High Sierra Topix

Always good to review at the start of a new season:

http://www.backpacker.com/gear/checklis ... 2,,00.html

Man, that looks like my winter camping gear list. Seems a bit overkill for a summer backpack.
Eric

The "Backpacker" checklist is just a gear review - I don't think they're really suggesting that one would bring a closed-cell foam sleeping pad AND an inflatable sleeping pad. I never bring as many clothes as this list suggests. But it's definately a good review.

Bob Rockwell posted a light-weight backpack gear list a couple years ago:

http://www.ridgenet.net/~rockwell/Climb ... e_Pack.doc

I never seen to get my pack as light as I'd like.... but I keep trying. Except I just got a new harmonica - it weighs twice as much as my old one... but what beautiful tone it's got!!!

Rosabella wrote:I don't think they're really suggesting that one would bring a closed-cell foam sleeping pad AND an inflatable sleeping pad

Actually, I do take both - my Uberlight inflatable pad and my evazote foam pad together are 6 ounces lighter than my thermarest guidelite 3/4 inflatable. The evazote protects and supplements the uberlight, and if the uberlight gets punctured, I can still get by.

For an extreme example of an Excel spreadsheet gram-counting packing list, see http://langenbacher.org/TaboosePass/BackpackList.xls . It was developed by an electronic engineer with too much time on his hands (me) during a long period of unemployment, and recycled many times.

And that is what I do as well.
I take an ensolite and an inflatable pad, together they weight less than a therm-a-rest.
I have a 2.5 in inflatable and with the ensolite I can be real comfortable.
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langenbacher wrote:Actually, I do take both - my Uberlight inflatable pad and my evazote foam pad together are 6 ounces lighter than my thermarest guidelite 3/4 inflatable. The evazote protects and supplements the uberlight, and if the uberlight gets punctured, I can still get by.

OK, I'll bite: where does one get these things? I did a quickie Google search and came up with Uberlight backpacks but no inflatable pads, and evazote seems to be mostly sold in bulk. This sounds like a really interesting way to get both comfortable and light, an unusual (and felicitous!) combination...

REI.com has the uberlight,
gossamergear.com has evazote
I'm sure there are plenty of alternatives in sources and materials.

Actually I only tried the uberlight once so far, and it was hard to judge because I kept sliding off of it all night due to a very unlevel campsite. Combining the evazote pad with a thermarest prolite 3 S was still lighter than the thermarest 3/4 guidlite, and much more comfortable that evazote alone

Experienced backpackers often work at some time each season from a checklist, especially before longer trips. There is just too much opportunity to leave minor items behind or not prepare/repair gear that needs attention. My own backpacking trip spreadsheet has over 200 items not all of which I take on each trip. Often when doing a sequence of trips, I don't bother much with my checklist if it is still in the same pile as where I left it on the previous trip and the coming trip is short. ...David

For awhile I was backpacking every weekend, so I would unpack in the garage, do laundry and replace food, batteries, etc, and repack. So the only time I needed a list was beginning of the season.

I have an excell spreadsheet that adds the ounces and tells me how much my pack weighs.

Snow Nymph wrote:FI have an excell spreadsheet that adds the ounces and tells me how much my pack weighs.

I've got a pair of shoulders which, coupled with a pair of hips, performs the same function.