XUL Overnight Kit For Temps > 50* F (3.2 lb)

[Monte Masterson]

I know XUL is technically 3 lb or less but close enough. Full rain and bug protection along with everything needed for a comfortable night out in warmer temps. Does not include Esbit weight.

Pack: Granite Gear Sawbill 20. Weighs 5.7 oz with bladder holder cut out. Has a nice 8″ X 11″ stretchy mesh front pocket. I added the 3/32″ shock cord (0.4 oz) which allows me to secure rain poncho to the outside. The drawcord top closure makes for quick and easy access.

I scrapped the 3/8″ sternum strap and added a 1″ wide one instead. I find the smallest uberlight 20L packs pull more on the sternum so the wider strap is much better. Makes it somewhat like a harness. I also added a DIY 500 ml shoulder strap water bottle holder (0.3 oz) and bottle (0.4 oz).

Sleep System: Alpha Direct 4004 and Argon 49 quilt/blanket/wrap weighs 10.4 oz with stuffsack. Rectangle measures 54″ X 80″ and features drawstring closure head and foot as well as 22″ Kam snap foot box. Also 2 elastic pad straps. Pad is NeoAir Uberlite short (5.5 oz). Thermarest Airhead pillow (2.5 oz).

Shelter and Raingear:  GoLite poncho tarp (6.9 oz) and MYOG chest zip bug bivy (4.5 oz).

Floor of bivy is Xenon .9 Sil and top is .50 noseeum with 40″ chest zip. Shockcord attaches 4 corners to biners.

Stakes (3.2 oz) and 1.25 mm spectra lines w/biners (1.2 oz).

DCF Groundsheet: Top 52″ is 1.3 oz per sq yd (CT3.5K.18) and lower 32″ polycro. For siting around camp and then goes under bivy at bedtime to help protect fragile uberlight and thin Xenon .9 floor (2.4 oz).

Accessories: 1) FAK (1.0 oz). Includes 2 large gauze pads, 2 XL Band Aids, alcohol wipes and antibiotic ointment. 2) Cook kit (1.0) includes 8 fl oz cup, wire stand and aluminum windscreen. 3) Plastic dip cup (0.4 oz). Vital for scooping up water from stream/lake/spring. Windscreen fits inside for packing. It’s just a 500 ml bottle with to 1/4 cut off. 4) 1.5 liter Evernew water bag (1.2 oz). 5) Shortened snow strake for trowel (o.8 oz), 6) Toilet paper (1.2 oz). 7) Six feet of cloth medical tape for FAK or to serve as duct tape (4 g). 8) Aqua Mira in 3 ml dropper bottles (11 g). 9) Sunscreen 30 SPF (15 g). 10) Deet in 3ml dropper bottle (4 g). 11) Buck Nano pocket knife (19 g) .12) Mini Bic (10 g). 13) Spoon (3 g). 14) Photon Micro Lite (6 g). All that’s needed because I don’t hike in the dark. 15) 7D stuffsack (2 g).

Blue REI foam 3/8″ thick and 15″ X 10″. I put in pack against back and also serves as sit pad (0.7 oz).

 

 

[Sam Haraldson]

I’ve never seen the Granite Gear Sawbill packs before.  Very cool little pack and only thirty-five bucks!  Way to go Minnesota.

[todd]

AWESOME kit.  When I searched for the pack, I saw REI has a similar one, but with zippers.  Interesting.

[dirtbag]

Hahaha.. Master of XUL!!  Have you been out with this yet? Or soon to come?? Love to hear about it. I’m digging everything except the small uberlite. Many years ago I used to sleep on small pads.. That’s what made me switch to hammocks!!  Now I NEED regular / Wide or long / wide pads when I am on the ground. No compromise there for me. That’s my bed when I am out there.. And at home my bed is Very Wide!! If  thermarest made a 30″ wide pad.. I would be all over it! Nice kit though.. Very impressive and I am envious…

[Roger Caffin]

A good mat to sleep on. Essential if you want to enjoy the trip.

Cheers

[Matthew / BPL]

That’s a great kit. Very instructive. I don’t see ever wanting to get quite that light, but it shows how easily one could get to SUL with a kit like this plus a little bit more weight in a couple of places (a little more pad and quilt). Thanks for showing your setup.

[JCH]

Imma let Monty rock that XUL kit.  I’m too soft :)

That Sawbill 20 is sweet! I too was not aware of it until now…looks like a great replacement for my aging Gossamer Gear Riksak.  Also appears to be discontinued?  At the very least it is mostly “out of stock”.  I grabbed one from Granite Gear’s website…discounted to $35.  Shipping is a bit of a bite tho.

[Monte Masterson]

Another tarp mode pitch which is much roomier and more comfortable but certainly not as protective as the A frame in blowing and/or heavy rains. The Flying V or Plow Point works well if the back side is set up towards the wind. Mid length tieouts can also be utilized for increased stability. Pulling out poncho hood becomes essential with this pitch.

What’s more head tieout on bivy can be utilized by slipping shockcord through poncho hood before tightening down loop. Makes it far better of than with no head tieout.

A 12″ length of 1/8″ shockcord to make a loop is needed for pitch above.

I realize the A frame appears extremely confining when pitched low in storm mode (below) and you have to shimmy like a worm to get in and out, however with heavier rains it will do the best at keeping you dry.

Another look at Alpha Direct/Argon 49 quilt. You can tell my camera isn’t so great.

[David Gardner]

Awesome kit! I like your sternum strap mod. Maybe I missed it, but I don’t see a burner for your cook kit. What fuel do you use?

I assume the mini ‘biners are so you can easily detach the cords for poncho mode? Not quite sure how big yours are, but perhaps one of the two small S clips shown here on the left could shave a bit more weight? The green one is plastic 1.12 gm, the blue one is aluminum and locks 1.47 gm:

[Monte Masterson]

Thanks David, I use Esbit for cook fuel.

Mini biners are from ZPacks and weigh 2.8 g each. The S biners you posted in pic above are definitely lighter but I don’t know if they’re substantial enough to handle the stresses, especially in moderate to strong winds. Maybe. The blue aluminum biners might work though. Where did you find them?

And when it comes to sleeping pads a true down and dirty SUL backpacker would simply carry a 1/4″ thick 20″ X 48″ Evazote foam pad (3.6 oz).

[David Gardner]

Esbits are definitely the lightest way to go. Do you just put them on the ground?

I question the plastic ones too. The aluminum ones should be fine. They were cashier eye candy at a local hardware store and came in a set of 5. Amazon has them for $10.79.  They will definitely handle a pull force of 15-20 lbs, which is probably all you need. Amazon also has them in stainless steel for $11.63. I remember testing the tension on tent and tarp tie outs years ago with a pull-scale and 20 lbs was a lot, and that was also the limit for various stakes I was using.

Much as I prefer thick and wide air pads these days, after trying the Uberlite for 10 miserable days I’d go with the Evazote if I had to choose. I just couldn’t get used to the height difference between the end of the pad where my knees were to the ground.

[jscott]

“And when it comes to sleeping pads a true down and dirty SUL backpacker would simply carry a 1/4″ thick 20″ X 48″ Evazote foam pad (3.6 oz).”

I carry that pad…to put under my BA pad. don’t want punctures, ya know! Does anyone really just sleep on that pad? Misery.

[Dondo .]

“And when it comes to sleeping pads a true down and dirty SUL backpacker would simply carry a 1/4″ thick 20″ X 48″ Evazote foam pad (3.6 oz).”

I carry that pad…to put under my BA pad. don’t want punctures, ya know! Does anyone really just sleep on that pad?

 

It gets worse.  A long-distance hiker out there sleeps on a 1/8″ torso-sized thinlite pad. Weight: 1 oz.

[Monte Masterson]

Not to be a nitpicker but a 48″ length of 1/8″ thick Evazote will weigh about 2 oz whether it’s from GG or MLD. Also many people may not be aware that GG now offers a folded version of the thinlight which is longer at 73.5″ and 1″ wider (3.3 oz). Fits inside a frameless pack against back to add structure much much better than a rolled Evazote. Less volume per length as well so even in a framed pack where it wouldn’t be used for structure the folded pad fits a lot better. And of course when the folded thinlight is actually folded in half you have a 37″ long 1/4″ thick torso length pad.

https://www.gossamergear.com/collections/accessories/products/thinlight-foam-pad

 

[Dondo .]

No problems nitpicking, Monte.  That’s kind of what we do around here.  The hiker I’m referring to is Jupiter, and he actually cuts his old style 19″ thinlight to just cover his shoulder to hip bone.  You can see him pull it out of his pack around 16:00 in his gear video.

I’m also a fan of the new folding thinlight.  Like many hikers here, I use it to prevent punctures of my air pad, prevent sliding when sleeping on a slope, and add a bit warmth.  Folded into the side pocket of my Mariposa, it makes an easily accessible sit pad.  And as you mention, it also provides a way to get through the night if you puncture your air pad.  Mine weighs 3.1 oz., 0.2 oz under spec.

 

 

[Sam Haraldson]

I used a Gossamer Gear torso-length NightLight for the only real thru-hike I ever completed.  Just like anything we set out to do physically we can train ourselves and that includes sleeping on the ground.  I’ve also used a full length 1/8″ thick pad which is arguably more comfortable because it actually keeps your calves warm unlike the torso-length pads.  That being said I’m definitely not “trained” on a tiny pad at this juncture so you’ll find my dog sleeping on the NightLight more often than me these days!

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