[pct-l] Advice on Gear List

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

On Sep 28, 2010, at 9:47 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> Diane, that suggestion about skipping a bowl and eating out of a pot
> makes sense, solo hiking.
> I tend to hike with 3 others on multi-day hikes in the Rockies each  
> summer
> and if we all ate out of the same pot I doubt I'd have any fingers  
> left
> or a hand, let alone a spoon. lol

My rule of thumb for any item I don't want to go without is to see  
how I can make that item lighter. Are you bringing a BOWL or can you  
get away with a "bowl". The air-quotes indicates some sort of  
improvised bowl. I brought the bottom part of a 17-oz yogurt  
container. I thought it seemed so flimsy it would never last. But it  
has lasted and continues to last. (The bottom part because the lip  
around the edge wouldn't fit inside my pot, so I cut that off.)

Do that with everything and you the weight you save can really add  
up. I managed to lose 9lbs just reducing quantities, substituting  
lighter objects for the ones I had and eliminating parts of objects I  
wasn't going to use.