My first BPL post!

In the last few days, I've partially converted to the UL philosophy, and have spent a lot of time paring down weight and ordering better gear. This site, Mark Verber, rei.com, backcountry.com, and eBay have been very helpful. Thanks to those who make all this great info available. I liked BPL enough to join.

With my new outlook, I'm now happy when I can find even half an ounce to eliminate, especially when it involves no sacrifice in functionality, or even an improvement. Before getting to my question, here are a few examples of what I've done lately.

I got some AquaMira tablets to replace my iodine tablets. Now, I store the AquaMira in an old prescription container that's lighter than the old hard container that the Iodine tablets came in. Saves an ounce. I've switched from a Petzl Tikka headlamp (which did a good job for me) to a LiteFlux LF2XT Cree XP-E LED Flashlight, saving about another ounce. I've removed the gauze pad from my pack because I realized that toilet paper + duct tape could make a bandage. It's not sterile, but most of my hikes are day hikes, so this setup is probably good enough, especially since the TP is stored in a ziploc bag that's almost never opened. This should also work for doing what butterfly bandages do, so I don't have any of those, either. I was able to save another ounce by removing the packaging that the TP came in. (I would like to find something that works better than duct tape in cold weather.) After much searching for bags that are lighter than the bag in which I hold my first aid stuff, I realized that the bag can be completely eliminated. The first aid stuff can be stored in a small pouch that my pack happens to have. (Yes, I know, my pack is not UL - I'll work on that later. I just bought it a few months ago.) More than another ounce gone. I've done about 20 things like this, including a major revamp of my clothes.

Well, there's an obvious area where it ought to be possible to save several ounces with relatively little effort: underwear.

The underwear I have now is from REI, and has done a good job. But it weighs six ounces! This is about as much as the Patagonia R1 flash pullover, and the R1 covers the entire torso and arms, which surely is many times what underwear must do.

The problem I am having is that manufacturers seem to tend to not list the weight of their underwear product. The threads in these forums don't seem to list weights for this either. Underwear should not be different than anything else for the purpose of making it light, but it seems to be treated differently. Help!

I'm in the Pacific Northwest and hike or snowshoe just about every weekend. Mostly of my outings are strenuous day hikes; I go backpacking for a few days maybe once or twice a year. Right now I'm looking mainly for cool and cold weather gear. Any ideas for UL underwear? It seems like 2 ounces for underwear is reasonable, and 1 ounce might be possible.

Oh yeah - I'm male. I've not evolved enough yet to go commando. Maybe one day. Not yet. Actually I am ok with that when wearing long underwear. But, most of the time I don't have long underwear on.

http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Clothing/Underwear/ExOfficio%20Give-N-Go%20Briefs/Owner%20Review%20by%20Roger%20Caffin/

2.1 oz, very suitable.

Cheers

Thanks! I'm planning to order some of those. Nice placement of the caption in the review..

I re-weighed the REI underwear in question, and the weight reads 3.6 ounces, not 6 ounces. I must have misread the scale the first time. I hope.

Andrew
Usually if you go to the manufacturer's site, you can find weights, for example www.patagonia.com

Some lightweight web site dealers also publish weights such as Prolite in Bozeman, Montana
www.prolitegear.com

Edited by btolley on 10/02/2009 03:48:20 MDT.

Okay, this isn't about the underwear (I wear Smartwool boxer briefs that are 3.1 to 4.0 ounces depending on the weight of the material) but I would caution against using TP to cover a wound of any significance. Not only can all that paper dust get in the wound but larger chunks of TP are going to stick and rip apart when you remove it leaving paper stuck in the wound. Priorities for wound treatment in the field are cleaning (if possible) or at least keeping clean the wound and stopping blood flow. TP is likely to do the opposite of that first one.

A regular band aid can be cut into the shape of a butterfly bandage. The butterfly shape is useful for closing a wound instead of using stitches. For example, they can be use to pinch close a gash.

Shave of an ounce hear and another there and pretty soon you have shaved off a pound.

Edited by rambler on 10/02/2009 09:13:49 MDT.

Thanks everyone.

I'm trying to think something in my pack that could double for what a gauze pad does. This isn't completely easy because a lot of hiking clothing, UL or not, tends to be fairly expensive.

The best thing I have thought of so far is part of a spare pair of (synthetic) socks. That would be very likely be ok to lose during the hike, and not financially costly. Do you see any medical problems with that?

Hmm, would a ziploc bag work?

Now that I think of it, maybe I should start taking really light spare socks, even in winter, because it's pretty unlikely that I'm going to have an urgent need for them, and if I did need them, I might be able to get by ok with light socks; the main thing would be that they're dry.

A $2 bandana would have been just the thing, but, I just replaced my cotton bandana with an MSR PackTowl, which seemed to be more useful than the cotton bandana, and is lighter.

Andrew, Welcome, I've had great luck with ExOfficio boxer briefs weighing in at 2.8 oz, but currently I have switched to BPL merino wool shorts at 3.8 oz. I think these shorts are fantastic. They are comfortable, hold shape, and don't smell.

I would recommend either of these, though it sounds like your current underwear weighs in around these guys so you might have other areas to tackle.

If you want to reduce you pack weight the first step is to measure. List everything and weigh it. If you want some assitance on how to reduce just post your list with weights in the gearlist forum.

But I'd say you have the right mindset. Question everything.

Jamie

I wear these jockey's in black I have the mid-thigh length, but the shorter would be lighter. ~2.5oz for the mid-thigh. I got them at Mervyn's when they excited, but I imagine JCPenney's, Kohls, etc sell them as well so you should be able to get them on sale for no more than $10-12 a two pack. I find them better than the REI MTS underwear. Thinner, cooler, better wicking, faster drying.

Edited by jrmacd on 10/03/2009 09:55:05 MDT.

Other than some type of like merino baselayer for the cold.. The easiest way to lighten your underwear load is just to stop using it :P

I know that's not likely to be an answer anybody but me agrees with, but seriously, how many layers of clothing you need?

Also, I haven't weighed this stuff yet, but I've got some Uniqlo heattech thermal underwear that seems massively light, and it's warm. Don't have it here to weight, but it seems down there compared to anything else I've got.

It seems that there was some change to the ExOfficio Give-N-Go Briefs that made them inferior to what they were. It's not clear whether the newest version is back to the old high level of quality. Check out the reviews here:

http://www.rei.com/product/684396

By the way, is there a way to include hyperlinks in BPL posts in a way so that when someone clicks on the link, they'll be taken to the linked-to page (instead of just having the link appear as normal text)?

Actually it's unclear whether those reviews refer to the Give 'n Go briefs - just some type of Ex Officio briefs. Still it might be worth having a look at those reviews.

"A $2 bandana would have been just the thing, but, I just replaced my cotton bandana with an MSR PackTowl, which seemed to be more useful than the cotton bandana, and is lighter."

Funny...I just did the opposite. I replaced my 11g (0.4oz) packtowl with a 28g (1.0oz) bandana. The main reason is because I can use the bandana to wrap up my stove inside my pot so it doesn't bang around and scratch up the pot, but I also like having the bandana to wear on my head if need be.

Hey guys, use women’s undies - they are the lightest. I posted this in MYOG but here’s the story behind it.

Some years ago a girl left her underpants behind at my place (no questions here please). Anyway, sometime later I had run out of clean ones save for this pair so I was forced to wear them. Necessity is the mother of invention or here, the precursor to dropping more grams. The fit wasn’t too bad. The cut was very plain and they didn’t look feminine and weighed only 1oz. Drying time was incredible too.

Since then I have bought another pair and they are great if you can get them in a large size. I have discussed the topic with my GF and discovered that womens’ undies come in a large number of different cuts so what you think is a certain diameter in one size can be completely different in another size. Guys – make sure you try on your women’s undies prior to purchase.

That idea is something I would never have come close to predicting. You never know what you'll get when you post. Made my day.

So why would women's weigh less than men's?

They are made from thin polyester with high stretch so there is less material. There is also no waist band.

OK, here goes...

I have found women's tights, specifically ankle socks or anklets to be terrific instead of or in addition to socks.

Right, that's enough laughter...

I have had a bit of Plantar Fascitis in both feet after a shocking Patellar Tendinopathy (Stopped me hiking for nearly 12 months) I have found that as well as orthotics the tights give me comfort and breathing while preventing chafing, hot spots and blisters. I roll the tops down and they appear as a short sock, however in the colder times they are a great addition to a sleep system that I would say also act somewhat in fluid build up prevention.

Oh, and my wife says I do look sexy... :)

I was crossing a stream in my water shoes ( WalMart Croc-like knock-off Mary Janes (Women's size 11, 4oz each)) while using my Komperdell Women's C3 carbpm hiking poles (2oz lighter than the men's if I recall) and I was wearing a Ibex women's large Woolies long sleeve tee ($20 cheaper than the men's medium during a sale) and a pair of women's standard plain bikini cut underwear ( 20g ) under my men's RailRider pants, when I realized gear gender doesn't really matter to me anymore. Weight, function, price matters. As to underwear, I can take a clean pair everyday for 3 to 4 days for the weight of one pair of guy's briefs. Hike your own hike.

Get over it.:-)

Edited by markhurd on 10/06/2009 14:48:43 MDT.

sahalie ultralight tights. 1.7oz for full tights, .7oz (20grams) for them cut down to longish boxer briefs. 60% polypro, 35% nylon, 5% lycra. Dries very quickly. Very light... but weren't as comfortable for me as the ex officio box briefs which I highly recommend.

--Mark

Edited by verber on 10/04/2009 21:20:07 MDT.

Thanks everyone. I'm thinking about trying this setup for strenuous day hikes & snowshoes on cold days in the Pacific Northwest: Ex Officio Boxer Briefs, long johns, breathable running shorts, light pant shell. I'll probably replace the pants I have now - haven't decided with what. Maybe something with eVENT. That setup is what I'd try if it was, say, 35 degrees and windy and raining, or 10-30 degrees and not raining. In somewhat warmer conditions I could drop the longjohns. Warmer still, and the shorts could be dropped (so to speak).

Edited by northwesterner on 10/04/2009 23:35:18 MDT.