This is my updated gear list, still a work in progress but getting more refined. My base weight is 3.9 pounds and with 1 liter of water and 5 pounds of food (2.5 days worth) it brings it up to 11.1 pounds.
I tried the 14+3 first and simply couldn’t fill it. Even with the most food I plan to carry, the expandable compartment was unnecessary and with the minimum amount, the pack was soft and flimsy. Everything fits comfortably in the 10+3. The pack feels incredibly comfortable and I am excited to try it out. I’ll likely have some modifications to fix the shoulder strap in place (they are adjustable) and remove some extra inessentials to drop another ounce or two. Continue reading Updated: Summer pack list→
I’m usually a pretty serious advocate of buying brand name gear when your life depends on it. Recently, however, I’ve needed things that are so specific for what I am doing that they simply aren’t marketable. Last year, I made gear to allow me to safely paddle a kayak from Key West to The Tortugas which required a sail, cockpit cover, sea anchor, and outriggers among other things (click the links to see the designs). But recently, I’ve set my eye on a backpacking trip necessitating the lightest gear and have been seriously disappointed with the options currently on the market. I was very impressed with the light weight and affordability of my 7 ounce silnylon Integral Designs Siltarp 1 that I purchased last year. But I figured using a similar rectangle design with Cuben fiber instead of silnylon could drop that weight even further. I did some calculations and figured I could make a Cuben fiber tarp using ZPacks materials that weighed just 2 ounces. Continue reading DIY: Two ounce cuben fiber tarp→
