What’s your big four weigh/cost? Me- 2 lbs 8.4 oz/$773

I've gone back through some but still not all this thread.

I'm on the heavy side but not as skewed as I thought.

Truly I'm not sure with the big 4 I can get much lighter given that I just can't sleep on a small torso foam pad at 46 and a side sleeper – and that anything fully enclosed isn't much lighter than my Seedhouse SL1…

I could go with a frameless pack but given food/water and some other things I take due to backpacking with scouts mostly (so I have a slightly larger FAK for example and, yes, generally have a little extra food for scouts who've planned poorly – but only share after a good hard lesson in planning better) I am not sure my base weights would be comfortable without a frame…

As it is one assistant scoutmaster expressed concern on our last trip about whether I had everything I needed since I was packed in my Flash 65 with absolutely nothing dangling or strapped to the outside… (his pack was pretty tidy but it was an 80L pack… the rest of the troop looked like Grand Canyon mules…)

My typical big 4:

Pack is a Zpacks Zero @ 5 oz. $90
Pad is a wide Xlite @ 16 oz. $125
+ GG thinlight @ 2.5 oz $16
Quilt EE Rev long/wide @ 20 oz $250(approx.)
Shelter is cuben trailstar @12 oz $350
______________________________________________________

Total is 55.5 oz – just under 3.5 pounds Cost = $831

Comment: The Zpacks Zero is big enough for most trips. If not, I add about 3-5 ounces for my old cuben blast. I should probably add my stakes. I typically don't take a bivy because the trailstar is so big. The trailstar is often shelter for 2 so could count as shared gear.

Lightheart Gear Solo 28oz/$245
SMD Swift 17.6oz/$110
POE Ether Elite 6 16oz/$100
WM Summerlite 19oz/$250

Total: 80.6oz (5 lbs) / $705

Kelty D4 External Frame Pack = 58 ounces @ $45
Chouinard Pyramid Shelter = 40 ounces @ $99
Blue Puma 35F sleeping bag = 30 ounces @ $200
Blue Foam Pad = 8 ounces @ $2.00

Total Weight 8 lbs, 8 ounces
Total Cost = $346

Cost per year = $11.08

Pack: SMD Swift + pockets 19.6oz, $95 used
Pad: Exped Synmat UL 7 short, 15 oz, $110 sale
Bag: Zpacks 20 long 19.2oz, $355 retail
Tent: Zpacks Screened Hexamid+GC+stakes 15.9oz, $230 used

Total 70 oz, $790

Here is my list of items used last year in early September in the Wind River Mtns and in mid September in the local mtns at 6000 feet. Depending on weather conditions the sleeping bag used varies from about 17 oz.(WM Highlite) to 25 oz.(Katabatic Sawatch). The pack varies from about 9 oz.(MLD Newt) to 25 oz.(ULA Ohm).

SHELTER: MLD Solomid, spinntex with bug netting option 13.4 oz. Add 1.5 oz. for seam sealing, guylines, stakes, stuff sack. Add another 1.5 oz. for set of two hiking pole jacks.
Weight 16.4 oz.
Cost approx. $210 (?)

PACK: ULA CDT with bottle holders and foam back pad
Weight 20.0 oz.
Cost $115

SLEEPING PAD: T'rest Xlite, women's factory irregular 11.8 oz. plus GG 1/8 inch CCF 2.1 oz.
Weight 13.9 oz.
Cost approx. $110 for both pieces

SLEEPING BAG: EE Rev (not X) 30 degree with one extra ounce of down, 18.4 oz., with stretchy straps add 0.8 oz.
Weight 19.2 oz.
Cost $265

Total Weight 69.5 oz. or 4.34 lb.
Total Cost $700

Note that costs do not include shipping charges.

Edit for spelling.

All gear obtained here on GSwap, thanx people.

19oz ULA CDT trimmed…90 bones
23oz WM Caribou…200 bones
15oz TAR Prolite reg…60 bones
16oz flat tarp ensemble, 50 bones

3lb 9oz…$400

and to think my old Osprey Silhouette pack, circa 1993
is 7 lbs and $250

Pack: GG Mariposa @ 28oz ~$180
Tent: TT Contrail @ 25oz ~$160
Pad: TaR NeoAir Trekker @ 23oz ~$140
Bag: MH Extralamina 20 @ … 51oz ~$125

127 oz or about 8 lbs for ~$605

That bag has got to go and my next purchase will be replacing that – still wrestling with quilt or bag though and I'm not in that big of a hurry since I've shaved over 8 lbs off those big 4 in the last few months already ;)

I guess this was bound to happen:

I didn't expect big trends, and mostly it is just a big cluster – lots of enivronmental conditions mixed in there. If I squint hard I can imagine that I see a trend toward heavy and cheap in the lower right, but there is no trend for expensive and very light in the upper left corner. The lower left outlier is critter-style and the upper right outlier is for two people with shared shelter. An interesting third dimension would be "comfort", or perhaps "temperature-range".

16+9+16.2+10
=51.2

3.2 pounds

$870

I see the most density between 4 and 5 pounds, and between $800 and $1000, which makes sense for buying 3-season gear new. Interesting to note that no one claims under 4 pounds at less than $400, and no one admits to spending over $600 on a big four over 8 lbs.

Wow, cool scatter plot. Thanks for putting that together.

One confounding variable is new vs used prices, but that is a real factor, well practiced by gear buyers.

@Stephen:

Interesting graph. Alas, there is too much noise and too little signal displayed in the 64 data points.

Statistically speaking, there is no apparent correlation between the two variables and while one could do linear estimation on the data, the result would be virtually meaningless as a predictor.

Still, a nice try and yes, there is some clustering as has already been pointed out.

Black = 2 known outliers = 3% of the total 64 points

Blue = 7 (11%) who appear to have bought high quality, brand new gear, one or more items are probably cuben

Red = 13 (20%) close to the norm – $750 to $1100 for 3.75 to 5 pounds

Green = 6 (9%) either very smart shoppers or they bought virtually all used gear or they bought their gear a LONG time ago at far cheaper prices than can be had today.

Orange = 1 (1.5%) a rich SUL gear geek; about 2.75 pounds of expensive SUL gear for about $1250? There's one in every crowd. Statistically, another outlier. Wish this were me!

Purple = 1 (1.5%) another SUL gear geek, obviously from Scotland; a very thrifty and crafty fellow. $550 for 1.75 pounds. Definite outlier. Will freeze to death on first trip into the Sierra.

That's 46% of the total data. The rest of us hiker trash fall in the remaining 54% – the YMMV/HYOH category. Logic suggests we all need to buy new gear. After all, he who dies with the most gear, irregardless of total weight, wins!

"That bag has got to go and my next purchase will be replacing that – still wrestling with quilt or bag though and I'm not in that big of a hurry since I've shaved over 8 lbs off those big 4 in the last few months already"

That's my challenge. Good UL insulation is an expensive part of a system. If you get "kinda light" it takes a healthy investment to get a real reduction in weight.

My conclusion is to use it a lot and wear it out so you have an excuse to buy a lighter version :) More hiking is always a better option!

Maybe that's what you see but if I squint real hard I see a teddy bear, try it again

I'm late to the thread, but here's my contribution. For TWO people:

Shelter: REI QuarterDome with stakes = 61.0 oz, $151
Pads: Full Length Thermarest NeoAir = 12.6×2 = 25.2 oz, $256
Jim's pack: ULA Ohm2 with minor mods = 25.1 oz, $214
Amy's pack: GG Mariposa = 31.0 oz, (bought used), $175
Quilt: MYOG 25 degree double quilt, 35.7 0z, $400 + ~50 hours

TOTAL, for TWO people.
178 oz = 11.125 pounds
$1196 + ~50 hours of sewing time

"Green = 6 (9%) either very smart shoppers or they bought virtually all used gear or they bought their gear a LONG time ago at far cheaper prices than can be had today."

I'm in that group, the tent was a gift, the sleeping pad is just cheaper and slightly older cause it's heavy, the quilt is a DIY and the pack was a gear swap (used) purchase.

Heavier gear is cheaper.

Edit:

I'm the one at 10 lbs and $200. If you use retail costs that would add $200 and put me at $400. I'd still be in the green circle.

Zpacks solplex 15 oz $475
Nano Vireo 18 oz $270
Zpacks Blast 13 oz $130
Neoair large
cut 12 oz $75

Total 58 oz, 3.625 lbs
$950

This has been an interesting thread and that is a cool graph, thanks for putting it together.

Bob, I know your post was at least 95% tongue and cheek, but why are the green circled items smart shoppers? Shouldn't the points left of that (same price/less weight) be smart shoppers?

I wonder if 4 separate graphs would tease out any kind of predictors/ trends (this is a graph of 4 sets of data randomly combined by each user).

I was really surprised there wasn't a cluster in the 2-3lb >$1000 range, and that the over $1000 range was more 4-6lbs.

Geared for extended 3+ season alpine.

82.1 oz – 5.13 lbs / $1324.95

HMG 2400 Windrider pack – 28.2 oz / $260
HMG Echo 2 tarp without the inner and beak – 9.6 oz / $295
Katabatic Gear Sawatch 15° quilt 5’6” – 22.6 oz / $450
Katabatic Gear Bristlecone Bivy 5’6” – 7.6 oz / $140
Therm-A-Rest X-Therm medium – 14.1 oz / $179.95

I bet an even more interesting graph would show the cumulative cost to get to current big-4 weight.

Yes, I am happy!

I just need a lighter pack.

I think the "noise" is created by the random cost data. Similar or even the same item with retail cost and then the gift/gear swap cost drives the noise to a point where the data is irrelevant. If you take the same big 4 weight data but use the retail cost you'd be able to discern the cost:weight trending, currently I think that the only conclusion you can come to is that there is little, if any, relation of to cost:weight. Add in the 3rd data point as retail cost vs. cost paid and that adds the "thrifty buyer" dimension to the data.

Montbell Super Spiral 3 800-22 oz, $300
Granite Gear White Lightnin' 10×12 tarp plus stakes-26 oz, $150
ULA Catalyst, 48 oz, $250
Thermarest Neoair Xlite, 16 oz, $80 on sale

7 lbs, $780.

I see getting a smaller, lighter tarp and maybe a smaller pack, but for most of my trips, I'm good with this setup.

Before last year, my base weight was over 15 lbs. Heading in the right direction.