Ultra-Lightweight Backpacking

I haven't said much about my backpacking trip on Springer Mountain a few weeks back. I went with Brutus and some folks we often hike with. He has learned to fastpack but there were some new guys on that trip who were definitely condo-packers. I have a base pack of 8 lbs for a five day trip, with the addition of about 8 lbs of food, water, and clothing. That is a total of 16 lbs at the most and is about 11% of my body weight. You can do this if you take the truly essential items with you and are able to find water as you hike.

Here was a typical day on the trip for me. We got set up at a motel the night before so we could be fresh and ready for a five day fast-paced march. I had a banana and my usual half cup of coffee and water. I rinsed my series of sprouting bags, one per day. The first bag was ready to eat. We hit the trail at 6 am hiking the access road to the southern terminus of the AT. I stayed hydrated with my water bladder and was carrying a liter of water in two bottles. Those are my stop and cook bottles. I think it was about 3.5 lbs total in water weight. We stopped twice to eat and each time I noshed on raisins, nuts, and tasty crackers. When I'm hiking I'm not usually too hungry. It wasn't too hot and I didn't finish the bladder until we stumbled into camp 17 miles later.

The first thing we did in our division of labor is while Brutus put up our tent and started boiling water I used my two collapsible containers to get water and bring it back to camp. I like to sit around the "campfire" and filter water for the next day with company. I also am scrupulous about keeping the filtered water uncontaminated which is harder to do standing by the water source. So I refilled our bladders and six bottles of water. Brutus carries extra water because he's 6 feet and 190 lbs of muscular mountain man and a 40 lb base pack doesn't faze him. This way he can boil a lot of water at once while I obtain and filter our supply. He carries a big stove and fuel apparatus and a big covered pot. I found I like to bring two balanced containers of water to camp at one time, so we have some cleanup water before changing for bed. Camp discipline is very important. A nice quick scrubdown before wearing lightweight camp clothes makes for a relaxing sleep. I also carry a small squirt bottle to use for personal hygiene throughout the day. I'll let you do the math. Wink!

We generally use the boiling water to reconstitute a gourmet dehydrated meal, though I do plan to get away from needing to do that. We try to make the evening meal a relaxing and complete meal. A little tea or coffee is always nice, or hot chocolate. Brutus also carries a concentrated alcohol selection because he associates camping with getting buzzed and that can be fun. I've frozen beer in a reusable plastic bottle just to enjoy a brewski the first night. That was just as an experiment to see if I could, of course. >^;^<

Base Pack:

• Shelter - 3 lbs (hammock, bivvy sack, sleeping bag, silk liner)
  
• Water - 1 lb (Katadyn Hiker Pro, Sweet Water drops, collapsible containers, iodine tablets)
  
• First Aid - 0.5 lb (alcohol, peroxide, antibiotic, aspirin, Benadryl, ibuprofen)
  
• Electronics - 1.5 lbs (batteries, camera, radio/flashlight, headlamp, binoculars, varies)
  
• Tools 1 lb (duct tape, firestarting, etc.)
  
• Cooking 1 lb (Esbit stove, tablets, aluminum foil, titanium pot, plastic spoon & fork, plastic cups)

Extra Clothing for wash as I go (wearing and not counting boots, socks, underwear, zip pants, t-shirt, long-sleeved sweatshirt jacket, multi-purpose scarf, hat, compass, knife/gadget, bear spray, tummy pack):

• 1 extra pair socks & underwear
  
• Camp shoes - super super light!
  
• Light leggings and loose pullover for camp wear, protects against bugs and chills
  
• 1 extra zip pants, often using just one pair of interchangeable bottoms
• 1 extra t-shirt
• 1 extra multi-purpose scarf (use as towel, sweat rag, do-rag, etc.)

Personal Items in tummy pack:

• Contacts lens stuff & glasses
• Tissues
• Squirt bottle (portable bidet!)
• Book
• Bug spray and bug net for wearing over a hat
• Survival tin (functions as a mirror), has iodine, plastic bags, most of the first aid stuff
  
• Trash bag
• Firestarter
• Coffee, tea, chocolate, candies, snacks
• Vial of Dr. Bronner's for cleaning up
• Vaseline
• Chapstick
• Pet sized finger "toothbrush"
• Floss
• Book
• Batteries
  

The thing for me is that I don't really feel weight unless it is on my shoulders. So I wear a lot of survival stuff on my person, in pockets and in the tummy pack where I can get to it easily, plus a lumbar pack. I have the bear spray on my hiking poles, as well as a coil of rope for use when bear bagging my pack. Nothing stays in camp except water in a sealed container and a tiny case for my contacts. I use tiny vials, the 3 cc size, for my contact lens solutions and other liquids. I use tiny, tiny ziploc bags for things like vaseline and toothpaste. I also use a system where the equipment for each camp task is in its own stuff sack. So I'm only using one stuff sack's worth of stuff at a time, generally. I lash these stuff sacks on and around a good sized lumbar pack. I could carry 40 lbs around my middle without flinching (have been pg twice!), but strap it to my shoulders and I'll be bitching the whole way!

The survival tin has the last ditch gear needed if "god forbid" the lumbar pack got away from me by falling over a cliff or in a river. In reality I should be using it as my cooking pot, but it is still pretty pristine. I'm going to rethink everything I carry before going out the next time. I like to avoid backpacking during July and August and that is when I customize and rethink gear choices. My Kelty lumbar pack has a top that unzips into a combination backpack and lumbar pack. It isn't terribly comfortable because I have a short waist. So I will customize it for a better fit. I feel like it needs to be cinched in at my waist to take weight off my shoulders. I'll figure something out. The top part is light weight and I use it for extra food. The way I organize it, clothing goes into the water resistant lumbar pack section. The hammock and sleeping gear in their own stuff sacks is strapped to the bottom. Very light weight items go into the top.

What I really want is a multi-dimensional portal that would weightlessly store all my supplies and gear in a nether region that can neither be seen or touched without the portal. The portal would be a key into my own private inter-dimensional storage locker. What would be even nicer is if I could spend the night in a climate controlled dimension. I guess they call that Motel 6. Sadly...am gonna probably have to rough it again this year.