Buying your way lighter.

BIGHORNtracks

BIGHORNtracks

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Joined
Apr 10, 2015
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8
There is this thing in my head that says "you can BUY your way lighter".

If I buy gear that costs more, I will increase my quality or durability, and shed weight at the same time.

The problem is, it does not feel true.

Problem is, I want to take some heavy gear with me. (super telephoto camera gear)
So, in order to accommodate this, I need to cut weight where possible.

For me, the stuff that weighs the most is my pack 85 L 5100 cubic inch, weighs 4 pounds.
My tent 14 ft long, 12 ft wide, 7.5 ft tall. Weighs 4 pounds 1 ounce.
Clothes 3 complete changes in the bag, weighs 5 pounds. (includes down jacket, gloves and hat)

Food would be the next biggest weight, but thats not something that can be cut.
Things like fuel for the stove, 1 pound.
Sleeping bag, 1 pound 12 ounces.
Misc safety and personal care gear, all don't weigh significant amounts.
All my gear currently weighs in around 20 lbs without food, water, or the heavy camera gear.

I have considered cutting things like dry bags. I carry 1 pound worth of dry bags.
But, I like the dry bags. They keep everything organized, separated, and if I take an unplanned dunk crossing a creek, my tent, sleeping bag, and spare clothes are still dry and ready to use. Plus they double as bear hanging bags for food and such.

So, I look at the big weights.
Obviously, the tent jumps out.
Looking at Big Agnes tents, most 3 season tents they offer are 3.5 pounds or more.
Hilleberg red label is even heavier.
So, I cant justify giving up the huge size and comfort of my tent to go smaller and weigh the same.
The closest I have found is HMG hyperlite mountain gear's echo II weighs in at 2 pounds.
That would cut my tent weight in half, but I only have 1/3 the space.

My pack is lighter than most packs of that size.
Its about the right size for week long trips.

The next big weight is the clothes. 3 changes, plus the ones I am wearing. This may be my best chance to cut some weight. my shirts weigh 6 ounces. Pants come in at 12 ounces.
loosing one set would cut around a pound. I doubt that I would be willing to loose more than one set for a week long trip.

Despite all my looking, I can not seem to find a way to BUY my way to a lighter pack.

Unless one of you guys has found a way.

It just doesn't seem possible to get under 40 pounds, all in.
Ideas?
 
What kind of pack and tent do you have. I'm surprised (impressed) that they are so light given the sizes you quote.

That said, I do think it's possible to go lighter. Clearly reducing your clothes is a big change. I don't even carry one full set of replacement clothes when I'm out.

And there are certainly packs and tents that are lighter that. What you're carrying, especially if you look at the cottage manufacturers. Tarptents are great (but substantially smaller than what you're using now). And there are a number of manufacturers (gossamer gear, ula, zpacks, etc) making light packs that will handle up to 35+ lbs.

The only question is what you are willing to give up. Are you ok getting a tent with an 8x4 footprint in order to save 2-3 lbs?
 
Durability is not necessarily going to happen when you go lighter...... in fact you lose a lot of it....
My pack is 3800ci ..... works for what I carry but for someone else....maybe not.
14' tent...... WOW what can I say..... :facepalm:
Clothes....one change, but extra socks. Double garbage bag lined pack if you are afraid of a dunk..
Food I figure 1.25 lbs per day.
 
Have you looked at the stuff from Gossamer Gear or ZPacks? Do you prefer the comfort and protection of a regular tent, or would you be happy to switch to a tarp tent?

I'm in the final stages of pulling everything together for a JMT thru-hike in July. My pack weight is currently 22.5lb (including an empty BV500 bear canister) and will probably max out around about the 35lb mark when I have a full 8 days worth of food for the southern half of the trail. I would love to travel as light as is physically possible and I know where I can shave weight - my 2 person tent is 4lbs and my down bag is 2lbs. But honestly, for me, the biggest barrier is cost. I simply don't have the kinda money right now that is needed to get my pack weight down to 15lbs or so. And as BIGHORNtracks says, I also want to carry some heavier gear - mainly camera equipment.

But honestly, right now, i'm pretty happy with the weight/comfort/cost ratio of what i'll be carrying on my back.

Does the amount of weight you currently carry make you unhappy or uncomfortable? So much so that you're prepared to part with the money needed to reduce the weight? It's a decision that each of us have to weigh up individually. Hike your own hike and do what works best for you. Don't be pressured into spending money because others say you *have to* be an Ultralighter.
 
Mak1277
Well, the tent that I bought is a Titanium Goat vertex 7.5

Specs.
Vertex 7.5 with carbon fiber pole:Specifications:
Weight: 4lbs 1oz Total weight, Tent and stuff sack 2lbs 11oz, Stakes, 7 oz
carbon fiber pole 15oz
Length: 166" (13' 10")
Width: 132" (12' 5")
Height: 90" (7' 6"')
Square footage: 133 sq/ft

Link to web page.
http://www.titaniumgoat.com/tents.html


The pack that I bought is a Stone Glacier.

The sky 5100.
SPECS

-5100 mode weight - 4.04 Lbs without load shelf, 4.16 Lbs with load shelf (1 pc belt)

-130+ pound load rating (check Design page for load rating info)

-5100 cubic main bag and lid

Link
http://www.stoneglacier.com/hunting-packs

Dan 85, I have looked at tarp tents.
I believe that if I were to go that route, I would go with the HMG echo II
Tarps are still lighter.
I am not uncomfortable with the weight I currently carry.
But there is a significant change when you add the weight of a super telephoto lens, a tripod sturdy enough to support it, and all the gear that comes along with it.
It almost doubles your weight.

Luckily I have a 15 year old son who is built like a mule.
Splitting the weight works for us, but sometimes he does not go along.
 
titanium Goat is decent tent.... made here in town. More expedition or hunting type stuff, sleeps a bunch, the titanium stove makes it cozy..
 
Wow, that's some expensive gear. Have you actually weighed your pack before heading out on a week-long trip or is that a calculated weight? If that weight is right, then I think you're doing okay. My week-long weight is usually around 35 pounds, so you're not too far off from that.
 
I would cut the clothes, I carry one spare pair of socks, board shorts and a lightweight t shirt (camp clothes) and whatever seasonal appropriate clothing as well, but no spare. You're gonna stink out there no matter what so might as well not suffer for it in weight.

The tent is a little heavy. Nemo is introducing a two person tent called the Hornet that will weigh in at less than three lbs with footprint.

Idk what you carry in your hygiene kit but you can probably lighten weight there too. I lost a lot of weight getting rid of spare clothes and going to smaller containers for my hygiene stuff, and leaving some at home entirely. My hygiene kit contains a 2oz bottle of Dr. Bronners soap, 2oz bottle of Sun Bum sunscreen, small bug repellent, a travel sized tooth brush, travel sized toothpaste, nail clippers, Burts Bees. First aid kit is a roll of medical tape, 3 4x4 gauze, 5 large strip bandaids, 5 medium strip bandaids, one emergency blanket, 20 800mg ibuprofen tablets (enough for max dosage for 5 days).

I used to carry a lot more crap in my first aid kit until I got on the street as a Firefighter/EMT. I quickly learned that about 99% of traumatic injuries are fixed with direct pressure, medical tape/coban, gauze, and water. If it's worse than that, things like tourniquets can be made of a belt, if you need more gauze, use a shirt, if you need an occlusive bandage use some wet gauze and a ziplock bag. The woods aren't an ER, you're providing emergency care to sustain and stabilize life until you can get your self or the patient to an actual medical facility.

A SAM splint is a great thing to have too and they don't weigh hardly anything at all.

You don't need deodorant. I use my Dr. Bronners soap for everything, bathing, dishes, shampoo... It's great.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The Splitter said:
I would cut the clothes . . .
Click to expand...
Agreed. For 1 day or 10 days the clothes you've got on, extra socks, underwear and shirt .
A luxury item would be an extra shorts / pants. On day 3 of a week or more BP trip I bathe,
change my clothes and wash the ones I had on. That way I've always got a back up set that
are somewhat fresh without packing multiple sets of clothes.

I would also agree with @Aldaron if you're doing a week long trip at 35 pounds with camera
gear you're doing pretty dang good.
 
Yes - you can get so much lighter easily.
No - you cannot get lighter and still take all the lux stuff you think you need.

I don't spend that much time in a tent, so I have a one-man tent that weighs 2 lbs. I do spend plenty of time asleep, so I have the lightest cushy pad available. I use a jetboil so I don't need extra fuel. I don't bring a change of clothes. I don't nerd out on my pictures, so I bring a camera that fits in my shirt pocket. All this stuff fits in a 3 lb. bag. With a weeks worth of food it still weighs 40 lbs.

So take what you like to have and be happy about it. You can go ultralight any time you want, but won't have all the cool stuff you are used to. Ultralight is about you and nature without a bunch of other stuff, but tends to be a little cold and uncomfortable.
 
Lots of good suggestions above. I may be be repeating some stuff others have said. I'm not ultralight but I did shed a bunch of weight over the last 3 years. Things that helped me (and maybe you have done some or most of these already):

Buy scale, weigh EVERYTHING and scrutinize it, then spreadsheet it. Share gear if feasible, when possible (and the budget allows) buy new lighter gear a little at a time , "dirtbag it" and only take one set of clothes (maybe 2 pairs of undies and socks...wash and alternate), carry less water,and ditch the bladder and nalgenes and use lightweight water bottles. I also started ditching other things like a knife, superfluous fishing gear, other clothes, chair, etc.

Items that saved me weight by buying new and lighter versions: pack, pad, down coat, smaller pot, rain jacket, tent, water filter, pack cover, and a few other things.

Keeping working at it and have fun with it. You'll be able to shed some weight here and there.

Oh...and check out some ultralight books and other threads about going ultralight. You may get a few more ideas.
 
steve said:
Aside from a few key items, "buying" doesn't really get you lighter. Changing your mindset and leaving stuff at home gets you lighter.
Click to expand...

Steve is 100% right. While dropping some cash is part of the equation, going lighter is more about learning what you don't need and how to make things multipurpose so that you are still prepared and traveling safely... making one of your tent stakes a wider snow stake so it can also double as your poop shovel, using the the right gauge of cordage for bear bagging so they can double as spare shoelaces, careful water sourcing so your not carrying water unnecessarily, etc. There's no associated cost really in making those types of adjustments.

And this is just my personal preference... even though your pack is an area where you can make huge weight savings of 2-3 lbs, I choose my packs based on comfort and cut my weight elsewhere.
 
Thanks guys, lots of great thoughts.
Steve has been a favorite contributor of mine, but vegan hiker, you just made me think.

Unfortunately it was about something call a "poop shovel".

You are now on my favorites list.
 
A few items where I sort of splurged to get lighter are carbon fiber poles, a Feathered Friends down bag, a high-quality point-and-shoot, and a decent bivy bag. Besides that sort of thing it's definitely about making do with less, like sleeping fully clothed in an otherwise inadequate bag.

Do people really bring along a special-purpose poop shovel? I always just try to kick a hole and if that doesn't work, use a stick or rock.

For a pack I've lately loved this one. It's made of very tough material so I don't worry about sitting on it or lowering it on a rope. It's big enough that I don't end up strapping stuff on the outside and light enough that if I don't need all the room, I just cinch it down instead of looking for a smaller pack:
http://www.coldcoldworldpacks.com/chaos.htm
 
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