Heaviest piece of gear?
I am working on narrowing down my gear choices, and was wondering - of your tent, sleeping bag, and the pack itself, which do you think should be the heaviest? TIA for your opinions...
-Tammy (a-ka) <><
Will Turner: This is either madness or brilliance.
Captian Jack Sparrow: It's remarkable how often those two traits coincide.
(POTC - The Curse of the Black Pearl)
Mine are roughly equal, with the tent (when I carry one) the heaviest. Mostly I tarp, which would be the lightest.
"It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss
Mine is always my sleeping bag. I sleep very very cold.
From what I've narrowed down, this is what I have:
Tent
Mountain Hardware Drifter 2 ~ 5.5lbs
Sleeping Bag
Mountain Hardware Switch 20 dg Long Women's ~ 3.15lbs
Pack
GoLite Women's Odessey ~ 3.2lbs and 4758cu
Kelty Lakota 65 Pack ~ 4.1lbs and 4000cu
Sierra Designs Women's Jubilee 65 ~ 3.9lbs and 3800cu
Would these be unreasonable weights?
-Tammy (a-ka) <><
Will Turner: This is either madness or brilliance.
Captian Jack Sparrow: It's remarkable how often those two traits coincide.
(POTC - The Curse of the Black Pearl)
tent/pack/bag are all within a few ounces of each other.
1. Buy the pack last! And try it on, put weight in it, walk around the store.
2. What are your overall weight/budget goals? I wouldn't carry a 5 pound tent, but that's my choice.
A few suggestions for lighter gear that's not more expensive than what you have listed:
Sleeping Bag
Eureka Casper 15 degree bag $105 off Amazon 3lbs (or less)
If you need the extra length get a men's regular (6ft), if you're 5'5 or under get the women's regular I have the women's and have taken it down to 20 comfortably.
Tent
Eureka Solitare $65 off Amazon 2lbs 9oz (1 wall)
Big agnes seedhouse SL 1 $175 off amazon 2lbs 15 oz (2 wall)
Alps Mountaineering zephyr 1 person $90 off Amazon 3lbs 14 oz (2 wall)
Pack
The golite looks good, like I said try it on first.
Going to give a plug for my pack, just 'cause I love it, the mountain hardwear women's tadita 50 (3lbs, 3050cu) might be too small with a synthetic bag, but the frame and weight transfer are pretty glorious. $175
I encourage you to get the lowest weight items you can reasonably afford, because after carrying it all for a week on the trail you start to daydream about all the stuff you wish you hadn't brought with you. Many cottage manufacturers have some great products, but if you are on a budget those things might be out of reach unless used. But the good news is that used ultra light gear is not a scarcity, as people keep moving from light to ultra light, and ultra light to so called "super ultra light."
The suggestions I made here are by no means authoritative, just what I could find on amazon that might work better for you than the gear you've listed. Look up the specs, read the reviews, and make a choice based on your goals as a hiker.
Oh, and my heaviest piece is my pack. I figure if I spend 12 hours a day hiking and 8 hours a day sleeping then pack comfort is more important than any other piece of gear. Heavier isn't always comfier, but I like having a frame and well padded belt/straps.
Oh, and my heaviest piece is my pack. I figure if I spend 12 hours a day hiking and 8 hours a day sleeping then pack comfort is more important than any other piece of gear. Heavier isn't always comfier, but I like having a frame and well padded belt/straps.
yes the pack.
I can do 1-3 days with the ULA AMP (about 10oz) but because I often have to carry water or is winter or something pushes my weight over 18lbs or so I choose a pack in the 2-3lbs range
(ULA or Aarn)
My sleeping bags are between 19 and 27 oz (WM , JRB) , my tents (TT) between 24 and 35 oz .
One that I occasionally use in winter is 60oz but it is an exception.
Mat , Neo Air (13oz?) or a TR Prolite 4 at about 24oz
(my clothing system is part of my sleep gear. my winter mat (Exped DM7) is sometime heavier than my tent...)
To amplify the comments from Amanita, it does not make any sense to me to save 10oz on a pack and have sore shoulders or back at the end of the day.
If you are that tired or sore you will not enjoy a restful sleep , may need a warmer bag/mat and so on.
But to each his own.
Franco
Easily my pack. Kelty Ext frame lightened some but still 4.5 lb., total big four is 11.5 lb. Just my Opinion but just because I carry an external frame pack doesn't mean I have to load it with 40 lbs of gear although I can if is wish.
One of my future projects is to build a Sil Nylon sack for the Kelty frame which should knock off another lb from the total pack weight.
KK4VKZ -SOTA-SUMMITS ON THE AIR-
SUPPORT LNT
I think utility is of most importance. Unless you plan on thru-hiking just once. The pack needs to fit your needs and comfort. Different distances carry different needs. Cold weather you may have a heavyer bag, Wet/cold season you may take a tent, another season, just the tarp, yet again you may just shelter. Different distances you will carry more or less amounts of food..... but it all must go in your pack. So you must have a pack thats comfortable and handle the most you carry......... unless you get many different packs for all different needs.
pack itself -- followed by FOOD if I have a full 5-day load, then tent (in summer) and then sleeping bag (in summer) - in winter, my zero down bag and liner ends up weighing about the same as my tent
My tent is the heavest (4.5 lbs) and it is also the next to be replaced. The newer version of the Backcountry 1. Too bulky but sturdy. The Solitares do not last. My pack is 3.1, Sleeping bag around 2.5 @ 20 degrees and pad is maybe half a pound. I'd take a close look at the tent TammyLynn.
Depends on the season. In the winter it's cold weather gear - hat, mittens, coat, layers, etc.
I don't know which component should be the heaviest, but I know for me, it is water. The next heaviest, depending on trip duration and supply points, is usually food. I realize that I'm probably "doing it wrong," and I have what I think are very good reasons for carrying a hefty load of consumables.
But it does provide an interesting perspective on light or ultra-light backpacking. I don't need to drop $500 to lighten my load by a couple of pounds -- all I need to do is find a clean stream that I can draw from.
I've also found that volume is at least as important as weight. In some cases, I'll trade a few extra ounces of weight to substantially reduce the volume that an item takes up in my pack (best example here is a heavier-but-more-effective compression sack for my sleeping bag).
Depends - I have several shelters, 4 packs, and three sleeping bags/quilts.
This one is easy. Discounting food---I routinely carry 40-45 lbs of food on 18-20 day trips w/o resupply---my biggest weight comes from my pack/tent combo: A Mystery Ranch G6000 pack at 7.14 lbs and my beloved Hilleberg Keron 3 tent at 8.10 lbs. Why such a behemoth? When you're living outdoors many days out of the year, it's super nice to have a 36 sq ft tent to call home, as below.
My heaviest piece of gear is a rather large spare tire I carry around my midsection. That's not a facetious answer. My personal excess weight is the heaviest single item I carry.
Depends on your hiking style and gear. Tents are heavy compared to mids, tarps, tarptendts and a full traditional tent would probably the heaviest thing if someone were to outfit themselves from scratch. That said some people put more weight into their pack because they want heavy load comfort. A six plus pound pack can easily be a hikers heaviest gear. Personally for most of my solo trips my pack and sleeping bag are both about a pound and a half and my tarp is a little less than a pound all pretty close. With my wife we take a fully enclosed 3 person tent, at 5 and 1/2 lbs definately the heaviest. Now that we have a baby and I will probably be carrying gear for 2 plus a child I will probably use my old osprey for all but overnights and at 6+ lbs stripped it will be my heaviest.
For me, other than for and water, it is the tent, pack 1' 12", bag 1', tent 2' 2", cooking and fuel about 2' depending on amount of fuel.
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