Hi again, Pat Trick,

I just ran across this - I think I should have found this post before the other one, it would have better informed me on how to respond. Such is the craziness of reading a forum a few posts every few days.

I restarted hiking after a long hiatus and had to make a lot of changes myself. I also went as light as I could go but with a consideration to comfort. For example, I think that it is much safer for me if I am able to get a good night's sleep, and knowing that the weather where i go (Sierra Nevada) can change at the drop of a hat, plus my claustrophobia, plus my creaky knees, plus my demonstrated inability to sleep more than half an hour at a shot on a thermarest... I knew sleeping on the ground under a tarp was not what I wanted. I knew after spending a night in a dome tent in the rain that it was not where I wanted to be. I embarked on a mission and after much research picked up a hammock and a nice large tarp. I no longer had to climb up off the ground, sleep in a confining space, find a spot that not only looked flat but was flat.... People criticize my choice but I'm not the one who can't sleep at night. I'm looking forward to 8-9 hours per night over the weekend while I'm packing in Yosemite.

Which is not to say I think you need a camping hammock, but to point out that light is not always the single criterion we need to use. My two quilts, hammock and tarp plus stakes weighs out to about five pounds. I could knock this down a bit by dropping a quilt, getting a bivy, and taking a foam pad, but that isn't going to happen. I'd rather enjoy the hike the next day without being sore. The hammock is one of the major items in my gear that helps me enjoy my outings, along with the trekking poles that prop up the edge of my tarp and lever me up and down the steep trails in my neck of the woods.

Alcohol stoves are just cool. No canisters, and you can make one yourself. Or make one that simmers and one that boils. Or buy one. I like the supercat, the white box and a wick stove I picked up at Mini Bull Designs. I typically get going faster than my canister stove carrying hiking buddies when it's freezing, even though the stove itself is slower to boil. They're putting MSR canisters in their pits and pockets to get the stove to light because their stoves are more sensitive to the cold, and I'm drinking coffee. I have a pocket rocket, but have not used it in six months. It's horrible in a wind and it just hasn't been worth it to get a windscreen that works for it without enclosing the canister.

I get the ten dollar sunglasses from go fast and light (online). I have lost one pair, broken two more, and am on my fourth - the Ray Bans stay at home. If I were spending a lot of time at very high elevation or on snow, I'd get glacier glasses. I've already had cataract surgery....

I think you will find that a series of overnight, short trips will be useful in shaking down the gear list and regaining your footing in hiking, particularly if you are going alone. I use my stoves at home first - very useful to try that backcountry pizza recipe in a small pan over the stove where you have a freezer full of chow in case you burn the crust to a hockey puck. If I had had a backyard, I would have been sleeping outside in my hammock and quilts rather than car camping.

I've printed examples of knots from the internet. Lighter and smaller than a book or even the plastic cards I found at REI. AFter I failed to retain knot tying beyond a simple larks head and taut line hitch, I rigged my tarp with figure 9s. We'll see how that goes. My filter is 8 oz - the ULA Amigo Pro gravity filter. Uses a Hiker Pro cartridge and that's handy as for trips where a gravity filter isn't so useful I have a Hiker Pro pump filter. I believe the Amigo Pro is still $45, which is less than half the price of the platypus.

My favorite pillow is my fleece pullover, rolled up and tucked against the back of my neck with the sleeves tied under my chin. I've tried inflatable pillows and stuff sacks - too noisy, and silnylon is too slick.

For a pack I take either a Granite Gear Nimbus Ozone (3 lbs, max weight carried 30 lbs, max weight pack will carry 40 lbs) or a Mariposa Plus which is lighter but not as bear canister friendly. Both have done well for me.

And that is the extent of what I can think of to offer as examples of what and why I include... and btw, a bucket is a great thing to take. Mine folds up to about the size of a deck of cards, and I can loop the handle over the handle of a trekking pole and bail water from further out in a deeper part of a lake, to avoid bailing sediments into my gravity filter. I have used it also to carry large amounts of water to put a campfire dead out before leaving camp - much easier than packing a potful of water 10 times.

Going to go pack my bear can now and get an early bedtime, to rise and go hike in the Yosemite wilderness.