UL Backpacking: A Thread for the Gram Counters

[Blake Merrell]

With my wife expecting any day now, I haven't been getting out much lately. I've been able to take some time to go through and create a weight inventory of all my gear.

LOL This is exactly what I have been doing to help curb the backpacking bug. Wife is waiting to have baby, I organize gear and plan dream trips!

 

[pstm13]

LOL This is exactly what I have been doing to help curb the backpacking bug. Wife is waiting to have baby, I organize gear and plan dream trips!

Same with me. My last trip for a while will be in July. My wife is expecting twins.

 

[jentzschman]

I am beginning my UL journey. Currently I have the ULA Circuit which weighs in at 37 oz (2.3lbs) I am strongly considering the Tarptent Notch which they list at 27 oz (1.68 lbs) and some kind of UL quilt. I am also going to get the near xlite which will save me 7 oz on my pad weight.

Its funny the things you look for on your gear to save a few grams up to an oz or so. My mom thinks I am crazy, but I like it.

 

[steve]

check out the neo air x-therm. It's only 3 oz more than the xlite, but it's almost twice as warm. It gets chilly up in the winds, even in summertime.

regular xlite - 12 oz, 3.2 R
regular xtherm - 15 oz, 5.7 R

The notch looks awesome. I've never seen it in person, but I am really pleased with my tarptent. For $25 or so you can have them seam seal it for you. I think it's worth it.

 

[steve]

You're welcome to borrow my enlightened equipment quilt sometime if you'd like. I get cold with it below 30*. For the winds I'll be taking my 15* western mountaineering apache.

 

[jentzschman]

check out the neo air x-therm. It's only 3 oz more than the xlite, but it's almost twice as warm. It gets chilly up in the winds, even in summertime.

regular xlite - 12 oz, 3.2 R
regular xtherm - 15 oz, 5.7 R

The notch looks awesome. I've never seen it in person, but I am really pleased with my tarptent. For $25 or so you can have them seam seal it for you. I think it's worth it.

I have found I am usually a warm sleeper and I wonder if the regular xlite will work ok for me. My current pad is only 2.9 so even the reg xlite wold be an upgrade for me.

 

[jentzschman]

You're welcome to borrow my enlightened equipment quilt sometime if you'd like. I get cold with it below 30*. For the winds I'll be taking my 15* western mountaineering apache.

What style quilt do you have? Ya, I would love to borrow it and see what I think.

 

[steve]

i wish I were a warm sleeper.

My quilt is the enigma. I believe it's rated at 25*?

 

[Bob]

ha my regular, original NEOair kept me warm in the WInds....with a 20* bag.....I must sleep warm, never been cold on that pad..

 

[pstm13]

Does anyone have experience with the OR Advanced Bivy? I just got one and will be testing it out Friday.

 

[steve]

I had one for one day. I used it in the snow at 7* F. Even with the zipper all the way open, I had so much condensation inside that I woke up at 2 AM and climbed in the car and slept in the car instead.

Hopefully your experiences are different. Most bivvies are going to have condensation issues at 7*. I found myself wishing for a place to stash my pack and my boots, since they didn't fit in the bivvy with me.

 

[Upgrayedd]

check out the neo air x-therm. It's only 3 oz more than the xlite, but it's almost twice as warm. It gets chilly up in the winds, even in summertime.

regular xlite - 12 oz, 3.2 R
regular xtherm - 15 oz, 5.7 R

The notch looks awesome. I've never seen it in person, but I am really pleased with my tarptent. For $25 or so you can have them seam seal it for you. I think it's worth it.

I agree with Steve. The x-therm is worth the weight, I really like mine and have never been cold when using it. In fact, last winter I camped in ~ 19F weather with howling wind in my Hilleberg using an old marmot 15F bag and was so toasty warm that I ended up sleeping with the top half unzipped almost the entire night.

I own a notch and it's a great shelter as long as you're a fairly small person. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone taller than about 5'9". It's also too narrow to comfortably fit a "wide" pad.

 

[Upgrayedd]

LOL This is exactly what I have been doing to help curb the backpacking bug. Wife is waiting to have baby, I organize gear and plan dream trips!

Ha! Me too, except it's been the past three years... 3 kids in under 3 years puts a damper on adventure and pretty much eliminates almost all free time. I do have a very organized gear closet and geargrams account. Ha!

 

[Kullaberg63]

I had one for one day. I used it in the snow at 7* F. Even with the zipper all the way open, I had so much condensation inside that I woke up at 2 AM and climbed in the car and slept in the car instead.

Hopefully your experiences are different. Most bivvies are going to have condensation issues at 7*. I found myself wishing for a place to stash my pack and my boots, since they didn't fit in the bivvy with me.

When I used bivvy bags, briefly and many years ago, I quickly learned about the condensation issues at low temps. The only solution I found was to use a vapor barrier liner.

VBL's are tricky, hard to use things with limited use, but applied correctly they solve a lot of problems. And create a few of their own....

 

[Blake Merrell]

Ha! Me too, except it's been the past three years... 3 kids in under 3 years puts a damper on adventure and pretty much eliminates almost all free time. I do have a very organized gear closet and geargrams account. Ha!

3 kids under 3!

I bet that gear closet is perfect! haha Look forward to seeing your TR's with your kiddos!

 

[pstm13]

I had one for one day. I used it in the snow at 7* F. Even with the zipper all the way open, I had so much condensation inside that I woke up at 2 AM and climbed in the car and slept in the car instead.

Hopefully your experiences are different. Most bivvies are going to have condensation issues at 7*. I found myself wishing for a place to stash my pack and my boots, since they didn't fit in the bivvy with me.

It got down below freezing. I slept with the top zipped open about 10 inches near my face. There was some condensation but nothing I couldn't handle. My bag was clammy on the top but not saturated like the time I slept under a tent rain fly directly on my bag. The hardest thing for me to deal with was the bug zipper in the middle of the night.

 

[Tater Head]

After a trip into the Sawtooths this past summer I decided that I would begin to lighten my pack a bit. As I started to do some research on new lighter gear I soon realized that it was going to cost me some serious cash. So with that being said I figured it would be more cost effective to lose some weight. Think about it I'm not eating as much (money saved) and I don't have to buy new gear. I am currently 30 pounds down from 223 pounds to 193 pounds. Now with all that money I'm saving on not eating out I can afford to buy some new gear....

 

[Blake Merrell]

After a trip into the Sawtooths this past summer I decided that I would begin to lighten my pack a bit. As I started to do some research on new lighter gear I soon realized that it was going to cost me some serious cash. So with that being said I figured it would be more cost effective to lose some weight. Think about it I'm not eating as much (money saved) and I don't have to buy new gear. I am currently 30 pounds down from 223 pounds to 193 pounds. Now with all that money I'm saving on not eating out I can afford to buy some new gear....

Way to go! I did the same thing a couple of years ago. backpacking is my biggest motivation to shed the lbs.

 

[steve]

Congrats Tater Head!

 

[WasatchWill]

I just wanted to see if I could do it. Sub 15 lb base weight. 13.69 with some small luxuries. If I tossed those luxuries out, subbed my Klymit X Frame for a thin foam pad, and pulled out the pack's polyethylene board that serves as its structural support frame, I could probably get it well south of 12 lbs. Not sure I could get it under 10 without throwing down some big cash at this point. I could probably get real close though if I tossed my cook kit and went with a no-cook diet.