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My Sub-5 lb kit for SoCal Summers


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  • #1276435
    Jace Mullen
    Member

    @climberslacker

    Locale: Your guess is as good as mine.

    While there may be holes in this most of them are intentional. For example: No Tent for a few reasons. 1.) When using this setup (and because I am a student, thus have flexibility with trips) I can plan around the weather. We really don't get rain here much ever, even less in the summer. Also the bugs arent bad. Also, no toothpaste or toothbrush because this will mostly be used on 2-3 day trips where I will survive without it.

    Also, as I plan on usually hiking all day, and not eating where I sleep, I use my WM Flash Jacket as my sole insulating piece.

    Without Further Ado:

    http://www.geargrams.com/list?id=3452

    -Jace

    #1757119
    Nick Gatel
    BPL Member

    @ngatel

    Locale: Southern California

    Jace,

    When I look at gear lists, I like to see everything that will be carried on a typical trip with the base gear. For example how long is the typical trip, how much food and water are needed.

    I see you have 3 liters in water bottles. Will you be carrying that much water? Probably yes in Southern Cal, but not in the Southern Sierras.

    Where will you be hiking? If in the San Bernardinos or Southern Sierras, you usually need some sort of plan for bears… either a hang or canister.

    I see you are a student, so some suggestions may not work if you do not have a lot of money to spend of gear. If you do, that is great.

    You said 2-3 days. If so, your pack is way too big! You can cut your base by nearly a pound if you switch to a GG Murmur. The Murmur will work fine (as in comfortable) as long as you do not need to carry much water, and you can keep the total pack weight under 10 lbs.

    Why are you carrying a rain jacket if you expect no rain? A wind jacket is much lighter.

    Don't count on the weatherman in Southern Calif either. On Memorial Day weekend four of us started on a trip with zero chance of precipitation. By 4PM a freak storm came in and our intended destination got snow and 90 MPH winds. But if you are completely sure of no rain, you do not need the trash compacter bag.

    I would suggest you bring a poncho/tarp for possible rain and shelter in the mountains. You could probably get by without a bivy, since your quilt is cuben and is waterproof except for the sewn seams. You are only concerned with spray the poncho/tarp can't catch. But I have to admit that on many local summer trips I am so sure of rain I don't bring anything for rain either.

    I don't see first aid kit, map or compass.

    You can save a little weight by going with Caldera Cone/Keg/Esbit set-up.

    Aqua Mira tablets are lighter, easier to use, more concentrated, but more expensive. You save 2 oz because you do not need the mini droppers.

    There are lighter down jackets that will be fine for summer such as a Montbel Ex UL. Usually in the summer in the San Jacintos or San Bernardinos I often don't take a jacket at all. If it gets chilly at night before I go to bed, I just wrap the quilt around me.

    Take a look at my gear list in my profile. It is even lighter, and there is much more gear to make life comfortable. There are a few items I carried in my pockets, which some people would keep in their pack. That gear list is 2 years old, and some of the gear I have bought since is even lighter. Today if I use the Murmur I can have a large tarp and rain jacket with a total base under 4 lbs for a 3 day trip. I have done some summer trips in the local mountains with a sub 3 base weight. Just keep in mind that if the total pack weight with consumables is over 10 lbs, I am not taking the Murmur anymore.

    #1757190
    Jace Mullen
    Member

    @climberslacker

    Locale: Your guess is as good as mine.

    I usually hike San Gorgonio or Jacinto. I only camp on the summit of San Gorgonio if I go, otherwise I do bring bear stuff. I want to find some trails in the southern sierra but don't know of any trails. Let me know if you know of any good ones!

    I know that the pack is way too big, the issue is that I can't afford a new pack and I needed a pack i could use for winter trips as well with bulkier gear. I am saving up for a Zpacks Zero Pack for when I hike the PCT next year.

    The Driducks is mostly for wind, I am also trying to afford a windshirt (looking at the houdini, will try to find one used)

    Good call on the compactor bag, I didn't even realize that was on there. If I am not completly sure of the weather I end up bringing my tent (but at 25oz, I would rather take a slight gamble on weather and save it. However, I do not take a large gamble at all, I usually only wont take it if its a 0% chance. Any higher then that and it comes. No matter what, I do keep it in my car at the trail head in case it looks like rain then.

    I knew I was forgetting something. I did the list just by unpacking from my last trip where someone else had the compass. I forgot the first aid kit. I will need to make one thats light. I'm thinking just ibuprofen and some gauze. I feel that I have enough training that I can improvise for most things.

    As far as the Aqua Mira Tablets vs the drops, the drops were given to me from a friend. I will keep that in mind when I run out. I would also like the ability of knowing exactly how much water I can treat instead of the guess work that comes with the drops. However, i do feel that over a longer trip they will be lighter.

    I do like that idea about not bringing the jacket. I will try that on my next trip.

    I totally thought about how if I got a lighter pack i could also carry a shelter and still be lighter. A transition from the Mariposa to the Zpacks would save me about 18 oz. A Cuben tarp would only weigh about 5 oz. I would still be 13 oz ahead. Taking away the Jacket, and still not bringing a tarp (everything else being the same) I end up with a 2.37lb baseweight. Even with the tarp I have a Sub-3 baseweight.

    That was actually one of the things that I learned about my pack from geargrams was that 39% of my pack weight was my pack. Something that, if I had the money, I would find unacceptable.

    -Jace

    #1757197
    Jace Mullen
    Member

    @climberslacker

    Locale: Your guess is as good as mine.

    I just realized (from looking at your list) that the only reason that I use the thinlite pad is because I use it as a groundcloth. I could save over an oz by getting a polycro grouncloth and ditching that pad.

    #1757203
    jim draucker
    BPL Member

    @mtnjim

    Locale: Shenandoah Valley VA

    Hello

    I had never seen Geargrams until know ! Awesome tool. Now I can spend this weekend entering all my stuff;). Supposed to rain anyway.

    Thanks Jim

    #1757233
    Nick Gatel
    BPL Member

    @ngatel

    Locale: Southern California

    Jace,

    It sucks being in school and not having a lot of money. But stay the course, a good education is worth the investment.

    I have a Murmur you can have. It has a couple of small tears that I covered with duct tape. It is sound structurally and I have a lot of miles on it since the duct tape repair, so there is no concern about it. Plus you will look seasoned wearing it :)

    The waist belt is in the garage somewhere and I will have to dig it up. Belt is not really needed and if I can't find it, you could get one pretty cheap from GG. It is made of Spinnaker material and the pack is actually lighter than the new silnylon ones they are selling. Don't be embarrassed with the offer, I like to give gear to the young BPLers who are working hard to get ahead.

    Send me a PM with a mailing address if you would like it. I can't mail it for a few days though. I am leaving for a trip in the morning and returning towards the end of next week to spend a little time with my wife, then off on another hike. But I should be able to get it in the mail next Thursday or Friday.

    I have started using a 1/8" pad as a ground sheet since I got a NeoAir I have been experimenting with. My old bones are not liking the thin pads much anymore unless I am hiking every weekend or on longer trips. A week of sleeping in a bed makes the first couple of nights on the pad somewhat uncomfortable. However a ground sheet is nice as it provides a little bit of clean storage off the ground next to your pad.

    #1757243
    Jace Mullen
    Member

    @climberslacker

    Locale: Your guess is as good as mine.

    I can't tell you how much i appreciate the offer! I sent you a PM.

    I think thats one of the nice things about being young, that I can get by (comfortably) with a thin pad. All of the adult leaders in my troop swear by the Big Angus Pads, much heavier though.

    #1757257
    todd
    BPL Member

    @funnymo

    Locale: SE USA

    Jace,

    PM your address to me and I'll cut a piece of polycro and mail it to you. Will 3'x7' work? Let me know if you want it a little different size.

    I have some extra window film "polycro" from a large box I purchased for groundsheets.

    You're doing great – Best of luck to you.

    Todd

    #1757439
    Larry Dyer
    Member

    @veriest1

    Locale: Texas

    You sound like a perfect candidate for one of the MLD cuben ponchos. Tell you what, since everyone is being so generous, I'll trade you mine for your cuben quilt. :P

    Seriously though, I'm envious of your Murmer and Cuben Quilt setup (mostly the latter) and think you should scrape the dough together for the MLD piece. I love mine and together your "big" 3 would be the cat's meow.

    #1757457
    Jace Mullen
    Member

    @climberslacker

    Locale: Your guess is as good as mine.

    Yeah, I was about to order a MLD tarp (Grace Solo) used from a member here but then got a speeding ticket, so thats on hold for a while. In other news I might get a job at a gear shop. That could be cool. Too bad they don't sell MLD, Gossamer gear or Zpacks stuff.

    -Jace

    #1759719
    Jace Mullen
    Member

    @climberslacker

    Locale: Your guess is as good as mine.
    #1759733
    Nick Gatel
    BPL Member

    @ngatel

    Locale: Southern California

    Nice trip and solo. Excellent. Next trip you can take the Murmur and save another 10 oz.

    I have some Dirty Girl Gaiters and they work well, but I opted for a conservative solid dark brown color. I don't use them much. I just don't get that much stuff in my shoes, and don't mind stopping if I pick up a pebble.

    This is no USGS bench mark on the peak. There used to be a tiny County of San Bernardino survey marker epoxied to one of the rocks near the register. Don't know if it is still there. But it is not very big.

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