I just did the math-
Equinox 8x10 tarp- 1' 11oz
HH BULA- 1' 15 oz
2 biners, 4 rings- about 4.5 oz
2 Harbor Freight straps- about 6 oz
Total- 4' 3 oz
Eureka Spitfire Solo- 3' 4oz
Tarp+ bivy- 17.5 oz
I usually use a pad, sometimes a KAQ DIY UQ for colder temps.
Hanging is the only way to go, but how to lighten up without spending $$$ ? (My wife says my gear area already looks like an outdoor store).
That tarp. You can knock off a pound getting something like a MacCat.
You're not going to get a decent hammock setup to weigh in lighter than a good bivy. Then again, how many nights have you slept in a bivy? Specifically, in cold/rain/snow/hail? It only took a couple of nights of each of those for me to quit worrying about how much weight I was "saving" and look for something else.
Also, your tarp is crazy heavy. You could save a whole pound just by moving to a different tarp. If you're serious about weight over convenience, lose the rings and biners and use the traditional HH suspension. Losing the rings would be easy, but moving to a new tarp is going to cost money.
Lori beat me to the tarp thing. Guess I got rusty in my summer away from the keyboard.
You're right- I checked the weight of the tarp- it should be 14 oz (all weights are from the mfr), but taking off the 13oz, the total is still the weight of the tent.
I don't think I could go to ground with the tarp/bivy- at a recent SAR training, the guy with the tarp/bivy combo woke up with slugs on his face. The porcupine walked under my hammock and went on his way.
This makes me think of The 13th Warrior. Antonio Banderas picks up a broadsword and says "I can barely lift this." His Nordic compatriot simply replies, "Grow stronger."
In the case of 15 ounces, it's usually strengthening the mindset rather than the body that counts. For a long time, I made lightening my pack weight the emphasis of my gear selection. In the last 2-3 years, I've broadened the criteria to full functionality. My pack has gained maybe three or four pounds of weight, but I sleep, eat, and hike better for things like going over to a hammock, from esbit over to cannister stoves (broader meal selections including actual cooking versus just boiling water), and fewer pinched nerves with a pack that supports a load much better. My summer base is around 15 pounds. Winter is 18 or so. I backpack much happier with a wise selection of maybe 3 pounds extra weight.
I've mostly focused my efforts on cutting my load by dropping my body weight.
If you've got the skills for a KAQ DIY, you definitely can make a tarp. I have a DIY tarp made from from the Blackcat directions that cost me a total of ~45 dollars and maybe 6-8 total hours of work (don't remember total hours, I made it over a week working here and there on it). I did everything from sil-ing it to sewing it. It weights 15oz.Originally Posted by mr. dribbles
...and for what its worth, I'd carry an extra pound or so to not have to worry about the aches and pains the next morning.
"Do, or do not. There is no 'try'."
- Yoda
With the attached bugnet hammocks, you can use them as a bivy on the ground to avoid skeeters and other crawlies. Not easy in some cases. Never tried it with the Hennessy.
An inexpensive weight reduction: convert lines to compression/Whoppie sling, couple toggles and JRB or equivalent tree huggers. Net loss of ~5oz. Add the cost of new OES DeLux Spinn tarp and your gear should drop down by ~20oz. Similar to your Eureka kit.
Noel V.
My tent & ground cover are also lighter at 2 Lbs for the whole thing, including 3 tent stakes. All in all a good tent, but it is still a tent.
And: I can barely sit up in it, I have to sleep on the ground to use it, I can't cook under shelter when raining, I have to sleep on the ground to use it, I can keep some not all of my gear isundercover unlike my hammock set up, I have to sleep on the ground to use it, to get in or out, I need to crawl on the ground.
My tarp alone weighs 2 Lbs PLUS tent stakes, add straps & buckles & stakes & there is another 2.5 Lbs, so my "shelter" costs me at least that much. My underquilt weighs ("Costs") at least as much, maybe a fraction less than my T-rest, so that balances out, & my over quilt is lighter and warmer than my sleeping bag. But to me, the 2.5 Lb cost is well worth it as I dont have to sleep on the ground to use it. Last night I slept like the dead, I never did that in a tent. This morning I sat up, swung my feet over the side of the hammock, planted them in my camp shoes & on the ground & STOOD UP! My head didn't even touch the tarp, & my knees & hands never touched the ground. After my morning constitutinal, I sat in my hammock, fixed breakfast sitting comfortably in my hammock (Grits & hot chocolate) & ate them sitting comfortably in my hammock. To me, there is no such thing as sitting comfortabley in a tent.
Am I carrying more? Very likely I am. Am I enjoying it more? OH YES!!
When you have a backpack on, no matter where you are, you’re home.
PAIN is INEVITABLE. MISERY is OPTIONAL.
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