I have been car camping my whole life and now have a pretty good setup. In just the last couple years I began backpacking and have taken my now 9&11 year old daughters out on several trips high up in the Rockies. They are addicted to elevation, alpine lakes, fresh caught trout, and beautiful green meadows like dad is. Anyway, I started out with some random gear to get started which included quite a few heavy items from my camping box. I typically get just a few new items each year but this season I did a full overhaul of my rig. I am not a weight weenie but do want a lighter and more efficient load. I have also discovered that I need less and less each trip. My first single overnighter I carried a 46lb, 75 liter pack bulging full. Here is the old and new…
OLD – 5.5lb sloppy bag:
NEW – 2.5lb bag that is tight and WAY comfy:
OLD – This Suisse Sport 3.5lb synthetic bag was definitely worth $35 from Big 5 but will work better as a backup/ loaner. The pad is very light but has the same comfort level as cardboard:
NEW – I picked up a Kelty Cosmic Down 20 which weights a pound less and compresses pretty good for being a long. I also can't believe the comfort difference in a Thermarest:
OLD – Coleman Dakota hiking bricks from Big 5. They did the job for getting started:
NEW – Oboz Bridger which clamp the heel and feel soft at the same time. I want to wear these as my everyday city shoe:
OLD – Coleman burner. This was fine until it took 10 mins to get water boiling when cold out:
NEW – I found a new Jetboil on ebay for dirt cheap. This will hold my gas as well:
OLD – Nice fist aid kit (for the schoolroom). I think I used 1 Band-Aid from it:
NEW – Just what I need:
OLD – I had previously brought along some rope from the garage. It worked but…..
NEW – …this works a little better for puttin food up in da tree:
I also had a full sized Leatherman but would end up only using the pliers for pulling hooks outta the mouths of the brookies we had for breakfast. Just got something smaller:
I know there are many other options I could of chosen for cutting weight but I prefer a little comfort. Now I just wish that darn snow up in the hills would hurry up and go away.
