Since 2005 I've reduced the weight of my pack by more than 5kg. Setting off on a typical 3-4 day summer trip I'll now be carrying around 10kg on my back. I'm happy with my gear as-is but, as a purely academic excercise (I'm not looking for an excuse to sepnd money honest), wonder what the UL and SUL guys and girls think I could do next to shed more weight. At the risk of thethread degenerating into a gear list swap heres my complete gear list from my last trip to give you a clear idea of what I carry (this includes all clothing layers which may be in my pack at any given time and assumes I'm wearing longs, base layer, boots and socks):


Category Item Weight (gm)
Carrying exped xs dry bag for valuables 38
Carrying silny stuff sack clothing 26
Carrying Silny Stuff sack food 25
Carrying Granite gear vapour trail rucksack 1050
Clothing Peak performance micro fleece 171
Clothing Rab pertex windshirt 89
Clothing Spare underpants 70
Clothing Spare Karimor Base Layer 153
clothing craft thermal long johns 166
Clothing Lifa Skull Cap 45
Clothing Low Alpine Rain Cap 52
Clothing Montbelle down jacket 200
Clothing MEC Gortex Jacket 573
clothing Mamut gloves 125
Clothing Spare Boot socks 100
Kitchen Pot Cosy 20
Kitchen Disposable lighter 15
Kitchen Fuel measuring cup 4
Kitchen Folding cup 24
Kitchen light my fire spork 10
Kitchen Origaso plate 47
Kitchen Platypus big zip 2l water bag 114
Kitchen Trangia 1l pan 126
Kitchen Trangia lid small 155
Kitchen Trangia pan handle 47
Kitchen White box stove plus wind shield 63
Personal care exped dry bag XXS 28
Personal Care Ezee toiliet trowel 54
Personal Care First aid 56
Personal care Glasses sun+ normal 61
Personal Care toilet kit 58
Personal Care Washkit lenses 235
Shelter Alu tent pegs 73
Shelter Mountain Laurel Designs Grace Duo Tarp 420
Shelter Easton Carbon Tarp poles 79
Shelter Mountain Laurel Designs alpine bivvy 360
Sleeping Alpkit short mat 490
Sleeping Cumulus Quantum 200 down bag 568
Tools Cosalt Fell Whistle 6
Tools Mobile Phone inc camera 86
Tools Opinel Locking knife 35
Tools Swiss topo maps 90
Tools Compas 72
Tools Petzl e-lite head torch 28
Tools Repair kit 49


This totals up to :


Carrying 1139
Clothing 1744
Kitchen 625
Personal care 464
Shelter 932
Sleeping 1058
Tools 366
Base weight 6356g



I would be loathe to leave much more at home as I feel comfortable with the load and am confident that I can deal with anything that comes my way. However, I'm intrigued to see what others think. Cameron says he's planning a winter trip of about the same duration and aiming for just over 4kg base weight. This would mean he beats my summer system (I am comforatble down to just above freezing with the above ) by 2kg! Sounds radical to me.

Hi Dave, That's a pretty good list.
I can't see any waterproof troos in your list though.
You've spent good money on a few of the big things, but could save weight by simply leaving some things behind. As it's a summer list, do you need long-johns and gloves? A merino base-layer top won't stink, and you could leave the spare base layer behind. Leave the rain cap behind if your w/proof jacket has one. The waterproof jacket weight could be halved.

The kitchen set up is quite heavy. One pot (such as a MSR Titan or similar) for cooking, eating and drinking from would save quite a bit.

Do you need over 800g for tools and personal care? A wee knife, small piece of soap and toothbrush could be enough. A simple Platy would save a good bit of weight as well.

The 'sack weight could be halved for the light load you're carrying. Various lighter sacks from ULA, MLD etc.:)

If you dont want to eat out of the pot. I carry an orange plastic bowl that came from a frozen ready meal. It weighs less than half of your plate. If I walked alone I would eat out of the pot. You could leave the triangia lid behind and take a foil lid.
Do you ever wear those clothes in summer all at the same time? If so carry them, It does depend where you go and whether you want to sit out in the evening. I only carry spare socks

I agree with Ian,

the list is a good one but you could probably shave a kilo without too much fuss or discomfort in the rucksack and clothing dept.

There are lots of rucksacks in the 500g mark that are really good and some a lot lighter than that. I have used a Gossamer Gear Mariposa many times when i want to pack a large volume but keep light. As Mike says thought there are many other sub 500g packs out there

Interesting comments gents. Leaving spare base layers, raincap and gloves behind would save me around 400g. In fact the base layers/gloves were not used on the trip in question and were clearly redundant items in the field. They were used on the night train on the return to Amsterdam and I was glad of the change (as were my fellow passenegrs). If I have time I often buy a T-shirt before the return journey my visa card is one of the finest bits of lightweight gear I own! Merino wool is the way forward. My washkit could be made lighter without too much issue I guess. The only real essentials are my disposable lenses.

As for the other clothing, I do find I use it. Even in summer months the long johns have been worn to boost the rating of my bag. This has been the most noticable consequence of my downweighting binge. My Cumulus bag is a fantastic piece of kit but I have found it brings me to the edge of my comfort zone on occasion and consequently the long johns have krept back into my pack. Also, as was suggested, I do tend to make the most of the evenings. My days tend to be short becasue the camp is an important part of the whole (I think Chris Townsend said something similar in a recent article and it strikes a chord with me).

to be continued....

The kitchen is the real issue I suspect. If I were travelling alone I would probably go with a Ti mug (may not be compatable with a whitebox stove which throws flame out quite wide?) but I'm invariably in company. The last two trips have been with three and even four companions. we have prepared communal meals which has necessitated I contribute a large pan and carry seperate plate, mug etc. For those situations I need to find a lighter 1l pot but I've not found anything convincing to date.

500g saving for rucksack and halving the weight of my rainshell would realy make a dent in the numbers but I need to build up courage. In principle, because I don't get out often, my gear doesn't have to be too hard wearing but, even the granite gear sack is showing signs of wear after just two summers. I know lighter packs exist but have never seen them first hand. In the case of the shell, thats just a question of throwing money at the problem. Will be a while though since I couldn't resist buying a new jacket in the UK this summer. I got a great deal but it means I'm stuck with XCR for another couple of years.

All in all I think bb's right. Shedding a kilo is just about discipline. I think even 1.5kg would be doable without too much more thought. However that still leaves me a long way north of 4kg! Can't see myself ever going there.

I think I'd be looking to cut down the weight of the waterproof. There should be some good deals on Paclite ones after Christmas -- there may be already.

As I've just had a new baby, i've had a lot of time thinking and not much time camping. I've been working on a sub 2kg 3 season list- a lot of my savings have been made by thinking differently about what I actually use. eg- use a gilet and windshirt instead of an insulated jacket. I have tried as much as possible for dual use items. Mike's advice is really good- I have reduced my personal care +medical kit and lighting into a tangerine sized pouch that weighs 30g just by figuring out what is essential. Here's an interesting discussion- these kits seem pretty reasonable for british weather: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=13855
I do still include long johns though!!

Sir H: Congratulations. Perhaps its just a coincidence but I shed the 5kg after the birth of my daughter Emily. Our second is now on the way. Maybe I can sqeeze another few Kg out of the experience?

Dave

The above should have helped I hope. But gear is such a personal thing isn't it? For me, I don't feel the cold too badly and will happily walk in a 190 merino wool base layer, maybe a windproof and sleep below freezing in my Rab 200 sleeping bag. My pal on the same walk would wear a base layer, Polartec 100 mid layer, Rab Photon plus his Montaine waterproof. Also, I'm happy with a Gossamer Gear Torso sleep pad and use my waterproof sac liner as a pillow, whereas my pal must have his inflateable mattress and is inconsolible if he discovers he has left his inflateable pillow at home.

For the same trip, he and I have different gear requirements to be comfortable.