Creeping Weight.

I saw my weight go up by a few ounces from my low in 2011. I think we tend to over/sub optimize for weight and then with more experience we find the optimum for our style of hiking.

My base weight, including bear canister and satellite communicator, tends to be right around 10 pounds, more or less. During the winter/off-season, I replace an item or two and whittle the weight down just a bit. Then in the early summer, just as I depart on the first trip of the season, I add in a few items for warmth, so the weight sneaks upward. By the middle of the summer, that need for extra warmth goes away, so the weight sneaks back down. So, there is a continual cycle, up and down.

–B.G.–

Craig,

I am pretty much using the same kit as on our trip in Anza Borrego in 2011, except for a framed pack more frequently to make dealing with carrying water easier. The other exception is a NeoAir, more and more often. Still a pretty light kit. The past couple of years I have done many, many 2-3 day trips with that exact kit you saw 3 years ago.

To be honest, I have found that discussing gear has become dreadfully boring. I haven't bought a single piece of near gear in almost two years. I just keep using what works, as there are more important things to worry about than continuously scrutinizing my gear.

Perhaps there are others that just march on with the same kit and see no need to discuss it any longer?

Perhaps when I get older I might change.

I miss the innovation of trying lighter and lighter gear but some of the things I used to try weren't super practical, so I stopped doing them. Poncho tarps and super skimpy pads would be a good example. Nice for weekend trips but on longer trips its worth some extra weight to have a full rain suit and a better sleeping pad. Also a SUL pack is nice for short trips with a SUL load but if you want to carry a packraft, 10 days of food, or 2 gallons of water then you need a sturdier pack.

My last gear list was about 8.5 pounds. It often gets closer to 10 on longer trips. I used to do 5-6 pounds on most trips but those were short trips and if the weather turned nasty I suffered more.

I'm content where I am now, absent some technological breakthrough I don't see changing what I have much beyond replacing things that wear out.

I figure I can't detect a weight decrease of a pound or two so I have about that much worth of stupid stuff

radio – 6 ounces
wind meter – 2 ounces
thermometer/clock/calendar – 3 ounces
tripod – 2 ounces
3AAA LED headlamp instead of Photon – 2 ounces

The last couple years I've switched to a down bag from synthetic which saves a few ounces.

I made a new pack. The old one was silnylon. On top it's exposed to sunlight, so it weakened, and started to rip, so I made a new one with 200D fabric which is twice as heavy, but somehow, total weight is the same.

I switched from taking one pound of vegetables to several ounces of dehydrated vegetables.

So, my weight has crept down a little, but that's been offset by adding a couple stupid things.

I'm getting close to going as far as I want with weight reduction. I might make a Cuben tent. Maybe I'll have to take up a new hobby.

Professor in college said that after 13 years, he exhausts one subject and has to move on to something new. I've been making lighter gear for about 10 years so I guess I have several more to go.

It's likely just the fact that so many people have been around long enough that the experimenting and innovating phases are sort of over.

The days when RJ and GVP were discussing the idea of a weight handicap because GVP is taller are obviously long gone. I remember enthusiastically reading articles about poncho camping in extreme weather and now RJ is now reviewing trail chairs. Pretty stark contrast from six or seven years ago.

I suppose many of us also found that certain setups are marginal at best, that function trumps numbers at a certain point.

But I'm still attracted to that ultra-minimal aesthetic, not so much the numbers. Personally, I've shied away from it over the years but have been musing about going back in that direction on some upcoming trips. Very minimal gear definitely seems to change the dynamic and how one interacts with the environment. Not better or worse, just different.

"…but have been musing about going back in that direction on some upcoming trips"

This statement basically describes where I'm at. I now pack based on the trip.

If it's going to be tough hiking, it's bare-bones for me. If it's not so strenuous or I'm doing some basecamping/fishing, my pack bloats a bit.

I think that once we acquire the confidence (experience) and gear, to get our pack weight down to a very light load, bumping up a bit for a luxury trip is still a very light load (we just tend to get fixated on numbers).

"If it's going to be tough hiking, it's bare-bones for me. If it's not so strenuous or I'm doing some basecamping/fishing, my pack bloats a bit."

Mike, I am exactly the opposite. If I think the hiking will be rough, I figure that there will be more problems and injuries and accidents, so I take a few small items to help get me out of a jam. If I think the hiking will be easy and accident-free, I strip out the few small items.

–B.G.–

It's a typical progression for many UL practitioners. You get freaky light absinthe pendulum swings back the other way a bit, in the sake of comfort or toys. You do learn the balance between two pounds on the trail and a long night on a thin pad or a lousy dehydrated dinner or you DO want to read that book.

The real core concept of UL is that you have control over the weight of your kit and you are conscious of the difference and the choices you make, rather than following fear, "must," or "should," or other external influences.

"But I'm still attracted to that ultra-minimal aesthetic, not so much the numbers. "

This is where I am, and why, after loving mostly-enclosed shelters (Gatewood, Wild Oasis), I still want to try a Grace Duo or similar. Past small tarp experiences were not so much fun due to bivy condensation – but I'm working on a solution for that.

Todd,

With a larger tarp around 5' x 8' you don't need a bivy.

For me, going UL has basically evolved from simply identifying what I bring, to buying new/lighter stuff, to bringing less stuff, to where I am now, which is just actively choosing to bring things based on what I am doing.

Before, i used to keep my pack full of all my crap (I lived in a small apartment and that's how I store it), so when I went out I'd just throw in food and some clothes and I was ready. Now there is thought to everything I bring, even in my ditty bag, and stuff doesn't come with "just because," it comes because I've chosen to bring it for some reason or another. Maybe a luxury reason, maybe a safety reason, but a reason nonetheless.

Interestingly…as I move into a new apartment here in Austin (I guess I'm staying?) from my brother's house, I am only moving things that I am actively choosing to bring with me. By getting rid of most of my belongings back in Chicago, that means what goes into this new apartment are only the items that I choose to bring – no random box of random crap "just because" it's there.

I think post UL weight creep and general interest in gear are related.

Most occupations have their tools of the trade. For a mechanic, it's several thousand dollars in tools and a box to put them in. For me, it's equipment that will hopefully allow for me to survive a potentially lethal encounter.

When most people are a new apprentice/rookie, there's a learning process with your equipment. Over time, you learn what's important and what isn't. You find that there are some jobs that can be done with pliers but that by investing in a specialized tool, your productivity is increased and as a result, that tool is worth the cash and the space that it occupies in your toolbox. You also learn what isn't worth spending money on.

When you're a rookie/apprentice and you have to buy your tools, you have to figure out your budget, do some research, and make your purchasing decisions based on the best information available to you at the time. Some of these tools work out, a few don't.

You finally arrive at a point where you're a journeyman and your toolbox is dialed in. You no longer need to research which widget remover is the best for your job as you have X hundreds of hours with it in your hands. Every now and then, a tool will break or wear out but for the most part, thinking about your gear is unecessary. The tools of your trade have become an extension of you in your field and you know, without even thinking about it, what tools are right for what job.

Maybe you could get by with just a pair of vicegrips but damn, that widget remover just makes the job so much easier.

But wait, there's more.

Then you have the experienced technicians in the garage. Some of them remember what it was like to be an apprentice and the learning curve that they climbed to become experts in their field. Others do little to help the new guy, try to make their lives miserable, and offer little more than snarky remarks. Most of these guys fall somewhere in between; helpful enough to keep the new gal/guy on the right path but snarky enough to make sure the rookie knows their place on the totem pole.

The only difference is that the experienced technicians here at BPL somehow feel that they are John Muir/Henry David Thoreau reincarnate.

Ian, I like that trade analogy you gave. Seems very accurate.

I've always compared backpacking to my grandmother's cooking: See just grabbed a knife, a pan a spoon and knew what worked. I could not tell you what brand of knife she used..I just know the food tasted darn good.

In the same way, I think as people gain experience, the gear to use is just taken for granted.

As for creeping weight, I am more worried about the yo-yoing ten pounds on me. Ha! ;)

Like Nick, I still use the same gear but have a hard time getting into conversations about it. These days, I'm mostly interested in seeing what people are up to- cool places or ways to interact with their environment. I do embrace a minimalist aesthetic. Both at home and on the trail, I have a strong aversion to clutter and feel happiest when I have less things to deal with. I also still use my original spreadsheets, though really only as a pack list to make sure I don't forget something important.

As far as weight goes, many trips with pack raft, skis, snowshoes, or kids gear (the heaviest of all) have dispelled the notion that a few ounces here or there might actually matter. Ray Jardine had postulated a linear relationship between pack weight and miles traveled, with a handy graph created from his experiences. I think the relationship is actually a curve with little benefit beyond a certain point. Other factors like conditioning and determination will also strongly influence this curve.

And for what it's worth, being forty is no reason to throw in the towel. I'm 43 and can vouch for the fact that it only gets better

There's certainly a point of diminishing returns when it comes to forgoing gear to reach a magical number.

I try to bring the lightest option that'll get the job done. I also don't feel the need to forgo things I enjoy to join any acronym club.

I tried to make a uberlight weight P&S and an iphone 4s work for photography. I was disappointed with the blurry pictures and as a result, a heavier mirrorless camera was the lightest option available for me that would get the job done.

While the camera weight has gone up, so has my photography enjoyment. My miles and pace remain unchanged.

I actually went full circle. My kids started to join me and so the pack weight went up. Now that they are teens, I am of no interest to them anymore so I am back on the warpath to lighten my load.

Yes Craig, I too have been eyeing the simple tarp once again. Thanks for the link.

Getting a smaller-volume pack, Ohm instead of a Circuit, was a good move for me in my return to backpacking/move to lightweight gear. Barely being able to cinch it shut reminds me every time that the item with the biggest room for improvement now is my puffy. (waiting on the $ to switch from my old synthetic to down)

Craig, I like your emphasis on the aesthetic of the experience. There's fiddly-ness and flexibility, and those can mean a lot of different things. RIght now I'm really enjoying pitching a tarp. It's simple in one aspect, but in another, yeah it is fiddly. So maybe you're just drawn to a different aesthetic at this point?

The least practical purchase I want to make is a new Caldera Cone, and it's aesthetic priority. I want to replace my classic aluminum w/ a Ti-Tri Sidewinder + a starlyte. Why? So I can fit everything in the pot (there are three pots which will allow this w/one needed to use stakes, I have one of them). I don't even think this will save me weight, if so a marginal amount. But I find the cone case unaesthetic, would like to eliminate it, and would appreciate a more elegant stove experience.

There's a simplicity to a canister stove, fewer pieces.

I'm still on a downward trajectory, being rather new to this (though I might add back some weight on a wider pad and adding a pillow). Now that I've gotten down to around 12#, my biggest gain to be made is in fitness. So instead of using that planning part of my brain to obsess over gear, I"ve moved to keeping detailed spreadsheets on training hikes (time, miles, elevation gain, altitude, pack weight) to track my progress.

>> I actually went full circle. My kids started to join me and so the pack weight went up. Now that they are teens, I am of no interest to them anymore so I am back on the warpath to lighten my load. <<

@David –

That comment really rang home with me. I did the same thing when my kids hit their teen years and my new motto became "I don't share". I was really tired of carrying their gear and organizing for three people. I switched all of my gear to solo gear and started backpacking with my friends. The result surprised me… my teenage sons suddenly didn't like being left behind (Dad was having too much fun without them). Now they are in their mid twenties, have done a nice job of acquiring light weight gear and join me on a few trips each year. These are often my favorite trips. The "I am of no interest to them anymore" didn't last very long!

Thanks for sharing Mike – there is hope for my kids!

It was said in jest but those who have or have had kids in their teens know that we are privileged just to parent them!

; )

"The real core concept of UL is that you have control over the weight of your kit and you are conscious of the difference and the choices you make, rather than following fear, "must," or "should," or other external influences."

I like this. I know that certain things in my pack are heavier than alternatives either because of $ or personal preference. But, i don't have things that don't get used nearly every trip.

I like my full length neoair over a CF foam. i like my exped pillow. I tried alcohol and went sprinting back to my canister stove. my LH solo tent is less fiddly than a tarp/bivy for similar weight (non cuben)

I would love a light bivy to use instead of a shelter when I'm fairly sure i'll be in an AT type shelter though. but at least have a bail out option.

"My kids started to join me and so the pack weight went up. Now that they are teens, I am of no interest to them anymore so I am back on the warpath to lighten my load."

This is something I'll never have to worry about. Every time I think of having children, someone who knows me well offers me money to resist the urge. It's how I fund my gear purchases.

"This is something I'll never have to worry about. Every time I think of having children, someone who knows me well offers me money to resist the urge. It's how I fund my gear purchases."

Are you any good at "teen sitting?" I could use some help.

"Are you any good at "teen sitting?" I could use some help."

How heavy is heavy enough?