Help with lightening my base weight

[forces]

IÂ’m trying to lighten up on my backpacking base weight. I usually avoid peak season backpacking, and prefer mid-late spring or late summer-mid fall trips. So lows around 25-50 degrees F in the PNW.

HereÂ’s my current situation:

1. Hammock: 10Â’ diy weighs gathered end is about 16oz. I have a kammock that I can deal with thatÂ’s about 8Â’ and 7oz. IÂ’m short, itÂ’s short, so I can make do if need be

2. Bug net: 7oz outdoor vitals with a UQ protector built in. IÂ’d like to DIY a zip-on bug net, but am not feeling too confident on my DIY skills to make that work. Mostly, IÂ’m worried about my ridge line getting too tight and ripping the net apart. Thoughts?

3. TQ: over-stuffed Costco quilt. 18 oz total; 12 oz 700 fill with a 6oz shell

4: UQ: diy Costco overstuff. ItÂ’s 24oz with all the suspension. IÂ’d rate it down to roughly 30 degrees F.

5: Suspension: I think IÂ’ve locked this down. 12Â’ dutchware spider with a few 6Â’ 7/64 amsteel dogbones (the trees in the PNW are huge). I use the becket hitch on CLs.

6: tarp: diy hex 12oz. Or diy asym 8oz. Or diy winter tarp 16 oz All made with 1.1 silpoly.

Anyone have experience with asym tarps in thunderstorms? They say you pack your fears, and I definitely fear getting soaked in the middle of the night in the back country. Any help with reducing weight or packability would be greatly appreciated!!

HYOH- Forces

[forces]

Edit: A”hat” = oz. weird formatting thing, I guess?

[sidneyhornblower]

Reading over your list, my honest opinion is that you're already fairly lightweight. The only way to cut weight is to buy replacement gear that's fairly expensive. For instance, you could get a DCF tarp that weighs about 6 ounces or so, but you're going to spend a good bit for it. Silpoly is already nice and light. Your DIY hex weighs less than my Hammock Gear Quest.

18 ounces for a top quilt is lighter than my JRB Hudson River. 24 ounces for an underquilt isn't bad at all. You could probably spend $200 and shave a few ounces, but would that really be worth doing?

Perhaps something like a Darien with its built in bug net would weigh less than your netless hammock plus Outdoor Vitals bugnet. That might be the most cost effective purchase you could make to reduce weight and improve packability. You could make or buy a HUG style bugnet and shave an ounce or two if you can live with its partial coverage.

The gist is, you're going to have to spend some bucks to replace gear that already works well and you won't see any dramatic savings, just small improvements here and there. Whether that's worth the money is something only you can answer. No doubt someone else with more experience than I will chime in after a while with a different take, but that's my thinking.

[dkurfiss]

Please stay on the topic of hammock gear and not general camping gear.

[cmoulder]

IÂ’m trying to lighten up on my backpacking base weight. I usually avoid peak season backpacking, and prefer mid-late spring or late summer-mid fall trips. So lows around 25-50 degrees F in the PNW.

HereÂ’s my current situation:

1. Hammock: 10Â’ diy weighs gathered end is about 16oz. I have a kammock that I can deal with thatÂ’s about 8Â’ and 7oz. IÂ’m short, itÂ’s short, so I can make do if need be

2. Bug net: 7oz outdoor vitals with a UQ protector built in. IÂ’d like to DIY a zip-on bug net, but am not feeling too confident on my DIY skills to make that work. Mostly, IÂ’m worried about my ridge line getting too tight and ripping the net apart. Thoughts?

3. TQ: over-stuffed Costco quilt. 18 oz total; 12 oz 700 fill with a 6oz shell

4: UQ: diy Costco overstuff. ItÂ’s 24oz with all the suspension. IÂ’d rate it down to roughly 30 degrees F.

5: Suspension: I think IÂ’ve locked this down. 12Â’ dutchware spider with a few 6Â’ 7/64 amsteel dogbones (the trees in the PNW are huge). I use the becket hitch on CLs.

6: tarp: diy hex 12oz. Or diy asym 8oz. Or diy winter tarp 16 oz All made with 1.1 silpoly.

Anyone have experience with asym tarps in thunderstorms? They say you pack your fears, and I definitely fear getting soaked in the middle of the night in the back country. Any help with reducing weight or packability would be greatly appreciated!!

HYOH- Forces

Please stay on the topic of hammock gear and not general camping gear.

If you want to have a more detailed discussion about lightening backpack base weight — which involves a lot more than your hammock/tarp system — you will need to become a donating member.

In my very humble opinion, well worth $10 for discussions such as this and many more non-hammock related topics.

[forces]

Thanks for all the responses guys - glad to hear I'm not missing anything major. The vast majority of my set up has come from tips and tricks on this very website - and members who post videos to youtube. I think I may look into the head net for bug protection... bugs already aren't too large of a concern outside of the june-august months.

If you want to have a more detailed discussion about lightening backpack base weight — which involves a lot more than your hammock/tarp system — you will need to become a donating member.

In my very humble opinion, well worth $10 for discussions such as this and many more non-hammock related topics.

Definetly worth considering. Already saved more than 10X that amount learning in the DIY forum alone!

[erric]

just adding that all up, assuming you're using your asym tarp now and replacing it with the HG DCF hex without doors, you'll drop 19oz if you do the above, which is pretty huge for a weight weenie like me.

[erric]

Here's my lighterpack if you want to see that weight broken down better.

[Two Tents]

Go with a netless hammock and just carry a head net. Bugs can ruin a trip if you can't keep them off you. I always, even in warm temps, have my top cover nearly up to my chin so a simple head net works for me. There is a learning curve with an asym tarp. They work and save weight but you'll get those who hate them and will offer other options and generally discourage owning one. Often I'll not even put up a tarp. On a trip where it's only a chance of rain or storms I carry an asym and not need to deploy it. That said I have weathered some serious storms under one. By under one I mean I'm in my hammock in storm mode. There is no real option to be protected in a storm and not be in the hammock. I can tell you they do in fact work.

[mad_matze]

There is a learning curve with an asym tarp. They work and save weight but you'll get those who hate them and will offer other options and generally discourage owning one. Often I'll not even put up a tarp. On a trip where it's only a chance of rain or storms I carry an asym and not need to deploy it. That said I have weathered some serious storms under one. By under one I mean I'm in my hammock in storm mode.

Exactly. Just pitch it really low over your ridgeline. Maybe you carry an underquilt protector with you anyway. The amount of sag of the hammock plays a role as well concerning the coverage you need. A little extra material + tie-outs at the foot and head end of the asym tarp may help. The only time I got wet using an asym tarp was while in a 12' hammock using an 11' asym tarp.