[pct-l] how much money to save an ounce

[Lawrence Pelo]

Tortoise wrote:
I am comparing silnylon vs. cuben fibre stuff sacks over on the ZPacks.com 
website. I'm also a (retired) accountant and sometimes love to analyze. So 
I did a little spreadsheet to compare the cost to save an ounce or a pound 
or a gram or a kilogram for the various sizes I'm interested in.

Results - to save:
1 ounce		     $  28
1 pound		     $448

1 gram			$  1
1 kilogram		$991

dollar amounts are rounded.

the costs to save weight seem high until one considers carrying the weight 
on a thruhike of the PCT. then the costs to save a pound per mile hiked are 
less than $0.17 per mile. Would you carry a pound for a mile for $0.17? 
More info to consider in your gear planning.

**************

I love the cost-per-ounce-saved ratio. I've been using it extensively to lighten my own pack (I spent $3.46/oz to lighten my pack, shelter, and sleeping bag). But I doubt the utility of the (cost-per-ounce-saved)-per-mile ratio. It sounds like the sort of thing an oily car salesman would say:

"Now, Mr. Tortoise, the luxury model does cost $10,000 more than the basic model. But it will last 200,000 miles, so you are really only paying 5 cents extra per mile! Wouldn't you pay 5 cents per mile to drive this fine luxury automobile?"

But $10,000 is a lot of money. You should be considering (a) whether you can afford the extra cost as a whole, and (b) whether the upgrade is worth that extra cost. The extra cost divvied up over some arbitrary unit (Miles driven? Hours of driving? Days of service?) is misleading.

If you can afford to spend $448 to cut a pound off your pack, then go for it. But for me it would be a bad financial decision, no matter how you slice it.

-Lawrence



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