Pack weights and how to you lighten them

Started by Nyte, June 25, 2021, 07:19:49 PM

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Moab

First off woodsghost and ronnyronin hit all the major topics i would have addressed also. But with far greater detail. Great advice.

I too went with kelty down bags. But since they've introduced some water resistant down. That i may switch too.

My pack also went from an old army 10lb bag. To a 5lb 80L Arcteryx. If i could find something lighter in multicam i would switch. I have lighter bags. But not in multicam. And camo is mandatory - for me.

For shelter i have both a tarp/bivy and a tent. One for summer the others in combination for fall winter. Ive been looking into lighter fully enclosed tents. But for the moment carry a 2 person Marmot dome tent that comes in at 4 to 5 lbs. I carry the tent for the PNW rain and snow. And i have a wife. ;)

Which brings me to my question. What environment are you in? You said plenty of trees. But what are the extremes like winter to summer? You have to ask yourself do i have a proper winter and summer module? Will it protect me accordingly? How far is your bug out? The only module that might work all year is winter. But you might want to set up each module so that you can quickly change them out. Either before u go. Or after youve left. You can also hide things along the way and come back for them. But you cant bank on that.

Lastly this has been a great write up of your journey from a bob to an even better bob. And youve gotten your ass out there. Which is a huge win. As your experience shows in your new selection of gear.
"Ideas are more dangerous than guns. We don't let our people have guns. Why would we let them have ideas?" Josef Stalin

Nyte

Quote from: Moab on July 10, 2021, 01:46:10 PM
First off woodsghost and ronnyronin hit all the major topics i would have addressed also. But with far greater detail. Great advice.

I too went with kelty down bags. But since they've introduced some water resistant down. That i may switch too.

My pack also went from an old army 10lb bag. To a 5lb 80L Arcteryx. If i could find something lighter in multicam i would switch. I have lighter bags. But not in multicam. And camo is mandatory - for me.

For shelter i have both a tarp/bivy and a tent. One for summer the others in combination for fall winter. Ive been looking into lighter fully enclosed tents. But for the moment carry a 2 person Marmot dome tent that comes in at 4 to 5 lbs. I carry the tent for the PNW rain and snow. And i have a wife. ;)

Which brings me to my question. What environment are you in? You said plenty of trees. But what are the extremes like winter to summer? You have to ask yourself do i have a proper winter and summer module? Will it protect me accordingly? How far is your bug out? The only module that might work all year is winter. But you might want to set up each module so that you can quickly change them out. Either before u go. Or after youve left. You can also hide things along the way and come back for them. But you cant bank on that.

Lastly this has been a great write up of your journey from a bob to an even better bob. And youve gotten your ass out there. Which is a huge win. As your experience shows in your new selection of gear.

Thanks Moab!  It is a great journey and I don't think I'm done.  As for AO, I'm in western (mid to slightly south) Ohio, so plenty of flowing water and trees.  My intended BOL, presuming it's not a situation where I am forced to go to a friend's or otherwise, is about 30 miles from home.  So doable on 3 days of walking, and that's if I take roads.  I am working out what a Winter module might look like, and it's mostly switching out a few things, adding a few others.  As I'm deciding to go hammock, I'm figuring on an underquilt for cooler to colder temps, so until it gets really cold, my down bag should serve me, and then I can transition to adding or switching to the MSS parts.  I may store the cold weather gear at the BOL until the weather would indicate a change, just so if I have to go to the BOL and then it transitions to colder, I am not without. 

I definitely started with an overpacked bag, thinking of too many what-ifs.  Now that I am looking at a BO as a very similar mission to a backpacking trip, I am getting a clearer vision, and my bag is much more multi-use.  Might mean I will have some extra gear up for sale/trade soonish.  Some of it will probably hang around in case a BO mission aims at certain other AO, like staying or being more heavily urban based, which seems a long shot.

boskone

One thing you may look at is a cart/pulka.  You can put the necessities in a bag, like an oversized GHB, and stuff like a winter module and relative luxuries on the pull-behind.

E.g. for three days I could probably manage on the likes of jerky, Clif bars, and Mountain House; typical backpacking fare, but boring and unsustainable.  But you could then toss some more varied and interesting, but heavy foodstuffs on the cart; a couple or three MREs, Hormel Compleats, simple boil-to-prepare rice, and other such options.  Ditto clothes, even shelter systems (tent on the cart, sleeping bag in the pack).

Nyte

Quote from: boskone on July 10, 2021, 08:29:24 PM
One thing you may look at is a cart/pulka.  You can put the necessities in a bag, like an oversized GHB, and stuff like a winter module and relative luxuries on the pull-behind.

E.g. for three days I could probably manage on the likes of jerky, Clif bars, and Mountain House; typical backpacking fare, but boring and unsustainable.  But you could then toss some more varied and interesting, but heavy foodstuffs on the cart; a couple or three MREs, Hormel Compleats, simple boil-to-prepare rice, and other such options.  Ditto clothes, even shelter systems (tent on the cart, sleeping bag in the pack).

That's an interesting idea.  I think at that point I would look into a trailer for a mountain bike, and go from there.  I think that could be good for when you need or want more than you could reasonably carry on your back.  Would be more restrictive on where you could go though, and so might inhibit sneaking through the woods, should that be needed.

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