If you can't afford a scale right now, there may be weights for many items given in their description online...maybe?
If you can't afford a scale right now, there may be weights for many items given in their description online...maybe?
Real Freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization. ~ Charles Lindbergh
Scales are $10 on amazon for a good scale that will measure most of your gear well enough... I laid $2.50 at good will...
Live, Laugh, Love, if that doesn't work. Load, Aim and Fire, repeat as necessary...
Buy, Try, Learn, Repeat
I'm gonna chime in here...as the one person who tells everyone that I'm never, ever likely to be confused with being a UL hiker.
There are things you can do to lighten your load without dropping much money.
There are somethings that you can do to lighten your load, but you will have to drop a good bit of money.
I'm a cheapskate. And I'm ex-military, so carrying too much has become an inherent trait.
But some of the things folks have suggested make lots of sense to me.
Start by getting rid of too much redundancy. Carry one cook stove, instead of three. One decent knife, and a multitool on your person if you must. Take just enough clothing for the length of time you'll be out...and maybe one pair of socks as a "just in case".
You sound like you're carrying an entire lodge with you when it comes to shelter. A smokehouse type tarp, a shelter stove, and a hammock with bedding.
Try making sure that you've got sufficient bedding with the hammock, and a more appropriate-sized tarp...and leave that 'lodge stove' at home. Don't plan on heating your environment to stay warm, plan on using your body heat with appropriate clothing and bedding to stay warm. It's much lighter.
Go through this drill FIRST.
THEN...if you've got the money to look at replacing gear...start changing out your gear that you KNOW YOU'LL NEED for lighter weight variants.
I still carry too much. But that's how I dropped my pack weight down from 55lbs or so to 25lbs or so initially. I could very likely drop a good bit more yet, but that will be as I can afford replacement gear.
I second, third, fourth, and fifth gear grams!
When you see your gear all laid out by weight, it makes the decision process much easier. I pretty much weighed every single piece of outdoor gear I owned and then set up separate lists to nail down my weight. My wife gave me quite a few odd looks as I was weighing rolled up toilet paper in ziploc bags and chopping the ends off my toothbrush.
I'm in the Springs as well, maybe we can get together sometime or meet up at one of the group hangs.
I, too, went from a heavy Kelty 5400 pack to a Granite Gear VC60. I have been working at this like everyone else for many months. BUT, I didn't change packs until I had the gear to a point that it just didn't come close to filling the big pack.
I have gone from a 37lb load to about a 20lb load. In summer, in IL(no mountain weather changes) I have gotten down to a 15lb load.
It is a process, and a fun one at that!
And, like a lot of folks here, I am keeping track of this on a blog. It is interesting to go back and look at the earliest vids and posts to compare how far I have come so far...
The road to success is always under construction.
http://hikingillinois.blogspot.com/
===> Well, one could always just use "Nature's Alarm Clock"! I know you were low on water, but drinking 16 oz just before bed about guarantees you will be either up early, or at least once in the night to tend the fire. The earlier you wish to be up, the more you drink. It works. Old trick from 'Nam.
~ Sky
Live Purposefully; Dare Greatly; Land Gently
If you're going to do something wrong, go for it! - Beryl G.
"Never knock on Death's door - just ring the bell and run. He hates that!"
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