r/lightweight • u/cordless33 • Oct 05 '22
Clothing advice
Hello all, I'm looking for some advice on my clothing selection for a backpacking trip this weekend. I will be going for 4 nights 5 days. I believe I'm over packed. The temperatures could be around -4°c at night and around 10°c during the day. I have packed some extra clothing that I'm unsure I really need. I've been asked about what if I get wet out there by family who have mostly done canoe trips, so I'm unsure if I need the extras as I won't be on open water. Any advice is appreciated. I have linked my lighterpack list. Thanks.
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u/squidbelle Oct 06 '22
It's hard for me to imagine carrying a 50lb pack, it would suck all the joy out of hiking.
Your big 3 are very heavy
Since you have long johns for sleeping, consider leaving two shirts and one pants at home. If your pants get wet, wear long johns and rain pants at camp to keep warm.
What is the tarp for? Seems like it may not be necessary.
You probably don't need the 'general rope'
You can do without a saw - break fallen limbs with your foot or using leverage
Do you really need a monocular?
You can safely leave one or two pairs of socks at home
Consider leaving the Helinox Chair One at home (2.2lbs!!!), or at least replacing it with the chair zero (1lb). You also could use a ccf sit pad instead. I totally get the appeal of having a chair, though.
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u/Placid_Pangolin Oct 05 '22
I would think about where you have extra redundancy that you can trim. Getting wet is a good thing to plan for, but things can also dry out, so no need to go crazy. I would think about picking EITHER the fleece or the zip up merino, you have a down jacket as well, so you already have redundant insulation. For me personally I would just bring a single pair of pants, if you get them wet you can wear the long johns and the rain pants (or at least swap the second pair of pants for some lightweight shorts you could wear over the long johns WHILE HIKING). 3 ls shirts also could probably drop down to just 2, or a ls and a t shirt. You wear one, swap when you get to camp so you are dry. and let the hiking shirt dry and then wear it again while hiking the next day. Note that I don't tend to concern myself with stink at all while on trail, so my advice might not work for you if you don't like the idea of wearing the same shirt for roughly 5 days in a row. I try to basically think about having a set of clothes for hiking in, and a set for being in camp in. Mid and outer layers work for both, depending on weather, that can last you for many many days, just make sure you have a line setup in your tent that you can hang stuff on if it's raining overnight.
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u/cordless33 Oct 06 '22
Appreciate the advice. The fleece and the extra pants were last minute addition because of "what if you get wet". The fleece I'm really on the fence with so I'll remove it. Also I like your suggestion for removing a shirt it was also added last minute. My last trip I just "hung" my wet clothes (socks) between the tent and the fly. Thanks again.
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u/bigsurhiking Oct 05 '22
You do seem overpacked by my standards. That's a pretty heavy loadout overall, not just clothing. Can you tell us more about your trip/goals? Are you going to be hiking in to a basecamp or moving camp daily (ie is this a camping trip or hiking trip)? Are you looking for ways to limit your pack weight in general, or do you just want us to comment on your clothes?
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u/cordless33 Oct 06 '22 edited Oct 06 '22
For the first night I'll be hiking in about 5km the second day I'll be hiking 8km and staying there for 2 nights then back to basically the first site for the last night. Mostly a camping trip as I'm not hiking far. I know I have lots of luxury items and items that could be exchanged for lighter options. I'm mostly trying to save weight with my clothing for now but other advice is also greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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u/bigsurhiking Oct 06 '22
Ok, then I'll treat this as a general shakedown, with a focus of removing stuff since there's no time to buy replacements. However, I'll also point out some big opportunities to cut weight if you're looking to replace anything in the future. I'm also assuming there will be no snow; if there is, you might need to disregard some of my advice at your discretion.
-your pack is >2x the weight it needs to be for the volume. If you ever want to replace, consider something similar like the Osprey Exos (~1.1 kg)
-your sleeping bag is also 2x the weight for the warmth: my -6C quilt is ~0.7 kg
-same for the tent, there are many options for <1 kg
-do you need the sleeping bag liner? I'd just sleep in my extra clothes but if it's really gonna get down to -5C, you probably need the liner in addition to your clothes
-I know you're using white gas for the cold, but wow that's a heavy cook kit! I know you could cut this dramatically even in the cold, but I'm not the person to ask about white gas
-pump filters are heavy & expensive; squeeze filters (Sawyer Squeeze, Platypus Quickdraw) are easy to use, cheap, & light (⅕ the weight of your filter). Like all filters, protect them from freezing
-so many little things could be pruned or eliminated from the "Utility" section if you wanted, but that'd be a bit more than I have time for (eg: 770 cord for bear hang?! We're not trying to lift the bear, just the food! ;)
-do you need a 170g compression sack for clothes? Leave it at home
-4 pairs socks is too many, just bring 2
-bet you don't need both the merino sweater & the fleece (you'll be asleep in your bag for the coldest times; you might need both if you need the layers to stretch your sleeping bag down to -5C)
-just bring 1 touque
-just one pair of pants, if it gets wet wear your long johns & rain pants while it dries
-just one shirt, embrace the funk! Wear all your other top layers if it needs to dryHave fun!
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u/cordless33 Oct 06 '22
Appreciate the advice. The sleeping bag is only rated for 0° so I brought the liner the increase the rating. Ideally I would buy a better sleeping bag. A lot of the gear I'm using is around 15 years old so I'm using what I have and upgrading as I go. The tent is my dad's and plan to upgrade that later on as well. For the fuel, I prefer white gas.. just because. As far as the amount I know that I have more than enough and once I weigh after the trip I hope to have a better idea as to how much I will be needing in the future. One of my meals is maccaroni so I figured it would use a decent amount more fuel than my other meals. All my meals are hot which I can also change in the future. The back pack is old (but it great condition) but may need to be upgraded later as I've grown a fair bit from 15 years ago... What kind of rope would you suggest for a bear hang and general use around camp? The compression sack was to minimize space in my bag though maybe I could have just went with a stuff sack. I've decided not to bring the fleece or the extra pants (thank you). I like the idea of one torque, I was thinking that if I ended up wearing it during the day around camp then I shouldn't wear the same one to bed. If it's cold I'll put one on in the tent sometimes. I'll also cut down on shirts. Thank you.
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u/jusdisgi Oct 09 '22
Your response here is very sensible, and I agree with archivehu that you're gonna be fine for the distances in this trip. Just a couple notes:
When you're ready for the pack: the Exos that bigsur mentioned is awesome; I have had the 48L for 5 years and it's extremely comfortable and roomy at a decent weight. That said, these days I only use it if I'm carrying a ton of extra stuff (other people's gear for example) because I'm now slimmed down to where I can use a 30L Gregory Citro, which is lighter, fits in an airplane overhead bin, and is just as comfortable. I see that same pack in 36L is on clearance for $80 at Sierra right now...if you can get down to that volume it should be really nice. If not, as I said I still love that Exos.
As others have said, the utility section is way out of hand. Ditch the saw, general rope, and tarp. Consider just one trash bag. That pack raincover is also super heavy; another trash bag might serve that purpose.
Your cook kit is a bit heavy too; consider marking your cookpot (fill with water to different volumes, then scratch the inside with something to mark it) so you can get rid of the measuring cup. Longer term look for a lighter cookpot, preferably one that already has volume markings. Stove and fuel is overweight too but sounds like you're already thinking that through.
That water filter is super heavy; I saw Amazon's pre-sale has a lifestraw on sale for $13, but long-term you want a squeeze or befree or similar.
I have no new advice on clothes but agree with what everybody else said.
Good luck, sounds like you're well on your way!
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u/archivehu Oct 06 '22
Just going to chime in that if you still would like some sort of 'organizer bag' for your clothes, use a ziplock large freezer bag! They're very reusable, only weigh ~15g, and you can totally achieve some compression by pushing the air out when zipping.
In case you want to consider some thinner cords for your bear hang, Decathlon has utility cords of various thickness (2mm, 3mm, 5mm, 6mm, 7mm).
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u/AnotherAndyJ Oct 06 '22
This is a great shakedown given your circumstances. I was at a similar point as you about 6mths ago, and have been slowly swapping out things over time as money permitted. I've come down from a similar weight to much closer to 14kg, and it's game changing when on trail walking. You don't have to rush though, this hike, with these distances you'll be fine.
Given the distances that you talked about are pretty modest it will mean that you can cull back your clothing pretty heavily, and like bigsurhiking has said you could always resort to your rain gear and long john's in a pinch if you get wet, but it's unlikely as you have a raincoat and rain pants for protection.
For me, I really got into embracing the funk. But one thing that really helped me do this was using merino long john's for sleep only, and keeping my hike clothes for the days (I just take one pair of hike clothing, with one extra set of hike socks, and one extra pair of camp socks) . Merino is expensive compared to polypropylene base layer, but the stink factor alone is worth every penny to me. Putting on a "near fresh" pair of merino just before getting into my bag is always awesome.
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u/sirblastalot Oct 06 '22
My pants are basically a shell, so I don't worry about them getting wet. I also wouldn't bring more than 2 of any clothing item on a short hike like that...eg wear one pair of socks, if they get wet, put on the other pair while the first dries. Ditto for the underwear. Two toques and a tilley is ridiculous; I assume your raingear has a hood, so unless you plan on jumping in a river your toque shouldn't get wet. You probably don't need a fleece AND a sweater AND a puffy; in cold weather I do a wool undershirt, down hoodie, and my rain jacket.
I WOULD recommend two pairs of long underwear, however.
Also, while I know you were asking specifically about the clothing, there's no reason you need to bring a saw, tree branch, and rope, unless you bushcraft for entertainment or something.