Good total weight for hammock and tarp? Am I too heavy?

[Passinthru]

I think that comparing grams/ounces to other people or striving for 'X' weight for some reason is the wrong approach.
I think a better measure of practical pack weight would be some percentage of body weight. For example, a 10 lb pack would be hardly noticeable to a 200# man but might be quite a load for his 12 year old, 70 lb daughter.
But even 'percentage of body weight' isn't the perfect measure of proper pack weight. There are many variables to consider besides just final pack weight - age, gender, physical condition, etc.
Still, there's nothing wrong with packing light as long as we don't give up too much in the process.

[DuctTape]

Excessive? No.
Could it be lighter? Yes.
Do you want it to be lighter? It depends what you are willing to sacrifice.

What are the individual items and their respective weights? Without those details, I have no additional advice.

[Dedicated Hanger]

Sort of goes with the saying: "Hang Your Own Hang". The weight you should be carrying is dependant upon a multitude of things. I have seen people carry nearly 100 pounds of gear and some less than 10. I personally have carried more than 65 pounds when carrying climbing gear as well as, camping gear for several days. If you are trying to make miles from point A to B, and are willing go give up food and comfort, then you might go as light as possible. It just depends on the goal that you have in mind and how you want to accomplish that goal. I have seen young healthy people hiking and camping in the deep wilderness and not really cooking at all because they knew their bodies could last 2 or 3 days without a large nourishing meal. They were just going to slowly run their energy reserves down and wait to eat a hot meal once they get out. Have also seen people carrying heavy iron frying pans and cooking eggs and bacon back in the same wilderness. It just depends on you, what you are trying to accomplish, and how comfortable and well fed you want to be. The point is that there is no rule book and no absolutely right amount of weight to carry. Think about the vagaries of the weather. One day a person hiking with 12 pounds and no real weather gear might hike at above 6,000 feet and have a great day. The very next day it could blowing snow, no obvious trail, and no way to move anywhere without snow shoes. In that case you would be in deep trouble without hot food and extreme weather gear. What you carry depends on so many factors that it is not possible to set a absolutely ideal carry weight, therefore the words of; "hang your own hang" come to mind.

[peterboysen]

I don't quite agree with the above, since for a lot of things you don't have to sacrifice food or comfort to get lighter gear. Any tarp that can keep the rain off offers the same comfort (assuming all else being the same), but of course a cuben tarp is going to weigh less, and so you have more comfort while moving, and the same comfort while walking. There's less comfort while buying though, so of course it's all a balance. A lot of luxuries carried into the wilderness can be replaced by lighter luxuries. A while back I had the great advice of, when thinking about weight, "start from zero." Start with nothing, then add what you need, keeping it as light as you're comfortable spending. Then add what you want, again, keeping the weight in mind. There are a lot of pans that will fry an egg that weigh a lot less than the big cast iron one you use at home.

[Dedicated Hanger]

Good advice to go light if you can afford it. Going with absolutely light gear can backfire. That big down bag is certainly warm and packs up very light. Given a solid week of blowing rain and cold, that same expensive down bag can get wet. Wet down will not keep you warm at night in near freezing temperatures at altitude. No matter what piece of gear it is, going light has it's advantages and disadvantages. Experience with the gear in the actual conditions are the best teacher.

[SilvrSurfr]

Don't stress too much about the weight, but my 11' hammock & tarp with all the suspension gear weighs less than half of your 4 pounds and I didn't factor in the additional weight savings of my empty wallet. Lol

Cuben fabrics, Dynaglide, 1.2 oz Polly D fabric, Dutch speed hooks, etc. will lighten up you and your wallet.

This is also the approach I've taken:
Dutch PolyD 1.4 oz. hammock 10 oz
Dutch Speed Hook suspension with 4 ft. straps 3.1 oz.
HG Winter Palace 8.5 oz.
Total 21.6 oz.

Add in a few ounces for stakes, guylines, and ridgeline.

So yeah, you can be a lot lighter in all departments if you cough up the dough. Your polyester rain fly ($39 is a nice price) probably weighs three times an HG Winter Palace. The Skeeter Beeter Pro is 30 oz. alone.

[Otter1]

Like MAD, my weight is a good bit less than yours.

That said, I am a UL backpacker when on the ground, and I want to keep it as close to that as I can when I hang.

If you are ok carrying the weight, then why spend more $? If you want the advantages of going lighter, then start replacing gear piece by piece with the lightest gear you can afford that will do the job. If you want to know why I prefer lighter weight on the trail, PM me and we'll talk!

[OregonBushcraft]

thanks for the input guys!

[humer91]

a lot depends on what you are doing, where and when you are doing it.

My preferred tarp is my Superfly. It's 19 oz but i love the options it gives me.
My newly ordered Thunderbird is 35oz but that includes the bugnet and top cover and suspension. Except for dec/Jan/Feb i can leave the top cover at home.

Less than 3.5 pounds is fine for me when you figure ground dwellers are going to have similar if not heavier weights when you include a ground pad, and they have to sleep on the ground.

[fishbait]

My total weight is 4lbs exactly. GT SBP, PahaQue HM20R double rain fly, stakes, straps, guy lines etc... Everything I need to setup minus insulation. Is this a good weight for winter?
I'd be a pound less in summer with my lighter rain fly.

You received a lot of great advice from everyone that replied. So I'll add my $.02 to the till.

As funds allow upgrade as needed. I think the tarp would be a great place to start. You can get a lighter sylnylon tarp that will get you through four season. My modified Warbonnet Mammjamba has survived snow an rain with out incident. The Skeeterbeeter is a bit heavy for my tastes and again can be upgraded as funds allow. Our Cottage Vendors make excellent hammocks that will support a variety of people and weigh much less than the SkeeterBeeter.

The weight of my Bias Weenie with suspension and the Warbonnet tarp comes in at just over 2lbs. I can save a few more ounces by upgrading the tarp to cuben fibre but the cost out weighs my needs.