Hiking preparations
Jul. 10th, 2019 05:46 pmI am looking over my gear in view of making it lighter, and have splurged on some new stuff. I am not a gram-hunter, but realizing that I can save kilograms is quite motivating, because I will enjoy myself more if I am not carrying a heavy backpack.
1) A new one-person tent that is 1.2 kg instead of about 3 kg like my old three-person tent that I got when I was nineteen or twenty. Verdict: I loooove this tent so much. ♥ I've been ogling it for years and finally bought it, and now I wonder why did I wait until I was forty to get it? I have already used it so much. It's light, but still has quite enough room for both myself and my stuff. And it is very good quality and will doubtless last me the rest of my life if nothing happens to it. Weight saved: about 1.8 kg (I do also have a 1 kg hammock, but obviously I can't use it above the treeline.)
2) A new backpack, half the weight of my old one at 1.2 kg instead of 2.4 kg. I am feeling a bit torn at this and that it might be a bit of an extravagance. Not so much the cost, but my old large backpack is quite serviceable still and not that worn even though I have had it for 20 years. Also, the new one is a bit smaller, at 55 liters compared to 65, so it will be too small for winter tours. But I think I will keep using them both in different circumstances. Like, if I'm going somewhere I will bring a lot of stuff but where I won't actually hike around with the backpack (like forest inventories, where we go by car between forests) then I'll probably use my old backpack. Weight saved: 1.2 kg.
3) A new camping stove, at about 250 g instead of my old one at about 700 g. I modified the new one a bit to reach that weight by making a new lid, since I do not need the heavier one that doubles as a frying pan. I pondered whether to start using gas (not gas as in gasoline, but the propane/butane/whatever gas that is used in many camping stoves), but I have used alcohol so long and am used to it. The way people argue back and forth online about the weight advantages of one over the other makes me think the difference is slight. Plus, gas camping stoves are much more expensive, and the new lighter alcohol stove I bought was quite cheap. Weight saved: 450 grams.
4) Borrowing a special mountain flora at the library instead of bringing my heavier one for all of Sweden. Weight saved: 200 grams.
5) I realized my belt was quite heavy and replaced it with a shoe lace. : ) Weight saved: about 100 grams. Okay, I guess I'm getting into the gram-hunting now. (By the way: this is a belt I was given by![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spuffyduds at the Bitching Party con lo these many years ago, and kept using since.)
Total weight saved: 3.75 kg! Also I have lost body weight in the last half year and gone down from 65 kg to 60.5 kg. That will make a difference for my legs and feet, if not for the weight on my hips and shoulders.
1) A new one-person tent that is 1.2 kg instead of about 3 kg like my old three-person tent that I got when I was nineteen or twenty. Verdict: I loooove this tent so much. ♥ I've been ogling it for years and finally bought it, and now I wonder why did I wait until I was forty to get it? I have already used it so much. It's light, but still has quite enough room for both myself and my stuff. And it is very good quality and will doubtless last me the rest of my life if nothing happens to it. Weight saved: about 1.8 kg (I do also have a 1 kg hammock, but obviously I can't use it above the treeline.)
2) A new backpack, half the weight of my old one at 1.2 kg instead of 2.4 kg. I am feeling a bit torn at this and that it might be a bit of an extravagance. Not so much the cost, but my old large backpack is quite serviceable still and not that worn even though I have had it for 20 years. Also, the new one is a bit smaller, at 55 liters compared to 65, so it will be too small for winter tours. But I think I will keep using them both in different circumstances. Like, if I'm going somewhere I will bring a lot of stuff but where I won't actually hike around with the backpack (like forest inventories, where we go by car between forests) then I'll probably use my old backpack. Weight saved: 1.2 kg.
3) A new camping stove, at about 250 g instead of my old one at about 700 g. I modified the new one a bit to reach that weight by making a new lid, since I do not need the heavier one that doubles as a frying pan. I pondered whether to start using gas (not gas as in gasoline, but the propane/butane/whatever gas that is used in many camping stoves), but I have used alcohol so long and am used to it. The way people argue back and forth online about the weight advantages of one over the other makes me think the difference is slight. Plus, gas camping stoves are much more expensive, and the new lighter alcohol stove I bought was quite cheap. Weight saved: 450 grams.
4) Borrowing a special mountain flora at the library instead of bringing my heavier one for all of Sweden. Weight saved: 200 grams.
5) I realized my belt was quite heavy and replaced it with a shoe lace. : ) Weight saved: about 100 grams. Okay, I guess I'm getting into the gram-hunting now. (By the way: this is a belt I was given by
spuffyduds at the Bitching Party con lo these many years ago, and kept using since.) Total weight saved: 3.75 kg! Also I have lost body weight in the last half year and gone down from 65 kg to 60.5 kg. That will make a difference for my legs and feet, if not for the weight on my hips and shoulders.
