I have spent the past two days weighing and assessing every piece of hiking equipment that I own, recording their weights and preferences on an Excel spreadsheet in preparation for what I hope will be an exciting new year of bushwalking.
Last year, due to commitments to work and being a Maid of Honour at my best friend's wedding, I only managed a handful of day hikes with my hiking group. I regret not making the time to be able to attend any scheduled weekend pack carry trips and intend to make amends for it. As such, inspired by my new red Light My Fire spork weighing in at only 10 grams, I have attempted to reduce my base pack weight to below 9 kilograms (excluding food and water).
Luckily, I had weighed much of my gear before I departed for Nepal just over a year ago. I needed only weigh those items specific to camping and anything newly acquired. I confess that I became rather tenacious in my research and calculations as I have doggedly searched for ways to reduce weight so that I can better justify other items.
Those 9 kilograms include almost a kilogram entirely devoted to my being warm when the sun sets (down jacket and booties and lightweight polartec pants). After freezing 2 nights in a row on a mid-winter hike at Hattar Lakes 18 months ago, the mercury edging towards zero degrees Celsius beneath the clear skies, I'd rather carry that kilogram than be that cold again. So to keep the weight down, I've attempted to be clever on other savings.
The most obvious weight saving that I could make would be investing in a tent that weighs under 800 grams. At present I have a TarpTent Rainbow Double. It weighs 1300 with the optional liner (which assists with condensation associated with it being a single walled tent) and the 6 provided tent pegs. I love this tent. It is roomy and a breeze to set up. I have had the wind howling around my ears and a huntsman spider staring at me from the safety of the vestibule on the other side of the No See Um mesh, and it managed fine. And as the 500 gram saving would require approximately $400 investment, it's worth looking closer to home for weight savings for now. I will eventually make that investment, a larger tent does not warm up the same with body heat, but not right now.
I have identified another 450 grams that could be saved by much smaller investment. A 130 gram silk sleeping bag liner would be half the weight of the Sea to Summit Thermoreactor Plus liner that I am presently using (and am not entirely convinced works to the full extent advertised). Switching from an Optimus Terra HE Weekend cookset to an Optimus Terra Solo cookset and retiring a SnowPeak Titanium 450 mug would save another 160 grams although I am seriously considering making a titanium pot warmer in the style of the Caldera Cone (only to hook onto the pot set rather than wrap the canister) to improve fuel efficiency, which would reclaim some of that weight. An additional 100 grams could be shaved by modifying my toiletries system, such as a lighter cathole trowel and smaller containers for sunscreen and multipurpose biodegradable soap. And by exchanging my expensive but heavy Nalgene Wide Mouth 1 litre bottle for a Gatorade bottle, I expect to save a further 100 - 120 grams. I only want the bottle for easier water management than my Camelbak bladder and am hoping to use it as storage for toiletries and my glasses during the day as opposed to using a hard glasses case.
Caldera cone sourced from Trail Designs:
Trying to channel this resourcefulness, today I created a 13-14 gram deodorant stick by melting Rexona Crystal Anti Perspirant stick into a Nivea 4.8 gram lip balm container. Personally, I'm not ready to give up deodorant and it doubles as anti-chafe for under sports bras and other sensitive areas as discovered having previously developed terrible chafe in Nepal. I created a 30g version also which could probably used on much longer trips. This was melted down from my existing 75 gram stick. And just so that there will be no confusion and it mistakenly applied as a lipbalm, I even took the opportunity to buff the name from the tube's exterior using a four step nail block and using a Sharpie permanent texta to rename it. I also took the opportunity to halve the weight of my toothbrush by breaking it. And finally, the Light My Fire spork replaced both a folding MSR fork and spoon which were of much flimsier construction.
While these last changes may seem excessive, for little money and an interesting afternoon, I created an 80 gram saving which is the weight of my spare pair of socks or 3/4 of my spare t-shirt. I anticipate to make another 100 grams of weight savings by instituting similar scrimping measures to my other toiletries, such as using tooth powder and not toothpaste and a smaller mirror to put my contacts in.
I also tried to be discerning in what I included as my preferred carry list. Only one change of socks, underwear and t-shirt (if it is not raining, gear can be dried on the back of a pack if it doesn't dry following its rinse the previous afternoon or overnight, and odor resistant shirts have at least 2 days in them anyway). One pair of thermals and soft sportsbra for camp/night (not negotiable). I was drier in my Nepalese Sherpa poncho than my eVent Montane Athena jacket and suffered less condensation. The poncho is lighter, can be shortened by press studs when pack coverage is not required and can be worn with just gaiters (which I ordinarily hike in with my shorts, even in a Victorian winter) so waterproof pants are not required either. Although, if I were to walk through snow, I would reevaluate as I found that hiking through knee deep snow, it was sufficient to use a running t-shirt, Patagonia R1 Hoody, a Montane Windshirt, woolen buff and glove liners, and a pair of Marmont Pre-Cip Full Zip over my hiking pants.
After instituting the smaller changes, my pack will weigh in just over my goal weight at 9.2 kilograms. Those North Face polartec pants are a luxury that I'm not ready to give into yet. So too are the booties until I'm satisfied the jacket is enough. I suppose I could sacrifice my Keen Clearwater CNX sandals to gain another 450 grams if I really needed to scrimp during winter. In the warmer months, without the extra space required for the down, I do believe the space savings might actually permit me to limit myself to a 50 litre pack providing weight savings yet again which would place my base pack around 8.5 kilograms. Changing tents could further reduce this to a 8 kilogram pack in moderate weather.
I doubt I will ever be prepared to go ultralight but perhaps within the next 12 months I will be comfortably within the lightweight category, even when hiking mid-winter (in areas without snow).
