Well, nature calls and I decided to put together a pack tonight for a last-minute excursion into the mountains. This time, I took the reverse approach, more out of desire to "get it done" than anything else. So, I looked at my box of essentials and just started cramming stuff into a backpack until I got through all my "philosophical essentials". Here is the list I ended with:

Backpack: I don't know what it is. Its a bare bones backpack I have had from college and have used as the daypack for every resort vacation I have ever been on: I think its about 20-25 liters, no frills except it has a top lid that cinches down. I cut off all the extra strap attachments etc. 425g

Sleeping bag: McKinnley -4: 770g
Sleeping pad: Thermarest Z-lite cut shorter: 230g
Tarp: 396g
Ropes: 75g
Pegs: 120g

Clothes:
Marino Wool Long Sleeve Shirt: 223g
Long Johns: 120g
Patagonia Down Vest: 288g
IceBreaker Marino Socks: 70g
Rain Jacket: 194g
Toque: 20g
Gloves: 45g

Pot, Alcohol Stove, Wind Screen: 148g
Cup: 69g
Spork: 10g

Water Purification Drops: 20g
Water Bladder/2L: 35g:

Lighter: 49g
Knife/Tool: 57g
Compass: 47g
headlamp/flashlight: 48g

Toilet Paper: 50g
Face Cloth/Towel: 34g
ToothBrush: 20g
Toothpaste: 20g

SunScreen: 30g
Bug Juice: 60g
Bug Net: 28g

Camera/case: 120g
Palm Pilot (lightest book around): 155g:

For a grand total of: 3.976kg. This converts to just under 140oz, 8.7lbs.

Not bad from started with a 25-30 lb pack the last hike I did.

This is a special note to Mike Clelland:

Hey, Mike, any chance I could score a PDF version of your book? I would pay you for it of course. I could give you my name, address, phone number etc and you could embedd it into the PDF document and then password protect it. That way you could be assured that I wouldn't pirate it on you. That way, I could load it onto my palm pilot and have an ultralight version of the ultralight book? Just an idea. Let me know.

Cheers

John

You may want a wind shirt unless that rain jacket is breathable enough to do double duty.


I know Mike would say to ditch the toilet paper :)


The knife tool looks heavy. How often do you use the tool aspects of it? Consider bringing a single razor blade in a DIY cereal box cardboard sheath.


The lighter looks heavy as well. You can surely downsize to two half-empty mini Bic lighters for much less weight considering the scale. You know to make sure to keep them dry, but one of those itty bitty zip bags should be used over one and kept separate to really assure its dryness.


That also looks like it may be a lot of bug juice for 60g. Can you repackage it / take less? Maybe the same for the sunblock.


Ditch the cup. Your heating pot can be your eating pot. Or eat out of a freezer bag if that's how you're cooking. Less to clean.

Alas - I can't send you a PDF for legal reasons, it's in the contract I signed with the publisher.

Can you order it off amazon using KINDLE? There is a free kindle reader available on-line.

Or, just carry the book.

And get rid of that toilet paper!

Mike C!

OK I'm going to be the one that suggest you add a few things.

Map
First aid
ground sheet -
otherwise your sleeping bag is going to get dirty really quick if you have only a torso size pad underneath

Your socks weighs three and a half times as much as your woolie hat - for best warmth for the weight bring lighter socks and a warmer hat.

Mike C! responded,

"....Or, just carry the book.

And get rid of that toilet paper!"

I love taking things out of context :) I'm sure the book is better than that and using a Kindle wouldn't work any better, eh?

Edited by dwambaugh on 09/01/2011 10:22:45 MDT.

John,

As with any other piece hiking gear, digital copies of books can be trimmed down and modified to work for you. You probably already knew that you could purchase a digital copy of the book on Amazon before Mike mentioned it. And since you asked specifically for a PDF copy of the ebook, you probably knew that the resulting file wouldn't work on your Palm device.

This lack of interoperability results in Mike missing a sale and you not being able to use the digital book how you'd like. Lose-lose.

The only one that winner is Amazon as they both sell the only dedicated ebook reader that can use their files and they take at least 30% off the top of every sale. That's likely substantially larger than Mike's cut.

This vendor lock-in using DRM and proprietary formats is silly. It does nothing to dissuade so-called piracy and only inconveniences consumers like yourself and costs authors sales. Just as Apple and every other device maker abandoned their proprietary formats and then eventually their DRM schemes with music, so too will all the ebook industry. Eventually.

But you don't have to wait until 'eventually.' There's a solution whereby both you and Mike benefit now:

Purchase a digital copy from Amazon as Mike suggested. As the file you download from Amazon is defective by design and a proprietary format (AZW) to boot, it will not work on your Palm.

The next steps are to remove the defective bits and bytes, that is, the DRM, and to convert the file from the proprietary AZW format to PDF or any other format your Palm supports. It sounds complicated, but it's not. I'm not sure how up to date that guide is, but if it doesn't work for you, do some Googling and you should be able to make it work.

Edited by deGuerre on 09/02/2011 15:43:58 MDT.

"....Or, just carry the book.

And get rid of that toilet paper!"

I love taking things out of context :) I'm sure the book is better than that and using a Kindle wouldn't work any better, eh?"



Nice one Dale! Just watch out for paper cuts...

"Nice one Dale! Just watch out for paper cuts..."

It's the binding, man, the binding!

Thanks for the replies.

I did overlook the ground sheet. So I though in some Tyvek into the pack. Though I don't know the weight of it (my bad). But, getting the pack that light has really made me think twice about the ground sheet. In basic training we didn't use ground sheets but that was becuase a) we were in a miserable state anyway and b) it wasn't our sleeping bags. So, I am contemplating alternatives. If I find a nice grassy spot I can dry off nicely, I might not need the ground sheet....will see in just about 1 more day of waiting.

And the map....ooops, I missed that too. That being said, the hike I am going on is fairly well known to me with pretty much no need for detailed maps. I think I may forego the map in this one special instance.

The toilet paper....ah man....I really do love the feel of cottony softness on my rump roast. I might leave it behind next time I am hiking with a partner though, I pitty his/her toque though.

Mike: After I posted, I then realized that you were probably bound by contract to not offer it. Sorry for any uncomfortable feelings I caused. I will still buy the book. I guess I will just have to read "The Zombie Survival Guide" instead on the trip.

It was kind of interesting, taking the reverse approach to this pack-job. I threw together the pack, then made the list. I realized after that I had left out my repair kit and my first aid kit. Then I had a look at my gear and realized, for the things I am taking, I doubt my repair kit would offer much more benefit than a pair of pliers/knife and some "natural resources" would. Further, I never really use it. So, I left it out. The same thought process went with my first-aid kit too. I think I have used only about four square inches of mole skin out of a first-aid kit in 20 years of hiking, and it wasn't even for my foot (someone else's). With my background training in such things, a knife/pliers and some ingenuity is all I figure would be needed there too.

It really fixed the mind-set for going for lighter. I doubt my pack would have been less than 12-15 lbs if I had started with the list first. I don't think I would suggest doing this approach for long hikes. But, I am thinking it might be an interesting exercise for shorter hikes where some hardships are easier to tolerate or even ignore. In turn, this might just break some paradigms and offer up some "ultra-light freedom" for those times when you do start planning a bigger expedition.

With that said....I think I might just turf the toilet paper...but only if I have enough time to learn what to do if I feel "moved by nature" in the absence of TP. Else, the consequences could be horrible!

And I don't know what to say about the socks, toque, tool, bug juice.

The socks and toque have been a process more of finding something I really like, at what I thought was a reasonable weight and then proceeded to fall in love. Unfortunately, in this case I love a fatty....is that so wrong?!?!? Don't judge me!!!

The tool was actually quite a strategic acquisition. I truly wrote down what tool elements I used in the back country, decided which elements were essential for my hiking/camping style and eliminated all the rest. Then I went out and, over time, kept my eyes open for a tool that had those elements (scissors, knife, pliers). Once I found that, in a compact form, I knew I had my tool.

The bug spray: I think post-hike I will rate the weather, temperature, bug density, and then see how much bug spray got used. Then I may see if I can come up with a rule-of-thumb regarding how much is needed for future expeditions.