It's a good time to review how we did in our efforts to lighten our load, lesson our impact, and improve our experience last year.

What were your biggest gains in gear and lessons learned on the trails in 2008?

What was the coolest piece of new gear you got or would have wanted to use?

What could you have done better?

--

I've only been a member here for less than two years now but I've learned a lot here about getting lighter in that time. Acting on some of what I've learned I managed to make some real gains this year.

I got a hammock and used it with a light plastic table cover as a tarp and lost several pounds off my pack.

I got a Katadyn Hiker filter and carried less water.

I made a "Pop Can" stove and lost close to a pound.

I refined my gear list and changed the clothes I brought.

I brought more dehydrated food.

For the first time I got my pack weight down to around 20lbs (less food, water, fuel) and I only spent around $100 on new gear. (Actually much less, the Byer hammock was a gift and the water filter cost was split with my son-in-law).

I still took more food than I needed, not enough water, and carried some things I didn't use or really need. But I did a lot better as a result of what I've learned here and didn't miss anything I didn't take while I was out in the forests.

This year I think I might give trekking poles a try. I've been a "Hiking Stick Only" snob for a long time now and I've never even tried trekking poles. (Maybe I'll ease into it by starting out with a two shorter, thinner, sticks

Bill

I only did one thing, I discovered lightweight backpacking and realised I could do just as much or more with less on my back.

Cheers,
Michael.

I'm going to lose close to 210 lbs. off my back this year by leaving my son at home... beat that

BF

Biggest lessons learned in 2008:

1. There are some pieces of gear that I can live without, but that I prefer to have with me. My headlamp, for example, and my camp clogs. After several trips where I saved weight by leaving them at home, they are back in my kit for good.

2. Don't go hiking in the middle of a family crisis. The "quick getaway" doesn't work at all, and in this case turned into four days of abject misery. (Exacerbated by painful feet and a dead Photon Microlight, see #1, above.)

3. I really like hiking with my wife. Didn't have much time to do that until we shipped our kid off to college this year.


Not much new gear in 2008. Bought a Tarptent Double Rainbow, sold the original Rainshadow. Good for trips with my spouse. Got a Maccat Delux hammock tarp for the summer trip, to replace the stock HH tarp. I like both purchases. Other than that, I think I'm using the same gear as the last few years. It all works pretty well.

1) Last Christmas my kids gave me a Bear-i-kade cannister. I love it and it is much lighter than the BearVault.
2) I washed out a few old plastic salad dressing bottles and am now using these for water bottles. They work great because of the flat shape, are fairly strong and weigh nearly nothing.
3) I am still looking for a lighter backpack but after trying several, did not purchase any of them because if the pack fit ME it did not fit the bear cannister!

I also walked more trail miles this summer than usual and forgot how easy it is to quickly walk 12-15 miles on a big trail but I still prefer off-trail travel.

I reconfirmed my preference of spending my last night out only a few miles from my car instead of arriving at the trailhead at dark and driving home half awake. No car camping is then required and I am a much safer driver for the trip home. (food in a car is a bear problem where I backpack). The down side is that I have to wait until I get home for my cold beer!

My pack weight (minus food and clothing worn) is now about 18#.

Heheh... I got married to a beautiful woman who enjoys hiking. Now I always have a partner to share the load with.

I'll be looking at tarps this year. I'll probably play with some old rainflys I have sitting in a collection of cheap old tents before I buy one.

I like the set-up bearpaw has here:

Speer Winter Tarp

I definitely need something better than a plastic table cloth

Bill

I went both ways on the weight this year--I added some and subtracted some. However, even with the additions, I potentially will drop two pounds from my base weight and about 1 1/2 pounds from my skin-out weight, even with the additions.

First addition: a 10.5 oz. brick in the shape of an ACR Microfix personal locator beacon. My family and friends have been on my case for some time because I normally hike alone (really with my dog Hysson, but he wouldn't be much help if I got messed up). Most of the time I'm on populated trails, but I do get off in some more isolated places, especially since I prefer isolated camping spots well away from popular areas, sometimes as much as a mile off-trail. I'm also taking longer trips (as I lighten up more) and doing some easy off-trail hiking. What really persuaded me to blow the money for the PLB was reading Wandering Daisy's Wind Rivers trip reports, which she repeated in the ongoing solo hiking thread:
At least my friends and family are happier!

I also added back a heavier tent this fall (the Tarptent Squall 2 I bought back in December 2005), having found that the SMD Lunar Solo is just too small with not enough ventilation for me plus my 80-lb. dog for long trips in inclement weather. However, I plan to get a Gossamer Gear Squall Classic when they start making them again, so that will get me back to where I started from, although much lighter in the wallet.

I've gone through my gear list several times looking for ounces or even fractions of ounces to pare. I have found quite a few, and they do add up.

The biggest adjustments affect skin-out weight, not pack weight--I finally made the shift from boots to trail runners. I haven't completely tested these out yet, but so far, so good. I also found some "mid" hikers (i.e. just over the ankle) that fit and are not Goretex lined (I hate Goretex--once Goretex-lined footwear gets wet, it takes days to dry) that weigh the same as the Montrail Hardrocks I'm currently using. So whichever footwear I end up with, I've cut over a pound off my feet! I also bought a lighter pair of trekking poles. I realized that I had enough duct tape (wrapped around the poles) to tape down the whole wilderness, so I cut that by more than half. I don't need a 3.5 oz. headlamp for summer backpacks when I'm in bed and asleep before dark, so I'm getting a Petzl e+Light. In spring and fall when the days are shorter, I take shorter trips so the heavier headlamp will go with me then.

I've also been working on my clothing. The lighter socks with the trail runners help, as do using a lighter base layer and using the base layer top as my hiking shirt.

I'm continuing to refine and cut back on things like toilet articles and first aid. Taking two week-long trips last summer really helped. I made careful note of anything left over (like half a 1-oz. bottle of hand sanitizer) so I can calculate the amounts more accurately in the future. Interestingly, I calculated the food exactly right for those two trips. On previous trips, I just couldn't eat all the dinner so had to haul out a lot of wet garbage.

Another possibility is the upcoming much-ballyhooed Thermarest NeoAir. If it works for me, it will cut 1/2 lb. from my sleep system. I already tried the Big Agnes Clearview in an attempt to lighten up, but with 8 tubes instead of the 6 on my current POE insulated air pad, it is effectively thinner. I couldn't achieve a happy medium between having it soft enough not to create sore hip bones from the pad surface and having my hip bones hit the ground. I spent two very uncomfortable nights with it. I suspect that mine won't be the only body lying on the floor at REI when the NeoAir reaches the market! I'm not going to spend that much money, if it isn't at least as comfortable as my current pad.

I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone else is doing--hopefully you'll give me some more ideas!

The only big change I made in 2008 was to decide I didn't really need to bring a chair kit - saved three quarters of a pound.

Toward the end of the year, I started playing around with slightly lighter versions of my main gear (Seedhouse SL1 v. Hubba, etc.) - if it pans out, I may save another pound or pound and a half; however, I'm also thinking I'll lose some convenience - perhaps more than the weight is worth.

One thing that did happen already in connection with the equipment replacement is that I replaced my clothing with some more functional pieces; no weight saved, but they give me more options and may let me expand my camping season by a month on either end. I also decided to add a little weight to my cold-weather load: 2 ounces of titanium cup, which lets me cook breakfast and have hot beverages. So, even if I don't swap out any gear or lose any additional weight, the experiment is worth it.

You know, that's something I haven't done in a long time. Maybe I've been an "Off Trail Only" snob too.

We have some great trails here and I always tend to think of miles per day in term of what I do while bushwhacking, so I might try a longer on trail hike this year just to see how I do.

I can always spend another night if I get worn out

Bill

That's the ultimate addition to anyone's hiking gear!

I can't say my wife is always a willing partner or that my load is any lighter when she goes with me but she certainly improves my experience


Bill

I spent some time hiking in sand and pebbly beaches. I've never *ever* carried extra footwear or camp shoes, figureing they were just surplus weight. I have changed my tune. next time I'm on beaches a pair of crocs is coming with me.

I lightened my summer load ever so slightly in the colder times
by adding a new 800 fp bag instead of my primaloft based exped wallcreeper.

OTOH, I did add the "coolest piece of gear" that I hope to never use, so my base weight went up... A microfix 406 PLB bought for me by some good friends - which I am now forced to carry by my better half

My winter weight may have gone down, thanks to two things, my
funky new DIY tent stove and modified shangri-la 3 tent, as well as possibly my funky new borde stove, but neither of these
has been seriously tested for real yet. so I'll reserve judgement on that for '09

"Drop stopper" rain gear
28 ounce sleeping bag
Marmot 3.5 ounce wind jacket
Switched to hiking shoes from trail boots.

Switched to an alcohol stove and grease pot
switched from nalgene to platypus
switched to trail runners

for 2009 I'm going to make a quilt

Absolutely nothing.

In fact, my gear choices actually increased my pack weight a bit. I've gone to mostly hammocking year-round, and the weight of the hammock, tarp, and underquilt for cooler weather use means an extra 2-3 pounds over the tarptent I so often carried.

But the quality of my sleep has improved so much that I am glad to carry the bit of extra pack weight.

Other than the hammock gear, I really haven't thought much about gear this past year. I'm spending too much time on the trail to worry about gear.

Put me in the both added and subtracted category.

I made a poncho-tarp only to decide that I didn't really like it and switched back to my 8'x10' sil tarp.

I replaced my worn Marmot Precip jacket with Driducks. Much lighter and keep me drier both from the inside and out.

Bought a Caldera Cone set up for my mug. Its a little heavier than my previous alcohol set up, but the windscreen is much less fickle and the mug is a lot more stable. The ease of use is definitely worth the increase in weight.

I replaced my MS Phantom, which has been much too large for a while now, with a second hand ULA Conduit. That saved me about 2 lbs in total. I'm now completely converted to hipbelt pockets .

I bought a pair of Inov8 Flyrocs as my first dedicated trail shoes. I've previously just used other tennis shoes that I had around, which wasn't exactly ideal. I had also worn some Salomon Tech-Amphibs so the Flyrocs didn't take long to get used to.

I discovered how great merino wool can be as a garment in the form of an Icebreaker shirt. I don't think I took it off once on my week long trip in Colorado

On the more extreme end of things I replaced my aging P&S digicam with a Nikon D40 dSLR. I've always enjoyed nice photographs and was always disappointed with a lot of the pictures I took. I picked it up as an early Christmas gift to myself and I'm liking it so far. It hasn't made it on the trail yet, but judging from the 1400 or so pictures I've taken with it I think I will be much more pleased with the pictures I bring back from the trail. Its definitely a big increase in weight though.

I'm still trying to find a menu that I like. No matter how good something tastes at home, I always have trouble keeping my appetite on the trail. You can only live on Snickers and Pringles for so long...

Adam

Gosh, I expected you to say you lightened your load by marrying Sleeps with Skunks and starting to share gear!

Happy New Year.

I learned to not obsess about gear and gear weight so much. After hiking enough miles on a given trip, a few ounces here or there don't matter. Note, however that's after a lot of obsession last year to bring things down to a moderate (light, not UL) base weight.

A related item, I learned not to obsess so much about having the exact and correct set of gear for a particular trip. Assuming safety and basic comfort are covered, it's not a problem to improvise or live without stuff. For example, mini-scissors on my mini-pocket knife turned a black plastic garbage bag into a fine (if not breathable) windshirt at need.

On trail "menu": I did learn some minimal set of recipes I can create from what's available in a medium sized trail town store, but also that I don't need a ton of variety. If I can vary my breakfast shake from chocolate to vanilla and eat a different brand of trail bar, that's "variety"!

I learned that I can comfortably cowboy camp when conditions warrant so, for example, I'll likely just bring a poncho and very lightweight bivy for a Grand Canyon trip this coming March.

I learned that --- for me at least --- an MP3 player is worth carrying on a long solo trip.

I found out this year that my wife will not do a bivy/tarp trip again
so we went back to our Squall. We did switch over to a gram cracker esbit stove and coupled it with a caldera cone and a SUL 1100 pot and it worked great. In the Winds this summer we averaged less than 2 tabs per meal. We also went to Ether Thermo
6 pads and won't go to anything that is not at least that comfortable. Our base weights are at around 12# and we are happy
with the balance between weight and comfort (on the sunset side of 55) which is becoming very important.

I basicly did the same things that you did to lighten the load. First, I offed the heavy cheap tent and built a hammock, bugnet and large copy of the Clark optional fly. I DIY, silcoated the fly. I built several alcy stoves but decided to carry the heavier brass Trangia, homemade windscreen and heine pot for everything except a small aluminum frypan.
I replaced my heavy sleeping bag with a 40degree NF.
Funny thing is that I decided on a pack first. I know, get a pack to fit all your things. Not the other way around. So I bought the REI UL60 I think it's in the 3300 cu in. range and very comfey. I also tend to carry to much food but thats the one comfort and necessary luxury I carry. BTW I also use a staff or hiking stick. I'm happy with my setup and only do minor fiddling. Oh! I also replaced my multi-tool with a small buck knife. That's really all I need where I go.

You could be a very lucky man? As long as it's all good. My spouse's idea of camping is a holiday inn.

Bill,
Take a look at the Warbonnet Superfly.....simply AWESOME!

http://www.warbonnetoutdoors.net/tarps.htm

BF

OM,
Have you tried a hammock? Get a Speer Peapod for insulation on the bottom and you won't even need a sleeping pad

BF

Hmm. Sounds like Bearpaw got made.. As a long time card carrying hammock mafia member.. welcome

I just started backpacking again after a 15 year absence. My first backpack of 2008 was in January. I carried about 35 pounds...gear I used back in the 90's. I am currently only going out for a night or two at a time.

I am now down to about 22 pounds in the winter and about 18 in the summer. I did spend a bit though...

-Walmart tent to Tarptent Rainbow
-old Camp Trails internal frame to Granite Gear Vapor Ki
-Hiker Pro water filter to tablets
-Kelty 35 degree synthetic bag to Montbell 30 degree down bag **this is the coolest piece of gear I love the Super Stretch fabric...no more feeling like a burrito!!!
-cotton long johns to Smartwool base layer
-old Thermarest 3/4 length to Big Agnes full length...I think I still shaved an ounce to two off my weight and added alot of comfort
-heavy MSR stove to homemade alcohol stove (though I will admit to using my Jetboil this winter)

These are the big changes I pretty much bought a new item every month or so. I still have to get better rain gear and a few clothing pieces but I'm fairly happy with my changes so far. Of course new items are tempting me to shave ounces here and there.

I've been out at least once a month all year long so I have been able to really tell the difference from one trip to the next as my items got lighter or more comfortable. I am now a UL convert and hope to get my base weight down to 15 pounds this year.

Millette

Amen!!!

3 hammocks, two DIY tarps (BlackCats), 1 RayWay quilt.

I love my hammocks!

Tango

Lighten the load? Hmmmm, we took 3 pick up loads of 'stuff' to the local women's shelter resale store this weekend. Does that count?

T

Well, I really couldn't afford to do much this year, but Santa was real nice to me. Also, finances have eased up a bit (finished most of the carpentry on my house) so this winter I'm putting into action some decisions that I made this pst year to lighten my load.

added a Montbell UL down jacket (extend my hiking season)
replaced clunky headlamp with Petzl e-lite (thanks Santa)
will replace self-inflating pad (18 oz) with TaR Ridge Rest short (9 oz)
will replace JetBoil with PocketRocket

I plan on adding some tieouts to my sleeping tarp and making a cooking tarp

I tried trekking poles (cheap Wally World ones) and found them much better than my hiking staff. I loved the staff, but the poles are much more adaptable and better for my knees.

BUT, the coolest thing? Freezer bag cooking!
All hail Sarbar! All hail Sarbar!

Realistically though, I really just need to keep weeding out the crap I don't need or use. Now, if Phat would just keep up to date on e-reader research and share with the rest of us, I could trade in the paperbacks for a nifty gadget . . .

I went to a smaller tarp (custom made cat tarp)and I also bought a ULA Amp pack for a 2-5 day trip. I also made a woodburning stove that has dropped my cooking kit weight down to 6 oz. I made some other changes in my kit so that my summer kit is less than 5 lbs.
Oz

I acheived my 5lb base weight goal...actually came in 2 ounes less then 5lbs, which is something I have been working towards for about two years now. So I have gone from a 40 pound base weight pack (60 total with food, fuel, water)for a weekend four years ago to the current weight I am at now. Which is about 12-15 lbs pack weight for a weekend. I have found this to be actually a very comfy weight zone for me. Knowing that I am capable of/did do it has freed me up to take along more or less depending on my trip. I think the one piece of gear I got this year that was the coolest was the cuben fiber tarp I bought from Joe at Z Paks. Out of all of this I have learned to be more self reliant, and rezilant. To think through a situation more thuroughly when it does arise and make sure keep mor in tune with what my body and surroundings are telling. This year's goal will be big mileage day goals. And to start another big mental backpack trip by getting into and going to grad school.

I dropped a pound by switiching to a Western Mountaineering Summerlite sleeping bag.

I dropped a ton of weight by switching from my Leki anti-shock poles to Gossamer Gear Light Trek 4s.

Mostly, I just learned more things I could leave at home to lighten up.

Ozark, Is that summer pack at 5lbs without water and food?

chaz:
Yes. That's a base weight. Food and water would be added to that, but for a weekend overnight trip, I'm still looking at less than 7 lbs. total pack weight.
Oz

2008 weight loses:
transition from bottles to bladders
carrying less clothes
transition from interested in tarps to completely sold
Kelty synthetic bag to WM bag - do I really need to say more about this ?

Lesson learned...
I realized that I carry too much food. I'm ok with just 1-1.5 lbs of food per day. After bringing home extra food, I decided to write down everything I ate. I realized that I eat more snacks and enjoy less big meals at night. This helped out a lot!

Don't buy overbuilt equipment. I have a NF gore-tex rain jacket that is 24.8oz. Yikes! My next step (hopefully this month) will be a poncho/tarp for solo use. That alone should save me 2.3 lbs. I bought my jacket back in 1999, so it's certainly had its fair share of use. But... I'll never do that again.


What could I have done better?
I could certainly have gone out more. (With little kids it's tough.)

Kelty 50th Anniversary to a REI UL 60 to a Golite Jam2 to a Gossamer Gear Mariposa.
Various tents to a TT Double Rainbow, and a SMD Lunar Solo.
Sleeping bag to a Golite Ultra 20 quilt.

My birthday is on Tuesday so I decided to treat myself to the new stove I've been wanting to replace my JetBoil (16 ounces). I was planning on getting a Pocket Rocket, but I hadn't ruled out similar style stoves such as the Snow Peak and Brunton. Well, the Brunton Talon won and I just ordered it (from the backcountry link on the left, thank you very much for making them so prominent, Mr. Packlite!). Sixteen ounces to less than four . . .

Itching to get on the trail, itching I tell you, is winter almost over?

to lighten my load for summer backpacking, I bought a JRB Stealth Quilt and love it (15oz). I used a different stuff sack than what it came with. That saved 5oz off my WM Caribou.

-Barry

Decided to lose the liquid fuel stove and transition to a natural fuel stove (Zip Stove). Saved nearly a pound on the stove, and no longer need to carry fuel. Upgraded from traditional mummy bag to a Nunatak sleeping quilt (a la Ray Jardine). Saved about a half pound, but spent nearly $500. Upgraded from my Eureka! tent to a Stephenson's-Warmlite. Didn't really save any weight here, but the tent is extraordinary. My arguably four season setup now weighs less than 20 pounds. I am still carrying my solar system (panel, charger, batteries), and electronics suite (GPS, PDA, camera) so I suppose those really aren't necessary.

"I am still carrying my solar system (panel, charger, batteries), and electronics suite (GPS, PDA, camera) so I suppose those really aren't necessary."

Depends on what you do with them; if you find them worth carrying, you're the only one you have to answer to ...

If you (a) still want 'em, and (b) are willing to spend some time and money, one potential weight saving is to combine them in the form of a smartphone. I carried one on the PCT this year and it gave me all three functions you listed plus more.
It's not a trivial transition, however. Look here if you're interested in some specifics:
http://postholer.com/smartPhone.html

I do, of course, find them worthwhile. After reading so much on people who go to extremes to lighten loads - shaving toothbrushes and cutting small squares of maps and the like - it seemed almost sacrilegious to carry a few pounds of not critical gear. I enjoy the convenience, but should the iPod or PDA break, I won't die. Well probably not anyway.

On the other hand, other than the tent/quilt system, I feel this to be the pinnacle of my gear. I am an engineer by trade, so I am quite enamored with gadgetry.

I considered the smart phone route, but felt it to be a jack of all trades but master of none. My biggest issue was with GPS. According to research (not experience), Smartphone GPS systems are nearly useless on anything but on a road in a car. To my knowledge they do not have many of the features available in a handheld unit. Things like topography, altitude profile, barometer, 12 channel receiver, water-proof housing, etc. Not to mention I don't need turn by turn directions, but course, bearing and heading. Extras like the moon cycle, tide tables and prime hunting/fishing times only make it better. The games are fun too (ever play a GPS maze?).

The phone, PDA and camera could certainly be combined into a single unit. I would have bought one, but they were prohibitvely expensive. Since the PDA's main function is for journal entries, I wanted a largish screen. I also intend to write my own journal-keeping software (another exciting innovation), so it must operate on Windows Mobile. To include a camera and WiFi (I refuse to pay for 3G or even EDGE for that matter), I am limited to higher-end phones. When I looked at pricing, it would cost around $300 to $500. What I wound up with was the last pure PDA on the market that I know of, the HP iPaq 111, which cost me around $200.

I am happy to see I am not the first to go this route. If I may ask, how did it work out for you on the PCT?

Overall I am very, very happy with my gear and clothes system, but in December 2008 I finally decided to work on the most obvious opportunity I've got: my backpack.

I've been using a heavily-modified no-name internal frame pack that weighs 4 lbs. with the framesheet and stay inserted (and they almost always are). I saw a GoLite Quest pack (size: L) on sale at REI, with a special coupon offer at the same time that let me buy it for $109. When it arrived I made a few modifications to cut off excess strap length and such. It now weighs 3 lbs. 2 oz., saving me nearly a pound.

I was feeling flush, so I made another purchase of an REI Flash Kilo sleeping bag, rated +45 degrees, on closeout. I will use it when my REI Sub-Kilo, rated +20, is too warm. On those occasions substituting the lighter bag will save me 3/4 lb.

This splash was my big gear purchase for probably the next 3 years. Until then, I will chip away at smaller weight improvements, as I do each winter. I can hardly wait to get out there and try them out on a nice long trail somewhere.

Smartphone GPS systems that come with the smartphone are like you say, designed for use on highways. But a smartphone is essentially a PDA combined with a phone, i.e., you can add software, and in at least some of the times (if not always) there's a standard software interface for software to talk to the GPS hardware. I used National Geographic Topo software (PocketTopo), and got some of what you're talking about in terms of what a "real" GPS does. I can't strongly recommend the software, as I found it buggy and slow, but it did the essential --- showed my location on a topo map. There are other options available, but you would have to research this yourself based on the particular device you went with.

You mentioned five things you wanted from a handheld unit: "topography, altitude profile, barometer, 12 channel receiver, water-proof housing".
Topography --- check, depending on what software you get for it (which in turn is impacted by the processor and operating system).
Altitude profile: check, again depending on software. With mapsets of any size, that feature was broken in the PocketTopo software, but certainly with the right software, altitude can be calculated with a GPS; I seem to recall that the accuracy is less than horizontal position, however. But with a location, it's also possible that the software can pull the altitude from the underying topo map, or that you can just read it off the contour lines yourself.
Barometer: nope, that's an option on some GPS units, and of course there's no reason why one couldn't be built into a smartphone, but I reckon there's little call for it. I have one in my altitude watch however ... (FWIW).
12-channel receiver --- you want to make sure your unit has a true GPS (doesn't rely on local cell towers), but mine worked great, locked on pretty quickly, and the SiRF Star III chipset did a good job under tree canopy.
It won't be waterproof, but the GPS function in my smartphone worked fine in a ziplock bag.

Extras like moon cycle, titde tables, hunting/fishing times --- again, these are just software. Freeware, shareware, and purchases software is available perhaps to do some or all of this. For example, I have a freeware application on mine that shows sun/moon rise and set times, which can be adjusted based on position (long/lat).

You said:
"The phone, PDA and camera could certainly be combined into a single unit. I would have bought one, but they were prohibitvely expensive."

If you can buy a unit as part of a contract with Verizon or AT&T (the better two choices for backcountry cell coverage), the cost might not be as high as you think, but indeed, if you want or need to buy an unlocked unit they can run pretty high.

You said:
"Since the PDA's main function is for journal entries, I wanted a largish screen. I also intend to write my own journal-keeping software (another exciting innovation), so it must operate on Windows Mobile."

Mine doesn't have a super large screen (it's 2-1/4" x 1-3/4"), but I found it fine for doing a daily journal on, coupled with a folding bluetooth keyboard. You can look at my journal (link at end of this) to see random entries, virtually all of which I typed up at the end of each day on the trail. My device does run Windows Mobile, but I'm not sure why a person would write up their own journal-keeping software (?). I found that just posting to www.postholer.com (via email or web interface) worked great, FWIW.

"To include a camera and WiFi (I refuse to pay for 3G or even EDGE for that matter)"

With AT&T it was (at that time last year at least) possible turn turn on unlimited internet access and then just turn it off again when I didn't want it, so for my use --- and in the context of already having a contract --- it wasn't that expensive, and it was very useful. I did get WiFi a few places, but in a couple of those the WiFi security interface didn't work on my mobile web browser (so that even with the password in hand I couldn't log in).

You said:
"I am happy to see I am not the first to go this route. If I may ask, how did it work out for you on the PCT?"

I'm somewhat of a geek too, but FWIW it worked great. I did the whole trail (2600+ miles) and used and carried the device the entire trip. The device itself has some design and implementation flaws, but a person learns how to work around those. All my pictures came from this device, and I considered them adequate for the job. The GPS helped me out in a few cases where the trail seemed to disappear or the signage was unclear at a junction, etc, plus it helped me be specific in my daily start/end locations for the journal. I used the built-in voice recorder some, though not a great deal. As a journaling tool it was marvelous. I rarely read books on it, but if stuck in a trail town I infrequently did, and this was a nice option to have (www.baen.com offers some nice free Sci Fi and I bought some from them too). The phone was of course quite useful at times, and the internet access was great to have --- I checked weather reports for places I was heading too, looked for trail reports, and had email access (for better perhaps and for worse).

This approach isn't for everyone, but it worked well for me, and I expect the suite of tools will get only more powerful and useful in future.

This reply is already way too long; for more on smartphones, look at http://postholer.com/smartPhone.html

I actually added weight this year, going from about 14 lbs. base-weight to a tad over 15. That's because, at 47 years old, I decided it was time to stop sitting on rocks and logs, so I added a chair kit to my pack. I also ditched the hip belt from my home-made pack and added a Luxury Lite hip belt, gaining about four ounces. But I was much more comfortable this year.

Switched from Mountain House to ramen, which also saves big $$. Started using a chest harness and lens pouches for my camera gear instead of a full bag, and having a Outdoor Research drybag/daypack that I can stash it in for waterproofing and day hiking.

Which chest harness? I also started using a chest harness last year.

I purchased a GG White Lightening tarp to replace my 2 person tent for most of my hiking.

Choosing to write my own software was just another thing I didn't have to do, but would like to do. I could have just as easily kept the journal on the PDA and copy/paste to a website when I found a connection. But, because I can, I decided to make my own website and software.

The journal manager would keep track of all the journal entries and pictures associated with them. Then, when I find an internet connection, the software will check the website to see what the most recent entry was. It will then upload whatever pictures or entries are missing.

A few reasons I like this idea. First of all, wherever I happen to find a connection, I need not have the PDA actually out. I can press a quick access button and everything will happen automatically and play a little tone when it's done. This way it is not so obvious to others that I am a wayfaring traveler with a seemingly expensive gadget. Also, it allows me to control content. I plan on telling everyone I meet to check out the website, learn about me and my journey. Call me paranoid, but I'd rather not have everyone able to see exactly where I am. I would however like people I trust to know exactly where I am. To this end, the website can be designed to delay the entries for two weeks. Everything publicly available will be delayed, but members can sign in and see everything.

Your ideas seem to be excellent. I had stopped considering smartphones when I learned of the GPS situation. I never considered the possibility of installing GPS software on the phone, rather than relying on the included software. Even now, my PDA has the option for GPS capability. I could have included coordinates in the journal manager, and made a companion Google Earth widget for the website. Perhaps another trip, for now I have already bought everything.

hmmmm???? quite a bit it seems like for me.....

switched to 3/4 ridgerest from 3/4 inflatable/insulated insulmat

switched to an ultralight pack(Elemental Horizons - Northern Lite)

switched to an ultralight tent(AGG O2)

got a lighter weight tripod

cut back on clothing i bring

oh yeah, also switched rain jackts to a Sierra Designs Isotope