PNW gear list

[scott daniels]

hey there, been lurking for awhile and decided its time to take some input on my list.
trying to shave a little weight.
i backpack in the cascades during august, september and october mostly.
i run hot during the day and get very cold once stopped. i also sleep cold.
7day list. with a partner. shelter is shared. he carries stove, pot and fuel to offset.
extra water storage, as i drink alot of it and we will be in some dry camps(for the photo angle at first and last light).
i also hate being wet, and dread being cold ;)
thanks
scott

wow, that came out terribly. is there a way to attach excel?
sorry im new…

[Steven Paris]

Hey Scott,

Welcome to BPL!

Some people post a PDF gear list under their forum profile (My Account –> Change Forum Profile –> My Community Profile Settings –> at the bottom, you can upload a PDF gear list).

Otherwise, you can just post a simple gear list in the body of a post or there are a number of 3rd party gear list sites, the names of which are escaping me at this second!

"I also hate being wet" is a problem in the PNW!

[scott daniels]

ok, so lets try this again.
uploaded a pdf to my profile. this is what i take beginning around mid sept. through most of oct.
without food/water im just under 25lbs. :eek:

[Jeffs Eleven]

It looks like you have whiskey showing at 12 oz and the empty container is only 1.8oz.

List just the container, remove the consumable aspect (whiskey itself)

I don't get your platys. 8oz? You must carry a few?

Personally I dry bag instead of stuck sacking everything so I can be organized and not use a rain cover for the pack. (I really hate raincovers) your tent will be a wet mess and soak everything in your pack anyway. Use dry bags for the purifies and sleeping bag and nix the raincover.

Also with all that camera gear you have to slide your weight scale up a bit. You'll never comfortably get "really light" with a bunch of camera gear. It is what it is. I'd say mentally "allow" yourself another lb or two for your target weight to allow for camera gear.

If you remove your camera gear you weight ain't all that bad- but you obviously are into pictures so pick your poison. I'd bet there is a lighter tripod but I dunno

5oz of baby wipes? Holy… Your butt must glisten in the morning dew! ;)

Overall not too bad. Personally I don't carry rain pants unless it's in the 40's or below, but I don't use baby wipes so maybe I'm just a savage

Heavyish pack. …

Is the zebra light really 6oz? That's pretty heavy

Ok done pooping- I'm out.

[scott daniels]

thank you for the thoughts.
the tripod is carbon fiber with a good head.
there are lighter options but they begin to get so expensive(i have about $240 into my current one)

bladders, one 3L bigzip platy and one 4L drom lite.

the zebra lights are 2.25 and 4.15 respectively. i often hike in the dark. the h600 is CRAZY bright and i use the h52 for my remedial tasks.

im ok with not being the lightest guy, but am having a hard time finding other places to cut, need fresh perspectives i guess.

my tent goes in a zpacks small stuff sack to help keep other stuff dry.

flask weight is fixed.

pack is heavyish but packing 35, maybe 40lbs…

seems if i shed 3-4 more pounds id be happy. for now… ;)

[Ian]

A couple things jump out at me:

Fleece Hoodie & Puffy / I'd bring one or the other for three season – 15 oz

Longjohns – 3oz seems off by almost half for one item. I'd bring the bottoms, leave the top at home, and sleep in the puffy if need be.

550 cord weight seems off. There's lighter stuff out there like Glowire.

You can get a single person tent with stakes for a bit over a pound or a tarp for 8 oz.

I'm not sure what "SO LBO 3PV" is but assume it's a portion of the shelter? Depending on what the two of you are carrying, it's possible the bivy can stay home.

[scott daniels]

that is total tent weight. 29.4oz with stakes. my share would be 14.7oz. its the "little bug out" made by seek outside.

that is just longjohn bottoms. maybe i need to reweigh them. they are just helly hansen dry. size L.

i run a mixture of zline and triptease as guyline. i have always just carried 550 cord for cutting up and not caring, cus its cheap (like me haha)

the hoody is close to getting the axe. i used to carry it all the time but have been leaving it out for may-aug trips so far.

[Michael L]

I can't get past the tripod. You are putting a tiny camera on a 3 lb tripod. Seems overkill.

[Ian]

He has a 2lb "big lens" on the list so I suspect there's a DSLR in play that isn't on the list and the RX100ii is a back-up.

[scott daniels]

correct. rx100 rides in belt pouch for quick shots. often times wildlife. documenting the trip kind of shots.

[Ian]

A three lb tripod would lead one to believe you're carrying some serious hardware. Details man! Details!

[Michael L]

I completely skipped the big lens when I saw the camera and tripod

[Will Elliott]

Skip camera, write haiku!

[Will Elliott]

Otherwise, you could switch to a lighter pack and trade the rain cover for a interior liner. Otherwise everything else looks well considered. Skip extra buckle for such a light load. Eat 500 less calories a day for a month. Do squats with a big rock every other morning. Maybe some weight could be saved with your menus? Looks like without spending lots of money on new, fragile gear, you're pretty set. Maybe leave most of the emergency kit behind and the long johns.

[scott daniels]

sorry, nothing super awesome to report there, t3i. tripod pulls double duty with a kowa spotting scope.

[scott daniels]

im not very creative so i think ill stick to pictures, haha.

thinking i may swap the mid layer for a windshirt, any input here?
was in the maroon bells last weekend with just a merino base, puffy, and hardshell and felt undergunned on some of the windy areas when not moving. spent more time in the sleeping bag than i wouldve liked.

menus are pretty well dialed, last year i ran higher cal/oz foods but my protein intake was so deficient i was wearing down prematurely.
i try not to lose too much weight on trips as im about 6' 170-175 to start.
i already squat alot…

[scott daniels]

also, i am not opposed to a new, lighterweight pack, but would like something comfortable at 30-35lbs, options? my wife hides wine in my pack sometimes…

[scott daniels]

ive made a few updates.
been reading some reviews on the exped lightning 45 as well. seems like it might fit my needs well and save 10oz. might try to find one locally to try on.
down under 22lbs :)

[Ben]

It's hard with camera gear. I always want to take my camera out and have at times taken 20lb of equipment plus 25-30lb of climbing gear plus food and water in hot weather and it's not pleasant. Especially when you weigh 140 haha. Now I either take one lens if I want to take the slr for climbing photos and for all of my hiking and a lot of other occasions I invested in a fujifilm x100s. It has a better sensor than my slr but stuck with a 35mm lens only. They do have interchangeable lens cameras that are also amazing and much smaller than a Canon.
I have never regretted only taking the Fuji. Even on a holiday to Thailand I didn't miss the flexibility of my slr. I always thought I couldn't go without it but it's so much better to enjoy the walking and put the photography a distant second. For me anyway.

Benen

[Mike M]

I think you'd be happy with the Exped, mine is the 60 but they are constructed the same. For the weight, I don't think there are many (any?) packs that carry as much weight comfortably. The infinite torso adjustment is pretty slick too, you can use it and w/ a 45 second change, your wife can use it.

You're getting it whittled down pretty good, but…… :)

You list a rain cover and a dry sack, simply use a larger drysack (made in cuben now) for things you need (need) dry- ie sleeping bag, clothing (edit see you left it off- good job!)

Do you need a bivy w/ a full mid shelter? I never use one w/ my Duomid (I did w/ tarps)

my fleece gloves weight 1.2 oz, I sometimes carry rain mitts (also 1.2 oz)- I can't imagine anything, save dead of winter, needing more glove

agreed on the line, the newer 2mm stuff is plenty strong and much lighter than 550

for tp I use shop towels cut up into size, much more effective than tp and you can carry a lot less- they also let you wet them w/o any risk of tearing, ~ 1 oz lasts 3 days

toiletries- my kit- small vial of Dr Bronners, small vial of toothpowder, small toothbrush (from zpacks) and a small micro towel weighs in at 1 oz- looks like you have some room trim

[Will Elliott]

PACK:
I think you could save some weight with a frameless pack, without spending lots of money on something fancy. Granite Gear Virga is very cheap used. If you don’t like it then you haven’t spent much and can resell it. Plus the extension collar is huge and it doubles as a bivy.

RAINCOVER:
skip if your stuff is in waterproof stuffsacks

BIVY:
sell and buy bigger tarp

POLES:
19 oz. poles would be overkill. Z-poles weigh half as much and you really feel the difference since you are continually swinging them around. They are fine for river crossings, heavy packs, everything.

TP:
Since everything gets wet in the rainforest, you could just bring hand sanitizer and use moss.

Footwear and food might be other places where you could reap some gains.

Looks like good stuff all around.

[Ian]

"thinking i may swap the mid layer for a windshirt, any input here?"

That's what I've done. I don't bring it on every trip but my Arcteryx Squamish is:

1. The same weight as my Terramor silk weight top;
2. Comfortable for sleeping in to keep my funk off of my sleeping bag;
3. Keeps me warm down to freezing when worn under my rain shell;
4. and is a wind shirt.

[Author]

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