[pct-l] base weights and ultralight packs

[Steel-Eye]

Good afternoon, Diane,

Last year I hiked part of the SoCal deserts with an experienced old-timer
who also had a tiny pack.  It probably weighed a pound or so less than mine,
but it always looked much smaller.  Part of the reason for the apparent
difference in size was his sleeping bag.  He had what was probably a 35 deg.
down bag that he compressed unmercifully even though he had space available
in the pack.  The bag ended up about the size of a medium loaf of bread, and
his whole pack reflected that small size.  I didn't compress my bag; I just
stuffed it as loosely as possible in whatever space was available in my
pack.  The result was, my pack always looked full regardless of whether I
had lots of consumables on board, or none.  It's his business, but he was
apparently more prideful of his tiny pack than he was concerned about damage
to the loft of his bag.

Steel-Eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

^^^^^^^^^^  Serious hikers gather at:  http://www.aldhawest.org/  ^^^^^^^^^^

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com" <diane at santabarbarahikes.com>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 10:53 AM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] base weights and ultralight packs


>
> On Oct 24, 2008, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
>> base weights and ultralight packs
>
> This year on the PCT I met Nimblewill Nomad a couple of times. He had
> a very tiny ultralight pack from Gossamer Gear. Even they did not
> think the pack would last the whole PCT, but he was determined to do
> it. His pack weight including food and water was around 12lbs.
>
> He said that he never carried more than 20oz of water at any time,
> even in the desert. I found that incredible, but after looking
> through my journal and remembering everything that I did, I mostly
> carried around liters and liters of water that I regularly topped off
> but rarely ever consumed until empty. I could have gotten by with a
> lot less.
>
> What I should have done was drink deeply at water sources and carry
> only enough to drink to get to the next and if the current water
> source was the last until dinner, also carry only enough additional
> water to make dinner and breakfast. That would have reduced my weight
> greatly, but not to 20oz. No way. I was way more thirsty than that!
>
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