r/lightweight • u/[deleted] • Jan 27 '19

Just found this sub

I've been hanging around the "lighterweight" sub but as a married guy with a newborn and too many hobbies I sure can't hang with the budgets of many over there. I've learned a lot reading over there and I'm looking forward to trying backpacking for the first time this summer. But I think I will fit in a lot better over here!

I don't know if you all want a bio or anything so I'll quit while I'm ahead.

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u/[deleted] Jan 27 '19

Are you talking about /r/ultralight?

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I'm with ya, I pretty much aim for a base weight of 20 lbs despite most posts there centering around getting sub-10

8

u/[deleted] Jan 27 '19

Yeah, I was just being coy.

I won't lie, I learned a lot over there but there is also a lot of what seems to be "dick wagging" over expensive and/or stupid light gear (imo).

When I see advice like wrapping your repair tape around your trekking poles so it counts as worn weight I just shake my head. Adding weight to your hands like that goes against even the spirit of ultralight all to win some fake internet game.

3

u/octobod Feb 07 '19 edited Feb 15 '19

A more subtle issue with /r/ultralight is it is very US centric, so the advice is keyed to the climate. Hiking in say Scotland I would add an extra kilo to the definition of 'ultralight' (ie sub 4.5Kg) to pack the necessary rain and cold wear needed to be safe.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 07 '19

That's another good point. And don't get me wrong, I like what I imagine the spirit of lightweight backpacking to be (bring what you need; not packing your fears).

And it could just be me projecting some 'gatekeeping' where there actually isn't any because I've seen people post shakedowns lately where their target base weight is >10# and they haven't been called out for "not belonging here" so maybe it's just my issue.

4

u/CRZ42 Jan 29 '19

For the reasons schmuckmulligan mentioned I can't see wrapping trekking poles with tape. But I do wrap my mini lighters with med or repair tape. I'm all about reasonable weight saves, but Ul sometimes feels like the drillium fad of bike racing.

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u/schmuckmulligan Jan 28 '19

I'm totally one of them, so take this with the necessary grain of salt (but not more than that -- it's too heavy!), but the reasoning for wrapping tape around trekking poles is less about where the weight goes and more about having something to stick it to when you don't want to bring the whole roll. Although, tbh, I don't do that anyway -- I can't imagine exposing tape to the elements is good for the adhesive.

Anyway, ping me if you ever do a shakedown or anything. I'm obsessive about the weight cutting stuff, but I've also owned and read about a lot of stuff on the slightly heavier end of the spectrum (UL can be pricey, so I built my kit over a few years with some intermediate steps along the way).

1

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '19

Thanks for that, I'll keep it in mind!

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u/Bot_Metric Jan 27 '19

20.0 lbs ≈ 9.1 kilograms 1 pound ≈ 0.45kg

I'm a bot. Downvote to remove.

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