Came across the link below on Gizmodo about The Ultimate Backpacking Outfit. It looks to me that this guy needs an education on how to lighten up.

The Ultimate Backpacking Outfit

ozzies eh... need educated on the rugby field too

We've been educating them ozzies on the rugby field for quite some time now... it's a shame they a bit slow on the uptake ;-)

....yeah, those bloody Aussies.... :-) We are a bit slow on the rugby...I give you that much, but it's only because we're spending all our time educating you guys on 'everythung' else!

...I'm so kidding.... I just couldn't 'not' go there.

Wow! This guy must be one of the worlds most strongest men competitors or something like it.

He's probably got a kitchen sink in that pack somewhere.

I'm not quite sure but I don't think that he has 1st hand experience with all of that gear. A clue may be the upside down pic of the spinning rod and reel. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and guess that he forgot to rotate the picture on his computer before he uploaded it.

Being from southeast LA I can tell you that the reel and the eyes go to the bottom. If used in the way it is pictured you'd have to turn the handle on the reel CCW back towards yourself to reel in anything you might catch.

This guy should have to load up all of this gear into a pack and then carry it for some distance. I'm guessing he'd see the error of his ways very soon. :-0 Doh!

Party On,

Newton

PS

I'm off to work and then home to install my storm windows. It seems that Issac the "himmicane" (male of the species) is on the way to our front door. ;-(

I started reading and thought, well other than the monster pack it's not so heavy. not ultralight, but nice and light traditional gear for the big two, but then I got to the cooking stuff etc. Holy smokes!

The clothing list also seems very disjointed. A SUPER warm hat and big waterproof gloves for a summer trip but no windshell or rainpants, no sunvisor/hat.

A nalgene hardbottle? AND a platypus hoser?

Edited by Tjaard on 08/27/2012 15:35:28 MDT.

I don't see a thing wrong with the guy's list, if he's happy with it, and clearly he is. His focus is clearly on camp comfort, and there's nothing wrong with that. Does he carry more comfort items than I would? Yes. But I've got a bad back, bad knees, one bad foot and one bad ankle (opposite legs) so I'm focusing more on lowering my overall pack weight so that I can comfortably hike. On some things, I agree with him. I haven't switched to soft platy type water bottles because I use hot water bottles at bed time so I use hard sided bottles. That's one area where I focus on comfort over weight savings. Some of the gear he has is gear I used to use, and have since switched to lighter variants (Dragonfly to Pocketrocket, for example) but I can completely understand why he likes the gear. And to be honest, there are times I get to camp with my friends and they whip out their little camp chairs and other comfort items and I'm jealous. Not jealous enough to carry it, but maybe someday someone will come out with an ultralight version that I won't mind taking. :)

@Dena. Thanks for the opposing viewpoint. I agree with you that it's great that someone is out hiking and it doesn't matter what gear/items they bring if it works for them.

BUT this claims to be the ULTIMATE GEAR LIST, thus setting the bar much higher. I think it is therefor fair to critique his selection.

It is also not just a matter of 'camp comfort' vs hiking comfort. He doesn't have many comfort items like a chair listed. And as I mentioned before, there seems to be a serious lack of looking at the system of gear as a whole, rather than 'cool items'.

I think many BPL members are not Ultralight and carry some or all of the items he lists as well as other 'comfort' items. However that should always be done with an eye to the trade-off in weight(as you point out yourself) and most importantly to the way the total system functions.

True- "Ultimate Gear Lists" are ALWAYS subjective and should be presented that way. I enjoy reading other people's gear lists because I get ideas for my own from them, but can't say I've ever seen another person's gear list that I would copy exactly for myself.

Anyone who suggests the Bear Grylls Knife is part of The Ultimate Gear List only elicits laughter from me.


EDIT- It has nothing to do with Bear. Trust me- that knife is a joke.

Edited by WoodenWizard on 08/27/2012 18:56:58 MDT.

Who here is FWIW?

I've seen much worse lists including much lighter and worse. My guess is that if you send a novice into pretty much any gear store in America and let the store 'experts' set them up, you'll get worse than this most of the time.

I do agree that ultimate is a bad choice of names. There is no one ultimate gear list. Even for the same trip under the same conditions your ultimate is probably not my ultimate.

Jim

I cringed when I saw that Skurka's book had ultimate in the title.

RE Skurkas book:

I cringed too when I saw that, but once I read the book I realized it is not claiming to be the 'ultimate BOOK' but rather is aiming to turn the reader into the 'Ultimate HIKER', a Skurka term indicating the difference with an 'Ultimate CAMPER'.

It is unfortunate that due to basic grammar there is this confusion about the meaning of the title.

@ Jim: I disagree. Don't you think that if someone went into a backpacking store they might at least end up with a pair of rainpants, a baseball cap and leave the windstopper double layer fleece hat at home?

Tjaard:

Unfortunately, I wouldn't want to bet on it. Watch what people get sent out of stores with. Absolutely amazing sometimes.

I have very little respect for the quality of advice put out by most of the sales staff in gear stores. When I travel I try to find gear stores to visit whereever I am - cheap entertainment. It's a rare store I come across that helps people make good choices. Maybe I'm just unlucky in the stores I see.

Jim

What people use is up to them ...

I am reminded of some people at the local crag who run around shouting out that just because your anchor isnt set up the way they do it, theyll say its "unsafe"

On bpl we worry about how other people pack ;)

"What people use is up to them ..."
Again, entirely true, but this guy is telling other people they should do it the same way.

And he even claims it's the ULTIMATE gear, that begs for critique.

If you go out and say: "This is what I use, it just happens to be what I had around." No one should argue with you.

But if you say:
"After a decade of testing and updating the core set of gear, this particular list shows the best backpacking products available in 2012.;"
Comments are to be expected.


"I am reminded of some people at the local crag who run around shouting out that just because your anchor isn't set up the way they do it, they'll say its "unsafe""

I wish someone had told my friend that his anchor was unsafe before he lowered and fell, breaking a couple of bones.

I am glad when someone flashes me to remind me I forgot to turn on the car headlights as I drive out of the parking lot, rather than having an accident a mile later.

Edited by Tjaard on 08/28/2012 09:34:46 MDT.

his gear aint unsafe ;)

ive had people run around telling me my anchors are unsafe even though they are SERENE ... just because they want to show off in front of friends or want to feel superior .... i dont see that much difference here

as to ULTIMATE ... he could be ultimate for him .. thats his choice ... some people arent too interested in light ... and some of those people go harder than many virtual hikers here ...

go post up on his page if you want a REAL response ...

its a freaking intrawebs gizmodo article ... no worse than the many others floating around the various sites ...