My 2016 Gear List

[Kevin Welch]

My Gear

So I’ve been working on my gear for 2016 and wouldn’t mind some feedback. This will mostly be weekending though I am taking a couple weeks to spend on Isle Royale too.  I know there are some big ticket items and small ticket items I can/may replace in order to reduce weight further this year.

Items marked with a Yellow star are items I’d like to replace with the two biggest savings coming from moving to a lighter pack and replacing my burly but lovable hiking boots with something lighter:

• Osprey Aether 60
• St. Elias GTX

I really want to pull the trigger on the ZPacks Duplex with my bonus this year.  I prefer something more like a tent for bug protection in the Midwest and this seems like one of the best options available.

Anyway, feedback appreciated.

[Ken Thompson]

nm

[David Thomas]

Not to sound terse, but to hit the points I noticed:

Swap the Light my Fire (4 oz) for a SAK Classic (21 grams and you can butcher a bear with one)

First Aid kits can be 2 ounces.

They’re a little hard to find, but carry a 1-ounce DEET, not the 2-ounce.  At least don’t bring it full.

Not a small roll of duct but just 8 or 16 inches wrapped around your water bottle.

BRS-3000T stove is 25 grams and $11.

“Lighters” but quantity = 1?  Bring two mini-Bics, in separate compartments.  11 grams each.

Got tent stakes?  Including guy lines?

Petzl’s e-lite is 0.95 ounces instead of 4 ounces.  Or the super-capable Zebralight SC52 at 1.4 ounces.  Having the head strap is only handy in camp.  On the trail, the light should be at your waist so you can see dips and bumps in the trail.

Those boots have to go.  Weight on your feet is picked up, accelerated, de-accelerated and put down again, 100 times a minute.  There are a lot of light-weight low-cut hikers.  And those boots don’t protect your ankles from twisting, only from getting bumped.  To protect your ankles from a sprain or a break, they’d have to immobilize your ankles, like a downhill ski boot does.  Then you couldn’t hike.  And leather boots take forever to dry.

If your food doesn’t have water in it, has some fat, and minimal packaging, 1.5 pounds/day is a good target.  Unless you’re putting up huge mileage AND you’re super lean already.  Pity to carry out extra food.  Being 500 calories low each day won’t kill you – dropping 1 or 2 pounds of body fat on a week-long trip would be a benefit for most of us.

Amazon says that camera weighs 0.76 pounds, not 2 pounds.  Much less of a boat anchor. Multi-purpose your pillow or hat or something into a padded camera case.

[Kevin Welch]

Great advice and points and I definitely appreciate the input, I’ll be working on integrating some of the suggestions and ideas and adding the few things Ive left out.

 

[Bob Moulder]

Good suggestions so far.

What zaps me in the noggin is the weight of that pack… 2.35kg (5.17lb) Yikes! Good thing that’s one of your top priorities for replacement.

A Zpacks Arc Haul with a couple of accessory pockets (hip & shoulder) and lumbar pad (1oz.. I needed it!)  comes in around 0.75kg (1.7lb) for a savings of a whopping 3.5lbs or so.

That’s a big chunk out of the base weight.

 

 

[Andy F]

I think a fixed blade knife is a good choice. I use a 4 inch fixed blade Mora for wood processing often, and I consider it an essential tool for emergency firestarting in wet or winter conditions. I also usually cook over a fire rather than bringing a stove.

I would add:

• paper map
• compass
• backup fire ignition method
• emergency tinder
• whistle

I carry all of these on-person in case of pack loss, which is when I’d need them the most.

Also, thin gloves would be very useful on cooler trips. I like the military surplus wool liners for $5 new.

A smartphone doesn’t count as a map or compass. I’ve personally helped search for someone who believed that it did. Fortunately, after his battery died and his solar charger failed to work on a cloudy day in the forest, he ran into someone with a paper map.

[Dean F.]

I don’t see a base layer, other than maybe “synthetic shirt.” Granted, in the 3-season midwest do you really need one? I usually end up using mine as pajamas, to try to keep my sleeping bag clean.

[rick .]

Good to see you’re working on the big ones, pack and tent.

After that (you guessed it) sleep system!  easy 1st lb:
20oz air mat can be replaced with 12oz neoair xlight (or 9oz cut zlite).
Sell that, the liner and the pillow to fund a lighter one.

The giant battery and also a 1lb solar panel seems redundant.

Wrap some leukotape around something.  It stays on for like 3 days anyway.
repackage the bag balm.
repackage aquamira (or get rid of, this is a backup to something that rarely fails)
There are lighter cords, especially if you just have it in case.  Dyneema Ironwire is what I use.

The pack liner is heavy.  I use a 1oz bag for sleeping bag and jacket (sea to summit ultrasil nano).  Then another very small bag for sleep clothes (doubles as pillow with whatever clothes I’m not wearing).  Maps, first aid, small stuff in a gallon zip.

I’d try to steer you away from the 9oz water sippin’ system, but most people either love em or hate em.

Its the creature comforts that you’re holding on to, and it looks like you’re revising some already.  You may decide that those are worth the weight (notice I said nothing about the camera!).

The usual convention on clothing is that one set is worn, the rest is carried.  I include things like buff in carried, unless you do actually wear it.  Semantics, but consistency helps you compare progress.
You don’t need 2 pair of underwear.
You can hike in a running short with a liner, ditch both underwear, and take lighter pants.  These pants could be un-necessary (or replace) the kilt and gators.

[Shawn Bearden]

Just a suggestion on the tapes. Get mailing label backer or go to the post office and look in the trash next to the do-it-yourself kiosk for discarded label backers. Put your tape on that, in strips rather than wound around anything. That makes it really easy to cut-trim to shape when you need it.

[Bob Moulder]

I know people love their saws, hatchets and knives, but on the rare occasions I’ve built a fire it has always been possible to process wood ‘cave-man style’ by whacking it over a pointy rock sticking out of the ground, or by wedging a long piece between a couple of close standing trees and levering it.

Weekend before last the guys I was hiking with in the Catskills wanted to make a fire. OK, legal it was and there was plenty of downed wood. A couple of them were taking turns at the saw and I was just whacking the stuff on a rock and had a pretty good pile going in the time it took them to saw one piece. In short order they decided ‘screw that’ and started whacking it the same way. :^)

Maybe there are places where these implements are truly necessary, but I’ve yet to find one.

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