View Full Version : Easy Weight Reductions
Grandma Dixie
01-04-2007, 23:12
I'll start us off with a few of the things that I do, or have heard about, to help shave some ounces. Other ideas are greatly welcomed!
Are nalgenes really neccesary? Sure you can drop them out of an airplane, but they're heavy! Hikers seems to be very dedicated to them, despite their inferiority. Try carrying 32 ounce gatorade bottles, if you swap 4 nalgenes out with these, you save yourself over a pound.
Is the lid to your pack necceasry? try leaving it at home!
How many fuel bottles do you need?
Do you really want to carry around that full length, inch thick sleeping pad? chances are you'll be tired enough by the time you get to camp you could sleep on a bed of nails. Try carrying a short riderest or z-rest. They're cheap, fairly comfy, and very light.
What about all the attachments to your water filter for fitting it to different size bottles? (mine has 3!) take the general one, and just stick the hose in your implement of hydration.
How many batteries do you REALLY need? (I bet we've all lived when we had a low beam on our headlamp, or our mp3 player died)
I have an 2.5 ounce titanium gigapower stove (one of the lightest around), yet my pepsi can alcohol stove seems to weigh nothing next to it (but nothing weighs nothing!)
Thats it for me, lets hear what you have!
terrapin_too
01-04-2007, 23:19
Camp shoes. Got those really light ones (http://www.sprintaquatics.com/prodinfo.asp?number=901&variation=&aitem=4&mitem=10) that Ewker told me about. 1.7 oz for the pair, and take up almost zero space in the pack.
Thanks for the link, I may have found a replacement for my crocs. I look at my gear list and they always seem to stand out anyways. What size are yours that weigh 1.7 oz? How durable are they? Comfortable?
terrapin_too
01-04-2007, 23:49
Thanks for the link, I may have found a replacement for my crocs. I look at my gear list and they always seem to stand out anyways. What size are yours that weigh 1.7 oz? How durable are they? Comfortable?
The tag says size 11 (I wear 8.5 wide.) Durable? Too early to tell. At $4.39 per pair I'm not worrying much. ;) I wouldn't hike in them. They're camp shoes, remember?
Comfortble? Sure. They're nothing more than thin (say, 4 mm) foam soles with a loose stretch mesh for the uppers. They have no shape 'till you put your feet in them.
Kerosene
01-04-2007, 23:50
The nylon mesh shoes don't have much padding underneath (about a fifth of what a pair of Crocs might have), so you have to tread very carefully around the campsite (many of which have rocks strewn throughout). I evaluated these to replace my 11 oz. Crocs but in the end decided to go with a pair of open-toed slip on sandals from Wal-Mart (7 oz.), enhanced with neoprene booties (2 oz) in the early Spring and Fall.
stumpknocker
01-05-2007, 07:50
I'll start us off with a few of the things that I do, or have heard about, to help shave some ounces. Other ideas are greatly welcomed!
Are nalgenes really neccesary? Sure you can drop them out of an airplane, but they're heavy! Hikers seems to be very dedicated to them, despite their inferiority. Try carrying 32 ounce gatorade bottles, if you swap 4 nalgenes out with these, you save yourself over a pound.
I use a one liter, wide mouth plastic Aquafina bottle. You will see a few thru hikers with Nalgene, but not many as you get further north.
Is the lid to your pack necceasry? try leaving it at home!
You see lots of lids between Springer and Neel Gap, but then they slowly start dissappearing from the Trail....at least for the thru hikers.
How many fuel bottles do you need?
I don't carry any, but most carry one. If you are using an alcohol stove, just carry enough fuel to get you to the next resupply. I would carry two to three ounces when I carried a stove and that was plenty. I saw a guy carrying 32 ounces of denatured alcohol one time!!!
Do you really want to carry around that full length, inch thick sleeping pad? chances are you'll be tired enough by the time you get to camp you could sleep on a bed of nails. Try carrying a short riderest or z-rest. They're cheap, fairly comfy, and very light.
Sleep is important when you walk all day. I carry a short Z-Rest or something similar and set up to sleep on soft duff and leaves. I use my empty backpack under my legs and feet. If I slept in shelters, I would probably carry a heavy, thick mat to sleep on. :)
What about all the attachments to your water filter for fitting it to different size bottles? (mine has 3!) take the general one, and just stick the hose in your implement of hydration.
I don't use one, but this is a VERY personal choice and hikers need to do what they feel comfortable with....especially on this subject.
How many batteries do you REALLY need? (I bet we've all lived when we had a low beam on our headlamp, or our mp3 player died)
My mp3 uses the old batteries out of my headlamp, so I usually carry three AAA batteries with me.
I have an 2.5 ounce titanium gigapower stove (one of the lightest around), yet my pepsi can alcohol stove seems to weigh nothing next to it (but nothing weighs nothing!)
Didn't carry a stove for the last 1000 miles I walked and will not carry a stove again on a long distance walk. I found I didn't miss it at all....but again, a very personal choice for others to make.
Thats it for me, lets hear what you have!
I'm not an ultralite backpacker, or even a liteweight backpacker....I just go with what works for me and that alone tends to keep my pack on lite side.
This year's hikers should go out with what they feel they need. When you are out on the Trail and realize you haven't used something, or you don't need something, then get rid of it. Nothing like personal experience to teach you the lessons you'll remember for a lifetime. :)
I'll start us off with a few of the things that I do, or have heard about, to help shave some ounces. Other ideas are greatly welcomed!
Are nalgenes really neccesary?
AMEN Brother!
i dumped the Nalgenes after my first A.T. section hike in 2002!
i switched to Two 1 litre water bottles (bottled water bottles from store)..they're thin & weigh about 1 oz each...compared to the Nalgenes which are approx. 8 oz each.
i only take 2 batteries for my digital camera...no stinkin' IPOD for me!:D
Good luck with your hike!
hopefulhiker
01-05-2007, 09:18
I didn't take a headlamp, just two of those push button deals, I also swapped out batteries for stuff, no extra batteries. I used part of my pack for a bear bag. used platypus with no attachments. Switched to trail runners instead of boots; Planned mail drops carefully so I didn't have to carry too many days of food.. Used alcohol stove, carried a six ounce camera with two AAA batteries...
Johnny Swank
01-05-2007, 09:42
The cheapest weight to lose are those around your gut. I'd rather go ahead a lose the weight ahead of time instead of lugging that fat around for a few hundred miles.
(OK - I trained about 25 minutes for my thru-hike, but my intentions are good!)
vipahman
01-05-2007, 10:56
- Replaced Nalgenes with Platys.
- Replaced flashlight with headlamp.
- Replaced gas stove with homemade alcohol stove.
- Replaced heavy tent with SMD Lunar Solo E.
- Replaced heavy sleeping bag with WM Highlite.
- Replaced heavy sleeping pad with GG Nightlight Torso.
- Replaced ground sheet with emergency blanket (quiet type).
- Replaced water filter with Aquamira.
- Replaced all cooking vessels with just Snowpeak 600.
- Replaced penknife with razor blade.
- Replaced wallet with Id+1 credit card+some $$.
- Replaced keyring with just 2 keys.
- Lots of clothing changes to list.
All in all I got rid of about 25 lbs.:eek:
The cheapest weight to lose are those around your gut. I'd rather go ahead a lose the weight ahead of time instead of lugging that fat around for a few hundred miles.
(OK - I trained about 25 minutes for my thru-hike, but my intentions are good!)
I totally agree, although I don't know if it is either the cheapest or easiest to lose. And thanks for the honesty... a whole 25 minutes of training, wow!;)
Johnny Swank
01-05-2007, 18:01
Hey - I doubled that training regime to get ready for when we paddled the Mississippi!
But really, if I were to do it again, I'd concentrate on loosing some excess flab beforehand. It's going to disappear regardless, so why lug it around for a few hundred miles?
GlazeDog
01-27-2007, 00:05
I met a hiker in 05 that used the Privy every morning--said something about not having to carry that extra weight around all day. LOL. What could be easier?
GlazeDog
terrapin_too
01-27-2007, 00:13
I met a hiker in 05 that used the Privy every morning--said something about not having to carry that extra weight around all day. LOL. What could be easier?
Very good point. For us old pharts, a bit of Metamucil is worth its weight...
SalParadise
01-27-2007, 00:23
you can pull those heavy pack stays out, too, and slip your tent/tarp poles in their place.
double-check the clothes that you are taking. often hikers carry one or two pounds of unnecessary clothing.
if you have the right type of tent, you can ditch your stakes for sticks you find at your site.
switch from a heavy raincoat to a cheap plastic poncho; that's a pound savings.
everything doesn't have to have its own individual stuff sack, but throw it all into a single one. also get the syn nylon ones and not the heavier vinyl ones.
ditch the water filter alltogether for iodine/bleech/AqM.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
01-27-2007, 06:38
The cheapest weight to lose are those around your gut. I'd rather go ahead a lose the weight ahead of time instead of lugging that fat around for a few hundred miles.I'm in the process of doing this now... I've lost 14 pounds so far and can tell a massive difference in the amount of effort required to haul my ample arse up a hill. :D
toddhiker
01-27-2007, 13:28
I'm in the process of doing this now... I've lost 14 pounds so far and can tell a massive difference in the amount of effort required to haul my ample arse up a hill. :D
Congratulations!!! Glad it's going so well.
maxNcathy
01-27-2007, 16:34
I may carry 1/2 lb food per day for the first 3 weeks with the extra calories coming from my spare tire area.
Sandalwood
4eyedbuzzard
01-27-2007, 16:49
I may carry 1/2 lb food per day for the first 3 weeks with the extra calories coming from my spare tire area.
Sandalwood
That may not be such a great idea. There are limits to the amount of fat stores your body can convert especially the rate at which it can do it. You'll feel nutritional deficiency as a loss of energy and will experience increased respiration and heartrate if you don't eat properly. Don't overdo the dieting on the trail. Even eating enough that you feel full you'll still be running a calorie deficit. Make sure you eat enough to keep up your energy, and to provide the nutrients for building and repairing all those muscles you're using. The normal exertion of hiking will take off the pounds and replace some of them with muscle.
maxNcathy
01-27-2007, 17:38
That may not be such a great idea. There are limits to the amount of fat stores your body can convert especially the rate at which it can do it. You'll feel nutritional deficiency as a loss of energy and will experience increased respiration and heartrate if you don't eat properly. Don't overdo the dieting on the trail. Even eating enough that you feel full you'll still be running a calorie deficit. Make sure you eat enough to keep up your energy, and to provide the nutrients for building and repairing all those muscles you're using. The normal exertion of hiking will take off the pounds and replace some of them with muscle.
Thanks for the advice, buzzard.
pure_mahem
03-22-2007, 22:20
I may carry 1/2 lb food per day for the first 3 weeks with the extra calories coming from my spare tire area.
Sandalwood
Personally If Your interested in loosing some weight and not loosing energy I'd try increasing your protein intake and not going for the quick energy carbs. Protein items like nuts, jerky, and low carb protein bars like Odyssey and World Wides Revolution bar will make your body work to get the energy but you won't get the drain on your body by depriving necesary nutrients. Be careful not to do this to a severe extreme there is such a thing as protein poisoning, and as many atkin's dieter's will tell you you may want to try this out a little before getting on the trail as if the ratio is thrown out of wack severely it could lead to an increase of uric acid in the body and give you a painful case of gout. Gout is not exactly the best thing to get on the trail!:jump
I'll start us off with a few of the things that I do, or have heard about, to help shave some ounces. Other ideas are greatly welcomed!
Are nalgenes really neccesary? Sure you can drop them out of an airplane, but they're heavy! Hikers seems to be very dedicated to them, despite their inferiority. Try carrying 32 ounce gatorade bottles, if you swap 4 nalgenes out with these, you save yourself over a pound.
Is the lid to your pack necceasry? try leaving it at home!
How many fuel bottles do you need?
Do you really want to carry around that full length, inch thick sleeping pad? chances are you'll be tired enough by the time you get to camp you could sleep on a bed of nails. Try carrying a short riderest or z-rest. They're cheap, fairly comfy, and very light.
What about all the attachments to your water filter for fitting it to different size bottles? (mine has 3!) take the general one, and just stick the hose in your implement of hydration.
How many batteries do you REALLY need? (I bet we've all lived when we had a low beam on our headlamp, or our mp3 player died)
I have an 2.5 ounce titanium gigapower stove (one of the lightest around), yet my pepsi can alcohol stove seems to weigh nothing next to it (but nothing weighs nothing!)
Thats it for me, lets hear what you have!
Ok I have a Vargo Titanium alchohul stove that weighs 1/2 once, and the thermarest I use the pro lite 4 3/4 one during the warmer months. I use the full leanth one for the cold nights(no I do not carry both at the same time).
I try not to use the head lamp so much just because the extra batteries weigh to much. But the mp3 player sorry got to carry 1 AAA battery for every 2 days Im out. The Nalgene bottle is a must for the cold winter nights....boil the water and pour it in the bottle and keep it in the sleeping bag with you. That way when you wake up the next morning you got water. I have had water freeze on me. O I would'nt trust a gatorade bottle with hot water in it in my sleeping bag. I carry a small coke bottle for water to drink at camp and a platipus bag to hold large amounts of water at camp. Fuel bottles well thats on the person I have seen people with so many that they end up leaving emty canasters in the shelter.:banana
I may carry 1/2 lb food per day for the first 3 weeks with the extra calories coming from my spare tire area.
Sandalwood
First, let me just say.... Way to go Dino! 14 lbs. That's great!
Dieting shouldn't be required at all on the trail. Put your sights on high daily mileage (push yourself as much as you can), and food intake shouldn't be an issue. Burning muscle pain is good, even very painful burning and rubber legs, but sharp shooting pain is bad, bad, bad. The body burns muscle tissue way before it ever touches one fat cell, and you need that muscle for hiking. I would agree that you should up your protein, but not over 1g/pound of body weight/day.
Thanks for starting this thread. I'm looking to drop pack weight, and will look for more ideas here. Great shoe link too - thank you.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
03-23-2007, 05:46
My thoughts are the trail is going to consume any spare tire you have available regardless of what you eat. It is darn-near impossible to eat the number of calories required to hike - roughly 400 calories per hour of backpacking (hilly terrain with a pack in the 25 - 35 lb range).
As Buzzard notes, the body has limits on how fast it can breakdown fat. It also require extra water to do this so be sure to drink plenty if you are hiking to lose weight.
MaxNcathy, my advice for weight loss on the trail is to eat more complex carbs (dried fruit for example) instead of simple carbs (Snickers for example) as snacks.
I would not recommend limiting carbs while hiking. The kidneys and liver are already working pretty hard to rid muscles of the acids produced by working so hard and rid the body of the normal waste products produced by eating far more calories than normal. Adding the load of dealing with ketosis isn't a good idea IMO. Ketosis isn't unhealthy, but it does make the kidneys work harder. Practically any low-carb diet will cause ketosis if used while hiking because of the extreme need for calories.
Good thread here....
How about stuff sacks? Does everything you carry need on? I have gotten it down three; one for the sleeping bag, one for food bag, and another for small loose items. They are all made from spinnaker nulon.
Need to keep soft goods compact? Roll or fold them, and wrap with a rubber band. They work well and weigh almost nothing-free too!
What about multiple use items? My rain poncho is also my tarp (13oz. with stakes and lines. ;)
Rain Pants=Warmth layer in camp
Stuff sack=Pillow
Tent stakes=Pot stand for alcohol stove
Closed cell pad=Wind screen for cooking (careful)
Platypus=Pillow (keeps water from freezing too)
Wool socks=Mittens
Purell=Firestarter
Treking poles=Tarp poles
Wool hat=Pot cozy
Bandana=Packtowel, Pot holded, yada yada.....
'Funk :sun
Dual use is a great topic here. Some ideas in addition to the excellent ones from Ratfunk ...
I've started using a snow/sand stake for a trowel that also acts as a, well, a tent stake.
I do use a tent, but a poncho makes a good tarp to use at breaks or in conjunction with the tent in various ways.
Some backpacks (like Gossamer Gear) use a folded sleeping pad as the padding for the backpack.
Warmer clothes for use in camp or in colder-than-expected weather can allow you to go with a lighter sleeping bag (wear them to bed).
Speaking of cold/wet weather, a wide-mouth (like a plastic gatorade) bottle used for extra water capacity can be converted to a pee bottle if getting out of the tent at night is particularly unpleasant to contemplate.
For alcohol stove users, bring some everclear (pure alcohol) along as spare fuel; use as a disinfectant or mix with water and a flavoring to drink towards the end of the trip if not needed otherwise.
The biggest lesson I learned (the hard way, of course) and would suggest to someone just starting to "lighten up" would be to address the overall sleeping system first (tent, bag, pads, pillow, etc), then other stuff apart from the backpack, and leave the backpack until close to last. I bought a fairly light pack, then as I lightened everything else up, the reduction in both weight and volume allowed me to consider an even (substantially) lighter pack and I found that my previous "light" pack had become my single heaviest item.
Brian