I splurge on gear that makes a difference in how much I carry.
It could have saved a lot of money by carry less expensive, but heavier gear.
Cuben/spinnaker fabric, 800+ down, titanium,... A little less weight, but a lot more $

+1. Sleep is too important.

+1 on the camera and batteries.

My memory sucks so bad, if I didn't have photos to prove that I was there, I would forget that I would have been there. :)

Techinically, I ditched the camera and batteries, I would be UL, sub 10 lbs.

Oh well, no UL bragging rights for me....just have to settle for being light weight Asian Worker Monkey and Asian Tourist, Photographer. :)

-Tony

+2 on the Goose Feet!

Camera: 23 years ago I left my camera home to save weight during a 9-day trip in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. I have to admit that my pack started out at 50 lbs., and the other folks on the trip thought that was light! I have regretted omitting the camera ever since and now consider it one of my "ten" essentials! By turning off the LCD screen (useless in bright light anyway) and using the viewfinder, I save enough power that I can shoot pictures like crazy for a week on one set of batteries.

Sleeping: With pressure-sensitive hips and shoulders (definitely old age), there's no sleeping on CCF pads or 1.5" Thermarests any more! The only way I could sleep on either would be under general anesthesia! I recently ordered a 3.5" thick insulated (R5) air pad from Bender of Kooka Bay. While this is a bit extravagant financially (although not compared to a NeoAir, which I found both cold and uncomfortable), weight-wise it will be 4 oz. lighter than my current POE insulated air pad, as well as an inch thicker (which will allow me to make it soft and squishy) and a foot longer. I expect to sleep really well this summer!

My pressure-sensitive shoulders mean I have to have a backpack with load lifters and stays to remove all the pressure from my shoulders. My 2005 model SMD Comet works just fine and, with judicious trimming, it weighs 27 oz. Since I can't manage even an 8-lb. day pack without a frame of sorts and a hip belt, there's no way I could use a lighter pack. I just hope I can keep the Comet together, since a replacement with load lifters and the lumbar pad (which works very well for me) would be at least half a pound heavier.

I get cold easily (a function of aging as well as being female), so I take more insulation than most of the folks on this forum. It's also a function of many years' experience--I've had temps in the teens in the high Rockies in summer and in the Cascades in fall, a number of times, and I refuse to spend such nights shivering!

Nor, thanks to a couple of medical conditions, will I go out without TP (actually paper towel sheets, which work a lot better) and wet wipes. An infection of the nether regions is not worth the small amount of weight, and it all gets packed out.

I also take a 5.4 oz. PLB (McMurdo FastFind)--this is a strictly psychological weight saving to keep anxious family and friends off my back.

This all adds up to a base weight of 12 lbs., which for me is just fine. I know where I could cut another 2 lbs., but that would cut my enjoyment--which is why I'm out there in the first place.

Edited by hikinggranny on 04/20/2011 17:31:55 MDT.

Most of my splurges have been for camera gear and shelter, until fall started coming on early and I needed warm clothing. My camera gear adds around 25 pounds to my pack (a little more if I carry a film changing bag, though I'm going to lose a few pounds with a new tripod and a lighter dark cloth)... but since the camera gear will eventually allow me to spend more time backpacking, it's worth the effort. It's hard to sell photographs without it, and once I get myself to a profitable state, my primary job function will be trekking. :)