[pct-l] Ultralight as a must?

[Jeffrey Olson]

I'm writing this with newbies in mind. I've written about this before so
if it's old news, just delete.

We tend to think of individual pieces of gear and which is better for
our unique situation. What we sometimes forget is that our hiking gear
is a system.

I use a Golite Gust, or now the Pinnacle or Gust, depending on length of
trip. I want a sack with nothing else - no backstay or slot for a
z-rest. I use a quilt and full-length blue foam pad. I roll the pad up
and put it vertically into the pack. I then unroll it as far as it will
go until it is tight against the pack.

I put the Tarptent Contrail in its stuffsack vertically up against my
back inside the blue foam pad. I then tuck the food I won't use during
the day in the bottom, and then cooking gear and clothes. I pack that
sucker as tight as it will go. The final thing that goes in is the
precious down quilt in its own plastic garbage bag. I have NEVER stuffed
the quilt, and it's 10 years old now. With the gust - because it has no
external side pockets - I put a couple gatorade bottles on top. With the
Pinnacle I use the side pockets for water bottles.

My pack always looks full, even though it the base weight is 13 pounds
with no luxuries like book, headlamp, more than butterflies, a couple
needles and fishing line for first aid.

My waist belt goes around my waist, and never comes in contact with my
hip bones. I have 10% or less of the pack's weight on my shoulders. I
don't use the little strap across the chest - I find it constricts my
breathing. After a month or more on the trail I will not use the waist
belt when I'm carrying two days of food or less. Just like the little
strap across the chest, the waist belt is constricting. I don't even
notice the packs weight as I dance adroitly down the trail.

We all develop systems - eventually. I have a friend who wears running
shoes and carries a 45 pound pack. That doesn't make sense to me, but
she hasn't sprained an ankle - yet.

I am in amazement when I see the true ultralight hikers float by with
their 2000 cubic inch packs. My system will need to change when I do my
last long distance hike - one six weeks or longer. I know I can get
lighter, even though I would never attempt what WArner Springs Monte did
in 2006.

Jeffrey Olson
Rapid City, SD