Gear lists ?

[Charlievee]

Anybody want to put up their gear list for discussion/dissection ? I'm trying to get lighter - my weekend/overnight pack with a litre of water and my food is about 13kgs. Any takers ? Regards.

[tasadam]

Hi there
Might I direct you to the Weight Reduction area of the forum...
Also you will find many topics in the Equipment area.
Doing a search for "gear list" can help too.
It is clear that your comment suggests you are interested in weight reduction, so I have moved this post from the Victoria section to the Weight Reduction area of the forum.

Another suggestion would be for you to detail exactly what makes up your 13 kg's, then members here can make suggestions based on that.
Best of luck!

[Charlievee]

Thanks Tasadam. I'm glad you've redirected it to the proper place. Regards, Charlie

[CenVicCharlie]

G'day Charlievee just a quick gear list for you to look at that I use for 3 day hikes.


Gear Worn Weight
Hat
Long sleeve Polyester shirt
Shorts Light Weight (Adidas) as well Thermals longs if it's cold
Gaiters (S2S tumbleweed)
Socks (Cool Max)
Trail runners Obzo Ignition II
Trekking Poles x2


Pack
GoLite Pinnacle 940
Total 940

Shelter
Tarp 6x10 + stuff sack 281
8 pegs 45
Guylines 25
Total 351

Sleeping
Blue foam mat cut down 80
Sleeping bag + stuff sack 980 I can save 50grams by removing stuff sack and just stuffing sleeping bag in to pack which is what I do.
Equinox Ultralite Bivy + stuff sack 170
Total 1230

Cooking
Gram Wennie + windsheild/primer pan 47
Imusa Mug 710ml 69 Freezer Bag cook (eat out of ziplock bag)
Fuel bottle 19 plus fuel
Lighter 10
Spork 10
2x750ml Mizone Bottles 102 Will carry an extra bottle if water harder to come by. Add 1.5kg for water to final pack weight.
Total 257

Clothing
Thermal bottoms/Top 140 For sleeping in/wear if it gets cold
Windshirt Thermal/water resistant 100
Rain jacket (Gortex) 290 Can leave out in fine weather
Gloves (if cold) 25
Thermal Skull cap 20 also sleep in that
Extra pair of socks/boxers 60
Long sleeve Polyester shirt 100
Total 735

Miscellaneous
First aid 60
Tooth brush 10
Toothpaste 6
Compass 40
Map 42
Sunscreen 10
Toilet paper 25
GPS 167 don't always take this
Phone 92
Essential Gear e2Q Headlight 32
Total 484



Total 3997

With food & water pack weight is about 6.5kg for a 3day\2night trip.

[ninjapuppet]

You're obviously a super light weighter.
A 13kg overnighter is vastly different than a 6.5kg 2 night trip
I like the weight of that equinox bivy


cant complain with that weight.

[Charlievee]

Wow, thanks CenVicCharlie and ninjapuppet for taking the time to reply. My list is fairly similar - I use a tarp too, but I haven't weighed it all yet. And, like you, I'm a fan of freezer bag cooking. I can do without the bivy as my tarp is a 3m x 3m and I have a water resistant outer on my sleeping bag. That's good for me as my bivy sac weighs a kilo. I will weigh up my gear over the next night or two - I'm getting ready for an overnight and I'm getting my stuff together. The house smells of curry that I'm dehydrating for the trip. Saves a fortune over store bought. Thanks again guys ; watch this space. Regards, Charlie.

[CenVicCharlie]

Charlievee PM sent

[Charlievee]

Sorry for the delay. Still waiting on a new titanium alcohol stove, so I thought I'd post this first as it has the "big three" that weigh the most.

Pack : Tatonka Yukon light 50 L - 2.0 kgs. It is a generous 50 L - I'm going to see if I can fit this lot into a smaller Berghaus
pack saving nearly half a kilo.

Shelter : Sil nylon 3m x 3m. With stuff sac, guys and pegs - 709 g.

Sleeping : Thermarest Neo Air 3/4 - 270g. WM Antelope bag (including silk liner) + stuffsac 1.69 kgs.
Groundsheet - rubberised nylon - 520 g.

Total so far : 5.27 kgs.

I know the bag is overkill (good to minus 15 !) but I've just purchased it, and want to see how cold it will get in the tarp.
Likewise for the tarp ; I've got a smaller, lighter one but I'm new to tarping and want to gain confidence in my system.
BTW - the rest of my gear is still pretty light - titanium MSR pot, spork, titanium alcohol stove etc....

Any feedback very welcome. Thanks for reading, CV

[ninjapuppet]

Hi Charlie, i just picked up an antelope GWS today and i have to say, i'm not terribly impressed with the pack size! if i shove it into my 58L pack, even in its compression sack it fills my pack nearly full!!! measures 55cm x 25cm.
I'm on the verge of returning it this weekend if i cant get it down smaller.
Read somewhere that they used it down to -22 degrees C with down jackets and pants and stayed warm, but i dont think i'll be heading anywhere that cold.

can i ask you what you're using to compress it? and is yours the GWS aswell or the microfibre version?
I assume you're not going to head to -15C territory any time soon with that mat/bag combination?

your tarp and groundsheet is 1229 grams which i think is approaching some 4 season 1 man shelters. but like you said, if all goes well, your newer one should be really light.

[Charlievee]

Hi ninjapuppet - not sure what the gws stands for in your bag. Mine's a down bag (not microfibre fill) and has the gore tex (sort of) shell on it. I chose this to enable me to use the bag without a bivvy. I do have lighter bags (read : gear addict) but this one is the one I'm planning on using next weekend. And, it came from a 20% off special at Paddy Pallin. My compression sac should bring it down to about 300 x 250 if I remember correctly. That pretty much takes up the bottom of the pack, but I save room without a tent using a tarp. The groundsheet is heavy, yes, but I thought the ground will still be moist from winter, and I'm careful with the NeoAir. I'm a pretty warm sleeper ; did Feathertop earlier this year and it got to minus 2 deg. I had the NeoAir, my Microlight tent and my regular bag and was warm as toast. The tarp will, no doubt, be a different story. I don't plan on doing too much snow camping, just want to be sure of being warm while using the tarp. I'm sure as experience is gained, I'll lessen my weight even further. The big tarp and groundsheet may weigh near my Microlight, but I have about 4 times as much room ! Regards.

[ninjapuppet]

wow, 30x25cm is awesome! I'd love to manage that.

The antelope comes in
- MF (microfibre),
- SDL (super dryloft)
- GWS (Gore Windstopper)

so i guess yours is the same as mine. what brand compression sac are you using, and what size?

[Charlievee]

The compression sac is either a Sea to summit or a Mountain hardwear large. It is a black sac with orange ends. It seems to be fairly robust denier nylon, but with a $900 Aust. bag, I'll opt for the extra weight. Yes, the GWS is the bag. I might add that I've only popped the bag into the stuffsac to see if it fit (which it did) but haven't compressed it all the way. The very high quality down they use doesn't take much to compress, I'm sure it will squeeze into a small package. Regards. CV

[Charlievee]

Hey NP - just a quick update. I'm getting ready for a walk next weekend so I'm trying new pack/gear combinations. I've put the new WM bag into the aforementioned stuffsac/comp sac and yes, I did get it down to the 25x30cm size mentioned, if not, a smidge bigger. Takes up some room ! Regards, CV.

[Samma3l]

Hi all,

This is my weekend gearlist for a trek I did in the Royal National Park (Bundeena to Otford return):

Golite Jam and Pack cover - 1055g
Sleeping bag and comp bag - 1328g
Bivvy - 450g
Tarp/Hootchie - 205g
7 Pegs and Lines 161g
Bedroll - 228g

Spare Clothing (Merino Thermals, wool socks, light beanie, spare undies, comp bag) - 865g
Jacket - 511g
Rain Jacket - 170g
Rain Pants - 350g
Face Washer - 34g

Jetboil - 447g
Gas - 346g
1st aid kit (pills, ankle strapping tape, bandages, mini nikko pen) - 249g
Leatherman Squirt - 57g

Digging tool (Self made out of ali snow stake, m&ms minis container and tape, holds aquatabs, needle & thread and lighter) - 64g
Nav Set (Paper, chino pencil, compass, gps, map) - 290g
Toiletries (Toothbrush, toothpaste, TP, sanitiser) - 181g
Headlamp & Iphone - 263g

Walking Poles - 620g

Food:
50/50 Macadamia Nut & smarties mix - 500g
Trident Laksa Instant noodles - 94g
Cheesy Rice side dish - 139g
Crunchy Nut bars - 150g

5L water (3L bladder 2L bottles) ~ 5000g

Total Weight - 13840g

I didn't weigh the clothes I was wearing but they consisted of a Longsleeve shirt, boardies, lycra boxers, ankle socks and sneakers.

As it warms up here, I'll be reducing my pack further e.g. losing the merino and wool socks, swapping the rainpants for lighter versions, and using a lighter weight sleeping bag and bedroll.

I've considered swapping out other items for lighter versions (looking at the jetboil especially) but when I'm worried about getting alcohol all through my pack if a bottle breaks, as well as boiling efficiancy vs fuel use of a smaller stove. I'll always carry 4-5L water. This is because I find it easer drinking from a bladder and I can have 2L ready to drink and 2L sanitising without having to wait.

Out of this are there any suggestions of what I could substitute or drop from my list?

[ninjapuppet]

Thats a nice list. you've obviously spent a fair of dough to go light.

I dont think i eat too much (i hope) but I'm not so sure if thats enough food for me
it appears you either only need to boil water for your laksa, or theres other food not on your list.
if you're only boiling water, then I would go with alcohol for an overnight like your planned trip, such as something from http://minibulldesigncult.webs.com/apps/webstore/ or a whitebox stove.

i guess you can always buy extra food at the kiosk which opens on weekends. if something goes wrong or if you run out of fuel, civilisation isnt too far away.
I did that walk a few weeks back, and couldnt manage to start a fire in severe wind and cold with my flint. sparks were comming out but i guess the alcohol was too cold to start. i just borrowed a fire from someone else's campfire. haha. i always bring 2 or 3 methods of starting fire when out remote.

[Charlievee]

Wow, Samma3l - that's impressive. Very good. As NP stated above I'd need a bit more food than that. Then again, I'm a bit of a chubby and food is fuel to me. Gotta keep those legs moving ! Regards. CV

[cams]

This is a list for an overnight trip in Autumn sort of weather with little chance of rain.

Golite Peak - 790g (This is still on its way. Not sure if I'll fit everything in. Should do. Current pack is an Osprey aether 60 - 2200g)
Sleeping bag - 566g
Alpinlite Terraform + 1.25 person bug shelter - 779g (Also still on its way. Have been using an MSR Hubba - 1600g)
Walking Poles - 390g
Neo air small - 274g
DIY foam pillow - 135g

sythetic thermal top and bottom - 340g
Lowe Alpine Gloves - 41g
buff - 37g
Montbell mistral parka - 179g
MSR packtowel ultralite - 15g
Golite Poncho Tarp - 210g

Caldera Keg-F (swapped out alcahol for Esbit stove. Includes 2 Esbit tablets and lighter) - 219g
1st aid kit - 127g
Knife - 90g
Compass - 40g
ipood - 110g
LMF spork - 10g
toilet paper - 50g
Bushman deet - 130g
toothpaste - 21g
phone - 90g
bank cards, license, some money, car key - 24g
petzl e-lite - 28g

Food:
3 x 1 day scroggin bags - 330g
musli + powdered milk - 90g
4 x bread - 180g
2 x salmon sachet - 216g
2 x 1L platy bottle - 50g
water 2L - 2000g

Total Weight - 7918g

Last edited by cams on Mon 13 Sep, 2010 11:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Samma3l]

Ninjapuppet, Charlievee

I haven't spent a whole heap of money - Maybe less than $1500AU. I did a bit of research before hand and bought alot of stuff overseas (Mainly Prolite and REI).

Foodwise I thought I was doing quite well. 200g scrog a day (50/50 Maccadamia M&Ms) nets me at least 5000kj with roasted salted maccas doing 3200kj/100g alone.There are some higher energy content chocolates out there (Kennedy and Wilson especially) but they all melt in the sun, the crispy shell bypasses this. The laksa said it had 2700kj from memory and there was an oil sachet in there so maybe. The Cheesy rice is one of those packet side dishes and that was supposed to have 2400kj in it or so as well. The Crunchy Nut Bars had about 2400kj for the 3 of them. Not sure of the milo/coffee mix but it could be pretty good. I'd estimate I was getting at least 12,000kj a day and probably burning around 14,000-15,000kj a day so not too big a deficiency. Nutrition wise, I aim for sugars, fats and oils with higher complex (ish) carbs at night to be turned into fat. I didn't really feel flat anywhere so that kind of mix works for me.

I probably boil 3 times over a weekender. How much fuel would I need to get 500ml of water to boil each time if I were to use alcohol?

Next projects on the list is 6 foot track (return... maybe) and the Great North Walk (North to South - easier to get home at the end). At this stage I'm looking at a tarptent (sublite) to replace my hootchie/bivvy combo (it weighs less surprisingly) and upgrading my pack to the GL Pinnacle and a lighter sleeping bag for GNW (the maps say there are shops enroute but I have no idea if they are corner stores or supermarkets, so looking at doing the whole thing unsupported). My ultimate goal is the Appalachian Trail in 2013 so trying to get my gear right now.

[Charlievee]

Hey Samma3l - looks like you have things well in hand. As per the alcohol - I've been building pepsi can stoves lately and one of my tests is to see how well the stoves bring about 700 - 800 ml of water to the boil in a MSR titanium pot. I guess consumption is of course related to various things like : pot shape, wind factor, distance from the flame - that sort of thing. I'm using very little to get the pot boiling ; but that's indoors , no wind etc... I guess it takes about 50 - 60 mls or so ; I haven't measured. If you bring one of the small Nalgene brown metho bottles full (I think they're about 500 mls.) you'll have plenty of fuel and won't have to scrimp on extra cuppas or washing up. Just my thoughts YMMV. The AT has been a dream of mine for a while. I'm certainly not fit enough and can't see myself tackling it in the foreseeable future. The AAWT is my current goal - doing the first leg/90 klms. this November. Best regards, CV

[Tony]

Hi Charlie,

Hey Samma3l - looks like you have things well in hand. As per the alcohol - I've been building pepsi can stoves lately and one of my tests is to see how well the stoves bring about 700 - 800 ml of water to the boil in a MSR titanium pot. I guess consumption is of course related to various things like : pot shape, wind factor, distance from the flame - that sort of thing. I'm using very little to get the pot boiling ; but that's indoors , no wind etc... I guess it takes about 50 - 60 mls or so ; I haven't measured. The AT has been a dream of mine for a while. I'm certainly not fit enough and can't see myself tackling it in the foreseeable future. The AAWT is my current goal - doing the first leg/90 klms. this November. Best regards, CV

In your above post you have brought up a few interesting points with alcohol stoves. you are correct with stove efficiency being related to wind, pot diameter, efficiency also has a lot do do with stove/pot diameter ratio, pot distance from flame, stove mass, temperature of ground stove is sitting on, fuel type (we are lucky here in Australia as our Methylated Spirits 95% ethanol is of very high quality), start temperature of water, altitude, boil time (too fast is less efficent than too slow), etc.

To bring 700-800mls of water to boil with an efficient stove/pot system you would normally use around 20-30 mls of Methylated Spirits, one way of measuring alcohol fuel is to use a medicine measuring cup that is available from chemists for next to nothing, once you know how much fuel you need, to save fuel use the measuring cup in the field, they only weigh a few grams and will save you more than that on each boil.

If you bring one of the small Nalgene brown metho bottles full (I think they're about 500 mls.) you'll have plenty of fuel and won't have to scrimp on extra cuppas or washing up. Just my thoughts YMMV

One way of saving fuel and therefore weight is to structure your cooking and drinking to use as little fuel as possible, use boil water only cooking, do freezer bag cooking to reduce washing up, reduce the amount of coffee or tea drunk. this article http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin ... 00034.html has a good section cooking techniques to reduce weight, it also has a lot of information on weight reduction on all aspects of backpacking gear, some of the gear metioned is old now but basic article is still sound.

I normally do not use alcohol stoves as for short trips I usually reheat a curry and cook rice, which I need a simmering stove, I use a Kovea Supalite canister stove, for longer trips a canister stove can be lighter as it uses less fuel per boil by weight.

Tony

[CenVicCharlie]

Just a quick update I have been successful in removing about 1100 grams from base weight with the purchase of a new pack( Granite Gear Virga) and a Quilt(BPL pro 90 Quilt) that with bivy and new UL down jacket (Mont-Bell) this will also become a part of my sleep system.

S a 3day\2night should now be down to 6kg or just under with water and food :]

[bluey17]

Try kitbag in google aust, they have a lot of bags and gear on there, lots derived from other suppliers. Got a Recon3, rated to -5 degrees, has a boot end in the bottom of it so you can sleep dressed. They do have more bags in there colder and warmer rated. Dont have a set of scales fine enough to weigh it sorry. It can handle some moisture and compresses down a lot too. Goes great in a goretex bivi bag, can float in one of them if you stay still enough

[Singe]

Just a quick update I have been successful in removing about 1100 grams from base weight with the purchase of a new pack( Granite Gear Virga) and a Quilt(BPL pro 90 Quilt) that with bivy and new UL down jacket (Mont-Bell) this will also become a part of my sleep system.

S a 3day\2night should now be down to 6kg or just under with water and food :]

G'day Charlie, I'd be very interested in your thoughts on the Virga - I've been looking at it and the vapor trail (similar but with closed-cell foam 'frame') but just not 100% sold on the 'fixed' straps - though a good excuse not to loan it out I guess

I met a bloke carrying a Virga on the south coast track; he used a hammock so had a wide closed-cell foam mat for wind protection, which he used rolled loosely inside the pack to give it shape and rigidity. I guess with close attention to packing this wouldn't be necessary though?

Cheers, Matt

[lightfantastic]

Freezer bag cooking ,sounds light , but how do you do it ? please anyone .

[Tony]

Hi Lightfantastic,

Freezer bag cooking ,sounds light , but how do you do it ? please anyone .

Check this site out

http://www.trailcooking.com/

Tony