Spring 2013 Gear List

I weighed everything again and finished my gear list today.  The list is included below.  It all fits into my Gossamer Gear Kumo backpack with a little room to spare.   Depending on the weather the week I actually plan to go camping, some clothing like long underwear, and a hat may be needed.  This is Florida, but the nights may still be cold.  We are too far out from the trip date to determine that at this point, so we'll go with the average highs and lows for the area near near where we'll be camping.

I am planing to join with a Sierra Club group from Tampa, who will be camping in the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve West Tract in the Richloam Tract.  The camping site is just northeast of the Withlacoochee River, but we will not be camping on the river.  The idea is to hike into the back country and camp overnight at a primitive campsite.  We'll hike out the next day and head home.  An easy, simple, one-overnight weekend trip with a short hike on either end.  It is about a 2 hour highway drive from Orlando.
My friend, Robert, says these good people we are going with are mostly traditional backpackers, so we will be the ultralight travelers in the group.  Robert backpacks with this group often.

Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve West Tract.

For camping in the Green Swamp area, northeast of Dade City, FL we are looking at an average high temperature this month of 81 degrees, a low of 56 degrees and a possibility of rain.  Looking at the week-long-range weather forecast for that time, the area is expected to have a high temperature of 77 degrees with a low of 48 and partly cloudy, with 81 degrees and sunny skies the next day.  We will be camping northeast of town in sand hill and pines.  In Florida, this month has always come in like a lion and gone out like a lamb, so I expect the weather report may change.
My low weight "goal", while keeping me warm and safe, was to reach 10 pounds, and I'm close enough to that.  I have read that the ultralight base weight both starts at 10 pounds, and at 12 pounds.  With just a two pound difference, why really care?  Over time, the loaded backpack weight will fluctuate some, and that is OK.  I'm not "gram crazy", at least not yet!
My packing list adds up to a base weight of 11.36 pounds.  Rounding, that's 11 pounds before water, food and fuel are added in.  We will not have to carry water for the overnight, as there is a pond nearby. With about 2 pounds of food (1.5 pounds per day plus snacks), 4.8 pounds of water (2 liters) and a couple ounces of Esbit fuel tabs added, that would put me near 18 pounds for the fully loaded backpack.  Nice!
By category, I am at just over 1 pound for my backpack system, 2.5 lbs for the sleeping system (less clothing), 4.27 lbs for the tent system (double what it should be).  The cooking system is at 1 pound, the repair & backup kit is at 1/3 of a pound, the health kit is under 1/2 pound, and my clothing is at 1 and 1/2 pound, most of which I will be wearing for sleeping.
Now that 11.4 pounds above includes my 4.27 pound Alps Mountaineering Mystique 1.5 tent.  It seems the tent weight had suddenly increased from when I weighed it before, until I found that I didn't previously weigh all the tent stakes or add in the footprint (oops).  This is a nice tent and it is well made and built heavy-duty to survive Boy Scout-aged users.  It is very waterproof and lightweight in the older sense, but it is now considered a heavy tent in the ultralight backpacking world.  My long term goal is to reduce my tent weight by at least 50% by purchasing a new tent, and I will do that at the first opportunity.  Then I would be closer to 9 pounds base weight, which will be really cool!
Another way I can reduce weight is to repackage some of my health items into smaller containers, like the Hydropel and the Wilderness soap.  We're only talking about reducing a couple of ounces here.  I don't feel that I will need the full package of either one for a single overnight trip, and will make that change soon.
For heavy weather, I may also have to add in rain pants and some of the warm clothing listed above.  My Kumo is good to carry a total of 25 pounds, so at a few pounds under that weight I should be just fine.  Much, much better than the 60 pounds that I used to carry in the "old" days.  For much longer duration trips I will need a larger backpack to carry my gear, like the REI Flash 45 I am looking into now.
My gear is packed with the sleeping pad folded into quarters in the back outside pocket of the Kumo backpack, next to my back.  The tent stores vertically, in the outside front pocket.  The sleeping quilt is inside the pack at the right bottom with the clothing and repair kit beside and on top of the sleeping bag.  Then the cooking gear, health kit and food are in a Granite Gear air zip bag, laying sideways on top.  Outside and on top of the trash compactor liner is the rain jacket.  Two soft 1 liter water bottles are in each side pocket with the tent poles on the left side.  Tent stakes and footprint are in the front pocket along with the water filter and tent.  Snacks, camera and my "pocket items" are on me.
So here's my packing list for you backpackers, with the food and water weight included.  The Gossamer Gear Kumo pack weight includes the hip belt, but no belt pockets.  My apologies, the columns may not line up on your screens.


Lite Packer Ultralight Gear Backpacking Packing List, Spring 2013

System          Name                                             Ounces     Grams Roll-Up Pounds
Backpack Backpack  Gossamer Gear Kumo  L 15.1       428
        Liner    Trash Compactor Bag                               2.3        40
Sub Total                                                                                            17.4 1.08
Sleep Quilt     Thermarest Alpine Quilt 35 Degree          24.1    686
         Pad      Thermarest Ridgerest                                8.5     242
 Sleep Socks Smartwool                                               3.0       86
 Headlamp   Petzl LED Headlamp                                 2.8       78
         Storage Bag 1 For Sleeping Quilt                          0.7       20
Sub Total                                                                                             40.3 2.51
Shelter Tent     Alps Mountaineering Mystique 1.5          47.3    1340
        Poles     For Mystique                                           10.4 296
        Stakes     6 Blue, 4 Regular Aluminum, Bag              5.3 150
        Footprint     3.5 Mil Plastic w/ Bag                           5.4 152
Sub Total                                                                                              68.4 4.27
Cooking Pot        Snow Peak 70                                        3.2 90
        Lid             Snow Peak Lid                                       1.1 32
        Stove      Esbit with MYOG Wind Screen                 3.0 86
        Spoon     Titanium, Long Handle                               0.6 16
        Knife      GSI                                                            0.4 12
        Cup        GSI w/ Lid                                                2.8 80
        Pot Holder    Cloth                                                    0.1 4
        Lighter      Mini Bic                                                    0.2      6
        Cozy      Cozy w/ Clip                                               1.4 40
        Mesh Storage Bag Mesh Bag                                     0.3 8
        Food Bags    Ops Sak   (1.5 oz 42g each)                  1.5 42
        Storage Bag Granite Gear Air Zip Sack  Medium       1.6 44
Sub Total                                                                                            16.2 1.01
Repair & Backup Kit
          2 Velcro double sided 4-inch strips                            0.1 4
        Mini flashlight                                                              0.5 12
        P-38 military-style folding can opener                          0.1 4
        10 Micropur water purification tablets                         0.3 8
         Waterproof matches in case                                       0.5 14
         45 feet of 2 mm reflective EZC2 line                           1.3 38
         Paper Matches                                                          0.1 2
         3 Clothes Pins                                                            0.4 12
         2 foot Duct Tape Roll                                                0.1 4
         Rest of Repair kit items in bag                                     0.3 8
         Sewing kit, Dryer Lint, 2 Lens Cloths,   0 0
          Eagle Creek Small Zipper Bag                                   1.0 26
Sub Total                                                                                              4.7 0.29
Health  Health Kit     Toothbrush - Full Length                        0.5 14
                     Toothpaste Tube Mini                                     0.9 26
                     Floss                                                                 0 0
                     Comb                                                             0.1 6
                     Body Glide                                                      1.1 32
                     Ear Plugs                                                            0 0
                     Kit Bag                                                           0.5 14
                     Ultra-Towel - Small                                        1.4 40
                     Wilderness Wash Soap                                   1.7 48
                     Wet Ones in Zip-Lock Bag (3)                        0.4 12
Sub Total                                                                                              6.6 0.41
Day Clothing          Shirt                                                        4.7 134
                             Underwear                                              2.2 62
                             Socks                                                      1.9 54
Raincoat                Marmot Rain Jacket                                12.6 358
                             Storage Bag                                             0.9 26
Sub Total                                                                                              22.3         1.39

Hydration       Platypus 1 Litre, Foldable, Empty                       1.3 36
                    Platypus 1 Litre, Foldable, Empty                       1.3 36
      Water Purifier  Sawyer Squeeze                                        2.4 68
                     Sawyer Squeeze 2 Litre Bag, Empty                  0.9 26
Sub Total                                                                                                 5.9         0.36
Water 2 - 1 Litre Bottles  Water Weight Plus Bottle                   36.2 1026
                                      Water Weight Plus Bottle  36.2 1026
       1 - 2 Litre Bottle  Water Weight Plus Bottle (when used)
Sub Total                                                                                                   144.8     4.4
Fuel 3.5 Esbit Tabs      Tab Weight Only (0.4 oz 12g each) 1.9 54
Sub Total                                                                                                        1.9 0.12
Food  (1.5 pounds per day)                              32       2
2
Base Weight                                                                            181.8 5136            11.36 lbs.
Pack Weight                                                                            322.6 9388            17.88 lbs.

Tent Stake Tool

It all started with an idea for a MYOG project...a tent stake tool.  For those times when the ground is just too hard to push the tent stakes in by hand.  For just 17 cents at Home Depot, I bought one half-inch PVC 'T' connector meant for a home irrigation system.  

I used my drill to make a small hole in the neck of the 'T' and tied a knotted cord through it to make the tool be twice as useful.  This tool weighs about 0.5 ounces or 16 grams with the cord attached.

The tool weighs just a little more than my blue aluminum tent stakes.  I have found blue to be the best color for not losing your tent stakes in the outdoors.  Forget about yellow, red or orange.  Try finding those stakes on the ground in the Appalachian mountains during the fall.  Blue just doesn't disappear as easily.  For those wondering about multi-use, these stakes are also good for cat hole digging.

The tool and stakes will travel in my backpack in this recycled Tyvek mailer. I have found rubber bands to be incredibly useful and very light weight for backpacking.

So, when pitching the tent while camping...

...I can use the tool to push the tent stakes into the hard ground...saving wear and tear on my hands...

...And in the multiple use department, I can also use the tool to pull the stakes out when taking the tent down...

My tent is an Alps Mountaineering Mystique 1.5, pitched here in my back yard for demonstrating how the MYOG tent stake tool works. 

The tent body weighs 24.5 ounces, the tarp 23.0 ounces, red poles 10.4 ounces, blue stakes 0.4 ounces each or 2.4 ounces for 6, or a total of  3.77 pounds using no stuff sacks.  Not quite ultralight, but lightweight enough for weekend camping trips.

It is spacious inside for one person with the convenience of  two vestibules and two entrances, and with the tarp on, it is very water proof in heavy rains and high winds.  The tent is also bug-free for us Floridians.  With the short end of the tent pitched into the wind for aerodynamics and the aluminum poles supporting the tent to prevent it from flexing in high winds, this is a very secure and stable, small tent.  Most nights camping, I have left the tarp doors open for ventilation and views.  It is also tall enough to sit up to dress or read in.

A tent stake tool like this one is an easy and simple MYOG project for anyone to make.  It has multiple uses and is lightweight and very inexpensive.  It took me longer to charge my drill battery than it did to actually drill the hole and tie the cord.  It is really good for places like stone-free Florida and for those hard forest floors, wherever you may find them.  

By the way, this is the second week of February, winter storms are hammering the north and we have a temperature in central Florida of 82 degrees today.  What's up with that?