...out of my (relatively lightweight) mainstream gear list.

Hi, all. I'm Mal and I'm a new hiker. Okay, I was a scout and hiked Philmont, but that was in 1985. The Navy and college kept me indoors (and/or underwater) for 12 years and then the inability to buy a gear kit from scratch kept me inside for another 10. So, here I am 40yo with a nice income and a nicely packed gear closet of new stuff that none of you would use. :)

I am not looking to replace my gear. I just bought it and I just don't have the means to go whole-hog UL right now. A lot of it is from REI who has a liberal return policy, but I'm not willing to do that either because I bought the stuff in good faith and it's not faulty so it's mine. I do, however, want to make a small UL kit for quick overnight solo trips. I could use your help.

The ingredients:

TEN ESSENTIALS MINUS GEAR LISTED SEPARATELY
7.5' quads in qt ziploc
Suunto M-3D compass
Sunscreen
Petzl Headlamp
Basic FA kit
Mini bic lighter, storm matches in waterproof case, LMF scout, wetfire emergency tinder
3.5" locking blade pocket knife

CLOTHING
3 pairs Smartwool socks
2 pr Smartwool liners
Arcteryx nylon climbing pants
Exofficio bxr briefs
Patagonia Cap 2 L/S crew
Smartwool microweight L/S crew (Thinking is LW+LW=MW)
Under Armor poly t-shirt
Mtn Hardwear Stretch Torrent rain jacket
Patagonia down sweater
Arcteryx neck gaiter and beanie (works well to form a balaclava)
OR windstopper gripper gloves
Zamberlan Trekker 308 boots (leather-lined, non-GTX)
Merrell Trail Runners (got them to actually run, not hike, but I'll list them anyway)

SHELTER
MSR Hubba Hubba 2P tent, fly, poles, 6 mini groundhog stakes
MSR footprint

SLEEP
FF Hummingbird 20
Thermarest Prolite (current model)
Thermarest Ridgerest (bought to pair with prolite in winter)

COOK
MSR Titan kettle
MSR Titan mug
MSR coffee maker (guilty luxury, I *love* camp coffee)
Snow Peak Litemax, 100g canister
MSR Whisperlite Int'l, 20 oz fuel bottle
S2S aircraft aluminum spork

WATER
3 Nalgene 1qt wide-mouths
3L MSR Hydromedary hydration bladder
MSR Miniworks pump filter
20 Katydyn purification tabs (indv wrapped)

PACK
Arcteryx Altra 65
Black Diamond Nitro 22 (the pack I'm want to use for overnighters)

Okay, that's it...I think. I did that from memory. Before anyone asks...yes...I seem to like MSR. :)

Anyway, I'm looking to overnight in Payson or Prescott AZ in the summer and in the Superstition Mountains (AZ) during the winter. My first thought is to eat cold so I don't need any cooking gear. I guess my biggest question is my shelter. I can pitch my tent with nothing but the fly and footprint, but there are lots of scorpions and snakes around here so...I'm not so sure.

What say you all?

I grew up in N/Cen AZ and went to HS in Prescott Valley, so I'm familiar with the terrain and animals.

For a single summer overnight:
10 essentials.
Tent fly and footprint. bugs and stuff wont bother you inside your bag, don't need the tent. Maybe take a headnet if skeeters are a concern.
Honestly, unless the weather called for precip, I'd take a square of tyvek for ground, and sleep under the stars. I spent a lot of my youth sleeping on a painters drop-sheet, wide enough to pull over me *just in case*
20* bag is plenty warm for all year.
Choose the most comfy pad. If you can sleep well on the ridgerest, take that. You'll never need both it and the ProLite unless you winter camp in Prescott.
You mentioned no cook, so...scratch the stoves and fuel and spoon.
Take 2 1L soda bottles to drink from, and the 3L dromedary bag. Leave the Nalgenes.
Take the purification tabs, leave the filter.

Carried Clothing:
1pr sock liners
SmartWool LS tee shirt
Down Sweater
lightweight beanie (maybe)

Wear:
trail runners
Nylon pants
ExOfficio boxers
S/S tee
Brimmed hat


Consider adding:
stuff sack and 40' of cord to secure food at night
Some Duct tape

First, an overnight trip in a place & time of year where you aren't likely to get dangerous weather (except maybe heat?) is a good time to experiment. If you are missing some item or don't have quite enough food or maybe too much food, you can still get back to the car and have learned something.

Second, the most important thing to do is to buy a digital scale. Weigh everything and make a spreadsheet (there are lots of online options here for format, etc). Reducing weight + bulk is usually an aggregate of lots of little decisions and knowledge is key here. For example, if you already have 2 long sleeve shirts, but you know now that one weighs 6 oz and the other weighs 9 oz, you can save 3 oz very easily. Doesn't seem like much, but if you do that 5 times, you've saved a pound.



Suggestions on what to keep from your list for 1-night summer trip:

ESSENTIALS
7.5' quads in qt ziploc
Suunto M-3D compass
Sunscreen (*smallest container you can find, or repackage)
Petzl Headlamp
Basic FA kit (*this should be no more than 2-3 oz, tops)
Mini bic lighter, storm matches in waterproof case, wetfire emergency tinder (*took out the LMF, redundant especially for a overnight trip)
3.5" locking blade pocket knife (*w/o the weight listed, I'm not sure if this is worth replacing or not)

CLOTHING
2 pairs Smartwool socks (*are these short socks or the taller heavier socks? If short, take 2 of these. If tall, try just the liners you listed. The key is not to encase your feet to keep moisture out but to have socks + shoes that lets your feet breathe)
Arcteryx nylon climbing pants
Exofficio bxr briefs
Patagonia Cap 2 L/S crew
Under Armor poly t-shirt
Mtn Hardwear Stretch Torrent rain jacket (*this seems like a lot of jacket for AZ in the summer. You can buy a DriDucks jacket for $15.00, especially for something that might stay in the bottom of the pack).
Patagonia down sweater
Arcteryx beanie
OR windstopper gripper gloves
Merrell Trail Runners

SHELTER
MSR Hubba Hubba 2P tent, fly, poles, 6 mini groundhog stakes (*you already know this is heavy, especially for one person. Try the fly only set-up unless mosquitos are bad).

SLEEP
FF Hummingbird 20
Thermarest Ridgerest (*try just this on an overnighter)

COOK
MSR Titan kettle
MSR Titan mug
MSR coffee maker (guilty luxury, I *love* camp coffee)
Snow Peak Litemax, 100g canister
MSR Whisperlite Int'l, 20 oz fuel bottle
S2S aircraft aluminum spork
***This is a lot of weight + stuff for an overnighter. Without wanting to get new gear, it's hard to say what to cut.)

WATER
*2 1L plastic water bottles (I like Smartwater for the tall shape)
3L MSR Hydromedary hydration bladder (*leave empty until get to camp. There is a big caveat here -- I don't know the AZ area or how much water you need to bring to survive. Bring enough!)
20 Katydyn purification tabs (indv wrapped)

PACK
Black Diamond Nitro 22 (*I'm not sure with the Hubba Hubba + cook gear that you can get everything in, but give it a try!)

Edit: Welcome to BPL!

Edited by saparisor on 06/29/2012 09:56:51 MDT.

Space/volume is as much of a challenge as weight. Unless you want to go very Spartan and blow your budget, I don't see winter trips with a 22l pack and your gear list. Your Altra is about 5 pounds and the Nitro is about 2, so we're talking 3 pounds difference. I would just load up the big pack with the lightest gear you have and have a good time. A really light load in the Altra will feel like nothing.

But the exercise in making a small volume kit is fun. I tried with with a Flash 18, but I was looking at warm August overnighters. Budget aside, if I were going for a low volume kit, I would use a poncho tarp or something like the SMD Gatewood Cape. You could add a bug nest to handle the creepy-crawlies. Use a sheet of polycryo for a ground sheet. That gets rain gear and shelter out of the way.

I don't know which Prolite you have, but I chose the small version specifically to save space. Your sleeping bag and clothing will make a big dent in the volume and you'll have to work the clothing down to what is appropriate for the season/forecast and what is comfortable for you. I wouldn't be carrying any spares other than one extra pair of socks. From there, it is basic layering-- base, mid layer vest, windshirt, puffy, gloves, cap. Add super light rain pants, and long johns if it is cold.

Get an Esbit wing stove and pair that up with your Titan mug and some aluminum foil for lid and windscreen. That will provide you with hot water for drinks, soup, hot oatmeal, etc. You can use your pack liner for a bear bag as needed.

Add essentials, put one foot in front of the other, rinse and repeat :)

+1 on using recycled drinking water bottles and tablets for purification. I'm used to having too much water around me, so I don't know your desert hiking challenges. Water is heavy and takes space. If you need to carry more than 2 liters, I would just use the big pack. The first thing I did when doing a small volume overnight list was to drop the amount of water I was carrying.

I found the exercise a lot easier with a pack that is just a bit bigger, like 30-35 liters. The extra space takes the edge off and the gear you have now could fit. I see that REI still has the Flash 30 on sale for $50 which would give you a cheap and light intermediate pack. Golite has the Jam packs for a bit more.

Thanks for the excellent replies. So...to respond/answer some questions...

My Smartwool socks are the tall thick kind for hiking. I guess I'll wear the liner socks.

My Merrells are Trail Gloves, ie very thin minimalist shoes. Should I still consider hiking in them?

My knife is a Benchmade 530 which is 1.9 oz. It's a lot of knife for the weight.

I have no problem living 12-18 hours on jerky and trail mix so I'll skip the stoves altogether. I've heard those plastic lids made for pet food cans work perfectly on the MSR Titan mug so if they do I may fit an alcohol/esbit stove and a few tea bags in there.

I just scored a killer deal on a Granite Gear Blaze 60 pack from EMS. The Blaze 60 weighs the same as my Nitro 22 so space is no longer a concern, but I'll still try to fit into the Nitro if I can.

Mal, you might enjoy watching these

http://ultralightbackpackintips.blogspot.com/search/label/video%20tutorials

to get some ideas, peruse some of the Ion gearlists- I know there are several (including my own)- it's roughly a 22 liter pack and many of us have enjoyed 2-3 day trips w/ it

volume is as much a problem as weight w/ a small pack, it can certainly be done, but definitely takes a little fiddling :)

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=18655

Mike's post and photos are excellent

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=13855

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=54819

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=38802

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

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=21755

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=56316&skip_to_post=474636#474636

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=15322

http://www.adventurealan.com/ultralight_text.htm

http://www.suluk46.com/adventure%20-%20Zion%20National%20Park.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95BDQyw2kpg

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/00138.html

http://lytw8.com/Gear_Lists.html

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=45663

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=47753

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=8899&skip_to_post=64009

http://matthewkirk.blogspot.com/2011/01/fastpack-gear.html

http://cesarandthewoods.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2011-01-01T00:00:00%2B01:00&updated-max=2012-01-01T00:00:00%2B01:00&max-results=16

http://cesarandthewoods.blogspot.com/

http://sticksblog.com/2012/06/23/my-sul-gear-list/#more-4003

http://sticksblog.com/

http://www.zpacks.com/about/pct_gear.shtml

http://www.zpacks.com/about/cdt_gear.shtml

added a few more

Edited by annapurna on 07/01/2012 14:09:57 MDT.

show off.

Edit: Anna is a marvel. I have to agree with Mike below.

Edited by kthompson on 06/30/2012 13:14:20 MDT.

I Love You Too;)

I learned a long time ago to bow to Anna's search-foo, there is no equal :)

I have a feeling she has hyperlinks categorized in folders by subject, all searchable by keyword.

Now if she could only make all those helpful links clickable, opening in a new tab.

I posted this rare pic of Anna searching the internet a little while ago:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=65327&skip_to_post=558762#558762

Hey thanks guys ,you have really made me smile at a time when I need it.My father just died ,his funeral was yesterday and it has been a little rough,I really do enjoy coming here and taking my mind off things.Eugene I promise to learn to do hyper links to make it much easier.
NOW back to Mal and I hope some of the great advise people here give help him!

Anna- my deepest sympathies on your father's passing. I'm glad we could help put a smile on your face

Mike

Mike,Thank you for your kind words.
Anna

Great info, ladies and gentleman. Thank you, Anna, for taking the time to post all those links. I finally waded through them all. It looks as if I can easily do an overnighter with my 22 liter pack IF I rethink my shelter. I think that's doable. I don't have a problem adding a solo shelter to my gear closet. I can keep my Hubba Hubba for when I am hiking with a partner or when car/motorcycle camping.

I finally got my FF Hummingbird which was on order when I originally posted. My Granite Gear Blaze 60 loaded with all my gear minus consumables is 16 lbs. Not UL, but not too shabby considering I'd not heard of UL backpacking when I bought all my gear. :)