Originally Posted By Trailrunner
Quote:
What weight penalty are we talking about?


The weight penalty I'm talking about is the one you just illustrated. Whether or not it justifies the extra comfort is an entirely subjective manner.

All I'm saying is, all other things being fairly equal (they will never be exactly equal) a hammock setup is heavier than a ground setup. If someone wants to trade the extra weight for the comfort, that's great. But you won't see many gram weenies with hammocks on their gear list.


Passion's got nothing to do with it. When you say gram weenie, you aren't talking about me.

All of this waffling about weight is meaningless without knowing the priorities of the people carrying it - which is what I said to begin with. Get your priorities straight - if being a gram weenie is all you are interested in, a foam pad and a cuben tarp are about the lightest you can get.

Lightweight is exactly what you say it is, and exactly what I say it is, and exactly what everyone else says it is -- because it's alllllll relative. You can be a light winter camper at 30 lbs. Depends on where you are going and how much skill you have in being out in the conditions you're going in.

I am quite light -- I am generally in the 20-25lb total weight range, inclusive of water/food. You have to look at the rest of the gear list to see where the weight was carved out elsewhere to fit the extra 19 oz in -- because again, MY priority is COMFORT. And being LIGHT. (By the way, that total generally includes a bear canister as well.) That 19 oz might be more critical if I did nothing to compensate for it - adding in 19 oz in a sleeping system without removing 19 oz elsewhere would make it harder to justify. The comparison of my ground system to my hammock system is only relevant in that it is illustrative of my lightest possible system as related to my personal needs - and 19 oz is not hard to offset. You can't compare my lightweight to what's light by other people's standards, since their priorities are different. I was headed for Exped or Big Agnes inflatables in search of sleep - then I found hammocks. And then there was the NeoAir, which came along right about the time I started to look at ground possibilities again.

90% of the people I hike with are in the 50-60 lb range, with their tents and sleeping bags, chairs, extra shirts, and six pounds of food per day. One person is lighter than I am, using foam pads with a poncho for a tarp. He never sleeps a wink at night and that's the sacrifice he's comfortable with... I need sleep. That's not negotiable, I get headaches and turn into some sort of zombie. So sure, I'm not in any way going to be as light in the pack as he is. But that's my priority. Apples and oranges.

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