Newbie Gear List – Weighed and Listed

Not directly addressing what you asked about, but double check the listed weight of the UL 7 sleeping mat. Your final weight will look better, more bragging rights!

Looks great.

Is your sleeping pad really 60 oz? (edit: John beat me to the punch)

Personal choice on the pack. The questions I'd ask myself are: 1) What's the largest volume I'll need, and 2) How often will I travel with > 25 lb?

Pick a pack that meets the volume requirements, and consider a framed pack if 1) you will frequently carry a significant load, 2) you think you will be uncomfortable with that load in a frameless pack, and 3) you think that discomfort will outweigh the weight savings.

I use a MLD Exodus (3,500 ci), and it is more volume than I need for my 3 season gear list, including a Bearikade Expedition (900 ci) bear can. Glancing at your gear list, I suspect my gear is not significantly more voluminous than yours, although I use a Hexamid which is probably significantly smaller than the Tarptent you use.

For me, going lighter was an iterative process. I bought a piece of gear, and 1-2 years later, with more experience and a slightly different perspective, I re-examined it and replaced it with something that was lighter. You could gamble that that will happen with you, and err on the side of a lighter pack that may be marginal for your current base weight, or accept iteration as part of the process, and make the best choice based on your current gear list.

I can't offer any advice on the base layer items. I am guilty of owning a few Icebreaker merino wool items, which are wonderful, but not cheap.

I wish I knew more on how to get my gears volume needs figured out, but my lack of experience limits that, My answer is to take it to my local dealer, Quest Outdoors and see how it fits in their packs and then I'll know my size needed. I have tried to steer towards cottage industry and american made as much as possible, but that's not always possible. I love the idea of ULA's packs, but keep waffling with the technology put into Ospreys suspension in their packs. The Atmos 50 may be way to large for me, but they do have the Kestrel series that drops down into the 32-48 liter range.

As for baselayers, smart wool would be my dream, but I am leaning towards either icebreakers or Ibex. I was figuring because of my area…lightweight top and mid weight bottoms. Hell for all I know I may win the lottery and tell the forums that the first 100 people to pm get a fantasy shopping spree on my dime. LOL wouldn't that be nice.

Good Eyes john, the correction has been made and link reposted, It should have been 21.5 not 60.9!!!

Adam that MLD pack is nice…something new to think about. I am still waiting on my EE quilt to be built and arrive, so I still have to time decide. You just threw another wrench into this dog and monkey show of mine :-)

I made a mental comparison of the volumes of the items in your gear list vs. my gear list used last year for a five day trip into the Wind River Range. Similar to Adam's comments the main volume difference comparing mine to yours would lie in the shelter; my MLD Solomid stuffs into the stretchy mesh pocket of the ULA CDT, takes up very little room. Your Moment would be more of a lump. The other difference was the somewhat larger amount of clothing that I carried so our volumes are probably not much different. My guess is that you could fit all your gear into the smaller CDT and dismiss from consideration the larger 63 liter Ohm 2.0. The Atmos 50 seems to be about the correct size, too. I daresay you could use a sub-50 liter pack but would be hesitant to recommend that without some true gear experts' advice.
Last year I was able to use a MLD Newt on a 3 day/2 night 'pack in relatively warm (>40*F lows) conditions. A few years ago I never would have dreamed that using such a small pack would be possible! A few months ago I bought a Feather Pack (43 liters) when it was being discontinued. I hope to try it this summer on trips of several days or more when the low temps are around freezing.
Choosing the correct pack is difficult and is an ever-changing target. If you are like me you will accumulate an array of packs that suit tiny increments of volume, food requirements, temperature requirements. I think you are in the ballpark with a ~50 liter pack depending on how many days/how much food you plan to carry.

"I wish I knew more on how to get my gears volume needs figured out, but my lack of experience limits that, My answer is to take it to my local dealer, Quest Outdoors and see how it fits in their packs and then I'll know my size needed."

Hmmm. Why not do it the easy way?

Take all of your gear and place it into a cardboard box. You might want to try different sizes of boxes until you find one that fits all of the gear perfectly. Then measure the dimensions of the box, perhaps in inches. If the box is LxWxH, then multiply those together to get the total number of cubic inches. Then convert from cubic inches to liters, if that is how you want to measure packs. Otherwise, you can take the dimensions and do it all metrically.

–B.G.–

Hi Richard,

Great start. A few thoughts:

For fall and spring, I suspect you'll want an insulation layer (puffy, fleece, or both), plus a beanie and lightweight gloves. Figure that will add another 8-12 ounces to your base, and maybe another liter or two of volume.

A Frogg Toggs/DriDucks jacket will save a couple ounces over the poncho–as fragile as the propore material is, a jacket might be less likely to snag on trees and brush.

I like merino or merino blend base layers–expensive if you pay full price, but I've always managed to find pieces deeply discounted. Patagonia closes out stuff at 50% off at least once a year, and I've picked up a couple pieces from them. I have a pair of Terramar merino bottoms and a mid weight Smartwool top, both purchased from Sierra Trading Post. And a couple months ago, I picked up a backcountry.com brand merino top on sale that I'm pretty happy with. Except for the Smartwool piece, all the tops are ~150 wt (light), long sleeve with 1/4 zip neck. I don't think I paid more than $45 for any of them–less than that for the crew neck Smartwool (too heavy for me outside winter). The bottoms (also about 150 wt) were maybe $25–it's been several years since I bought them.

Pack: If you're considering Osprey, you might try on the Exos series. It's been some years since I looked at an Atmos, but I remember the exaggerated trampoline back doing weird things with internal volume. But maybe they've changed that to be more in line with the Exos. FWIW, the first pack I bought trying to lighten up was an Exos 58–I still have it, and like the pack just fine, but never used close to its volume, and wish I'd got the 48L instead. Mostly, I use a MYOG frameless pack, but that's not for everybody.

As other have said, it looks like you'll be fine with 50L or a bit less–given that you say you'd prefer cottage gear, that the volume is right, and that the weight is lower than the Osprey packs, the Ohm sounds like a good choice (assuming it fits, of course).

> Adam that MLD pack is nice…something new to think about. I am still waiting on my
> EE quilt to be built and arrive, so I still have to time decide. You just threw another
> wrench into this dog and monkey show of mine :-)

Richard,

Didn't mean to throw a monkey wrench in!

I've heard great things about the Ohm and doubt you'd go wrong with it. I have no experience with any of ULA's packs, but they're popular with PCTers, which is a ringing endorsement in my book.

I went with an MLD pack, and am glad I did, because I think the Exodus is fantastic. As I said, it's slightly large, but I'm not paying much of a weight penalty for that. I think 40L would probably be about perfect for me. I have the suspension upgrade, and a few extra pockets, which brings the total weight to around 23 oz. But for that weight, I can carry up to 35 lbs (haven't tried any heavier than that), but can also strip a few things out and lose a few oz for lighter loads.

Until I can get down to a Zpacks zero, I think I'm done shopping for backpacks.

Looks like a good start.

I would just look for a used Golite Jam I to fit your frame.
Cost about $50-60 used here or on ebay until you can get a zero. Worth keeping even if you do eventually get a zero. Stripped weighs 18 oz.

As far as base layer, I would hit ebay mid summer.
This is what I use.

1. Merino Tee

2. For a warm base – A couple of years ago I bought Indera Polypropylene Thermal johns on ebay for cheap. Think they were about $20 for the set.

3. Lighter base SILK – Expensive but nice.

This is my take..

FT poncho wont cover a pack. One option Driducks suit (or top) and a pack cover.
You can cut up two of them and make a parcho. I did one out of one of the FT emergency ponchos as an experiment and it works, but very fragile. Would not want to take it out in cold weather, unless you have a backup. Weighs 4.5 oz. Cuben would be better. If oyu want to experiment you can buy a tyvek protective coveralls for $7 and cut it up.

Save up and buy a light smartwool tee shirt 5 oz.

You can get your entire cook kit down to 4-6 oz.

Backup water treatment, I would take a few aquamira tablets and or some household bleach. Some people carry a aquamira frontier pro backup or boil.

Exped syn mat too heavy for me. I had one and it is nice.
Upgrade to a neoair later on.

My strong preference is to get both the Atmos 50 and the Ohm 2.0. Load them both up. See which fits your gear well (probably both, but you might like one better). See which one you think is nice to 'live out off', and which one you think smells nicer/you just like…

I have a bigger Osprey (Kestrel 48) for stuffing and lashing winter gear onto and find the ride so very comfortable. I'm not in love with it, but I have to say it performs well where it is most necessary – the carry.

I also have an Ohm 2.0. I think the litres stated is a bit of an exaggeration, and think the packs will be quite close volume wise.
I love the Ohm. It somehow doesn't ride as well as the Osprey, but still the weight transfer to the hips works very well. I also love living out of it. You never miss the top pocket because of the huge front mesh pocket, the giant waist belt pockets, and the humongous side pockets. The compression works very well too. Better than my Osprey (which is easier to hang things from). I also love the way it looks more minimal than the Osprey (I got mine in all black).

But, this is me, my likes, my body.
Which is why I would get both, put some weight in there, see which one works for you and send one back. It is too important a decision not to.