What are your “Big 4” items?

BIG 4 has shoes in them???
Don't you mean bag and was thing shoes?

I'm sure your 20* bag weighs more than 490 grams.

I still have some work in progress to make some nice size cuts from the bag and tarp, and even the pack in the not so very distance.
For now I this is what I use for up to six days.

Tarp- 10 oz -Fully bug proff H-made
Quilt-17 oz -H-made with 9oz of down
Pad -3.7 oz -GG 1/8"
Pack- 6 oz -h-made for running
Total-(2.3lbs)

By next year it will hopefully be down to about 28oz.

My big 4:

The contents of my foodbag on longer hikes where i try to resupply every 5 to 7 days: 3,75 kg to 5,25 kg

The contents of my Platypus: 2 kg

My sleepingbag (still haven't gotten a lighter one): 1 kg

My Garmont size 11 shoes: 0,8 kg

Total: 7,5 to 9,05 kg

Eins

Well, things have changed over the last 2-3 years. I had not previously thought of gear in terms of what's the 4 heaviest items today.

I was surprised when I filtered my 3 season gearlist to discover the following four items:

Shoes – Inov8 Flyroc (pair) – 22.4oz / 636g
Sleeping bag – WM Summerlite – 19.3oz / 546g
Trecking poles – LifeLink AT Superlight (pair) – 13.3oz / 376g
Pants – GoLite Radian – 10.6oz / 300g

Total 4 lbs, 1.5 oz / 1858g

That's an interesting way to look at things…

Curious, why shoes in lieu of bag? For many, the bag can be the heavier item — esp. in 20F?

O.K.,
So heaviest 4, I was thinking the "big 3" with the pad added in there as a 4th.

Are you guys including the shoes as Big 4 because you pack them? This says "Base weight", not skin-out.

That changes my list.

Tarp- 10 oz -Fully bug proff H-made
Quilt- 17 oz -H-made with 9oz of down
Pack- 6 oz -H-made for running
L/S Shirt – 6.8 oz Extra & for sleeping in
Total – 39.8 oz (3.5lbs)

Interesting. The typical big four things are easy to reduce the weight of, relative to some others. So I have plenty of heavy things still, but none are the typical ones:

Big 4:
packraft 80 oz
camera gear 55 oz
kayak paddle 32 oz
shoes 25 oz

(If I included food, it’d be at the very top of the list)

Obviously I could carry less camera stuff, but I like having a dSLR. Otherwise, there’s not much I can do with these, so most weight reductions I can make won’t help me with the biggest weight items.

-Erin
http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/WildCoast.php

I just ordered one in anticipation of Spring. I dont expect a lot of durability from a $60 raft, but I think I can negotiate calm rivers.

1)Inov-8 shoes (size 13) 29.2 oz
2)GoLite Jam2(trimmed) 19 oz
3)Jacks R Better Stealth Long 17.8 oz
4)digital Camera 9.6 oz

total=4 lbs. 11.6 oz

Yup, my shelter moved down the list, but not off the Big 4, unless we include trekking poles. I include some hardware with the shelter– it is useless without groundcloth and stakes.

Shoes: Vasque Velocity 29oz/822g (size 10 US)
Bag: Moonstone Delta Cirrus (32F) 28oz/794g
Pack: Golite Jam 21oz/595g
[Trekking poles: Black Diamond Approach 19.4oz/550g]
Shelter: SMD Gatewood Cape, 6 BMW Ti stakes, ground cloth, 16.4oz/459g

Next heaviest item: BWM Torsolight/Gossamer Gear Thinlight hybrid pad 12oz/340g.

It's interesting to note that even with trail runners, shoes top the list for weight.

IMHO, the Big 4 are, pack, sleeping bag, shelter, and,clothing. Clothing is a class of items, but for me, it is the most challenging (and expensive) part of making an ultralight kit. Out of all the ultralight gear, I think clothing takes the most effort to overcome old habits and misperceptions. Certainly all my clothing together makes the largest dent in base weight– assuming three season kits and not cheating with a height-of-summer-ultra-spartan list.

Nope, an Alpacka Raft (much more expensive – actually a real boat). I would not venture into the fjords of B.C. and SE Alaska with a Sevylor.

That said, I’ve used a Sevylor too, for an 800 mile trip down the Alaska Peninsula. They’re useful for some things (let me cross rivers I would not have wanted to swim), but definitely not durable.

I’ve got reviews of both kinds of packrafts on my website here: http://www.aktrekking.com/Packrafts/
Check it out for some tips on the Sevylor I found through my own errors (i.e. never tie anything to the tie loops)

I would suggest getting a real kayak paddle – the toy ones that come with the Sevylor tend to snap in half during use.

59.4oz Lowe Alpine Vision 40 (2440ci)
48.0oz Tarptent Double Rainbow
22.3oz Montbell Alpine Hugger 3
14.5oz Thermarest Prolite 3 Short

Hoping to try out a ULA pack sometime soon. As heavy as my Lowe Alpine bag is, it is the most comfortable and sturdy pack, yet still just large enough to carry my gear. I used to fill 5000+ci packs, until I tried to minimize my items down to 2400ci. Certainly helped to take pounds off.