[pct-l] Gear Weights

[Bob Bankhead]

Roni:

Suggestion - Stay away from GI Joes' camping gear. Most of it is aimed at car campers who won't venture very far beyond the campground. I would rate its overall quality as fairly low. 

Sleeping bag: please tell us what temperature range you think you'll need to cover. Bear in mind that a sleeping SYSTEM only starts with the sleeping bag. It also includes a significant part of your clothing system as well, especially your primary insulating layer. Other parts can include a bag liner, bivy, or overbag. This allows you to carry a lighter weight, higher temperature rated bag and to supplement it with parts of your clothing system when the temperature drops below your bag's rating. When it gets warm, use only the bag, unzipped as needed for ventilation. The 0° down bag that you love when it's below freezing becomes an unnecessarily heavy sauna when it's 65° at night. For a great comparison of bags by manufacturer, see Backpacking.net's chart at  (http://www.backpacking.net/gearbag-chart.html)

Pack:  the last item you should buy because it has to carry all the gear you've already bought and decided to carry. Comfortable, light weight packs are made by Brian Frankle at ULA Equipment (http://www.ula-equipment.com/)  and Ron Moak at Six Moon Designs (http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/). You can find numerous threads on this and other forums debating ad nauseum on which is better.

Tents: - another source of ad nauseum debates on the forums. Two top contenders among through- and long-distance hikers are (again) Six moon Designs and Henry Shire's Tarptents (http://www.tarptent.com/index.html). REI also rents tents (and other gear) which would allow you to "try before you buy", although the scope of their rental inventory is limited. REI also has the best no-hassel return policy out there; no time limits; just keep your receipt.

Conspicously absent from this discussion is Gossamer Gear (http://www.gossamergear.com/), only because you are just starting out. GG makes excellent ultra-light gear, but you really need to know how to take care of it and have the wilderness experience to know when and how to use it and be able to recognize and adjust for what you're trading off for the light weight.

Wandering Bob
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: RJ Lewis 
  To: pct-l at backcountry.net 
  Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 3:32 PM
  Subject: [pct-l] Gear Weights


  Hi!
    I will address the whole list once again, as I have a serious question 
  or 2 to ask, if I may.  I have been looking at various packs, sleeping 
  bags and tents. And while it seems that tents are fairly easy to find to 
  suit my needs in lighter weights, packs and sleeping bags are not!  I 
  don't want to use a 20F bag, as I plan on using this bag for other 
  trips, and I am a notorious "freeze baby" ie- I sleep "cold". I'm the 
  one who turns the electric blanket on high, and piles the quilts on, 
  while my poor hubby opens the windows, because he's sweating to death. 
  *LOL*  The best weight I have found so far in a down sleeping bag, which 
  is what I prefer myself, is 2lbs 8 oz ( so far).

  Packs are again another story. The weights I keep seeing, in a pack that 
  I can handle solo, are 3lbs 8 oz -5 lbs or so. Since I would like to 
  keep my weight, before food and H20, to 25 lbs and under, this seems a 
  bit weighty to me, especially on the pack side.  I feel I can work with 
  the sleeping bag arrangement, as I refuse to sleep cold. I have 
  arthritis, and there is absolutely nothing that will spoil a day faster 
  than waking up stiff because you slept cold.  The idea though too is, 
  that I need to be able to handle this pack solo, with my bad back, even 
  on really "bad" days. And a sleeping bag compartment is a "must" to me. 
  I hate the idea of digging through my entire pack every night to get to 
  my sleeping gear. It just sounds like too much work at the end of a long 
  day.

  For the tents, it seems that GI Joe's has a nice selection at their 
  store that are ultra light-- in the under 2 lb category, and seem well 
  made. I will be taking a closer look when I am ready to purchase, and 
  think it will be there I will make my selection.

  I'm thinking I'm going to be watching for everyone's sales/clearances so 
  I can get some decent deals at least on some of the more expensive gear 
  I need to buy. 

  Peace !!
  Have a terrific and above all SAFE hike everyone!!

  Oh yah, and have fun!!
  Ronnie Jo
                               
  ***********************************************************************************
  PS....To that planter of the marihuana seed?  Er, I hope someone knows 
  where that poor thing is...wont grow much in the desert without 
  water....gonna have ta have every hiker who stops by, donate a bit of 
  water to that poor lil thing......*LOL*
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