Gear Assessment - attempt to LW wherever possible

Hi All - back to the forum after a long hiatus. I've made some equipment upgrades and lightweighted some of my heavier items to get a base pack weight under 20 pounds. I was hoping to get some critiquing on my previous versus current weight to see where else I can trim. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Item Old New Comment

Shelter 79.20 42.00 Dual to solo tent
Sleeping Bag 36.45 36.45
Crash Pad 31.20 31.20

Liners (Extras) 1.05 1.05
Rain Shell 17.35 17.35

Sunglasses 0.90 0.90
Knife 7.10 2.00 Buck/Sheath to mini pocket knife
Mini Flashlight 3.40 3.40
Trek Poles 23.15 23.15

Backpack 94.00 62.00 Cabelas Ridgline to Osp. Volt
Pack Liner 4.40 3.00 Pack cover to contractor bag
Water Cntmnt 6.50 3.60 2L Bladder to Gatorade Btl (x2)

Stove 14.00 3.00 JetBoil to MSR Pocket Rocket
Fuel 7.00 4.00 JetBoil to MSR Pocket Rocket
Filtration 11.50 3.60 GravityWorksGW
Titanium Spork 0.30 0.30
Mug 7.65 3.00

First Aid Kit 7.85 4.00 "Trim the fat"
Utility Bag 60.30 33.70 "Trim the fat"

Pack Wt (oz) 413.30 277.70
Pack Wt (lb) 25.83 17.36

You can easily drop a pound off that sleeping pad. Going to a quilt could get you 30 degrees , well below 2 lbs. Those 2 items could get you down to 15.

Hi, dylansdad! Looks like you done good!

There are some other possible savings not on your list, besides those mentioned above. Of course, some may cost more $$$ per ounce saved than they are worth!

Extra clothing (clothing carried): I don't see anything listed except your rain shell. The potential big savings here is not taking any changes of clothing except an extra pair or two of socks--leave the change of clothes in your vehicle (a long with some wet wipes for cleanup) to change into at the trailhead at the end of the trip. The clothing you should take should be sufficient to keep you warm and dry, when worn all at one time, in the worst possible conditions you might encounter on the trip.

The rain jacket is awfully heavy--you should be able to find something equally suitable in the 8-10 oz. range. Watch for sales!

Solo tents are available at 2 lbs. or less. Consider those which use your trekking poles for support. Also sleeping bags at 2 lbs or less. Of course these often get into the bigger $$$!

While your backpack is (by my standards) awfully heavy (mine is 29 oz), save this until you've cut more weight elsewhere. It's a lot easier to carry lighter weight in a heavy pack than to carry heavier stuff in a lightweight pack!

Trekking poles could be replaced by carbon fiber ones weighing ~14 oz.

Is the mug your new pot to replace the Jetboil pot? If not, consider drinking out of your cooking pot.

I assume you have or will have tested all these items at home in the backyard or car camping or on a short overnighter before taking them on a longer trip!

Re tents:

Six Moon Designs is having a 20% off sale this month. (not including cuben fiber items which, even if on sale, cost horrendous $$$ per ounce saved). At least 2 models of tents (one a hybrid double wall) at about 1 1/2 lbs. If you're interested, the sale makes it a good time to make a change!

Tarptent has issued some interesting new models. They have quite a few solo tents weighing as little as 1 1/2 lbs.

Hi dylansdad77,

It looks like you made some good changes to some of your old gear. I would reiterate what others said about rain jacket and tent. For example the OR helium II weighs 6-7 oz, and is currently $100 on mass drop (not sure if that is the best price you could find, but just an example). Frogg togs are a similar weight for a quarter of the price, but aren't super durable.

A couple of things did stick out to me. Is the crash pad a sleeping pad? Or a crash pad for bouldering? Both? If the former, it seems quite heavy, and I imagine at least a pound could be dropped right there. I'm also confused by the "utility bag," is this climbing gear? If it's not it seems like an awful lot at 33 oz of miscellaneous gear.

It also seems like some clothing is missing. If it's summer I suppose just a rain jacket and nothing else is fine, but I would image taking at least a fleece or light down jacket/vest unless it's really warm.

Thanks All - some great ideas for additional lightweighting! To respond to a few of the questions posed:

1 - I "assumed" that the extra clothing would be worn and not carried. I have all the weights of my typical apparel and will add that to the list based on the season/weather anticipated. However, I dont capture that in my pack weight.

2 - I've held off on the ultra-light solo tents as of yet, solely for the cost.

3 - My trek poles are $19 Walmart specials! I figured I'd go cheap and test them out to see if I like them (which I certainly do) before spending the money on a nice set. This is near the top of my list to do next.

4 - The mug is more or less a creature comfort, I will typically make a cup of instant coffee in the morning in the mug and then eat breakfast out of the Jetboil pot. However, with the recent purchase of the MSR pocket rocket, I plan to stick with the mug and ditch the Jetboil system.

5 - The utility bag still has a lot of unnecessary "fluff" in it that I hope to get down under 1 pound total. Still trying to part with a few creature comforts to get down to my target weight.

6 - My sleeping system is in need of a major overhaul. I have a 20 degree mummy bag, on clearance from EMS years ago. I think I paid $50 for a bag I use as a quilt anyway. The crash pad (sleeping pad) is also an EMS clearance item, the first pad I've bought. If I am going to spend a small mint on anything, I will be upgrading my sleeping system first. Any advice on 20 degree quilts is appreciated - I am a stomach sleeper so mummy bags for me are pointless.

Thanks again!

I think you'll find that you'll be carrying, not wearing, a lot of that extra insulating clothing while you're actively hiking, especially going uphill! You want to avoid getting sweaty if at all possible, especially in cold weather when wet insulation = hypothermia! And whether worn or carried, the weight is still on your feet!

If you're going for a quilt, you want a pad with plenty of insulation. For a 20* quilt, you probably want the R value of the pad to be around 5. This is also true for a sleeping bag (the EN13537 criteria for testing 20*F sleeping bags puts the "sleeping" dummy on a R5 pad). I'm still looking for the perfect sleeping pad and have about given up. My Exped Downmat UL7 is plenty warm, but it appears so fragile that I'm nervous about turning over, and for me it's also not quite thick enough. When I have a choice (i.e. it's not too cold), I still use my old pad (POE Max Thermo) I bought in 2006. It has long since been discontinued--even the company has disappeared--so there's no point in my recommending it.