[pct-l] Blue 1/2" sleeping pad

[jjolson at uwyo.edu (Jeffrey J. Olson)]

Because I have a Golite Gust and a sleeping quilt, I use a full-length 
blue foam pad.  I believe it weighs in at nine ounces.  I form a tube 
with the pad and slide it into the pack, and then pack everything but 
the sleeping quilt really tightly inside the tube.  If I'm carrying a 
tent with poles, I put it inside the tube vertically against my back and 
pack everyting else around it.  it ends up being quite ridgid...


It's pretty amazing how the 1/3 to 1/2 full pack feels when packed 
tightly in this tube, even when I have eight or nine days of food in it 
and it is right at or just over the upper recommended limit of the pack 
at 30 pounds.  ON section hike of the CDT in the WEminuche I met a 
couple old guys who kidded me about the size of my pack.  They were 
using external frames and going relatively lightweight.  I slid my pack 
off and gently tossed it at one nof them. He started and then caught 
it.  We laughed and laughed. 


I then put the down quilt into a garbage bag and it fills up the rest of 
the pack - I don't like compressing $300 of down. 

Just another way to go...

Jeff Olson
Laramie WY