Light Club
First rule of Light Club? If you don't need it, leave the flipping thing at home...
Posted: 23 May 2002
by Jon
If you've been backpacking, you'll probably be familiar with the
'helium feeling'. You know, you take your sac off and woomph,
someone's filled your entire body with a lighter than air gas and ye
gods, suddenly your legs have super powers...
It's one of the few plus points of heavyweight backpacking, or to
put it another way, it's nice when it stops. Strangely no-one wanted
a feature on heavyweight backpacking - wonder why that is - but
lightweight backpacking was another matter.
Be warned though, lightweight backpacking's has all the attributes
of a cult, complete with deranged zealots who'll stop at nothing to
lose the odd 10 grammes. In reality, of course, there's no need to
take it that far, the great thing about cutting weight from your kit
is that you can be as flexible as you like and save weight where you
want to. Anyway, here are a few handy tips...
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The Philosophy The less you carry, the easier your
walking will be, particularly up and down hill. It's worth
thinking about how you can save weight, but it's also worth
bearing in mind that beyond a certain point, you will be
trading weight for a certain amount of comfort. For example,
if two bags use the same filling, the one with more of it
will be warmer. Full stop.
Of course real zealots will take a pride in just how
uncomfortable they can make their trekking - Hey, I slept on
bubble wrap. Well, not really slept, but man, we saved so
much weight - but you don't have to do that. In fact, you'll
stand a better chance of keeping your friends if you
don't...
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The Principles Easy really. First rule of Light Club is that if
you don't need it, you shouldn't carry it. The easiest way to save
weight is to leave it at home. Second rule of Light Club is that if
you do must have it, try to keep it light. Third rule of Light Club
is that sharing brings instant weight savings. Three people can cook
with one stove plus fuel and one pot - if they have to - which is the
same as one person needs. Instant weight savings. Hurrah.
The Specifics
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Packs We've tested quite a few packs here on
OUTDOORSmagic and they can weigh a lot. A top of the range
Lowe Crossbow, for example, will tip the scales at over 3
kilos, while a GoLite equivalent could weigh in at, say 560
grammes, for a Gust. That's a lot of extra weight to carry
around with you. What that doesn't tell you is that the Lowe
will carry a really heavy load comfortably and stably in a
way that the GoLite sac won't. In fact the Gust is designed
to carry a maximum of 30lbs.
The bottom line is that weight in sacs is generally down
to back systems, padding and heavy fabrics. If you want a
lighter pack, and there are plenty around, you'll have to
make a real effort to lighten everything else you carry, and
that does mean pretty much everything. You'll also find that
you need to pack more carefully, possibly using sleeping
mats and any spare clothing to pad out the interface between
back and pack.
Compromise? Check out some of the lighter alpine sacs -
see the Berghaus Extrem range or Karrimor's Alpinelite for
example - they won't be as light as zealot kit, but you'll
still save over a traditional heavy backpacking rig.
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Shelter  We're
asked again and again about lightweight tents, usually solo ones, but
here's the thing. The easiest way to save weight on your shelter is
to share an ultralightweight two-person tent. Hilleberg, MacPac and
Saunders all make good quality kit at a price, Vango is a decent
choice for those on a lightweight budget. Be careful with
specifications too. Manufacturers often quote two weights, one is the
full weight with stuff bag and spares, the other is the lowest weight
feasible, that might mean no guy lines, so check before buying. You
maye save ounces by using thin alloy skewers instead of vee-pegs, but
is it worth it?
Alternatives to tents are tricky. GoLite's tarps and lightweight
shelters are all very well, but in anything other than settled summer
conditions in the UK, you might be better off with a heavier duty
solution. Bivvy bags, frankly, aren't a great answer in British
conditions - they work best in cold, very dry conditions and are
uncomfortable and damp in our rainy climate. A reasonable solution
for some is a hooped solo bivvy tent, almost as light as a bivvy bag,
but less claustrophobic. Still not a palace though...
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 Sleeping
Bag Lightweight down bags are definitely the best
combination of weight, bulk and warmth, though they do need
to be treated more carefully. If you're particularly
dedicated, Rab produce something called the 'Top Bag', a 550
gramme, high quality down bag with a mesh base and a comfort
rating of zero degrees C. It's light but it's not that
comfortable.
You can save weight here by using a lighter bag than
you'd otherwise consider and wearing some insulating
clothing to up the rating.
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Mats If you really want to save weight, ditch the Therm-a-Rest.
Closed cell foam mats will lop several hundred grammes off even the
lightest air mattress. If you must have luxury padding, consider a
3/4-length Ultralite.
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Cooking Okay, here's the thing, you need to consider the
total weight of stove and fuel. Real zealots will simply do
without, but the problem is that no stove means no dried
food, which means you have to carry heavier 'fresh food' you
can eat cold, so no more weight saving.
An ultra-lightweight gas stove like MSR's Pocket Rocket,
or the Primus equivalent - weighs 84 grammes, an extra 34
grammes if you carry the case, ouch - plus fuel. If you
choose quick to reconstitute foods you can minimise the
amount of fuel you need to carry.You can save a lot of
weight with pots and pans and utensils.
Ditch the knife and fork - you can probably get by with
just a spoon and the blade from your (minimalist) Swiss Army
knife right? Titanium is tempting, but insanely expensive.
Think about non-stick coated alloy pans instead, but your
biggest saving will come from using just one for all your
cooking and eating from it too.
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Food Fat has twice the calories per pound of carbohydrate or
protein, so the best solution is to eat lard, or Speck? Right?
Possibly, but fat is hard to digest and takes ages to get into the
system. Best move is quick to rehydrate dried foods like pasta, quick
cook rice, noodles and couscous. Think about calorific intake though.
You'll be burning a lot of energy, and a Pot Noodle simply isn't
going to make up that expenditure.
Chocolate and so on are good, high calorie energy replacement
sources for the evening and mixing some protein in with the carbos in
post exercise mode will speed up your body's absorption of
carbohydrate. Strange but true. In general terms, if you want to
carry heavy food, try and eat it early on in the trip and save the
lighter stuff for the latter stages.
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Packaging Save milligrams and chuck out excess
packaging. A lot of processed food comes in a pouch inside a
box, chuck that box. Decant things in jars or heavy tins
into zip-lock bags if it's feasible and the contents won't
go off.
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Water Zealots will carry a mug and scoop as they go, but for
normal people, consider a hydration system - they're light relative
to their capacity and handy too. Hot tip is not to overfill. Three
litres of water in your pack will weigh in at 3 kilograms, which is
considerably more than a lightweight tent...
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Wine Come on, you've saved all that weight elsewhere, so
why not live a bit. A nice bottle of Pinotage perhaps? Erm,
no, stick to wine boxes. Heavier to start with, but you'll
be carrying your litter out, so you'll save overall - and
besides, there'll be more to drink.
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Clothing Light, light, light... You have to try quite hard to
find really heavy clothing, but simply not bothering with, say, a
spare fleece and/or overtrousers could save you 500 grammes or more.
Our other hot tips would be to use a microfllece rather than a
mid-weight item, or go for one of the latest Polartec super furry
Thermal Pro fabrics, which are lighter for the insulation value. A
full weight winter jacket can weigh up to 1200 grammes or more,
sideline it for a lightweight special at under 500 grammes. Check the
Lowe Adrenaline, one of the Marmot offerings or, if your wallet can
bear it, a top using Gore's PacLite fabric.
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Miscellaneous Getting the idea? There are plenty of
other places you can save weight without losing performance.
Strip your first aid kit to the essentials, buy small sized
sun cream tubes, use an LED torch like a Petzl Tikka instead
of a heavy conventional headtorch, downsize your pocket
knife, go for a lighter, more compressible fleece, shave
your toothbrush then cut the handle in half - actually
don't, what sort of saddo are you? - cut the excess knobbles
off the soles of your boots, shorten your laces, shave your
head, don't wash, erm, I'll get my very lightweight
coat...
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Discuss this story
Yep, you'll notice that there's no list of lightweight fetish sites at the end of the article. That's because we wanted to know which ones you found useful in the real world, so post the URLs and I'll add them. Thanks. Jon
Posted: 23/05/2002 at 16:04
Who's the daddy? backpacking's the daddy! And ray jardine's the grandaddy, even if he is weird and bonkers nowadays. ultralight hiking has a few useful articles too.
Posted: 23/05/2002 at 17:01
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