[at-l] Base Weights - Survey?

[Raphael Bustin]

At 09:11 PM 9/23/2006 -0400, Tin Man wrote:

>The big 3 items are pack, shelter system and sleep system.  Get them down
>to 5 pounds or less total and the rest is much easier.  You can save an
>easy 1.5 pounds by going to a Shires Tarp-Tent or equivilent.  A number of
>good and very servicable packs out there under 1.5 pounds.  Stoves:
>(heavy sigh) Esbit is very efficient and so is alcohol.  You can lose
>another 1 pound plus by going to either system. I prefer alcohol stoves
>and have received a lot of emails over the years from people who waid they
>permanantly retired their Whisperlight stoves for my alcohol stove.  The
>biggest target rich area for reduction is clothing.   A good book for
>anyone trying to lighten up is Ryan Jordan's Lightweight Backpacking and
>Camping.  The checklists alone are wirth the price.  My JMT hike I had a
>base weight with luxury items of 13.9 and then sent home a few items from
>Mammouth Lakes.  My friend Lance from Charleston has his base weight down
>to a tiny shade over 8 pounds.  He has his clothing really dialed in and
>so will I eventually.


I cannot get the hang of alcohol stoves.  I don't know what
it is.  1 oz of alcohol doesn't come close to boiling the water
for Liptons.  This (alas) includes the stove you sent me way
back when.

I've already got the Tarp-Tent in my sights, thanks to you
and Toe and others.  Good tip, there.

I don't need ultralight.  I'd be happy cutting base weight to
(say) 15 lbs or so, which strikes me as a more realistic goal.

In the last two decades of hiking I've not spent a single night
cold or wet in the woods, and I've camped in some really
drecky weather.  I'd be happy to have that comfort at 24 oz
instead of 54 oz -- but I can not compromise on warmth or
dryness or ease of setup.  I can't pretend to have the physique
or stamina of a 24-year-old.

If in the end it means I average 13 mpd instead of 16, so be it.

I've been going through the book, "Lighten Up!" by Don
Ladigan (illustrations by  Mike Clelland.)  An entertaining
read.  Whether I grok any of it is another matter.

I do maintain that "ultralight" is a relatively new thing.
My 22 lb base weight was nothing unusual in 1990.


rafe b
aka terrapin


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