no vest really? i'll have to explore that thought. I've also mentally abandoned the driducks idea, and if anything i'll be bringing some cheap tyvek pants and a more durable rain jacket (yet to be purchased). Any cost efficient rain/wind jacket recommendations?

Yeah i'm not too picky about the water storage, and it seems like those gatorade bottles will pack better and be less likely to spill anyhow. I just like the re usability factor of a filter compared to 12 dollars worth of tablets, it'd only take like 4 long hikes worth of tablets to practically pay for a discounted filter.

I wish it was june already....

Nick,
You can get away without an insulation layer if you spend most of your time moving. I hiked with just a wind shirt/pants combo (although, many mornings I left my down hood on hiking until the sun had come up). As far as a rain combo my preference is umbrella + windshirt. Umbrella is also a nice break from the sun in some of the lower hot stretches like the burn areas in segment 2 and the approach up to Gunnison NF.

+1 for Gatorade (or other disposable bottles). Typically have one hard sided bottle to use w/ my platys - makes filling much less complicated. As far as treatment, I did my yo-yo w/o treating at all - probably would of come in handy for the above mentioned Gunnison NF stretch - lots of cows and 16 miles w/o a 'good' water source. And on my return trip the herders had moved livestock up into the public lands. Crossing Snowy Mesa I grabbed a nice fresh liter of water from a stream and had a "boy it kind of smells like po.op (apparently BPL thinks thats profane) here" thought but I couldn't locate any sign of it. When I crested the hill out of the stream and after about half of the liter drank I walked up on a giant herd of sheep just lounging so I dumped the rest and kept walking to look for better water. Drops or tablets will be your lightest option though for treating (drops will allow you to use less/more as the water situation changes).

Another option for insulation is wearing your quilt draped around you, under rain gear if necessary. I actually put my feet through the double zip at the bottom of my sleeping bag and put wind or rain pants around that, so the bag covers a decent amount of my body, excellent for camp chores. I find all I need down to about 25f is to hike in thin wool tights and LS shirt, and have a windshirt and wind pants (Montbell dynamo, 2.8oz), a shell jacket, and a balaclava, available, with the sleeping bag draped if needed when I stop. If you do that, you may especially want a more solid rain jacket though, although you can also buy a larger driducks and it's easier to drape an entire quilt up top. Marmot essence is cheap, Montane and the new Rab Pulse are both nice, or Go-lite. You can save the extra 2 oz by wearing tights instead of pants. Rab meco 120 is maybe lightest, 4.4oz, or something powerstretch, like from MH, is about 6 and warmer, perhaps faster drying. I find wool is nice because of the large comfortable temp range. It's annoying to want to change everytime it gets shady or sunny... I like to wear short wool shorts as boxers (or just wool boxers if I'm really in the backcountry) and use them as shorts. Wool also a need for less soap. +1 for a lighter knife - I rarely use mine unless I'm fishing or going without a stove... A folding dermasafe razor would probably do, at 8g and $1.59! You could save a lot on the shelter too, depending on funds and your willingness to use a tarp. Zpacks hexamid is fully enclosed and about 11 oz with Vargo stakes, around $400 though. I don't know how a mylar turkey bag would hold up as a liner, but that would save 1.5 oz or so. Possumdown gloves would save an oz, $30. You might try a wool shirt as well for the stink factor, Rab Meco 120 is the same weight as your current one, a little tough to find now in the states, and a bit pricey. You cap is pretty heavy too! Though its worn so that may matter less. My Salomon xa cap weighs 1.5oz. Nightlight sleeping pad would save 3oz. Dr. Bronners is nice bc it can double as toothpaste, but you could use smaller bottles. I get mine from US plastics, 6cc or 10cc will last a week or two and weigh very little. You could switch to a smaller, lighter pack too, though its a bit pricey... GG gorilla is around 15oz without the stays, 2700ci, maybe more. You may also save your most on food, if you stick to around 4.75cals/g... I bring an oatmeal with nuts, seeds, sugar, cocoa, cayenne (gets the blood flowing on a cold morning) and add a liberal amount of coconut manna from Nutiva and butter, and that mix is around 4.75cals/g or 135cals/oz.

I have a sawyer squeeze and I love it. Im not a fan of aqua mira yet it is a lighter solution. Anyway, if you go with the sawyer squeeze keep in mind that you need to carry the dirty squeeze bags. I carry two 2 liter bags and use them to store extra water when necessary. Using this method you can drop your 3L platy in favor of the lighter 2Liter sawyer bags.

Sawyer filter with backflow syringe = 4.3 ounces (wet weight) 3.6 ounces (dry weight).
Two 2 liter sawyer squeeze bags (4 liters total) with a rubber band = 2.1 ounces. (I use the rubber band to keep the kit together but it's not necesary)

Water filter + water storage = 6.4 ounces.

So i made a few changes. updated list is here: http://www.geargrams.com/list?id=6784

I'm going to give the umbrella/wind shirt a go, and am experimenting with removing the aluminum stays from my pack and using my pad as a frame. I'm still waiting on a few pieces of gear to be able to pack things right, but it seems to be very comfortable with random clothes/weights in it up to 25 pounds.

I bout a dehydrator yesterday and it's been going nonstop, the idea is to spend as little as possible on food so I can enjoy other things along the way.

I am also currently planning on doing a yo-yo, and possibly another denver/durango with a friend directly after...the third leg is questionable, but I mostly want to yo-yo to extend the trip to 2-3 months, and to save the cost of getting back to denver from durango lol...plus it's a totally different view coming from the west.

thanks for all of the input guys. ~2 months away

Edited by nickoli on 04/09/2012 11:55:45 MDT.

"From what I read, the Driducks are fairly windproof? But i'd love to hear from someone who has actually worn them."

I realize I'm a little late coming to this party, but I've used a Driducks jacket as a windshirt. I wore it in late June on a hike up Mount Elbert. It worked very well, really as well as my Montane windshirt in minimizing the chill from the wind above tree line.