Lightweight Backpacking Gear for Mountain Travel (Case Study)

[Ryan Jordan]

Companion forum thread to: Lightweight Backpacking Gear for Mountain Travel (Case Study)

In this video, I walk through my gear during a 9-day summer trek in the high mountains of the western US. This was a trip with friends and family – 3 other adults and four children ages 7-11. We moved camps every day but one, and spent 70% of our miles off-trail, with camps up to about 11,600 feet. Scroll down for gear notes and trip photos!

[dirtbag]

Nice tent!! $1300 not really feasable for average guy like myself!  Anyway, great video and thanks for sharing! Keep them coming please.

 

 

[Ken Thompson]

Fasting and being cold. No kidding.

[Alice Hengst]

My thoughts exactly.

[Patrick Podenski]

Excellent video and review of your gear on the 9 day trip! I enjoy reading about your ongoing gear discoveries and comments.

With regards to electrolytes, have you heard of/tried Elete? This is a liquid electrolyte solution that you add to water. Minimal weight and simple to use. Elete is available in a small dropper bottle for treating 10 liters of water and also a large refill bottle.

https://www.amazon.com/Elete-Pocket-Bottle-Display-Box/dp/B00623JYA6

[Ryan Jordan]

> fasting and being cold

I wish it was that simple.

There are some compelling metabolic arguments, and my own anecdotal evidence, that make this an inconsistent theorem on why I’ve been cold at night.

The first appears to be general metabolic changes that I’m undergoing recently. I need more insulation to stay warmer. Perhaps it’s a result of lower amounts of body fat, and maybe higher levels of metabolism as a result of better fitness.

My coldest night was after a non-fasting day where I ate a ton of calories, including a late, high fat dinner. I think a 28 deg F night with a 14 oz 40 deg F quilt is more of a culprit than fasting in this particular case.

But – the 30,000 foot view demands that the relationship between intermittent fasting and being cold can’t be ignored or discounted, and I’ve been researching to try to study this more.

From what I’ve found, it seems (in men at least) that body fat reserves are a more powerful hedge against sleeping cold than metabolic intake (military research).

More data needed!

But my days with a 14 oz quilt in the mountains may be numbered, especially with such a thin insulating jacket like the Torrid Apex that I took on this trip!

[Roger Caffin]

Time and again I have found that one of the better solutions to being cold at night is to get a better air mat. One’s heat loss to the ground can be amazingly high.

Cheers

[Brad P]

Thanks for the video and the great info.  As I’ve gotten older, I find myself sleeping colder.  There’s a reason why old folks homes are like walking into a sauna.

That McHale packs web site is one of the worst I’ve seen.

[Rich Bowman]

“…in the high mountains of the western US.”

Could you be a bit more specific?  Thx

[Arthur]

i agree “more data needed”.  I really appreciate your commentary and suggestions all the time, but i take the diet and exercise info with a grain of salt.  In my old research days, we used to call that “A huge series of ONE.”  I would love to have the research discussed referenced so we could read it.

Art

[Ken Thompson]

Ryan you’re getting old and your metabolism certainly has changed. We’re about the same age and I too feel the cold more than I use to. Moving to a much warmer location also has had an effect.

[Anonymous]

The ingredients list on the Elete bottle: Sea water, low sodium sea mineral concentrate, purified water, potassium chloride. So it’s pre-dissolved table salt and salt substitute? Maybe a little magnesium in there too?

[Roger Caffin]

The ingredients list on the Elete bottle: Sea water, low sodium sea mineral concentrate, purified water, potassium chloride. So it’s pre-dissolved table salt and salt substitute?

You left out the marketing spin and the retail mark-up. Those are very important. (cough)

Cheers

[Gordon Bedford]

Yes old age is probably the cause of feeling the cold. I am now in my mid sixties and I have noticed over the past twenty years having to wear warmer clothing and use warmer sleeping gear. My metabolic rate has probably fallen as it is easier to gain weight.
Lower metabolic rate means less heat production.

[rmeurant]

From what I recall from yogic exercises many decades ago, fasting increases vital energy, for a time at least, so intermittent fasting may well make sense. We generally eat too much by habit. That Locus Gear dome looks to be the culmination of development by Todd Bibler, Integral Designs, Wild Country, Arai, and no doubt a few other tent makers over the years. A classic. Great video, thanks Ryan.

[Stumphges]

Ryan,

What are those enormous belt pockets you’re sporting in the pics? And do they interfere with arm/hand/hip movement when hiking?

[James Marco]

Ryan did well, though he got cold a couple nights. I typically use a EE Revalation 20F quilt for Early Spring/Summer/Late Fall, trips through the Adironacks. Early winter and early spring trips are typically done with a Marmott Super Stretch Hugger 0. Both keep me fairly warm.

While using all your clothing for sleeping is a fairly good method for sleeping in below rating bags/quilts, I suspect Ryan will find his penchant for doing that will reduce, as mine has, with age. I used an older 40F bag down to about 25F many times 20 years ago. One spring I used it and it got down to about 25-30F and even with my clothing on, it was a matter of fitfull sleep. I did some exercising in the bag (situps, isometrics) and went back to sleep for an hour. I believe Ryan will find the same has he ages. I was 48 at the time, putting on 5 pounds, and generally did not have the energy levels I had, even the year before. This is more like hitting the age wall. Even though I was running 7-10 miles per day and felt good, when I rested, my metabolism was slower.

[avi sito]

Great video and insightful review. I always learn something new from your reports. Thx!

[Bryan Bihlmaier]

I was glad to see I’m not the only one who gets everything carefully packed away, only to realize I forgot to put something in that I want near the bottom of my pack! I got a kick out of seeing that even someone as experienced and meticulous as Ryan can make the same mistakes I do!

[Roger Caffin]

Chuckle. After some time you will begin to realise that most of your gear needs to be at the top. This applies especially (imho) to UL walkers.

Which is why my wife prefers a very large pack despite the extra weight: it lets her pack loosely and then to be able to rummage around in her pack.

Cheers

[Jeffs Eleven]

Normally i weigh about 180. I am usually colder than and wearing more than my hiking partners. A few years ago i lost 20 lbs and was running often. I was significantly warmer when i went hiking. It was amazing. Now im overweight again and colder again.

[Bryan Bihlmaier]

Just funny to see Ryan do the same thing. And keep it in the blog! Ha.

[Bryan Bihlmaier]

@dirtbaghiker,

I was thinking the same thing! I think the lightest thing on this trip would be my wallet. A $1330 tent, a $1970 backpack – wow. I’ve had vehicles not worth that much! Kudos to Ryan for starting a website about what he loves, so he can live the dream.

[Dena Kelley]

Ryan, I just want to say that this year I have been so impressed with the quality of the articles and videos BPL, and you in particular, are producing in 2019. The value of this site has gone up quite a bit, in my view. And while you take a lot of heat for your paleo/IF approach, it’s an approach I agree with and I read your conditioning and diet approach information with great interest. This video and related text was very interesting to me. Thank you.

[Ron Babington]

Are the kids’ gear lists posted anywhere or available? Even just the basics – pack & bag? Thank you.

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