Hi Folks,

Looking for a spreadsheet that will enable me to compare value vs. the weight of an item compared to my current set-up. For example, weight savings of a new tent would be x, while cost to invest in that tent would be y. Something that provides a ratio of weight to value.

I Want to upgrade/lighten some of my equipment for a three week long trip and I can't decide: do I upgrade my Double Rainbow for a Contrail (poles too short for a Sublite), use my old Opsrey Arial (2003 version, lid off) or use my Golite Pinnacle, or get some other lightweight framed pack.

I feel like a really good spreadsheet can help get me out of this gear circle I am in! Anyone seen something like this?

Usually people use $/oz saved (dollars per ounce saved) to compare the weight savings value of possible new gear purchases. If there's just a few items you're considering buying then it might be easier to just crunch the numbers with a calculator or on a bare Excel page, rather than create a spreadsheet to do it.

Essentially your formula would be:

$/oz saved = Cost of new item / (Old Item Wt - New Item Wt)

So if the replacing the Dbl Rainbow with the Contrail would be:

$/oz saved = $199 / (40oz - 24.5oz)
$/oz saved = $199 / 15.5oz
$/oz saved = $12.83

Edited by dandydan on 10/21/2010 22:23:34 MDT.

spend 5 minutes making it just fur u ;)

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AqxhyY1jJYrYdGVIaUNmNHFfdmZ6c1VNS0VpU0ltWGc&hl=en

just got to
- File
- Download As ...
- Excel
- Open in Excel

enter old
- name
- resale value (enter 0 for no resale)
- weight in oz

enter new
- name
- cost
- weight in oz

and you get
- cost diff taking into account resale
- weight diff
- cost / weight

only in oz ... cause we know the only market that matters is those darn yanks ... just change the headers to grams for gram weenies... lol

Edited by bearbreeder on 10/21/2010 23:35:37 MDT.

Eric, you're making me blush! Thanks for putting something together. It is a pretty quick thing to put together, but figured I might get some sort of Cadillac version! Thanks all for the reply.

And upgrading your pack first lets you sleep in that plush double rainbow for a few more nights. Might as well "upgrade" the luxury item last in that situation.

I currently have both of those packs - the Ariel and the Pinnacle. My dilemma, do I really need a third pack or am I better off with a new tent or upgrading some other stuff like clothes.

My Ariel (2003/04 version) weighs 52 oz, my Pinnacle (2008 version) weighs 30 oz. I usually use my Pinnacle but concerned that I need a framed pack for a longer distance hike due to food/water needs.

Can I get away with my Pinnacle using the Bear Vault for stability, or should I use my Ariel because the overall weight savings won't be that great for a new framed pack.

My head hurts...

whenever i enter clothes into my spreadsheet i find i dont actually save that much weight ...

what they say about the big 4 (bag, pack, stove, tent) is totally true ... after that it becomes cost prohibitive to upgrade per oz ... unless you are using some old ski jacket, etc ...

as to the ariel/pinnacle .. pack yr pinnacle as you would for a real trip ... and take a 6 hour day hike this weekend ... see if you can deal with it ... one thing that helps with a frameless pack is to put a think piece of plastic or balsa wood between the folded foam pad yr using as a frame pack for weights exceeding 15-20 lbs

most people feel reduced comfort with frameless pack at that point



for more look at

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/00179.html

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/00194.html

i would recommend using a framed pack