Does anyone know the weight of the Wee Airic - just the mat by itself? Thanks.

I have two of them and they were both heavier than stated on the site (about 550g each including sac, repair kit and compression straps). They have however since changed the foam and the fabric and they claim to be a bit lighter I think.

436 grams for my Prolite 3 3/4 length just the mat - no stuff sack and I gave up carrying a repair kit after I found out how tough it was to find a leak without a bath full of water and washing up liquid!

If I'd know about the massive variation in weights I'd have taken the scales to the shop and weighed them all.

Too late now - it's been around a bit and I always mark up my kit.

Judy Armstrong's carrying a Gossamer Gear Nightlight on her Alpine Challenge (amazing undertaking that if you've not heard of it). I'm going to try one out later in the year to see how I get on with it - at a stated 212grams it would be very much lighter than the Thermarest.

I feel a bit silly. Once I opened the package a stuffsack, leaflets etc fell out. So the actual weight is 403 grams. Still overweight (+33) but not enough to bother with I suppose.

My prolite 3 3/4 came out at around 20% heavier, i contacted them at the time about this and i got the usual flim flam about manufacturering processes etc. I certainly won't be buying or recommending their products again

It seems to me that an important part of the proposition we are being sold is weight. Manufacturers are either being mendacious over their literature or they are not careful enough over their production process or quality control.

I'm glad that Mountain Equipment were forced to change the weight of their AR Ultralite II after it was pointed out that they were 30% wrong. Hike Lite pointed this out long before it was changed by ME.

It would be good if retailers folowed Hike Lite's example and tested weights. Bob C also appears to do that. Realistically, retailers can put more pressure on manufacturers to be accurate than consumers.

The only UK-based online retailer that really seems to take weight seriously is ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk. They appear to have weighed just about everything themselves, even giving individual weights for each size of clothing.

Too many other web-sites (including those claiming to champion the light-weight philosophy) are content to just quote whatever the manufacturers put out.

This isn't a new problem. It was occurring regularly 20 years ago, especially with tents and sleeping bags. I always advise weighing everything, easy to do when buying in a store if you don't mind looking silly when you produce your scales, not so easy to do buying online. It could be worth informing online suppliers that you will weigh items and return them if too heavy.

I have taken this up with quite a few companies over the years and have been given various replies. "We weigh half a dozen and take an average". "We weigh half a dozen and take the lowest". "Of course that was the weight of the first version. We haven't bothered weighing the new improved version with extra weight adding features".

I weigh everything I test for TGO. Sometimes items weigh less than claimed!

Chris,
would the items that weigh less be 'down' items such as sleeping bags and down jackets.

or am i just to cynical..

Morph, some are down items. Some are tents, footwear, clothing, stoves etc. There doesn't seem to be a pattern. Down items probably are more accurate than most however.

My Insul Mat Max Thermo 3/4 (or 2/3 as the Aussies more correctly put it) has a manufacturer's claimed weight of 15oz or 425.24 grams. Mine weighs in at 468 grams. It's still very light and very comfy with a tiny pack size (28 x 11 cms) so I really don't care very much.

I've noticed that not many manufacturers will give different weights for various sizes of boots and clothing, they tend to only specify the weight of a medium. If you consider the relative sizes of a small against an extra large or size 11 boots against size 5 there has to be a huge weight difference.

Get



a



Life!!!

How do you weigh a life?

You shouldn't take the p155 - the extra 33g that the OP has to carry could be life-threatening. I've done some scientific calculations to prove it:

Let's assume that on a typical day in the fells, the total ascent is 1000m. To raise the excess 33g a height of 1000m, the OP would have to expend 33 joules of energy, that equals 0.0078804 nutritional calories.

Now, that's about the nutritional value of one flake of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. Now the problem becomes apparent - according to the TV ads, the OP won't be satisfied with just one flake, nor indeed with just one bowl. He'll want the whole box.

So he will have to carry much more extra weight:

1 box CNCs = approx 500g
1 litre of milk = approx 1000g

Now, to raise this extra 1500g through the same 1000m needs another 1500 joules, which is another 0.3582 nutritional calories, which is about 45 times the amount need just to carry the extra weight in the overweight mat. So to fuel this extra lifting, the OP would have to carry another 45 boxes of CNCs and another 45 litres of milk. And a much bigger pack.

So, the amount of energy required to carry this extra extra weight would be 45 x .....

Do I need to carry on, or have I made my point?

:-)

Upon the graph of despair it easy it is easy to plot your course into the triangle of pointlessness where cost/ weight/ packability/ colour diverge sending you spinning through a black hole and emerging in Helly Hansens oringinal workshop where he will make you wear his fine oilskins for evermore as you pick the weevils from the crews biscuits.

There's much truth in what you say, ptc*.

Taking a p155 is actually the answer; a drop over two tablespoons worth would weigh 33gms. Or sweat a bit. Or cry. You choose.

I think the point is that therm-a-rest sell it as an ultralight 370 grams. And it's not. It's 400 grams.

They are lying.

If I had known they were liars I would have bought the Wee Airac and saved myself £30.

Do you not think it's a wee bit heavy to castigate them as liars? About an ounce? You have to allow for some manufacturing variation, and your scales might not be perfect. And if it's all so important, why not go for a foam mat like one of these, and save yourself loads of money and weight?