If you were to pack one luxury or one 'upgrade' what would you consider ?

I like the idea of a bigger/thicker sleeping pad, maybe a slightly bigger tent . . .

And you . . .

A Hammock with quilts....ultimate camp lux...but I really consider it a base system...

Pan

a light but thick sleeping pad that would not take up too much space. If we are talking luxury, then single malt scotch!

3 footbag/juggling balls.

Hmmm, that would have to be a sleeping cot. I know LuxuryLite® make the 'Low Rise Cot™' That would be infinitely more comfortable than the BMW Torsolite pad I use now. (The BMW is comfy too, it just couldn't compete with a cot for comfort - IMHO).

However, can't bring myself to pay the weight penalty, unless I could lose weight elsewhere in my kit to compensate).

The challenge Eric would be to find the right balance of weight and shell fabric to work well for juggling, pertex with puffball filling? Granite gear is making a football cut stuff sack maybe they would like this challege...or you could carry three xs stuff sacks and fill them with camp fodder.
I have no room to talk I still carry a bota bag with wine.

Ah yes... Single Malt Scotch. I DO like to snuggle up to an 18 year-old Macallan every now and again ;O)

Edited by mikes on 08/20/2006 22:47:26 MDT.

Larry, I used to juggle with punctured tennis balls full of sand. My "professional" juggling balls are filled with bird seed. I thought of making some filled with dried food, that way they would be consumable weight and I could carry more. Carrying 7 balls would be ideal. By the end of the trip I would be reduced to contact juggling (one ball). If I could just figure out a way to make clubs out of trekking poles or pack stays, then I would be on to something. hmmm.

I can see me climbing up some huge pass at the end of a long day to come upon you tossing one ball up and down, up and down, it would probably send me to the bottom of the pack where I hide the cat food and secret medication.

I know that this is an old thread but I thought everyone could use a good laugh - and you are sure to get one when you read what my luxury is...

A small kite (one that doesn't have the little sticks). It weighs almost nothing and if I am lucky enough to have a clear spot, big open hill or lakeside site (and the wind is cooperating) it can be a lot of fun.

If I don't take the kite I also have a collapsible nylon frisbee that only weighs about a gram and takes up less room than a deck of cards.

I can just picture you all rolling your eyes now - lol

The kite sounds like a fun idea ! I'd need one with a big 'HELP' printed on it !

Some of you talk like taking a single Malt is a luxury. I guess I just assumed that was part of everyone’s base pack weight. If you count it as first aid gear it almost seems like a necessity - a pain killer, a disinfectant, joint lubrication, and mood enhancer. Talk about multi use gear…

Rob

A good book that doesn't weigh too much. Two summers ago, I had reduced my base weight to about 12 pounds, so I decided that I could justify bringing the new heavy hardcover Harry Potter. I finished it in four evenings and sent it out. It was AMAZING how much lighter my pack was.

I would say that that was a one time extravagance except that the last Harry Potter novel is due out just a couple of days before I plan to start my Long Trail through-hike.......

imagine, if you will, laying in a small bivy shelter (e.g. ID eVENT UniShelter) with no tarp overhead, and a violent T-storm rolls in. further imagine reading one of the Psalms describing the awesome power of God while this is occurring. humbling experience. puts many things in perspective - for me at least.

so, my luxury item is a small tiny print Bible, or at least a New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs also included.

dual use? well, at the risk of being called sacrilegious, and since i'm NOT a Bibliolator, in an emergency,...well...hmmm...i think that it's better left unsaid so as NOT to offend someone else. [just note that generally, not all of the pages in a bound book are containing the text of that book, though i might, personally, NOT limit myself to such. i know, real UL philosophy would dictate that these pages and the cover are removed b/f the trek begins, or, only the pages one intends to read should be carefully excised from the book and carried on the trek.]

Edited by pj on 12/06/2006 04:35:27 MST.

The first time I went to Greenland in 1993 I found a 1987 Newsweek or similar and read every word of it, even the boring bits. And one time I found myself reading a milk carton that had some english on it. That made me realise the importance of having something to read, especially after about 2 months in a region where your own language is not used much.
Earlier in the trip I had a chance to read 'Catcher in the Rye' for the first time, what a book ! Only had 2 nights to read it in which was plenty of time though.

Mine would most often be my pocket microscope from Radio Shack. Only a couple ounces, especially if you use the AAA battery for some other use. I love to check out rocks, moss, strange bugs, etc. It adds a whole new world, especially if you have kids along.

I always have my "Tiny Testament" Bible with me, also a couple scant ounces, and a carefully selected reading is welcome in camp even amongst my non-Christian friends.

I have a friend who, on our non-UL trip to the Catskills carried a folding lawn chair, the canvas with tube frame kind, in its case, during the whole trip. And I thought my Thermarest chair was extravagant!

One trip I brought vanilla vodka and sugar-free orange drink. Lightweight, and very, very popular!

A tiny snow peak double wall cup that holds about 4 oz. It's the one on the far right. It weighs 1.6 oz.



I usually plan to leave it behind but invariably I always throw it in the pack at the last moment.

I usually take some kind of small radio also. That's one item that provides lots of entertainment in the evening.

Thermarest pillow (with stuff sack attached) and inflatable cushion. Cushion is fairly small when deflated and saves my rear end from getting sore after having to sit on rocks or uneven ground. Also good to sit while playing poker with buddies after dark (oh yes another luxury - tiny poker set I have constructed with beads instead of chips and tiny playing cards...)

Montbell inflatable pillow. 2.4 oz. of sheer decadence.

The luxury I always regret leaving behind is my SlingLight Chair. I really don't know my pack base weight. My total pack weight, not including water, for 7 days, and carrying a Sierra Designs Bikelight tent, (No Evolution 2P yet) was 28+ pounds. That included the SlingLight. I've had it for 20 years and it's 11oz. of pure comfort. Wad up a jacket for a pillow. Slide down low, with legs stretched out. It's the most comfortable seat in the wilderness. One time, in January, I took it and a flask of good brandy into a hot spring in the Ventana Wilderness. That was pure hedonistic pleasure.

Back in the day, my hiking buddies and I had a tradition of bringing large fruit into the High Sierra. Like a watermelon. Or two. Or a couple of pineapples. It was always a fantastic treat. And it was always worth the price if we ran into other hikers on top of a high pass. We'd rest, then break out the watermelon and pass it around. It never failed to make us a bunch of new friends and some great conversation.

Nowadays my luxury is a double pad - a Z-rest supplemented with a torsolite. Comfy.

But a good book is right up there. Letters to a Young Poet, by Rilke has been one of my favorite trail reads.

Don, I also use the watermelon gambit with my hiking group. The newbies are amazed, and it leads to a discussion of light vs. heavy packing; ironically, going light allows me to easily carry a melon. (and the Japanese group members are shocked that I eat all the seeds) But, I like your idea of pineapples so I am going to try that next..
Aside from the fruit-group; another luxury I carry is 135ml cans of Asahi beer for my companions.

> Hmmm, that would have to be a sleeping cot. I know LuxuryLite® make the 'Low Rise Cot™'
Ah Scott - my thoughts exactly.
Your comment about the weight ditto.
Sigh.

I have to go along with Don. One luxury item would be a large steak to cook over the open fire. Hmmmmm..mm!

I was on a two week trip in Mesa, Arizona, and one guy in the group brought 6 cans of Coke, but made sure to keep them hidden until the second to last day, when he took them out and drank every one. He had carried almost no gear in an external frame pack also. I guess he had to make room for the luxury item - it was mostly for shock value.

I like to hide 2liter of soda in my friends pack when they arent looking. they usually don't go UL, so they don't notice for a while. Pineapples work well too. I guess this doesn't count as me taking a luxury, but I do get to enjoy it.

On top of Albert Mt. when we went up the steep side :)

Edited by willspower3 on 12/14/2006 13:58:52 MST.

My single luxury is a small book. Any one of several "Shambhala Pocket Classics". They are all 3"x4.5" in size. Paperback. Never so thick you need to break them down into torn up sections. As a bonus, many of the books subjects are very "solo friendly". One book, Thoughts on Solitude, by Thomas Merton is an excellent one. Pocket Rumi and the Dammapada are good too. My favorite though is Shambhala by Chogyam Trungpa... no longer printed in "pocket size" but you can still get it if you look.

Clearly Mr. Wills is a trouble-maker.

May I make a suggestion. Try to find Vernor's ginger ale. Aged in oak, I think it's been flavored by elves or dwarves or some such thing. Incredible! Best of all it is truly UL being so full of carbonation it's been known to rise off the table. See, this way you will be lightening your buddies load.

As for me, a book, though I tend not to read too much unless I get lazy. I recommend any of the first five Carlos Castenada books. Like "The Long Walk" they were once held to be fact, now debunked. But fun, easy enough to read, some nature, some supenature(al), and some Timothy Leary thrown in. According to Castenada it is important to choose a path with heart. He must have been a backpacker.

Can't wait to see how many bonus points I get for this.

C'mon! No points for my last post, above. Obviously
Big Brother is not a Vernor's fan.

OK, for a luxury item that I always take I like the Litech tea kettle. It doesn't nest so it's virtually all bulk and at 5.5 oz is not nearly the lightest way to boil water. But it's low, wide and stable. It easily pours even the smallest amounts of water accurately with one-hand operation. Water roils quickly because of the broad bottom surface. And the small spout will let you know when you've got a roil.

Here's one source:

http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/accessdetail.cfm/PRM1205

My luxury item is a little cheapo AM/FM receiver. In the east, most places you can get a signal on a little pocket AAA with headphones. On the AT that sometimes translates into some NPR, pretty welcome when you've been out for a few days without a conversation.

Easily the best time for radio on the trail is the Fall. Some of my best backpacking memories involve Fall trips to Red River Gorge in Kentucky. My Dad and I would sit in the dark after dinner, set the headphones in a cookpot (seems to amplify the sound to an almost audible level) crank up the volume as much as possible and listen to local highschool football games. The announcers in small towns always seem to add nice personal touches to the commentary, "Quarterback tonight is Dan Berkemeyer. Our thoughts are with Nancy Berkemeyer this week at the hospital in Clayton." Or things like that.

Edited by idroptapul on 12/16/2006 07:58:00 MST.

I repackage bottles of wine, usually red table wines and ports, in 1 L plattys. They do pretty well for a few days, since I can squeeze out all the air from them after I'm done for the night. It's fun to pull one out with a group that has never had wine on a backpacking trip before. I've brought as many as four bottles for a big group....

In my 20's toilet paper was my luxury item.

In my 30's it was Q-tips.

Now in my 40's? Novelty items......

Does a camera count? That's the one thing I carry that seems to keep getting heavier and heavier... (now a digital SLR with a couple different lenses, extra batteries, memory cards, dry bags to hold all of these things...)
On the plus side, my pictures do get better, I think.

Last easter i carried two fresh eggs in one of those plastic egg containers. My friend had some bacon and some fresh slices of bread.

My friend isn't into leightweight and he thought a petrol stove is cool so i had borrowed a MSR XGK from work cause it makes a lot of noice (to proove a point).

It was the best outdoor breakfast i ever had.




mmmmm, Eins

Switched to esbit fuel but still bringing alcohol, Small plastic flask of vodka and Crystal Light Rashberry Ice tea is with me on summer trips. Any recipes others want to share?