Hammock Gear List

[Nathan M]

So this is for the Adirondacks in the end/beginning of winter. It’s a 20° system (both underquilt and topquilt) as well as a down jacket. For true winter I’ll need a 0° system and an underquilt protector. Bear keg is for the Eastern High Peaks working on getting an Ursack for the Western zone. Want the one that’s good for micro, mini, and normal bears.

 

Beyond the Ursack, anybody see anything to cut? I do have a lighter pillow but I’ll carry 5 oz for the vastly improved comfort. Battery banks are modular that’s why I have 2. Depends how long I’ll be gone and if I’m planning on using electronics at all.

 

Food is 3 full days. If I were say leaving Friday morning and come back Sunday afternoon I’d ditch breakfast from day 1 and lunch/dinner/dessert from day 3 cutting about a pound off the weight.

[Nathan M]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OgjZZeBDG4IjELy-ehdfr6hdYT5of6HzihMiojjM_04/edit?usp=drivesdk

[Matthew / BPL]

There are a few items here that really stand out to me.

• 8.6oz poop scoop
• 17oz med kid
• 2.5oz is a lot of hand sanitizer (repackage into a smaller bottle)
• 4.6oz is a lot of soap/sponge (repackage into a smaller bottle)
• 3.3oz lantern can be replaced by headlamp shining into a light stuff sack or something like that
• 15.7oz of battery for a 2/3 night trip is a lot. Do you really go through that much battery? My 6.5oz Anker 10000mah carries 3+ charges for my iPhone 7 and I use 20-30% of the phone’s battery per day in the backcountry taking lots of photos, occasionally verifying location via GPS and sometimes listening to a podcast/audiobook for a few minutes if I have trouble sleeping.
• 5.3oz of bluetooth speaker. I’d never take a speaker into the backcountry because it is heavy, goes through a ton of battery and potentially disrupts other people. I sometimes pack a mono earbud.
• 25.6oz Water setup is extremely heavy and could be replaced with a Sawyer/BeFree system for very little money.
• Coffee is an extremely personal choice but a drip filter or instant would save a bunch of weight.

If you spent about $60 for a Sawyer Setup and a lighter battery solution and then went through the suggestions above I think you could save 4+ pounds out of your pack.

Edit: I wasn’t even thinking about your med kit. I carry an extremely thorough med/repair kit and it is under 9 ounces. I strongly recommend taking a NOLS/SOLO WFA course at some point although that will cost you two days and about $200.

[Ken Thompson]

Matthew beat me.

[Nathan M]

8.6oz poop scoop

The soil can super rocky and rooty up here. Tride using a stake last year after my brother’s plastic GSI shovel snapped in half and it bent the stake while trying to dig. No rocks or roots just dense hard soil. I know a half pound is a lot but I’d rather that than need to walk a half mile to find my poop spot and a half mile back. I’ll try the stake again this year but this time if it’s a bit hard maybe just pour some water on it to soften it up. For now it’s a tank to be used like a tank. I’ll think on this one though.

Edit: Gotta look at the Deuce of Spades. Looks like it would bend but I dunno. Intriguing.

I carry an extremely thorough med/repair kit and it is under 9 ounces

Not to sound rude or doubtful but what’s in it? Mine is mostly that heavy right now because I’m waiting for some smaller tubes to come in. I’m also swapping out full tubes of things like burn gel, anti itch cream, and neosporin to single use packets. Will save easily 5 ounces or more doing that.

2.5oz is a lot of hand sanitizer (repackage into a smaller bottle)
4.6oz is a lot of soap/sponge (repackage into a smaller bottle)

Yup. Gotta shop around for some smaller bottles for a bunch of stuff.

3.3oz lantern can be replaced by headlamp shining into a light stuff sack or something like that

Yeah I’m trying to find a white stuffsack that’s thin enough and has diffuser properties. I’m going to try to see how well the Windrider works and if it’s good I’ll just get a white cuben stuffsack. The lantern does collapse and turn into a flashlight and that’s 3.3 oz with batteries. Realistically not that light, but I’ve loaned it out several times since I started carrying it because people needed something to go to the bathroom by and it’s nice to have a lit up shelter to come back to after using your handlamp to go out and have a constitutional.

15.7oz of battery for a 2/3 night trip is a lot

Agreed it is. I just kind of threw on both of them because say I decide to take a weeklong trip. May bring both. Going on a week long boyscout outting at the end of this month actually and I’ll most certainly bring both. I’d rather know my pack at the heaviest it can be so when I take out some stuff I can feel a bit better about the weight.

5.3oz of bluetooth speaker. I’d never take a speaker into the backcountry because it is heavy, goes through a ton of battery and potentially disrupts other people.

It is heavy, battery life is actually pretty decent JBL claims 5 hours I usually get about that of actual playtime but I get a few days of use out of it. I use it at night when I’m sure there’s nobody within a quarter mile of me and I use it about as loud as my phone speakers go. So pretty quiet. Sounds way better than my phone speakers, no earbuds to poke through the hammock or just be uncomfortable while falling asleep, and it will stop playing and auto shut off because I have it just play 3-4 songs and then the playlist ends. For the sleep aid and stress relief (every noise at night is a bear or coyote it’s stupid but it’s me) that’s weight I’ll pack. I’ll cut it out one day though.

25.6oz Water setup is extremely heavy and could be replaced with a Sawyer/BeFree system for very little money

Just saw the BeFree system in Shug’s latest vids. Gotta take a look at it. I have the Sawyer filter. If I need to go ultralight I can use it, but that Katadyn hiker…I can filter water about as fast as my refridgerator. Plus it plugs into the Dromlite bag so I can lay that on the ground, toss the in line into the water source, make sure out line is securely on the Dromlite bag, pump for 3-4 minutes and have a gallon of water ready to drink and cook with. It’s quick, it’s easy. No dirty water container, no mess. Again, I still have the Sawyer and will bring it if I need ultralight. I’d probably use it in a gravity system if I were to use it though.

Coffee is an extremely personal choice but a drip filter or instant would save a bunch of weight

Drip filter would be nice with a Toaks cup, but I dig that the JavaPress Commuter is an insulated travel mug as well as the coffee maker. Remember this system uses 20* quilts and had a down jacket and thermals realistically would add a half pound for a spare set, so this could probably push down to 10-15* for me. Insulated coffee mug for hot coffee that stays hot? Heck yeah! Pretty sure all of the insulation weighs about 4 ounces and I’d probably ditch all of that during the summer in favor of a light travel mug because it’s already hot enough.

I strongly recommend taking a NOLS/SOLO WFA course

Yeah I’ve been planning on it but I didn’t get this gear for free! I am going to be trying to get a Red Cross certification in soon. Gets me a fancy badge at work too lol!

 

Don’t mean to come off as a dick at all during any of that was just trying to be short and to the point. There’s reasons for why I carry what I carry and the list is pretty modular. Summer? Take out down jacket and take insulation from JavaPress Commuter. Winter? Add some thermals, take out water filtration (we get a lot of snow to melt). Spring or Fall? Pretty much as listed. Shorter trip? Take out a battery bank, or both! I can always charge my phone back at the car. I definitely need to look at the poop scoop and get some smaller containers for my med kit though. That’ll save about a pound alone. Hopefully I’ll get over my fear of the woods at night sooner than later so I can ditch the speaker. All in good time just gotta keep getting out there and enjoying it! I’m actually kinda proud this is all that needed to be criticised. Only been on two trips and each time my pack weighed 55 pounds!! Some improvements have been made needless to say.

[Matthew / BPL]

I backpack in AZ and the Sierra so I hear you about rocky, compacted soil. I have a Duece of Spades and don’t care for it. You might try an REI Snow Stake. It’s cheap,  extremely durable and lightweight at 1oz.

Im not going to fully inventory my kit here, that would take a long time but the highlights include irrigation syringe, soap, roller gauze, a couple gauze sponges, luekotape, tincture of benzoin, alcohol wipes, otc meds in tiny baggies, triple antibiotic ointment, a couple bandaids, gloves, NOLS card, Sharpie… Actually that’s pretty much everything? I’ve also got repair items in there including repair tape, Cuben tape, floss and needle, superglue, TAR repair kit, matches, an extra lithium AAA battery for my flashlight, a razorknife…

 

[Nathan M]

I’ve been meaning to pick up a set for my tarp for winter use anyways so I guess I have yet another reason to pull the trigger on them.

Yeah, guess I gotta take out some gauze I thought it was a bit much but my brother insisted I was an idiot for carrying “so little”. I also have waterproof medical tape I want to transfer to a smaller roll of (a whole roll is excessive) and self adhereing athletic tape that can also be used to make a brace. Once I get my stuff paired down to one or two use sized containers my medkit will probably weigh in at 10-11 oz just because of the athletic tape, but I’m a clutz so better safe than sorry.

[CARLOS C.]

You have already been given many good suggestions, but I am going to go in the other direction and suggest an addition. Have you considered an underquilt protector like the ones from http://2qzqhammockhanger.com/hammockaccessories.html

definitely helps to protect your quilts in shoulder season from rain/splash as well as providing additional wind protection. This will help shelter you more and maintain the warm of your quilts with less heat loss. I felt a difference between 5-10 degrees with mine. All for a marginal weight penalty.

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