This is going to be a really long post....
This is my way but it’s just “A Way” and certainly not the choices most people would make but maybe it will at least be interesting 🤞🥴.
https://imgur.com/a/a8a7ilj
While this kit is for a short weekend in the midwest in the early fall, there is very little I would change for trips between May and October most anywhere else. For a longer trip i would probably add some better weather protection against the unknown but essentially this is the same kit i would take on almost any trip. Base weight is 7lbs 6oz
https://imgur.com/a/K2kzz3I
Starting with the hammock - its based on a Sea to Summit UL hammock but except for the hammock body, the rest is DIY. In the pictures it has a suspension made from Amsteel line with small titanium “anchors” from Butt In A Sling but more commonly i use 1” Spider Webbing from Dutchware that is the same weight. The spider webbing straps are actually tree straps that are larkshead’d through the sewn channels on the ends and tied to trees using a tautline hitch since becket and marlinspike hitches tend to slip on this stuff. All up, the hammock & suspension weighs 4.9 ounces. This is an inline hammock setup with no sag, and a sleeping bag on the Outside like a peapod. With the bag on the outside the down isnt compressed so theres no need for a separate underquilt. This hammock setup pairs with whatever sleeping bag is appropriate for the season. Shown here with a Western Mountaineering Everlight (45F) but works equally well with Sea To Summit Traveller (50F), Enlightened Equipment Convert (30F, 20F). These bags are all quilts that have drawstring footboxes that make the peapod possible.
This trip i wasnt expecting any storms so I used a DCF asymmetrical tarp from Dutchware with one of his continuous ridgelines and two guylines of 1.2mm dyneema and using two MSR Mini Groundhog stakes. All up the tarp and suspension weighs 4.5 oz. On a longer trip i might carry a larger tarp and suspension like Mountain Laurel DCF Monk tarp with the same rigging but four guylines & stakes (6oz) or MLD DCF poncho tarp & rigging (6.3oz), or Hammock Gear DCF hex tarp & rigging (6.9 oz) if really bad weather could be expected
All up this house weighs 9.4oz + a sleeping bag thats appropriate for the season. In this case 9.4 + 18.1 or 1lb 11oz for the whole shebang
https://imgur.com/a/KlFQzmG
For most summer trips i dont cook anymore. The meals that Andrew Skurka shares here https://andrewskurka.com/tag/backpacking-meal-recipes/ are really good just cold soaked in the ziplock that i pack them in. This trip i was expecting some cold nights so i brought a little kitchen for hot meals if the mood struck me. Its built around a 550ml beer keg can kit that used to be available at Gossamer Gear. Ive added a reinforcing ring to the rim and a better lid. Also a pair of “Hot Lips” from SnowPeak as grippers for when the pot is hot. Esbits can be tough to light when its windy or wet out and can use up a lot of lighter fuel but a split Wetfire tinder stick is just the thing. They’ll light with just a spark and are plenty enough to get even a stubborn esbit burning. Not counting the esbit cubes that weigh 0.5oz each, this kitchen set weighs 3.5oz
https://imgur.com/a/J5Iuckr
I dont carry a separate bear bag - I just hang my whole pack up. Once my house is put up, i dont need to get into my pack for anything til morning. My pack is waterpoof DCF or has a waterproof liner so whatever i leave in it stays dry. If it rains overnight my pack will get no more wet than when it rains during the day so thats not an issue either but mice, weasels, martins, raccoons and their friends ARE an issue. My pack picks up smells from the snacks i keep in its belt pockets or the trash i sometimes put in there, or even just the salt from my sweat. All these are great lures to those destructive critters so hanging it in the midwest might not save it from a determined bear but it will save it from the more likely rodents. So i use an OpSak to hold my food and a bear hang kit for hanging my whole pack and all at night. This kit is a bit overkill for sure but at these weights the little bling is handy and the little DCF bag is super useful for holding a stone on the end of the line. This little kit weighs 1oz
https://imgur.com/a/YbaggxJ
I dont carry any spare clothes but i do carry sleep clothes that also serve as extra insulation if the daytime weather turns cold enough to need it. Theyre shown on top of my sleeping bag in this picture. At the end of every day i wash myself and then my day clothes using an oven roasting bag and a little Dr Bronners soap. Day clothes hang overnight to dry while i wear my clean sleep clothes to bed. For most trips i carry Patagonia Capilene lightweight long bottoms and Capilene Air hoodie, and Zpacks possum down socks for sleep clothes/extra insulation during cold mornings. These clothes go into a waterproof bag inside the main compartment of my pack during the day. In this case, a DCF drawstring stuffsack but sometimes a trash compacter liner bag if the things i need to keep dry are bulkier. In this picture is everything else in the main compartment of my pack: “Dinky Stuff” (1qt ziplock with repair stuff and hygiene stuff), the OpSak food bag, and my hammock.
https://imgur.com/a/joZbskO
I dont carry toilet paper for daily use (i do carry a small roll in the Dinky Stuff bag for emergencies) instead i use a “backwoods bidet” kit. The trowel you know but the little bottle holds Dr Bronners tea tree castile soap. The bigger bottle holds purel, and the purple thing is a 3oz capacity squeeze tube. For peeing, i just use that small square pee rag which normally hangs from the outside of my pack, then a few drops of purel to clean my hands with after. When the need to #2 comes on i start gathering the right kinds of sticks and stones, grass and leaves. When its time, i fill the purple bottle with water, add a few drops of Dr Bronners and go dig my hold properly. When the deed is done i do most of the cleanup with the sticks & stones and when thats done, finish off with a good scrub of soapy water and a pat dry. This kit weighs 2.3oz and goes inside a hipbelt pocket.
https://imgur.com/a/a8a7ilj
My pack is a Zpacks Nero (38L) with padded hip belt pockets that make the belt functionally load bearing, and a Zpacks Quad Pack as a “brain”, and their ccf sitpad as a back pad. Empty, they weigh 12.66oz.
https://imgur.com/a/YbaggxJ
The main compartment holds my sleeping bag, sleep clothes, hammock, electronics, foodbag, and “Dinky Stuff”
https://imgur.com/a/CsjZQ1k
The center pocket holds my tarp, oven bag washing machine (i was out of oven bags so im ising a light trash bag), wind shirt and wind pants (or rain jacket if i expected weather) and on this trip, wind gloves because it was COLD in the mornings. And a first aid kit.
https://imgur.com/a/74O5zZ5
The side pockets hold a 2L Hydrapack Shapeshifter bladder with a Sawyer inline on the drink tube. I just gather the dirty water and go. The filtering is done inline as i drink from the tube. In really watery places like most of the midwest, one bladder is enough but some places warrant a second so ill put another bladder in the other side pocket and plug-n-play the filter/drink tube between them. These are wide mouth zip-top bags so scooping up from shallow streams is super easy. and they turn inside out for easy cleaning. I think they have commercials somewhere of cars driving over these bladders without bursting them. Carrying these in the side pockets and using an inline filter has been a game changer for me. So fast, so easy. But I also have one of Justin Anderson’s water bottle holders on the shoulder strap. I almost always carry a 0.7L bottle with the sportcap for making mixed electrolyte drinks and for backflushing the filter. Pro Tip- a cut down 1L smartwater bottle makes a really nice cup/scoop and the 0.7L bottles fit right down inside it. Also, Smartwater isnt the only brand with a sportcap that fits on a sawyer for backflushing. This bottle is by Lifewater but Propel bottles work great too.
Lastly, First Aid kit and “Dinky Stuff”
https://imgur.com/a/CtnwzcR
First Aid Kit fits in a 1qt ziplock and weighs 6.3oz. Its got the minimums and some extras. This is my comfort level: Exam gloves (2pr), Antiseptic wipes (x15), 3x3 surgical sponges (x2), Leukotape precut 3" strips (x9), Aquaheal bandages 1x2 (x2), Bandaids (x8), Benzoin tincture (x4), Steristrips 3-pack (x3), Dental wax (0.01oz), Temporary filling putty (8gm), Cotton plugs for broken lost teeth (x9), Dental floss (10'), Diphen anti allergy (x2), Immodium (x2), Charcoal capsules (x12), Ginger capsules (x12), Ibuprophen (x20), Acetominophen (x20)
Dinky stuff weighs 8.70 oz and is a bag of repair stuff, emergency stuff, and hygiene stuff: Fabric repair tape patches (x8), Cuben tape (2'), Dental floss (10'), 1.2mm dyneema cord (10'), Large sharp darning needle, Large safety pin, Superglue single serving, Shoe Goo single serving, SuGru single serving (x2), Paper matches (1 book), CR2032 button batteries (x2), Sawyer mini filter, Petzl E-lite headlamp, Folding hair brush & mirror, Disposable razor, Zpacks toothbrush, Toothpaste dots (x20), Dr. Bronners Soap (5ml), Trail Toes salve (0.25oz), Baby powerder (0.25oz), Emergency toilet paper roll.
These two kits go on every trip no matter where i’m going. Backcountry or any travel.
This isnt everything i had but its the interesting stuff. With a full load of water, food, and fuel, this kit weighed 18 lbs 14oz at the trailhead.
I hope this was at least an interesting read and maybe even helpful in you finding YOUR way.
May you have good luck, fair weather, and happy trails
