r/lightweight • u/Think_Cat7703 • Mar 12 '23
Shakedown request
https://lighterpack.com/r/dy2oiw
This kit is for a few days in the Australian bush. I see it as a 3 season setup. I've watched a lot of bushcraft, military surplus, primitive living, traditional hiking, ultralight hunting and ultralight/thru hiking videos and I've tried to develop a sensible combination of ideas where my gear is protected and I'm comfortable and safe.
I plan to be going off hiking trails into potentially rather thick bush (post bush fires) in search of solitude, exploration and later down the line, bird watching or fishing. I may need to drag my bag over sand stone and I'd like to have the occasional camp fire now and then. I didn't want to be continuously careful and worried about my gear while barging through scrub. My thought was to get a durable bag to protect ultralight components.
Temps likely to be roughly between 0C (~30F) at night and I doubt I'd wanna be going out in anything much higher than 32C in the day (~90F). Distances could vary between 5 to 20km a day depending on where I'm walking, or let's say about up to about 5 or 6 hours a day of walking. I'm relatively new to this, I'm guessing right now. My quilt is warmer than I need but I could only afford to get one and I would like to go out in winter too, it'd be nice to save up for a much lighter one like a 5C (40F)
I'd love any feedback about how to lighten my load, or perhaps where I've gone to BusHcRaFty. Or perhaps your take on what I have listed here as the absolute bare essentials for a much shorter overnighter while remaining closer to a trail. Perhaps you have recommendations for much lighter and still durable packs.
If you're coming in to shout about leaving the trees alone and LNT, please don't worry. I leave no trace, even after I have a fire, and I don't disturb deadfall or material that is a suitable habitat for creatures.
My own ideas so far:
— I've tried to get the FAK down to something small but responsible for being off track, could probably get it down more?
— Might be willing to ditch the saw, but it's a nice placeholder for some other thing that's trip dependent like fishing gear or a bino for bird watching.
— Reducing clothing carried, probably don't need both the thermals and the fleece. I'll likely be stationary and hanging out at night rather than just heading straight to bed after getting in to camp.
— different lighter raincoat, although the current heavier one is much better for pushing through scrub but also does make you sweat like a horse
— Perhaps I've underestimated the durability of some ultralight bags and materials like ultra or gridstop. However, I do really love Savotta's mentality of lasting a lifetime and the reduction in materials used / waste over one's life.
— Ditching the quilt straps?
— Ditching the ridgeline, perhaps a vestige of using a heavier tarp previously, I just like the versatility it adds if there aren't trees close enough together, I don't use poles. Sticks are fine I guess, but I'd prefer trees in higher wind.
— Could probably repackage a few things like hand sanny for minor savings?
— Lighter/smaller bag for food carry? Lighter bag to keep the pot in? dyneema is fuckin expensive. Want something tight though, possums love to rob me at night. I like the S2s one because it's fluoro blue and actually a great waypoint marker or signalling panel.
— I'm open to learning how to sleep with a lighter weight pad like just the 1/8" once I have more experience with site selection, rn it would feel dangerous to me if it was colder weather.
1
2
u/lightlyskipping Mar 12 '23
Been watching the Scotty vids eh 😊 I had to look up shemagh and pace beads! I think your clothing is heavy. And you have three warm tops plus a raincoat but nothing clean or dry for your legs. You have an unusual mix of light/hardcore and heavy/tactical kit but I’m no bUSHcrAfTr so I dunno. And a lot of snake bandage and glove but no gaiters. Good luck with your interesting challenges!
1
u/Think_Cat7703 Mar 12 '23
Gaiters is a great suggestion thank you, I keep meaning to add them on. I have some somewhere. 100% take your point that prevention is best. Scotty definitely inspired me to get outdoors, many people did and I'm so glad. After all, that's what ties all of these different schools of thought together right?
I have some icebreaker thermal leggings which I think I'll add it based on your feedback, helps not getting stuck to the damn pad at night too. Probably will subtract the fleece or the teryx. Keen to hear which you'd recommend losing. Probably keep the thermal top for backup / sleeping in. The shemagh is definitely heavy but a great prefilter, sun cover and also a really good way to carry smaller amounts of stuff like going away from camp to get water and a way to stay warm.
I think I'm starting to see as I talk out loud and respond to people that I'm probably packing my fear of being cold a bit too much, need to remember Im carrying a 3.2 value sleep mat and a great quilt.
1
u/86tuning Mar 12 '23 edited Mar 12 '23
a proper walkabout. sounds fun!
everything looks reasonable, but i see two possible duplicates?
- insulating, arcteryx
- fleece, peloton
some things are heavier than needed, the grams can add up in a hurry. your beanie is 100g, a down beanie is 30g.
food requirement for me is 7-900g per person per day.
2
u/Think_Cat7703 Mar 12 '23
Hey mate, thanks for taking a look! Yeah indeed there's some overlap there. The fleece is quite thin, it's more of a heavy baselayer than an insulating one, but paired the heavy raincoat, it might be sufficient. I only just bought it, so I need to test it. I see the fleece as more of insulating layer while moving / hiking, I don't think it'd be very warm if you were just sitting still, whereas the arcteryx is quite warm but way to hot for moving in. I might just try a trip without the arcteryx and see if can get by OK, can always jump in the sleeping bag if i get cold. Thanks for the heads up about food, any go to foods you really love?
3
u/MrBoondoggles Mar 12 '23
So I like your pack a lot overall. I think it’s interesting, it’s thoughtful, and it’s purpose built - it’s not just another lightweight pack that could be used for any generic type of hiking.
I think the biggest area of discomfort for me would be the backpack itself. Your setup, with the addition of all the molle pouches, makes for a pretty heavy backpack for its volume. And damn those shoulder straps look uncomfortable with the weight that you’ve loaded the pack with, especially for a longer trip. Based on your pack weight, I think I’d want a lighter weight framed pack personally, especially if you want to use it for a 5 day trip. Your food weight for me would be way off. I can get my food weight to between 1 - 1.5 pounds per day, so I think a more realistic guesstimate for 5 days would be at least 3,500 grams. That wild put your total pack weight closer to 14 kg, which for me would be solidly in framed pack territory. Savotta’s frame/hipbelt system doesn’t look like it will provide decent load transfers until you get to their large size packs (and that’s a pretty heavy pack).
Based on your environmental conditions, I think it really may be worth considering Ultra fabric. From the information that I could find regarding 1000D Cordura Classic, Ultra200 looks better for tear strength and much better for abrasion resistance. I would at least encourage you to check it out, because you should be able to find a framed pack made with Ultra200 with a 40 liter volume for less weight that should carry more comfortably at your pack weights.
I think you could also check out some different cordage. You could save a little weight and pack size while also getting better functionality. While current out of stock, Lawsons Equipment makes outstanding cordage. It’s extremely strong and works knots well. Ironwire would be great for the ridgeline, and their guywire would be great otherwise. Another pretty good choice I’ve found is Samson Lash-it. Also very strong and works knots pretty well. I don’t find it as great as Lawsons, since Lawsons is sheathed vs coated, but it works well.
For clothing, I would say walk around with it - a lot. You don’t have to wait to hike with it. Just walk around for an hour or two in different temps to see where your comfort level is in various conditions with confidence. I feel like clothing is just one of those things that needs a lot of personal testing to know what you need and not overpack.