Backpack Gear list Critique

[SHTF]

K so I have this Olympus Liner that has the shinny inside that reflect body heat. Its the inside of my Riding Coat. It weighs just under what the Puffy coat weighs. And its waterproof. Im going to add this remove the rain coat and puffy coat. duel purpose jacket for insulation/waterproof protection to keep my core warm. This will save me the 17 ounces that the rain coat weighs. So thats 1# 1 ounce taken care of.

 

[Sundodger]

I just ordered a zpack sleeping bag, depending on the size and temp rating they are around a pound with the stuff sack. That would drops some weight.

The reviews are good, but I will see how good it is.

http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Ultralight-Sleeping-Bag-Reviews/ZPacks-20-Degree

 

[Justin Crossley]

I love mine! I have a 30* quilt with the straps to close the bottom.

Which one did you get?

 

[Sundodger]

I love mine! I have a 30* quilt with the straps to close the bottom.

Which one did you get?

That's great to hear.

I got the 20 deg long wide solo bag. Only option I went for was the water resistant down.

I was planning on going with the 30 deg bag, but he talked me into a 20 deg bag for mid sept-late sept hunts.

On another note, it's hilarious that I had to order wide. Only in gram weeny circles do I ever need to order anything in wide. Hunting gear I struggle to find stuff small enough.

 

[SHTF]

Well I just joined the ultralight sleeping bag club. Picked up that Western Mountaineering Highlite bag from Brian. So now I am looking much lighter. Tomorrow heading to REI to get the Sawyer Squeeze filter. I added in my bow arrows and archery kit. But with water bow and only 3 days food Im under 50# I know I can shed more weight. Where else you guys seeing on my list IM still failing?

 

[pyroducksx3]

I have the squeeze filter and in-line filter. I would not rely on the squeeze filter as my primary. It is stout but pain the the ass to squeeze all your water. I love my sawyer in line with platy big zip and you can hook it up so you just filter as you drink. It's very versitile, Luke moffet has good pics of this.

 

[pyroducksx3]

Drop the tarp and get some tyvek and that sleep system will be much lighter than you started. Also you have the kifaru medium pullout weighing 29 oz, is it loaded with stuff?

Never mind I figured out how you set the pocket up

 

[SHTF]

Yeah they make an attachment for the filter that comes with the squeeze to do the same thing. http://www.rei.com/product/837889/sawyer-inline-adapter-water-filter-connections

I plan to get the 3 bag kit with that little kit to add to my Camelbak bladder. and I will get a platypus for dirty water.

 

[pyroducksx3]

And where's the rokslide weight calculator that's cool.

 

[luke moffat]

I wouldn't take both a REI sleeping pad AND a Ridgrest foam pad....thats 2.25 pounds of sleeping pad!!! Leave one or the other at home IMO. Good looking list...you can spend a lot more $$$ to drop some more weight, but why??? Rock on whatcha got this year....find out what you like/don't like and upgrade after that. Good luck this season!!!

 

[TheRambler]

Here is my take on what to leave:
Garmin-ditch and learn to use a map and compass. Or use the GPS on your phone(if you have a smartphone) if absolutely needed

Medium Kifaru Pullout- seems like the items in here are excessively heavy. Give that first aid kit and hygiene kit a hefty trim. Some gauze, duct tape, dental floss, and some various pills, small toothpaste and toothbrush. Thats about all you need IMO

Sleeping pad- only take one

sit pad- ditch, man up =P

Ground tarp- ditch, what are you planning to use this for anyway? So many other lighter options if you just want a ground cover for whatever reason. Polycro aka painters plastic would be my first choice or tyvek

Optics- Ditch spotting scope, tripod, and range finger. Practice with your bincos, and put a range reticle on them. Your not trying to play sniper here, bincos are all you need.

The sawyer squeeze isnt anymore of a pain in the butt to use than a regular pump filter. You can use it in gravity mode too and just hang it from a tree and go do other things while it filters.
Clothing- What is the scent blocker coat? seems really heavy and you already have a rain jacket and puffy. Seems to me that its dead weight, and gimicky =P

 

[rodney482]

Nothing wrong with cutting weight, just be smart about it.

I dont mind carrying a few extra lbs if it makes my 10 day hunt more enjoyable.

 

[fillthefreezer]

as said above use some tyvek, that would cut half the weight of your tarp. first aid and hygiene could be slimmed down. is the spotter worth carrying in your area?
use only 1 pad. dro the scentblock coat. thats a pretty heavy knife...

 

[Manosteel]

Nothing wrong with cutting weight, just be smart about it.

I dont mind carrying a few extra lbs if it makes my 10 day hunt more enjoyable.

x2

I like to keep things as light as possible especially in the mountains but only to a point. Don't go light for the sake of saying you are light. Take what you need, and that is different for everyone. For example, I would keep the spotter if hunting for trophy animals and glassing them at long distances like sheep in the mountains, it will save you time walking ( especially if there is a full curl or age requirement). When hunting for elk or moose I usually don't take a spotter but thats becuase of where I hunt, its so hilly and thich in most places the spotter is useless and the binos work just fine.

Pack for the hunt and don't fall into the "I got the lightest pack" for the sake of being light. See how luke moffat packs for each hunt, sometimes he goes ultralight and other times hes got 60+lbs with a raft on his back, crazy

 

[SHTF]

Yeah Luke and Becca are insane. Completely admire those 2 and its on my bucket list to head to Alaska one day to buy them a drink or two =-).

Yeah I am definitely keeping that in mind. I have a few thoughts tell me if Im wrong. Place we heading to hunt has an 11k peak above treeline that we where planning to get up on and glass along the continental divide. We can see for miles out of that valley. This is my inspiration for the spotter. I know once I get to the side of this mountain looking over the valley we are hunting that Spotter is going to be invaluable to seeing all around us. I also want to try my hand at digiscoping with it. The Scout trip we are taking is for 3 days 2 nights. from 9500 to 11500 feet. We could run into anything weather wise. So we are planning for that. I have the Tarp as it keeps my REI mat from forming holes if I miss clearing something on the ground. I use the Ridge rest for the same thing but the Tarp is lighter. so this is a preventive hole thing Im not sure Tyvek would be as puncture proof. But yeah Ive definitely though if cutting out the Tarp. If it wasnt for the REI Stratus and keeping it from getting holes it would be the first thing Id loose.

I definitely want to be light because I dont want to slow anyone down but also so Im much more agile with my movements. Its one thing to pack a 60# pack across a relative elevation gain and pretty straight forward hiking. Its another when your going up and over cliffs and through high impact grades. So my desire to be light is to keep up the pace but also keep in the scope of what I need to make sure Ive Im at least somewhat comfortable out there. Its a balance that Im definitely trying to strike. =-).

There are things on that list Im not taking on this Trip as in Bow arrows Range finder ect. The weight listed above is more when I head out to hunt in September. Right now with my 3 day in the field with scope tripod and water Im at 36# which I feel is pretty good but I think I can get it lower. I may look at taking my Nimrod Backpack instead of the Kifaru as I wont need to be able to haul out meat for this trip. The Nimrod is way lighter then the Kifaru so that should get me down below 35# with water.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Really helps a lot to have other eyes on the gear. Im completely stoked about the 16 ounce Sleeping bag. That thing is insane for sure. Love it.

 

[luke moffat]

Yeah Luke and Becca are insane. Completely admire those 2 and its on my bucket list to head to Alaska one day to buy them a drink or two =-).

Thanks for the kind words SHTF!!! Just make sure you come up to fish othewise I might not be in town during hunting season.

I agree a spotter is one of those things you hate to carry but love once its out there. For me on caribou hunts and some bear hunts a spotter isn't really needed so I can leave it behind. But still its fun to watch a ground squirell or fox run around at 2 miles away, just makes the being out there more fun too. I call it caveman TV when I sit down for the evening and just watch all the critters that come in and out of view.

Take what you think you need and even a couple items you want.

On that trip with Becca 2 weeks ago we were shooting for 55 pounds....ended up at 61, but brought a 5th of vodka, a rangefinder (cause Becca wanted to use her new one, I'll admit I was wrong as it came in handy for shooting the bear at 330, some heavier MH dinners that consisted of tortilla wraps, 3 pounds extra for an extra day of food, and a sleeping pad coupler so we could still cuddle, and Becca still brought camp shoes. Still ended up with a 36 and 25 pound packs respectively for a 5 day trip. So while going spartan and getting extreme UL packs is fun and we really enjoyed the lightweight packs especially given the trip, having amenities to make the trip more enjoyable are also nice as well.

Everyone has different goals for hunting, but I go to enjoy myself and have fun, part of that fun is having a few extra comfort items here and there, but not go crazy with it. Its up to you to find out whats worth it and whats not. Just don't get too wrapped up about a being under a certain weight limit (unless on a fly out hunt where you have to be under X amount of weight). Go light as you can, but if you aren't sleeping well, eating good, or not warm enough the fun factor gets sucked out of the hunt a lot faster than just have an few extra lbs in your pack.

SHFT, sounds like if you just use your ridge-rest as a sleeping pad you can leave the tarp and REI pad at home, yeah not as comfy to sleep on but will work, keep ya insulated off the ground and save ya 2 lbs. Just a thought

 

[jaime7818]

Here is my take on what to leave:
Garmin-ditch and learn to use a map and compass. Or use the GPS on your phone(if you have a smartphone) if absolutely needed

Medium Kifaru Pullout- seems like the items in here are excessively heavy. Give that first aid kit and hygiene kit a hefty trim. Some gauze, duct tape, dental floss, and some various pills, small toothpaste and toothbrush. Thats about all you need IMO

Sleeping pad- only take one

sit pad- ditch, man up =P

Ground tarp- ditch, what are you planning to use this for anyway? So many other lighter options if you just want a ground cover for whatever reason. Polycro aka painters plastic would be my first choice or tyvek

Optics- Ditch spotting scope, tripod, and range finger. Practice with your bincos, and put a range reticle on them. Your not trying to play sniper here, bincos are all you need.


The sawyer squeeze isnt anymore of a pain in the butt to use than a regular pump filter. You can use it in gravity mode too and just hang it from a tree and go do other things while it filters.
Clothing- What is the scent blocker coat? seems really heavy and you already have a rain jacket and puffy. Seems to me that its dead weight, and gimicky =P

I agree with everything thats said here. Except, the butt pad!

 

[Rick Leathley]

SHFT I think your a little paranoid about poking a hole in your mattress lol. I get it though having my pad go flat would suck. I use a neo air now and before that a prolite plus. I have never had a leak yet knock on wood. You might look into Evazote® foam Gossamer gear sells an 1/8 inch thick pad that would give your mattress some added protection and is only 2.6oz.

http://gossamergear.com/sleeping/1-8.html

 

[SHTF]

Luke. Thanks again for the sound advise. Spotting Scope is really a love hate relationship hehe. Hate carrying it completely love it when Im at the top of a 11k ridge. That maybe the way to go with the Ridge Rest or I really like RIck's idea. I plan to check into that pad.

Appreciate the feedback...


James

 

[Justin Crossley]

You can also just get a patch kit and then you don't have to bring two pads. That is a big waste IMO. ThermaRest sells a small universal patch kit.

If you choose to the bring the Ridgerest pad you can just use that to sit on. I have a buddy that uses one for just that reason.

If you want to bring the REI pad (which is what I would do) just buy a cheap blue pad and cut a small piece to sit on. They are warm, cheap and weigh next to nothing.


Piroducksx3,
Pm me with your email address and I'll send the weight calculator to you.