Great topic! To me, half of packing light is having the capacity for an extra treat or two.

I agree with the comment above, most of what we carry is luxury. We're just so over luxed in regular life it feels constraining to "only" have our back country luxuries.

That said, I take a 4gb iPod shuffle. Weighs less than 1oz for player, headphones, charger and a little sack. Doesn't always get used but for an ounce, it's nice to have when I want it. Ed Abbey's voice reading his own essays as dusk settles is special.

clikstand pot stand/windscreen 4oz but so bomber its like cooking on my 2 burner coleman white gas stove for stability. packs so much better than my caldera cone, and once you factor in the weight of the cone caddy, it's only a 1oz penalty.

Food -- I take a baking kit for 1.3 oz and fire up some cake or cornbread or a hot biscuit which is a real treat.

Booze is definitely mandatory, not a luxury lol

I take a baking kit for 1.3 oz and fire up some cake or cornbread or a hot biscuit which is a real treat.
whoa! a 1.3 oz baking kit? please share the details there

It's pretty standard but I love it.
(Sorry for thread hijacking!)

I use Sarbar's Faux-baker technique:
http://www.trailcooking.com/thefauxbaker

with a couple of silicone muffic cups:
http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Round-Silicone-Baking-Craft/dp/B0026HZX8E/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1273161078&sr=1-9

my favorite part of it is I can make things one would normally have to pan fry, but I don't have to worry about regulating the temp of the stove since the steam bake method manages the temps for me. I find my .3oz alky stove does just fine, and I don't need simmer rings, or an adjustable canister stove, or a fry pan. usually <20 mins to bake biscuits.

awesome! thanks!

I recently abandoned my Mont-Bell Super Stretch Down hugger #2. I would either slip off the pad (when not using a Bivy), or when I rolled over I would get all tangled.

I have switched to a Big Agnes Horsethief (turns out I am not really cold sleeper, but a dummy for using an un-insulated pad)with an inflatable pad inserted in the sleeve. I can't roll off the pad, no more getting tangled in the bag and I can sleep on my side or stomach if I want too, its almost as comfortable as my bed at home. Next I will get a insulated Kooka-bay pad. The Horsethief is 6 oz lighter than my Mont-Bell to boot :)

Oh, yes, I also usually have an MP3 player . I listen to some music before I go to sleep, not on the trail..(1xAAA batt)
And always have a spare pair of socks .
My pretend version of l/w is "light and comfy" I coined that to justify the extra bits I carry.
Franco

Single malt.
iPhone.
Regular NeoAir if ground dwelling.
Top, bottom and VBL socks just to sleep in.
Chocolate of one kind or another.

But, like others, I never said I was UL.....

Yep, my woman is also one of my luxuries. (And she carries herself!)

http://www.rei.com/product/792007
Monarch camp chair

I was walking down the trail weekend before last, knew I shouldn't have stepped where I stepped, slid and almost fell. Immediately berated myself. How many times have you done that? Told myself I should have known better, how stupid I was to set my foot where I knew I shouldn't. Called myself a few choice profanities. And it came to me .... who needs a girlfriend? I'm in touch with my feminine side and she's a nagging, criticizing thing! I'm all set! ;-)

Douglas, its good to see you're finally embracing your other self. I hope she doesn't infringe on your gear habits....

The question around my house is not whether I consider my wife a luxury but whether she considers me one.

Seriously, though. Doug, your post reminds me how often I flat-out fell down when i was carrying 35 or 40 pounds. I once ended up flat on my face -- and cracked a rib, to boot.

Thus, here is the Zen of ultralight:

My real luxury is the privilege of carrying far less stuff. I never fall on my face and I enjoy the hike more. My real luxury on the trail is having fewer luxuries.

Stargazer

http://029c1f1.netsolhost.com/pipes.htm
my 'tobacco pipe' of choice is a monkey pipe. I cant give these guys enough props....their products are simple, elegant, and functional. I have the original monkeypipe and the PeaBody. The original is easy to clean but i almost always use the PeaBody. Havent weighed either but they cant be more than 1.5oz.
Also, i would consider my Kershaw camp axe (14.5oz) a lux item. And Old Rasputin Imperial Stout. Camping at high alt means less liquor carried. At 10k+ alt, two of those beers at 9% alch are a nice little preamble to swimming in an alpine lake at dusk.

I fell flat on my back once into a small but deep depression in such a way that my hands, in their trekking pole straps, became trapped underneath me. I was utterly helpless to get up. (Okay, I could have eventually wriggled my way out, but.....) My girlfriend had to pull me up.

Doug, how would your "nagging feminine side" have helped you in a situation like that? If you were trapped, you just might nag yourself to death!!

@ Juston Taul:

"Yes, but there's just something about him. Something around the eyes, I don't know, reminds me of... me. No. I'm sure of it, I hate him."

Edited by T.L. on 05/06/2010 19:05:35 MDT.

"Doug, how would your "nagging feminine side" have helped you in a situation like that? If you were trapped, you just might nag yourself to death!!"

Awww, I'm just jealous. But I remain hopeful that, even at this advanced age, I'll stumble across a woman who likes to backpack and can put up with my sense of humor (among other things....). Think I'll have to move first though.

Why would you have to move? Have you exhausted your local female counterpart resources Doug?

Advanced age? Doug, you don't sound a day over 28!

I was very fortunate to find a backpacking girl. In fact, it was her idea to go on our first trip ever. It was a winter overnighter where I carried crazy stuff like a hatchet, only one sleeping pad, 5 pound sleeping bags, hiked in 10 pound boots, carried cans of spaghetti-o's to cook over an open fire that I had to get started on top of a sold sheet of ice 4 inches thick (which I slept on without a sleeping pad, then wondered why I was cold). I think I even had a 30-30 Winchester with me.....Oh, how we grow and learn!