Ultra lighters bear canisters?

[Cloudy]

On my first two-week backpack, I was carrying about 70 lbs. (when I was young and strong) and tripped while sliding down some scree while descending to Tamarack Lake. Because the weight was distributed high in the pack (extending above my head), I did a forward somersault and ended on my back, sliding towards a cliff and a quicker descent to the lake than I had planned... Fortunately I still had my hiking staff and was able to stop myself before going over the edge to my death. This was a lesson learned about weight distribution, weight in general and what was truly necessary for a trip. With much experience, I can do much the same trip with a 35-40 lb. pack and to keep things on topic, I use a Bearikade Weekender stored inside my pack. I am cursed (depending on how you look at it) to be a person who loses their appetite in the mountains so I can actually fit quite a lot of food in a Weekender.

[quentinc]

Mediaurus, thanks!

[Hobbes]

My feeling is that true "ultralighters" rarely stay out in the wilderness for more than a few nights at a time. They keep their kit to a minimum so they can achieve high daily mileages, then bolt to civilization to load up on calories. The few serious ultralighters I've run into on the trail seemed to be attracted to the bare minimum in footwear (tennis shoes, sandals, etc.) and they were all fixated on high mileages. Some used a small bear canister, most did not, preferring instead to plan their itinerary so they would camp in an area equipped with a bear locker. They were all prepared to bail if extreme weather threatened.

As one of the HST resident (S)ULers, I would say that's a pretty fair assessment. I think most ULers would readily admit they fall into the hiking enthusiast category, as opposed to camping, fishing, peak bagging, etc.

It really depends on what you're interested in. I, for one, am immediately bored if I pull up someplace before it's dark. My brother, on the other hand, is a traditionalist out of the 70s mode: hike for part of the day, set up camp, explore a little bit (scramble, peak bag) & chill.

Over the years, I've lost interest in just hanging around. (Decades ago I spent an entire summer camping @ Tahoe before starting a career job in SF.) Now, as my time is more limited, I want to experience as much as I can in the short amount of time I have available. I can usually swing 4 day/3 night trips, so I've designed & purpose built a lot of equipment based on this calculus.

In fact, my #1 starting point was designing a pack around a BV450. I placed it flat in the middle of my folded & cut-down Ridgerest (which serves as my semi-rigid frame), put my tarp/quilt on the bottom & clothes on top. That's how my pack is packed.

None would be caught dead with a pack in excess of 30 lbs.

My total pack weight, including food & water, for 4 days/3 nights is around 15 pounds. This includes a 25F down quilt, oversized tarp, down garments and plenty of (high calorie) food. With this set up, it's a breeze to hike 15-20+ miles per day. It's so liberating & free, that on a whim I can pull a permit to go in @ Horseshoe and come out @ Shepherd a few days later. No stress, no reservations, no logistics, no planning - just go.

If you're of a certain age, perhaps you might remember the old Fram commercial: "You can pay me now, or you can pay me later". If you're a backpacker, eventually you WILL go ultralight - whether than means having a son carry your pack, hiring a packer, or limiting yourself to short walks around the old folk's neighborhood reminiscing about the good 'ole days.

I figure it's better to get ahead of the curve and figure out what's needed to keep having fun.

[Hobbes]

Filed under the 'a picture is worth a thousand words', I grabbed my stuff and shot off a few photos to demo my set-up.









And yes, the stuff sack has a single belt to also serve as a day/summit pack.

[kpeter]

I've gotten lots of good ideas from the ultralight crowd but probably won't entirely join them, but I have lowered my pack weights from 65 to 40 pounds over the years. Their philosophy is not new--Colin Fletcher used to preach taking labels off gear to save weight in the 1960s, it is just that technology is now enabling the realization of his dream.

One correction--I've seen several people note that they have ditched their Thermarests to save weight, citing weights of 2 or 3 pounds. I ditched my original Thermarest pad, but now carry a comfy 3/4 length Thermarest that weighs 11 ounces.

http://www.rei.com/product/829820/therm ... eeping-pad" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All that said, I leave tomorrow with my 14 year old and am carrying all kinds of things I would normally leave behind--two full sized bear canisters (to hold bulky food that I don't want to crush), a solar shower, etc. I had to break out my old external frame Kelty to carry it all. Back up to 60 pounds but only for 5 miles. I hope that in ten years or so she will carry some of my weight for me rather than this way around.

[Hobbes]

I've gotten lots of good ideas from the ultralight crowd but probably won't entirely join them.

The key thing to consider about UL is advances in materials science. This is really the breakthrough element, not necessarily philosophy. (That is, Muir famously took only a bread & bed roll.)

Recall the line from 'The Graduate': "plastics". This is what drives UL - it's all about synthetic fabric (along with Ti & high-loft down). Modern nylon fabric is now woven at 7-10-15 denier - literally silk weight. (Denier is a measure of fabric mass/density: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Units_of_t ... easurement" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) With the addition of silicon/Teflon coatings, it makes an extremely durable, strong & water repellent material.

Here's a picture of my quilt built out of M50 & 900FP down:



This sucker is 7' long x 5' wide, has 12oz of down & nearly 4" of loft ... and weighs 18oz. Compare it to some WM bags to find their temp ratings with that much fill/loft - it's between 25-30F. You can pour a cup of water on the M50 and come back an hour later and it won't have sunk through. That's why you don't need a bivy. Add an over-sized tarp (actually, almost a two-man), some high-tech poly clothing + down garments, and voila.

If you were ever to put on a fully decked out (S)UL kit, and realized where & what you could do, I think it would be hard to imagine anyone voluntarily going back.

[RooPhillip]

Thanks to all for what you've posted here. I've learned a ton from this thread.

[maverick]

Nice job with the bag Hobbes.

[mediauras]

Yeah, nice quilt Hobbes. And you find that the ridgerest provides enough insulation for you? I've recently been considering a 30* quilt for summer use, I'm a side sleep and really like to spread out, but I haven't been sure what kind of pad would provide the right warmth. I alternate between a Mt Washington CCF pad, and an older prolite plus (I'm also a pretty warm sleeper.)

Sounds like you're also not cooking your food. Man, I love cooking (not just rehydrating) and eating a hot meal at the end of the day!

[The hermit]

Hobbes what do you do when mosquitoes are swarming?