[pct-l] Sleep System....UL vs recklessly light

[Reinhold Metzger]

Monty is right...''when the weight goes down the fun goes up''...as long 
as you  don't take it to far to the  reckless extreme,
because that is when misery can go up as weight goes down.
I did that once on my JMT fast packs, and boy, was I miserable.
I thought I came up with a brilliant idea when, in order to go light to 
the extreme, I made a sleeping bag out of  plastic bubble wrap and a 
pancho out of a foil emergency blanket....extremely light, only 6-8 oz 
for the combo.
My thinking was the bubble wrap is water proof and the air bubbles will 
be the insulation.
Worked great in S. Cal., but not so good in the Sierra.
Almost froze to death, head to hike all night and sleep in the day time.
The space blanket pancho worked great in the rain until it started 
thundering & lightning.
For some unexplainable reason I got that distinct feeling that I might 
be a walking lightning rod.
Well, that took care of the space blanket and I wrapped my tent around 
me instead.

So now I am somewhere in between UL, but not recklessly  light.
So how light is that?....well let me see now.....home made pack 11.5 
oz....home made tent, poles & stakes 11 oz....ground cloth 2.5 oz...pad 
3 oz...sleeping bag 16 oz...stuff sack 1 oz....thats 2 lb 13 oz plus 
rain & cold weather gear and miscellaneous.
This works for me, but would not work for everyone, since comfort level 
or tolerance for discomfort will determine what will work for a hiker.
I have a fairly high tolerance for discomfort and can do without many of 
the fuzzy & cozy things that many hikers need.

JMT Reinhold
Your comfort loving trail companion