What's the weight of your BIG FOUR?

[MedicineMan]

pack: mithril 22oz
tent: HH Light Racer 21oz.
sleeping bag: Arc Alpinist 21oz.
SmeePan UQ 20oz.
pad: none
total:5.25lb

[MedicineMan]

exciting, cant wait to compare it with what PeterPan and Smee are doing....

about safety/Miss Janet...newbies take her words to heart...i've made new hikers carry old stuff just so they can appreciate where I came from

Maybe there should be a caveat (attention Attroll) before entering the ultralightweight section you have to click on a button and read the warning that getting off the couch can hurt you!

on the serious side we ultralight hikers could/should post about dangers we have faced/witnessed when subweight gear was used when heavier weight gear should have been taken....
Here's a lesson from sea kayaking...last year near Seattle two experienced yakkers were found dead-hypothermia...after the investigation it was found that they both had drysuits stowed inside their boats along with PFDs.
It is a real pisser to be in a bind knowing you have the right stuff at home but didnt bring it because it weighed too much, but only you can make that decision.

I didnt take this thread as a championing of who has the lightest/most expensive/ whatever....maybe some self accessment, maybe a means for us to actually look at what we carry, but I didnt see it as a threat to the greenhorns....surely many reading this thread will say wow, I know I did when I first discovered that my old Jansport D2 with at least a 1000miles on it was actually heavy.

I do know that ultralighting has made it possible for many to return to the trail, be it post injury (like me) or decreased animosity to the load carried.

[Robusto]

Here is my late spring to early fall big four list

cut down ridgerest 6.4 oz
silnylon tarp 10.6 oz
Rab sleeping bag 16.0 oz
homemade mesh backpsck 7.74oz

total for the big four 40.74oz or 2.55 pounds



Robusto

[fantasmagris]

This is my current for 40F and above:

Pack - custom old style ULA P-2 = 44 oz.
Bedding - homemade mini-bivy w/ customized T-Lite and silk insert liners = 6 + 8 + 5 = 19 oz.
Pad - cut down'shaped LinkRest = 11 oz.
Shelter = homemade oversized poncho/tarp = 16 oz.
TOT = 90 oz./5.65 lbs.

Going HEAVIER by adding H. Hammock (25 oz.) & MPI adv. space blanket (8 oz.), then will be 105-123/6.56-7.69 lbs., but I'll have more versatility/comfort!

Good down to 15-20F w/ addtion of WM Caribou (20 0z.)

[alalskaman]

Pack - Granite Gear Vapor Trail, 2 lbs

Bag - REI subkilo long, 2 lbs 4 oz

Pad - Exped Foam Air, 1 lb 10 oz

Tent - Tarptent Squall, 1 lb 15 oz


Total 7 lbs 13 oz.

[Jaybird]

i weighed my REI Morningstar 75 backpack empty: 4lbs 5oz
i filled it to the max....complete with 5 days (dehydrated) food & 3
water (32oz Nalgene, 2-28oz sports bottles) bottles filled....

total weight: 32lbs............


section-hiking with this load May 1st-May 8th...Clingmans Dome to Hot Springs....w/ "Jigsaw", "Model-T", "DragonFly" & "TooTall".

[sloetoe]

Last winter, good down to 0*F or there abouts, I used
Heavy duty Gearskin ~2. lbs
NorthFace Maxwells Daemon (0*f) 3.25 lbs
Mt. Washington pad ~ .5 lbs
Integral Designs South Col bivy ~1.5 lbs
_________
7.25 lbs

Now, I'll count that as pretty darned good, though my leaning towards fleece gear took me toward ~18 lbs base weight (including googles and YakTrax).

Going long this summer, on the Cohos Trail ( http://www.cohostrail.org ) and turning east on the AT in the Whites. Will be taking
Heavy duty Gearskin ~2.lbs
Western Mtn. Highlight (40*F) ~1.5 lbs
Mt. Washington pad ~0.5 lbs
Integral Designs South Col bivy ~1.5 lbs
________
5.5 lbs
much more rugged -- easily throughhike material (with a liner and clothes to bring the bag down 20*). Base weight expected to be around ~12 lbs.

But now what happens after Trail Days, and some *really* fitting prototype purchases?

Mountain Laurel Designs:
pack (3000ci) 7 oz.
bag (800ci half/top) 9 oz.
pad (1/2 Mt. Wash) 3.5oz.
bivy (Adven.Medicine) 8 oz.
______
27.5 oz
1lb,12oz
1.75lbs

Yow! How'd *dat* happen?
This is *strictly* summer weight -- not below 50*F stuff, but *sheesh*! Works well with my modified fleece hoodie, with*out* the bivy, but I'm staying at "50*F" rating......

For not thinking of myself as a weight weenie, ......

[Happy]

After 3+ years of reading trailjournals.com all of the aspiring AT thru hikers in the pre-journals speak of spending their time in a tent or hammock but in the following journals spend less than 10 per cent of their time doing so in reality!

Why not take the lightest backup shelter possible...what are your thoughts???

[SGT Rock]

After 3+ years of reading trailjournals.com all of the aspiring AT thru hikers in the pre-journals speak of spending their time in a tent or hammock but in the following journals spend less than 10 per cent of their time doing so in reality!

Why not take the lightest backup shelter possible...what are your thoughts???

The point has been brought up before. It seems that a lot of people are attached to their tents. It is generally agreed that you nee to carry some sort of shelter for sure, but like some other items, it seems to be a matter of choice. Logic to one person may dictate only taking a 13 ounce back up shelter while another may see it in another way that if they don't use a shelter, then they need a big tent with a good flor and bug protection.

I'm sure others have similar stories about their shelter choice: when I say I stayed at Roan Mountain Shelter, I mean I slept in my hammock outside the shelter. Not all of us like to be awaken in the middle of the night by latecomers or shelter mice, but the possibility of a table at a shelter, close water, and maybe some cool people for company seem to make at least the general area a draw.

[Happy]

The point has been brought up before. It seems that a lot of people are attached to their tents. It is generally agreed that you nee to carry some sort of shelter for sure, but like some other items, it seems to be a matter of choice. Logic to one person may dictate only taking a 13 ounce back up shelter while another may see it in another way that if they don't use a shelter, then they need a big tent with a good flor and bug protection.

I'm sure others have similar stories about their shelter choice: when I say I stayed at Roan Mountain Shelter, I mean I slept in my hammock outside the shelter. Not all of us like to be awaken in the middle of the night by latecomers or shelter mice, but the possibility of a table at a shelter, close water, and maybe some cool people for company seem to make at least the general area a draw.

Up until three years ago camping and hiking meant solo hiking in the middle of nowhere to me as that has been my past totally. Three years ago I started staying close to shelters and tenting and have enjoyed the company totally...have yet to try a shelter...but in my post I stated that thru-hikers stated the same and reverted in even the first night and never changed! Check out the stastics tab in trailjournals!

[tarfu]

TNF exocet 2.5#
rainfly frm dometent 1.0#
spaceblanket type SB .7#
FL ridgerest .8#
misc gear 5.0#
about 10.0 # w/out food /water/PDW...
could go lighter , but don't want to spend the $$$$...

[grrickar]

MSR Hubba Tent - 3lbs 7oz
Mountain Hardwear 2nd Dimension bag - 3lbs 1oz
Kelty Haiku 4250 pack - 3lbs 13oz
Sleeping Pad - Therma-rest Trail Regular 2lbs 4 oz (may go with a long Prolite for slightly less weight)

Total: 12lbs 9oz

[gardenville]

I can remember not long ago when 5 pounds was thought to be the weight barrier. Making all four of these items myself I can do it in less than 3 pounds.

-Pack. 6oz
-Cat style Tarp/w necessary stuff to pitch it. 14oz
-Down Sleeping Bag/Poly Tube Down Air Mattress
Made together like a Bivy. (less than 28oz) 28oz
------------
Less Than 48oz - 3 pounds

Note: The Poly Air Mattress is 78" by 24" by 3".
: The Poly Tube Down Air Mattress will have up to 8.5oz of #800 Down in it.

Add a home made Speer style Hammock to the list to get off the ground and Hang for about 12oz.

Build the Hammock with the Poly Tube Down Air Mattress, the Down Sleeping Bag and Bivy as one unit and be real clever about it and still stay real close to the 3 pound mark.

[MedicineMan]

just wanted to rave on the air mattress your up too, let me know when you have one to sell!

[Streamweaver]

Pack-Kelty Redwing 2900-49 ozs
Tent-Coleman Peak1 Cobra-64ozs
Sleeping bag-Slumberjack Baffin +20 long-42ozs
Pad-3/4 ridgerest-10ozs
165ozs=10.3lbs

Streamweaver

[gardenville]

Medicine Man, You could make your own Poly Tube Air Mattress for about $10. All you need is about 5 yards of $1.00 a yard fabric from some place like WalMart and 6 of the Poly Tubes (the guy that gave me the Poly Tubes to test with told me he would cut to length and seal more if I wanted them for $4 or $5 ). 6 tubes would give you one spare. 5 yards would be enough fabric for the sleeve part and with the tubes in the sleeves it is about 24" wide and 78" long. You could make it wider or longer/shorter as necessary with more or less fabric. You need 6" of fabric (width doubled) for the sleeve of each Poly Tube. According to the weight of the fabric your Poly Tube Air Mattress should weigh about 8 or 9oz.

It is really funny thinking that a 2 liter bottle of water would weigh more than my 4 big gear items.

I will not put money on this yet but I think a weight of 2 pounds is possible.
Most of this weight will be for some combination Down Bivy/Hammock/Air Mattress then a really light Pack and Tarp.

[MedicineMan]

I love the concept of the BigAgnes insulated air core mattesses but they are not wide enough,,,,your solution seems to be as wide as you want it to be.
I would want to insulate the poly tubes with Primaloft though....is there a valve in each one to inflate/deflate??? with Primaloft I wont have to worry about moisture build up in the down with each inflation/deflation cycle.

What material did you pick for the 'cover'....seems like there would be many choices here, like the extremelite rip-stop nylons out there or even Pertex....but first things first
1. does each polytube have a valve?
2. how do i order the polytubes?

I would love to make one 30inches wide for the light racer....and happen to have about 12oz. of Primaloft II laying about

[gardenville]

MedicineMan and others: There is no valve on the tubes. I have no idea how or where to get a valve that would work on this 2Mil stuff. They would add weight and another level of difficulty if nothing else. The Poly Tubes are heat sealed on one end and if you were going to put something in the tube the other end would be open. The tubes I have are 3" in diameter. My current idea is to make a silk gauze baffel about 76" long and ?? around. Fill these each with about .7oz of Down. I will make one for each Poly Tube. Slide the Down filled silk baffle into each Poly Tube. The open end will not be heat sealed at all. When I am ready to use the DAM I will blow it up (takes about 15 seconds per tube) twist the tube shut and tie a knot in the tubing. Since the end of the tube is open I can remove the Down filled baffels if they seem to be damp and dry them.

I should get the Down next Wed. or Thur. Once I get the Down I will know how much of my plan might work. I have never worked with Down and don't have any idea what the Down will do once inside the baffles. My hope is that it will behave itself and stay where I want it. When I make the baffles and fill them I will know for sure if this idea will work.

I never thought about using anything other than Down. It only takes about 3 breaths of air to blow up an empty Poly Tube. How much moisture can that be? I don't know.

I have enough 3M Porpore Fabric and I am thinking about using it. The Propore doesn't weigh much and I have been waiting to try it for something.

I will call the guy that made the Poly Tubes for me on Monday and see how he wants to handle selling some of the Poly Tube stuff.

I think part of the beauty in making your own gear is you can try things first with what ever you have around. The first of anything I make is usually made out of left over stuff. If I like the way it truns well enough for a second version then I look for the best (lightest) material I can find.

I have had a lot of fun playing with the Poly Tubing and the Balloons. I have only scratched the surface for things it might work for.

I don't know yet how long the Poly Tubing might last but it doesn't cost much. I would like to buy a roll of it and also try some of the Poly Tubing in other sizes.

[MedicineMan]

I dont know anything other than the pic of the polytubes you posted here.....but I'm thinking about a tube longer than it needs to be and a roll top closure then when rolled down to the calculated length it needs to be to work as a sleep pad it is then 'pressurized' to give support.....the roll top closure you are familiar with in dry bags used in kayaking....it is then not a valve to fail, not a metalic machine to fail, gives a opening the same opening size as the tube itself for filling/stuffing/ and insulation removal or addition.
The thought on Primaloft is that it is in bats, can be cut to fit into a 2inch or 3inch or 1.5in hole and because its still a bat after cutting will stay in place....if you have 8 tubes at 3inches then you've got the 24 inch min. (ok it varies by some people) for hammock coverage...then you've got 8 roll top closures and 8 sections of excess material that get rolled up to capture the air and give the pressure/resistance needed.....no breath is blown into the system so down is still an alternative, and when the roll top closure is open you have a much bigger hole for moisture to dry out if down is used......
now if this is to be suspended under the hammock it wont have to support your body weight-another plus and the 'pressurizing' by rolling the top down doesnt have to be abs. airtight at all, just enough to prevent mass air exchanges......

[Hamburger]

My weights are as follows:
Go Light Breeze backpack 420 gr
Pound by Exner Design, German made sleeping bag was 650 gr, have added 150 gr of downs now 800 gr rated at 42 F
Jupiter bivy tent by Terra Nova Equipment 900 gr
The Mount Washingto 3/4 length foam mat from High Country 250 gr

This comes to a total of 2.37 kg
And if I have calculated correctly this equals 4 pounds 12 ounzes

I might be moving to a lighter tarp in the future.

Hamburger