Seeking advice on how to pack for "light and fast" hiking

[Kevin Rooney]

...They shot the rabbit and edible plants

OMG - They shot plants?! Just for good measure? Or were they attacking? Lots to be said for carrying a spare "Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch", just in case.

 

[Mike P.]

Depending on your trip, a water filter (tablets weigh almost nothing but may leave a taste & have a shelf life) provides gallons of water providing your near a source and weighs less than a liter of water. (that said most trips I take if I figure I need 3 or less liters, that is what I bring. For real long trips, I bring the filter. (Allen, Owl's Head) In NH, good chance a hut will be close by.

Is Go-lite still in business (may be dating myself) A friend had one of their packs, very light but most of it was mesh. Now many of us, have probably 3-5 or more packs so having an ultralight might be okay. (I'm trying not to buy another pack for me - no lightweights owned ) If you only have one pack, an ultralight is proabbly a poor choice for a single pack to own.

If you're looking at buying another pack, a lightwight is a decent idea.

(I have a 5500, a 3500 (luggage use now) a 3,000, a 2500, and a 700 fanny pack plus access to my wife's 4300 & Kelty Redwing which must be around 2800. As my kids get older, I'll stop spoiling them & they can start carrying more. )

The Go-Lite I saw did not look very scrub worthy, a poor choice for bushwhacking and for a lot of NH travel say above 3800- feet.

IN CT they would be great but our hills are low enough that pack weight really isn't an issue.

 

[TomD]

Maddy, The whole UL style is a world in itself, and there seems to be no shortage of gear aimed at lowering your base weight.
If you are serious about light and fast, you need to start looking at the UL sites like www.backpacking.net aka The Lightweight Backpacker (which I have belonged to for years and help moderate) or www.backpackinglight.com, which is partially free and partially subscribers only. There are many others, but these two are probably the best.

Start reading the UL books like the ones by Andrew Skurka or Ray Jardine.

I am not a UL hiker, I usually go in winter alone and tow a sled, but after belonging to TLB for years, I am familiar with a lot of UL gear:

1. Start with a UL pack, GoLite makes some good ones, so does ULA and a few other small companies. They come in various sizes;
2. Shelter-use a UL tent like a Tarptent, Big Sky or Lightheart or one of the many sil-nylon tarps. There are other companies making UL tents, including winter tents from Hilleberg and Terra Nova, among others;
3. Cook kits and stoves-alcohol stoves (usually homemade) with cookkits made from things like Heineken cans. Jason Klass has a lot of stuff on his websites about making these things; lots of other sites do too, find them with Google; Plenty of videos on YouTube.
4. There are UL pads of all sorts, they tend to be narrow and some people only use a half length pad.
5. Water bottles-as already mentioned, plastic water bottles of various sizes are common-far less weight than a bladder or Nalgene;
6. Trail shoes instead of boots;
9. UL sleeping bag-pricey but light down bags from Feathered Friends or Western Mountaineering or get a quilt kit from Ray Jardine, the original, more or less, UL proponent;
10. Filter-forget the filter and use chlorine dioxide water purification tabs like Aquamira.
11. If you are a hammock person, there are hammock websites with plenty of info on them for all seasons. Videos on YouTube as well. The videos by a guy named Shug Emery are informative and funny.
12. Food-make your own freeze dried or dehydrated meals; there are quite a few websites with recipes for things like freezerbag cooking and making things like stew, then dehydrating them for packing.

 

[marty]

Maddy,

Since you've been given a whole bunch of useful websites, I figured that I would add another. Here is the Gear Forum for Whiteblaze:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?59-Gear-Forums

The General Gear Talk and the Ultralight Forum have some good discussions and recommendations.

Regards,
Marty

 

[tomcat32]

I'll give you my two cents from the prospective of a long distance backpacker. My first long backpack was an AT thru hike. I had good gear but little first hand knowledge or access to it. Pre internet in my life. Things added up and I had over 50lbs leaving Springer with food and water. I got that down consistently in mid 30s my time I finished. I did a couple of longish hikes in the west and didn't change too much. A few years back I thru hiked Cohos Trail. By then my gear was getting weathered and needing updating. I replaced gear with lighter gear and got the pack down lighter and continue to do so everytime I replace gear. At the time I was told I hiked the Cohos in record time. 165 miles in just shy of 8 full days. Last year I did 190 miles of Long Trail in about 9 days. I can keep 5-6 days of food and 2 liters of water in summer 30-35lbs. Not ultralight but A far cry from first day on AT.

Some things I can share from my experience. Work with your current gear and ease into lighter gear as time goes on to learn what works since ultralight gear isn't cheap. Be in shape. It's the only way you can cover big miles, period. No matter how light year gear 20-25 miles a day is still long and takes endurance. Don't expect miracles if you hike 5 days a year then are in pain on a more challenging hike. I credit my faster times to the fact I'm in shape more than anything else. A few pieces of gear I don't recommend skimping on. shoes and sleeping pad. On the Cohos trail I hiked in Vasque trail runners, they were too light for the milage. My knees were wrecked for a month after. Sleeping pad. Go as light as is comfortable. No point sleeping on 2 0z pad if it's so uncomfortable you can't sleep. In the northeast I recommend a tent over tarp. Bugs are a bitch if you can't excape them. As for food, I still stick to the old stand bys in mac and cheese, ramen, lipton meals, etc. cooked on a canister stove if its not winter. For clothes, you don't need more than one extra pair of socks. Keep one dry at all times. Carry only the clothes you will need for the season and area. No need for four extra shirts etc but always have something dry.
Just a few things based on experience. Take from it what you like.

 

[sierra]

A couple of random points if I may.
1. Heavier loads mean more accident potential, one of the most fabricated misnomers Ive ever heard and Ive heard it alot.
2. You should definetly have a winter pack and a summer pack.
3. Id rather carry and axe or a frying pan then those pants that you can zip off the legs pleaseeeeeeeeee.
4. The heavier your pack the tougher you will end up in the long run.
5. Those ultra go light people would die if they got lost in the Sierra's.
6. Cutting off the egde of your maps is not going to help at all.
7. 2 nalgene bottles is always enough, beyond that its a filter of tabs.
8. These are my opinions and most think Im nuts, but my shrink told me Im only a little nuts now.

 

[TomD]

I disagree with Sierra on almost all of his points.
1. A heavy pack does not make you stronger, it makes you prone to injury and beats up your joints; don't believe me, give it a try and see what happens; A big heavy weight on your back affects your center of gravity and if you slip, it will take a lot more effort to get back on your feet without twisting an ankle or pulling a muscle, I know, I've done it wearing snowshoes.
2. Nalgenes are overkill. I carry one in winter, but as I said, I use a sled, so a few extra pounds mean nothing.
3. You can go UL and survive quite well, depending on the season, the idea that you will die if lost is just not true, unless your are injured or run out of food and water;
4. An axe and frying pan? Seriously, do you really need those? No. A lot of places in the Sierra do not allow fires, so what's the point of an axe? And no, you don't cook freeze dried meals in a frying pan.

 

[sierra]

I disagree with Sierra on almost all of his points.
1. A heavy pack does not make you stronger, it makes you prone to injury and beats up your joints; don't believe me, give it a try and see what happens; A big heavy weight on your back affects your center of gravity and if you slip, it will take a lot more effort to get back on your feet without twisting an ankle or pulling a muscle, I know, I've done it wearing snowshoes.
2. Nalgenes are overkill. I carry one in winter, but as I said, I use a sled, so a few extra pounds mean nothing.
3. You can go UL and survive quite well, depending on the season, the idea that you will die if lost is just not true, unless your are injured or run out of food and water;
4. An axe and frying pan? Seriously, do you really need those? No. A lot of places in the Sierra do not allow fires, so what's the point of an axe? And no, you don't cook freeze dried meals in a frying pan.

You need to work on your sense of humor, the reference to the frying pan came from a previous post. How is a 2 nalgene overkill? I carry ALL my water on every hike, when its 80 degree's out, you cant drink 64 ounces of water in 8 hours? As far as my point about being lost, ah forget it, you just want to dissagre with me. You hike your way, Ill hike mine. My post was meant to be factual, but tongue and cheek as well.

 

[Little Rickie]

I figure it's because they didn't know about the "essentials".
They shot the rabbit and ate edible plants for supper, drank out of streams,refilled their canteens, pressed on, and slept under the stars!
Good or bad, I think we have evolved into a different species.

Evolved into a weaker species maybe? Folks were a lot tougher back then and weren't bothered by stuff we call hardship now.

 

[David Metsky]

Evolved into a weaker species maybe? Folks were a lot tougher back then and weren't bothered by stuff we call hardship now.

And people are hiking faster, further, and with less impact on the environment now. It really depends on how you look at it. The folks who are looking for frontier life have moved on beyond New England.

 

[TomD]

You need to work on your sense of humor, the reference to the frying pan came from a previous post. How is a 2 nalgene overkill? I carry ALL my water on every hike, when its 80 degree's out, you cant drink 64 ounces of water in 8 hours? As far as my point about being lost, ah forget it, you just want to dissagre with me. You hike your way, Ill hike mine. My post was meant to be factual, but tongue and cheek as well.

Actually I didn't "just want to disagree with you", but blanket statements like that one, just aren't true. If that's what you believe so be it, but it just isn't so. As far as the Nalgenes, there are far lighter ways to carry water and that was what Maddy wants to know-how to pack lighter. You are right about one thing-I couldn't care less what you carry or how you hike, but I do take issue with deliberately scaring people needlessly.

 

[Little Rickie]

And people are hiking faster, further, and with less impact on the environment now. It really depends on how you look at it. The folks who are looking for frontier life have moved on beyond New England.

But are we better? Further, faster? Nothing wrong with that but I don't know if it's for the better. True the enviromental impact is less, cars are making up for that (further/faster) but the frontier rugged spirit is lacking. That spirit I think is important.

 

[David Metsky]

But are we better? Further, faster? Nothing wrong with that but I don't know if it's for the better.

Exactly my point, until you define "better" the question is impossible to answer. And I doubt you'll get agreement on the definition. What someone calls "toughness" others may call "meaningless suffering." It's great fodder for discussion, but I don't think you'll ever arrive at consensus.

 

[Little Rickie]

Exactly my point, until you define "better" the question is impossible to answer. And I doubt you'll get agreement on the definition. What someone calls "toughness" others may call "meaningless suffering." It's great fodder for discussion, but I don't think you'll ever arrive at consensus.

People that avoide meanless suffering are wimps.. S. Meangless suffering is the path to toughness. Resistence builds strength or crushes you.

Sadly there will never bee a consensus. What concerns me is not the lack of consenus on the phyiscal aspect of toughnes but the mental, emotional aspect of it that made people tough but that discussion is too much of a drift.

I'm not a physically tough guy like the folks of old BTW. What has served me well through lifes many dificulities has been the non physical aspects of strength and toughness.

Peace.

 

[tomcat32]

I'll add the classic line when AT thru hiking. Hike your own hike. If you want to go light and fast or 65 lbs and 5 miles a day so be it. Just enjoy the hike of you own style as long as you aren't disrupting others or nature. It should be about enjoyment.

 

[sierra]

Actually I didn't "just want to disagree with you", but blanket statements like that one, just aren't true. If that's what you believe so be it, but it just isn't so. As far as the Nalgenes, there are far lighter ways to carry water and that was what Maddy wants to know-how to pack lighter. You are right about one thing-I couldn't care less what you carry or how you hike, but I do take issue with deliberately scaring people needlessly.

Deliberately scaring people? are you for real? out of respect for the rest out here Ill leave this alone.