How light is too light?

[HkNewman]

… degrees of suffering

Like when I took a bivy sack into Oregon a few years back only to be pursued by “vampire”-identifying mosquitos deep into one night.

A slightly heavier shelter with more volume (plus earplugs) would’ve saved a lot of aggravation that night.  Obviously survived but it wasn’t a restful night sleep.

[Roger Caffin]

may not be very useful for my 40 year old, sleep deprived (I blame my 3 year old and my 3 month old), slow-to-recover body.
Ah Michael, you are still young.
Wait another 20 – 30 years.

Cheers

[Michael B]

I’ve been told I will recover when my children no longer want me to pick them up as much. I am torn by the notion of that day.

[Ryan Humphrey]

I would enjoy reading a report of a study like that, provided it gave me meaningful insights about the subjects being observed – then I could make an assessment of how close the subjects’ situations were to my own, so i could then come to the meaningful conclusion of whether the study’s report applied to my own setup.

If only we had an unlimited research budget to throw at GearSkeptic…

[Nick D]

With loose rocky ankle roll terrain I would think a boot might be better. I suggest splitting the difference though on your next purchase. When I’m not using trail runners to hike in I’ve had good success with Hoka One One boots as they are very light compared to other boots and comfortable while still giving that support.

[John S.]

He was fastpacking for an fkt attempt, not backpacking.

[Tipi Walter]

I have a couple definitions of Backpacking—

“Managing Discomfort” is one.  Another is:  “Live to See Tomorrow”—would could be expanded to mean “Backpack in such a way today that you are able to backpack tomorrow . . . and next week . . . and next year . . .”etc.

[David Gardner]

“Getting to the peak is optional. Getting home safely is mandatory.”

[Roger Caffin]

That’s an old Guide’s motto.

[jscott]

“That’s an old Guide’s motto.”

Well, the guide lived to be old. Good! so what if he or she carried a few extra ounces.

[JCH]

A fanatical, single minded drive to reduce pack weight served me very well in the past.  It did several things…

1. Got a LOT of weight off my back
2. Created plenty of opportunities to make mistakes and be uncomfortable which…
3. Taught me what was important…and what wasn’t!
4. Allowed me to add back very well considered weight focused on comfort and enjoyment of the hike.

If you ain’t having fun, why are you out there?  Better to be enjoying a beer at the local brewery with friends than miserable on the trail.

[Erik G]

^ Wise words right there. Sometimes you need to go through the whole process to truly appreciate it.

I can tell my pack is too light when I don’t bring my chair. Or my umbrella. :)

[JCH]

…or just a wee bit of alcohol :)

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I have hiked a portion of the JMT, many hundreds of miles of the PCT including Fuller Ridge on San Jacinto wearing Chaco sandals. I’ve done a few hikes with Luna sandals. I consider my Altra Timps to be the shoes I choose when the trail is going to be gnarly. I don’t really consider a lot of rocks to require shoes. Vines, stinging nettles, poison oak and wild roses require proper shoes (but not boots). Snow is better in shoes as well. Probably hiking in winter in the mountains requires boots, but I don’t do that sort of hiking.

[Edward John M]

Two sleepless nites in a row is too lite, loosing more than a kilo day in body mass is also probably too lite.
Winding up dead from windchill hypothermia is definitely too lite

[Dave Heiss]

Over the years my backpacking “fun” quotient has tracked somewhat like a bell curve. Low fun levels in the beginning when I brought everything and my pack was too heavy, and low fun levels again when I was in the throes of ultralight and my pack was too light.

In the beginning my heavy pack weight caused the typical list of bodily aches and pains from hauling it around but the actual camping part was great.  When the pack grew too light the on-trail part was great but the camping part became uncomfortable – again for the typical list of reasons (pad too thin for a good sleep, bag too minimal for cold nights, etc).

I agree with the posters above that you need to go through the process in order to find a spot on the fun quotient bell curve that maximizes your personal combination of camp comfort and pack weight.

[Ryan Humphrey]

Edward John M, if you’re losing 1 kg body weight per day, which is roughly a 7700 kcal deficit, packing too light is an understatement.

[Edward John M]

Edward John M, if you’re losing 1 kg body weight per day, which is roughly a 7700 kcal deficit, packing too light is an understatement.

Yes indeed.
One winter I lost 20 kilos over 7 weeks skiing and at the time I thought I was eating well. Mind you half that weight would be water not all fat

[JJ B]

The negative effects of poor sleep on the body, both mental and physical, shouldn’t be overlooked.  There’s an abundance of good research indicating the importance of good sleep, including its importance for the bodies ability to repair itself, and for achieving peak physical performance.  And a whole host of other things. If it’s assumed his sleep suffered a bit, i think it can be assumed his physical performance suffered and his bodies ability to heal itself was also compromised.  From my own experience, I find good sleep much more valuable than the weight savings in those areas.  I think the science supports that.
I think the more nights you’re spending in the backcountry consecutively, the more important it is to sleep well.  Especially when you’re charging for an FKT like that.

[Tom K]

“That’s an old Guide’s motto.”

Made really famous by Ed Viesturs, who was famously cautious about throwing caution to the wind when going for his 14th 8,000 meter peak, Annapurna, without supplemental O2. It took him a couple of tries, when he was very close to the summit on the first and backed off, but he lived to try again.

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