making kit lighter and more compact.

[RAPPLEBY2000]

obvious answer don't take as much

any one heard of any new recent ways of lightning ones kit?

I'm getting old and need all the help i can!

[tenbears10]

I agree leave some at home!

Only partly joking, I will do a very good demonstration at the meetup in August of 'how to bring everything you might possibily need for a weekend' the problem with this method is it gets very heavy. I always try to cut down on the ammount I take but it never seems to work.

On DofE a few years ago now I was the one with a 100 litre bergen pretty much full and my mate had a 65 litre which was half empty. We had exactly the same ammount of shared kit (tents cooking stuff etc) but he just brought less of everything else.

Having said this there are some good websites out there for lightweight backpacking with good ideas. It gets expensive though, to get light sleeping bags, tents or clothing is always more than the alternatives. :-D

Bill

[Lithril]

I did the same when I was in Merthyr mawr, had 85 litres of backpack filled up with tent strapped to it. after seeing Ed and Dean with small 35L sacks and then Stuart fitting all his into 20L (2x side pockets of Rocket Pack), I've managed to get mine easily into 35L with lots of room to spare.
I think the bigger the bag you take the you're likely to fill it.

[Martyn]

I agree with Lithril, bhe best way I figure is to buy a smaller capacity bergen. :wink:

Sounds silly, but it does "force" you to leave some of your gear out or use ultralight alternatives. You could try a Sabre 45 with 2x 10L rocket packs - 65L is a pretty good capacity, then figure ways to loose the side packs and get it down to 45L. Everyone seems to say that they are guilty of packing far too much for just in case scenario's, to make them more comfortable, but they never actually happen.

[tenbears10]

I got rid of the bergen not that long after for those very reasons. I once heard someone describe it as 'when you drop the first pair of socks into a crusader it looks such a big space you think you will never fill it, but you always do!'

I am looking out for a lightweight down sleeping bag at the minute because that is a great way to start cutting down on weight and space. I have a terra nova voyager tent which is about as light as you can go and still fit 2 people in and use it beyond summer. Other than that my gear is quite well set up, I just pack too much 'in case'. I will learn.

Bill

[The General]

I have a PLCE bergen with side pockets, its never enough... ops:

[Andy]

I got all teh stuff for D of E into a 35l with the poles of a force ten trapped to it and the waterproof on the outside. then My dad needed the pack so it had go in my 50L anyway, same stuff but it somehow still seemed full

[Martyn]

Maybe if we were all forced to spend 3 days in the wilderness with...

1 x knife
1 x billy can
1 x crusader mug/cup
1 x spoon/spork
1 x tarp + paracord
1 x bivi bag
1 x sleeping bag
3 x one day rations (...of your own choice and composition)
1 x milbank bag
1 x litre water bottle
1 x ferro rod
1 x loo roll.

Plus 5 more items of your own choosing, weighing no more than 5 pounds total, or 5 litres capacity, whichever is the greater (consider a first aid kit as 1 item, clean underpants as 1 item, clean socks as 1 item, camp mat/thermarest as 1 item etc).

I guess everything else is a luxury.

It might be an interesting idea/game/challenge to work out a minimalist kit list for us all to try out for 1 or 2 nights and then report our experiences?

[Justin Time]

Martyn
I'd probably add a bivi bag to the list, don't want the sleeping bag to get wet from the ground... might swap the billy can and cup for a metal mug to keep the numbers right for you....

Using a debris shelter, you could get away without tarp. bivi and sleeping bag

[Andy]

can I add a change of underwear to the list? I have known a guy go for 3days without but we are civil still. aren't we?

[Viking]

can I add a change of underwear to the list? I have known a guy go for 3days without but we are civil still. aren't we?

Turn them inside out and they will last for 3 more days. We always turned our underwear isnide out in the army and we used a 25 litre pack for all our stuff we carried.

[Martyn]

can I add a change of underwear to the list? I have known a guy go for 3days without but we are civil still. aren't we?

Hehe - you could probably add, I dunno, say 5 luxury items of your own choice - clean kegs could be considered a luxury?

[Martyn]

Martyn
I'd probably add a bivi bag to the list, don't want the sleeping bag to get wet from the ground... might swap the billy can and cup for a metal mug to keep the numbers right for you....

Using a debris shelter, you could get away without tarp. bivi and sleeping bag

I revised the list to include the bivi, you gotta have a decent level of comfort dont you think? I mean if it's a miserable experience - why do it? I figure you gotta have enough basics for a reasonable level of comfort.

Anyone up for this?

[The General]

One knife? I don't understand... :wink:

[Martyn]

One knife? I don't understand... :wink:

...plus five more items of your own choosing, so you can have 6 knives wayne.

Seriously though, it'd be cool to have a (minimalist) BcUK recommended 3 day summer kit list, worked out from members experiences. Then folks could take this as an absolute minimum, or build on it. It'd be interesting to see what levels of comfort can be achieved and to give each item a rating based on usefulness/comfort - with a 0 rating if it doesnt get used at all, up to a 10 rating for items used daily/frequently that you absolutely must have at all costs.

[Ed]

Where is stuart when you need him. A thread comes up about super light weight kit and he's away!!!

I have a 35l pack which keeps the amount down that I carry.... if it doesn't fit, it don't come along.

:-)
Ed

[The General]

I would add

1x Axe
1x Leatherman Super Tool
1x SAS type survival tin
1x Compas
1x Medical kit (quality type with needles and insect repelent)

[The General]

Oh and you have to have a Thermarest as a standard bit of kit!

[The General]

Oh and rather than a Tarp, I tend to use a British Army Poncho...

[The General]

The Axe would be the Gerber Sports for light weight and the knife?

I would at present probably chose my Stag handled Randal model 1-6 or my Woodlore.

[Martyn]

I would add

1x Axe
1x Leatherman Super Tool
1x SAS type survival tin
1x Compas
1x Medical kit (quality type with needles and insect repelent)

I take it these are you 5 luxury items?

[Martyn]

Oh and you have to have a Thermarest as a standard bit of kit!

Hmmm, maybe, ...a luxury item perhaps? Nice for sure, but is it a bare essential. Take one instead of your SAS survival tin - far more useful. I'm starting to understand why your bergen isn't big enough Wayne, I'm thinking you need a 110 and a caravan. :wink:

Actually, I think the doubling up/redundancy thing is a good point. I was looking through my kit and noticed I had multiples of many things. I mean, what do you carry to backup your backup - then what do you back that up with?

I'm betting if I just dumped all my redundancy and went with one of everything, I'd shave loads off my pack weight.

[Martyn]

Oh and rather than a Tarp, I tend to use a British Army Poncho...

Brands/types are unimportant - A knife, A tarp, A slepping bag - whatever you choose is up to you. :wink:

[The General]

Ah, but a Poncho is a raincoat that covers all your kit, pack and all as well as a tarp!

I agree though, I would take the Thermarest over the survival tin. I would nick the good bits out of that and customise the medical kit, so best of both worlds! :-D

[The General]

As an aside I would carry far more water as I simply don't know enough ebout finding water in the wilds... I could find a great campsite but not always near running water which I could treat and boil... Thus I would carry at least 6-8L of water.

[EdS]

Ultimate light weight kit - a few emergency tea bags and my credit card!

[Viking]

Maybe if we were all forced to spend 3 days in the wilderness with...

1 x knife
1 x billy can
1 x crusader mug/cup
1 x spoon/spork
1 x tarp + paracord
1 x bivi bag
1 x sleeping bag
3 x one day rations (...of your own choice and composition)
1 x milbank bag
1 x litre water bottle
1 x ferro rod
1 x loo roll.

You don´t need a loo roll, the woods are full of leafs and moss to use as loo paper. I have never used a millbank bag so I don´t know about that.

[Andy]

I'd be up for it.

so the five items
*sos mix
*pasta
*para cord
*kukri
*a nice warm girl to cuddle up to at night (she's out there somewhere)

[Gary]

The orinigal question was about lightening ones load. This isn't as hard as it at first seems and many of the answers given on this thread good a long way to showing us how - OR AT LEAST HOW NOT TOO.

Read back - look at the suggestions, can you see how each answer added to the load.

For example Billy can and Crusader cup - can you cook in a crusader cup? can you drink out of a billy?

To truely lighten ones load one has to lower ones expectations - I dont mean suffer, rough it or any such thing - i simply mean be prepared to compromise.

What is a poncho? what can it do?
What type of knife do you carry? Can it do all the tasks you require of it? If not why not?

Lightening ones load starts with lightening ones mind.

[ditchfield]

Come on. A wool blanket, knife and water bottle should do it :-D. OK, thats a one nighter.