Breaking the 5 pound barrier

Anyway greetings from Denmark.

(P.s. Sorry for any misspelling etc. Im native Dane.:-)

“The Tec Aurora normally use 3 AAA. !!”

You are correct. Again, shabby post. You are right, I ought not carry spare batteries. I will, from now on just use fresh ones on long trips. You’ll see that I carry the PT Photon as a backup on my whislte lanyard.

“You carry double rolls of tapes.!? Both in the Adventure Med. and separate. You could lighten the Medic Kit a few oz. (3-4 oz is more than adequate in a cleaver first aid kit.)”

I have a 1.1 Oz. Kit I assembled myself. However, I find that I prefer a more comprehansive kit for longer trips. I would say that the heavier kit is a “luxury” justified in other weight savings. Personal preference, I guess.

“For 3 days 1 oz Auamira should do. Use the small bottles from BPL. :-)”

I have yet to transfer the contents from the full Aquamira bottles to smaller bottles. You are correct in that I could save weight here.

“Dont carry the whole packets of MP1. 10 tablets should do in a survival kit = 0,25 oz”

I am carrying one sheet of 12 tabs with a rubber band to keep them folded. I come up with 0.75 Oz.

“Fire 0.74 Spark Lite Fire Starting Kit
Dont carry the box. Its more heavy then the rest of the kit. Pack in ZipLock”

I carry the box because it is a convienient way to transport these items.

“Signal 1.40 ACR Emergency Whistle
Very heavy. 0.3 oz is enough. For 0.6 you cold have whistle and compass
BPL do sell a nice whistle”

This is the same whislte BPL sells. The 1.4 should read 0.4. Typo. I’ll edit the post above.

“You already carry a 1/2 in your backpack. Why one (a whole) more.? Bandage, filter or.??”

The 1/2 bandana is for cleaning my cookset. I like having a “clean” one for a towel, prefilter, etc.

The Nokia 5140 is a nice phone. I actually requested the simplest phone the dealer had in January. The 6010 is what he handed me. I took it. I hate cell phones anyway. I take it for my wife’s benefit. I don’t want alot of bells and whisltes that could malfunction.

“Knife 2.56 Benchmade Griptilian
I agree with you that a small, but good knife is a must. Personally I fancy the Gerber LST ( or LST2) for 1.3 oz.”

I have very carefully chosen my knife. It has a descently sized blade and good locking mechanism.

“For 6 oz you could have the new full lenght Artiach super light (ridge rest type). Cut to bodysize only maybe 4 oz.”

I haven’t seen this brand. That’s a good sugestion. However, I prefer a full width pad as I toss and turn regularly in camp.

“7.50 Thermarest Pillow Im chocked.! :-; The first trick one learn is to put some clothes etc inside an empty stuffsack or backpack etc. Really.!! Its rule #1 in (en)lightening. :-)”

Well and good, but this is definately a luxury. Almost 1/2 a pound, right. I have no defense other than it helps me sleep, which I consider a good trade for 7.5 Oz.

I have read the “BPL 101 article” and “Breaking the 5 pound barrier”. Very informative indeed. This is not my bare bones, super UL list. This list represents a good balance for me in comfort and light weight.

Thanks for the comments from across the pond. I will definately stop carrying extra batteries.

A little off topic, I know, but have you tried the Rainshield O2 Rainsuit? I’m having the hardest time finding out if it is more or less breathable than the new Dri Ducks. I would prefer the Dri Ducks, but only if I knew they were as breathable (i.e. next best thing to eVENT). If they are closer to Frogg Toggs, forget it (according to BPL testing).

I have not used the Rainshield suits, but have been very happy with the Dri Ducks. Two weeks ago, I was hiking in 85 degree weather along a creek in a canyon here in Alabama. It began to rain and I put on the suit over nylon shorts and a longsleeve tee. When it stopped raining (pouring), I unzipped the jacket for added ventilation and could not detect any condensation inside. I had to hike uphill for about 5 miles before I came to a part of the trail where I would not be soaked by the vegetation. After all this, I can say that I was no more than a little clammy and was happy with the performance of the Dri Ducks. I highly recommend these rain suits. At $20-25, it’s also a deal that’s hard to beat.

I’ve used the Rainshield suit on a (6) day very rainy trip. Temps ranged from 40 to 70 degrees F. I thought it breathed way better than Frogg Toggs (I haven’t tried Dry Ducks). The full zip is much better than to short opening on the Frogg Toggs and the material breaths better over all.

The fabric is less durable though. I destroyed the pants setting up camp in 35 mph winds and rain. The jacket is in fine shape though. And has gone many more miles since. It is now my rain jacket of choice and I will replace it when it does degrade. I may check into Dry Ducks for the replacement when the time comes. They are a little lighter.

I’ve used the Rainshield suit for a year with good results. I just got a DriDucks suit, believing I could save a couple of ounces. A few observations:

1) Measured weights (all for size large):
Rainshield Jacket 5.4oz
Rainshield Pants 4.2oz
DriDucks Jacket 5.2oz
DriDucks Pants 3.8oz

Total Rainshield = 9.6oz
Total DriDucks = 9.0oz
(DriDucks is only 0.6oz lighter.)

2) The DriDucks Jacket has a larger, more durable zipper than the Rainshield.

3) The Rainshield fabric is thicker and appears more durable. Although, the thinner Driducks fabric packs smaller.

4) The DriDucks Suit is available in khaki, in case you’re self concious about the “rescue me yellow” Rainshield color.

5) I haven’t had a chance to compare breathability of the two garments yet.

6) I added some velcro dots to the zipper rainflap on the rainshield jacket and plan to do the same to the DriDucks.

Cheers,

-Mike

I asked Glen Van Peski (who has been using O2 stuff for quite some time) this same question last week. He said that they are basically the same stuff. No significant differeneces in material durability (or lack there of), breathabilty or fit/style.