**All measurements taken with lame Berkley digital fish scale.

Packing: 32.3 Oz
-2012 Golite Jam 50L (Excess Straps Removed)
-2 Mil Trash Compactor Bag
-Coleman Zipper Pull Thermometer

Sleeping System: 43.68 oz
-Exped Synmat UL 7 Full Length
-Exped Air Pillow Size Large
-Exped Shnozzel Pumpbag
-Chinook 36 Degree Down Mummy Bag

Clothing Carried: 60.7 oz
-Polyester/Spandex Mix Long John Top & Bottom –Base Layer
-3 Pairs of Socks (1 Wool Sleep Sock, 2 short white running/hiking sock)
-Vented Puma Cool Wick T Shirt (Best Hiking Shirt Ever!! Found at Marshalls)- Mid Layer
-Zip off Pant Bottoms To REI Convertible Pants
-REI Revelcloud Synthetic Jacket – Insulating Layer
-Columbia Rain Shell
-DIY Camp Shoes (Huaraches Mock)
-Underarmour Beanie Hat

Shelter System: 24.32 oz (Weight of Trekking Poles Not Included)
-Gossamer Gear Spinnshelter
-Gossamer Gear Bug Canopy
-DIY Polycro Groundsheet w/ Corner Tieouts
-Stakes (10 Lawson Ti Sheppard Hook, 2 Coghlan's 9” UL Stakes, 4 DAC V Stakes)

Kitchen: 15.04 oz
Caldera Caddy & DIY Cozy
Backcountry 700 ML Ti Cookpot w/ Snowpeak Hotlips
Caldera Cone & Ground Reflector (Pie Plate Bottom)
12-10 Alcohol Stove
Folding Ti Spork
4 oz Fuel Bottle & Measuring Cup
FireSteel w/ P38 Can Opener as Striker
MicroFiber Towel & Green Scrub Pad

Water Treatment & Carry: 11 oz
-1L Smartwater Plastic Bottle
-96 oz Nalgene Canteen
-½ MilkJug Wash Basin
-Repackaged Aquamira 6ML Each & Sterripen Prefilter Funnel

Repair Kit 2.08 oz
-15’ Duct Tape
-Rubber Bands
-10’ Elastic Cord
-Razor Blade
-Exped Patch Kit
-Single Use Krazy Glue

First Aid Kit 3.52 oz (Everything Repackaged in Small Quantities)
Burn Cream
Hydrocortisone Cream
Sing Relief (3ML Dropper Bottle)
Tick Key
Pills: Benadryl, Imodium, Tylenol
3 Large Germex Alcohol Wipes
Assortment of Bandaids & Gauze Pads
Moleskin

Hygiene Kit 4.5 oz
-Toothbrush
-Travel Toothpaste
-4 Plastic Dental Picks
-Chapstick
-15 ML Dropple Bottle Camp Soap
-Mini Shower Scrubbie
-2 Gram Shower Head (Water Bottle Cap w/ holes)
-Body Glide

Miscellaneous Items 10.5 oz
-Extra 1L Platy Bottle
-Tiny Travel Mirror
-Sea to Summit Bug Headnet
-Mini Bic Lighter
-1 Set of Earplugs
-4 Binder Clips (Used as Cloths Pins)
-Bear Bag & S-Biner (Lawson Glowwire 50’)
-Coghlans 7” Folding Saw
-Cotton Ball & Vaseline Fire Starter (6x In Pill Bottle)

Hipbelt Pocket Items 12.3 oz
-Camera & Tripod
- 10 ML Dropper Bottle Deet
-10 ML Dropper Bottle Hand Sanitizer
- 4 Tylenol in Pill Pod

Back Pack Pocket Contents: 15.5 oz
-Coast 196 Lumen Headlamp
- REI Camp Towel 12”X24”
-TP & Big Dig Trowel
-Map Bag (Sunto Compass, Golf Pencil, 1 Gram Magnifier/Ruler Combo, Mini New Testament)

Carried In Left Side Water Bottle Pocket: 9.1 oz
-Golite Chrome Dome Umbrella
-CCF Sit Pad w/ Piece of 24X24 3 mil Sit Groundcloth

Total: 244.54 oz = 15.28 lbs

First let me thank and applaud you for taking the time to read that loooong laundry list of items. I am pretty comfortable at this weight and the bulk isn't terrible either. Not going to win an award for lightness but I sure don't feel like a pack mule on the trail either. 10 lbs seems almost unattainable. While I have a few redundant items I find they suit my hiking style. What do you think... try not to be too relentless ;)

Edited by cmich on 07/30/2012 01:54:01 MDT.

You can dump the Exped pillow and the trash compactor bag in favour of the Exped Schnozzel. I use the Schozzel as both a pillow and a bag liner. That saves a few oz.

For clothes carried - do you really carry 4 lbs of clothing - or is some of that stuff worn? It seems to be a waste of money to spend so much on a 24oz shelter solution then carry 4 pounds of clothing, a folding saw, an umbrella, and a milk jug.

Break down EACH item and it's weight, not just each section's weight. Now say 'Do I use this?' That way you can be more meticulous about weight savings.

Edited by i2ambler on 07/30/2012 08:42:48 MDT.

You look young enough to carry it all comfortably. But if you want to go lighter, ditch a lot of those clothes. I can't tell what the offenders are exacly, but that seems to be your biggest issue. That's a lot of excess water carrying capacity too. I would ditch the Nalgene. You can easily and cheaply go lighter on your kitchen too.

If you are bringing the umbrella I think you would just need some ultralight rain pants not a Columbia Rain jacket. I imagine the jacket is close to a 1lb.

Exped Synmat UL 7 is about a 1lb. Something like a NeoAir short will save half that weight if you are ok with a short pad and using your backpack for your feet.

Also can you elaborate under what conditions this gear list is for. Mainly concerned about temperature range. I am guessing from reading that this is strictly a summer list.

Edited by randalmartin on 07/30/2012 09:35:06 MDT.

Thanks for the suggestions so far,

I realize that 4lbs of clothing is quite a bit of extra clothing to bring, in fact it is 25% of my BW. Need to figure out how to cut this down. Has me covered from low 40's and up in a double wall shelter, don't know about a single wall yet.

-The rain shell jacket weighs 9.5 ozs. I hate hiking in a steam bath so I only wear it once at camp to protect my insulating layers against rain and wind. Will use the umbrella for primary rain protection while hiking. Just got it and used it on a few rainy day hikes, worked like a charm.

-Cool sleeper so in the spring and fall I sleep in the base layer, revelcloud jacket (13 oz), beanine, and wool socks. I suppose I could exchange these items for a better warmer sleeping bag, but just do not have the extra money.

The extra T-Shirt and insole shoes can be cut for a 6 oz savings. Cutting these now puts me at 54.7 oz for clothing. Still 22% of BW... Should I be looking for lighter alternatives?

You list clothing under "clothing carried" but that seems to be ALL of your clothing (except I don't see underwear listed). If you look at most gear lists, clothing is broken into 2 categories: "clothing worn" and "clothing carried". The worn stuff isn't usually included in base weight b/c you aren't carrying it in the pack. Take a look at "skin-out" weights, however, and you'll see that many 10 lbs lists are more like 12 lbs lists. Also, some people put trekking poles under pack weight and some put it as worn/carried. Same for watches, etc. This isn't being disingenuous, just that people organize and think about gear differently.

This is a good list that has plenty of room for change, mostly in picking lighter items to replace others when they wear out or when you have money to spend.

I do not hike in all my layers, and most of the day the clothes on this list are left in my pack. While I do wear them at some point in the day and can wear all my clothes at once (except socks) they spend a majority of the time as "dead" pack weight. So I would consider them part of the BW. What is the consensus on this?

Why do you need a thermometer? doesnt matter, get rid of it
Ditch the pillow, and the shnozzel, or use the schnozzle as a pack liner
too many clothes
too heavy raingear
ditch camp shoes
get lighter beanie,
24oz is too heavy for solo shelter. Shoot for 16oz or less
Way too heavy kitchen
ditch nalgene, ditch milkjub, ditch prefilter
take half the duct tape
ditch elastic cord
get first aid kit down to 2 oz
ditch burn creme
ditch hydrocortisone cream unless you have a skin issue that requires it
ditch sting relief
use tweezers for tick, can be used for lots of things, tick key cant
use baking soda or toothpowder
ditch scrubbie
are you really going to shower with a bottle and holes in the cap?? Less than a week you dont need a shower anyway.
What is mirror for, expecting a date?
get Peters headnet
ditch binder clips
ditch saw - LNT!
Put firestarter in snack ziplock = .1oz, lighter than other container
ditch camp towel, use bandana
ditch trowel, dig with a stake
ditch tripod
what is pencil for with no paper? No maps?
ditch umbrella
ditch sit pad/gc


Getting to 10, 8, or even 6 lbs does not take magic. First, your basic gear has to be light. Second, you learn not to take, the things you dont actually NEED.

Edited by livingontheroad on 07/30/2012 18:28:15 MDT.

Your trip list is pretty good. IMO, it'd be fair to say that most potential reductions would come from compromises you don't seem to want to make, but there are almost certainly some relatively painless gains to be made at the margins. Specifics will depend on conditions and details of your trip. Expected temperatures? Rainfall? Humidity? How many days? Solo? How far from help if needed? What kind of food are you cooking? (Just boiling water, or doing real cooking?)

Best,

Bill S.

watch these

http://ultralightbackpackintips.blogspot.com/2011/07/video-tutorials.html#!/2011/07/video-tutorials.html

http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/segments/view/1821


Adding another for you to look at

https://gossamergear.com/wp/support/videos

Edited by annapurna on 08/01/2012 11:44:46 MDT.

Have to agree with livingontheroad, I didn't get below 10 until I got into that mindset.

I think you have more than enough to stay safe and have fun. Do some trips with this gear list and your pack will keep getting lighter as you leave behind items you find unnecessary.

What i do for clothes is

Worn: long sleeve running shirt
Convertable pants
Underwear
Socks
Trail runners

Pack rain coat or helium 7.2 oz
Rain skirt 2.8 oz
12 oz down jacket (can get lighter)
Base layer bottom 6 oz
Mitts and touque 4 oz
Socks 2 oz

My packed clothes weigh 34 oz so cutting down to something like that sves you 1.5llbs. so that is low hanging fruit. Also choosing either the umbrella or the rain coat would save another 1/2 lb. beyond that its time to shave ounce by ounce. Replacing your water supply wit small colaspable containers would save you 1/2 lb. you need to find another 10 items from your list that you can leave behind or reduce weight off of and you will be real close to 10.

I also dont put my camera in my base weight as one of the reasons for cutting weight for me was to add back in camera gear.

Edited by GregF on 08/14/2012 22:14:47 MDT.