penny wise, pound foolish?

[Indyal]

As I go through the gear list provided by my outfitter, I am becoming anal about oz.
For those of you who have sheep hunted, how much were/are you willing to spend to lose weight by changing equipment?

In other words, would anyone venture a dollar to oz ratio?

 

[Farmerlentz]

Lol I would hate to figure out that ratio and I would really hate my wife to figure out that ratio.

I have always looked at the heaviest items I could replace the cheapest or the ones I get the most weight savings from and then worked down the list from there

 

[Jimss]

I went through the same thing on my first dall sheep hunt. I weighed every piece of equipment and clothes I owned. The items that weighed the most had the best chance of loosing the most weight so those are the ones I concentrated on. (pack, rifle, sleeping bag, tent, tripod, spotter, etc).

It all comes at a pretty high price $! It isn't cheap but there are ways around it being super expensive. I actually sold a lot of my old gear to make it easier on my pocket to upgrade. Almost all of the new items I bought were nearly new stuff on classified adds, craigslist, ebay or I found great internet bargains to save cash.

 

[Wapiti1]

The stuff you don't take weighs nothing. I would concentrate on cutting to the bare minimum before changing out items. Take a truly objective look at that item and determine need verse want. You need safety gear. You don't need extra pairs of pants. Maybe you have done this already. I bet you still have too much stuff.

Beyond that. It's a crap shoot. You can outfit yourself pretty reasonably with good lightweight gear if you look around, buy used, take advantage of older models, ignore needing camo, ignore hype or trade things in. It's also a trade-off game. A lighter sleeping bag may be colder, but you can wear your puffy to bed.

There is a practical limit to how light you can go. If you are down around 40lbs without food, you are there, IMO.

Jeremy

 

[Kimbersig]

its pretty cheap to save pounds but it gets really expensive to save ounces. personally I think the industry got a little crazy with oz shaving that it lost comfort and durability. I've been seeing some weights creeping back up on some gear in response to that. for example i'd rather have a few extra ounces and have a better insulated sleeping pad! I got stupid light packweights a few years ago but have found myself adding comfort weight back in. also the big thing I've found in weight is really dialing in your food and not carrying around a lot of food you just don't eat throughout the day.

 

[Indyal]

Well, I have lost 7 lbs of body weight through sweat equity.

 

[Birdman1979]

I paid $100/ounce for a titanium action. I think it matters a lot if you can cut weight without sacrificing performance or function. If I can do that, I will.

I think another valuable metric is performance increase per lb dropped. I've seen estimates in the range of .65% per pound. It adds up. I personally think it counts even more for your rifle.

 

[cbeard64]

Good advice on here.

IMO as some said above the pendulum is swinging back from a few years ago when the main (and sometimes only) criteria for gear was light weight. 2 pound packs that sagged, 4 pound rifles that were hard to hold steady, featherweight sleeping pads that provided no real comfort, etc., etc., etc.....

Light weight is great but function/comfort/cost are also factors. Just like everything else in life balance in all things is the key. A pack weight of 40-45 lbs (sans food/water) is very doable without unnecessarily sacrificing function and comfort.

 

[Low_Sky]

I’ll just echo a few things that have already been said.

The best way to drop weight from something is to not bring it. For common/shared items, communicate with your guide or partner to make sure you aren’t doubling on gear that can be shared. Next, really examine your personal gear and decide what can stay home. For example, the only clothing article I bring duplicates of is socks, and I carry a tiny bottle of concentrated soap so I can do laundry on long trips.

After dropping everything unnecessary from the pack, then look at shaving weight from your big ticket items. Sleep system, pack, shelter, rifle, optics.


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