VSD
Ultralighter
last year I started replacing a lot of my 15+ year gear and found the brave new world of UL - amazing what has changed since looking last time some years ago : )
with that of course the gram counter started ticking and below I'd like to present my current Excel charts (full Excel on request) with a few questions ...
contrary to most UL hiking I stay out for weeks with no or only one resupply - my current new goal with all the weight savings of UL is 28/35 (almost doubled) with 28 days in my backpack and 35 days in a cache I usually hide 1 or 2 days out (so I don't have to resupply from civilization) - that also includes optional gear e.g. spare clothes or gear for changing climates - water is luckily not an issue anywhere in Sweden, even on the highest driest fjells - next trip is early spring into the fjells as soon as the snow starts melting, thus will have very mixed weather.
on to my charts ...
left chart:
all the different categories - gear and food used to be reversed with 3kg heavier gear that I can now invest in food = more days outside : ) little water needed as I can replenish every day.
Comfort 1kg and Techie 1.6kg are the most obvious savings if my knees buckle underneath the initial load (the go / no-go when I hide the optional cache 2 days out) but I do like my comforts out in nature, too, so usually they come along ; )
question: I have 5.6kg of clothes (my third biggest category) of which I'm only wearing 2.4kg on most of the days - some of it is change (socks, pants, shirt) some of it is weather (rain, cold) but 3.2kg carry clothes seems quite a lot ... I've tried to put some into the optional cache for big weather changes but seems it's not enough - any suggestions on the extra carry clothes? I'm layering ...
middle chart: is a bit tricky to read but for me the most important one: how much do I carry?
Total 37kg is the weight including the O-ptional hidden cache of 8.7kg - optional will rise another ~3kg for extra food and gas that I'll repack later
Carry 28.3kg is what I need for the first 28 days and of those I still have not packed (M-issing ) 1.9kg of gear that has not arrived yet - 0.8kg I'll deduct later for food: currently packed 33 days because I went a little overboard putting dry food in 3l Zip bags - 5 of those days will go over to optional cache when I start repacking ; )
Packed 26.4kg is what I already have in my backpack - I'm trying that on regularly to see how the actual weight feels and to get used to it - plus it's good exercise to constantly pack and unpack : D the difference to B-ase is14.8kg.
question: more than double Packed compared to Base? is 130% of Base an acceptable ratio?
Base 11.6kg is new to me - Packed was always my Base but I learned new ways of understanding my gear with UL (skin-out, replenish) so I include that here also.
right chart:
Replenish 11.7kg (-0.8) = food, water, gas, vitamins, toothpaste, ...
Carry 11.1kg = everything I carry in my backpack (gear and clothes and carry-backs)
Front 3kg = all my rigged front bags on the shoulder straps and hip-belt - planning to move an additional ~3kg to front with the new aarn bags I found here on the forum - thanx : ) backpack should then be ~19kg (replenish + carry)
Wear 2.4kg = the base layers I'll most likely wear most of the time - not including rain or cold clothes
I'd appreciate any input and suggestions
Thanx in advance : )
Vera
with that of course the gram counter started ticking and below I'd like to present my current Excel charts (full Excel on request) with a few questions ...
contrary to most UL hiking I stay out for weeks with no or only one resupply - my current new goal with all the weight savings of UL is 28/35 (almost doubled) with 28 days in my backpack and 35 days in a cache I usually hide 1 or 2 days out (so I don't have to resupply from civilization) - that also includes optional gear e.g. spare clothes or gear for changing climates - water is luckily not an issue anywhere in Sweden, even on the highest driest fjells - next trip is early spring into the fjells as soon as the snow starts melting, thus will have very mixed weather.
on to my charts ...
left chart:
all the different categories - gear and food used to be reversed with 3kg heavier gear that I can now invest in food = more days outside : ) little water needed as I can replenish every day.
Comfort 1kg and Techie 1.6kg are the most obvious savings if my knees buckle underneath the initial load (the go / no-go when I hide the optional cache 2 days out) but I do like my comforts out in nature, too, so usually they come along ; )
question: I have 5.6kg of clothes (my third biggest category) of which I'm only wearing 2.4kg on most of the days - some of it is change (socks, pants, shirt) some of it is weather (rain, cold) but 3.2kg carry clothes seems quite a lot ... I've tried to put some into the optional cache for big weather changes but seems it's not enough - any suggestions on the extra carry clothes? I'm layering ...
middle chart: is a bit tricky to read but for me the most important one: how much do I carry?
Total 37kg is the weight including the O-ptional hidden cache of 8.7kg - optional will rise another ~3kg for extra food and gas that I'll repack later
Carry 28.3kg is what I need for the first 28 days and of those I still have not packed (M-issing ) 1.9kg of gear that has not arrived yet - 0.8kg I'll deduct later for food: currently packed 33 days because I went a little overboard putting dry food in 3l Zip bags - 5 of those days will go over to optional cache when I start repacking ; )
Packed 26.4kg is what I already have in my backpack - I'm trying that on regularly to see how the actual weight feels and to get used to it - plus it's good exercise to constantly pack and unpack : D the difference to B-ase is14.8kg.
question: more than double Packed compared to Base? is 130% of Base an acceptable ratio?
Base 11.6kg is new to me - Packed was always my Base but I learned new ways of understanding my gear with UL (skin-out, replenish) so I include that here also.
right chart:
Replenish 11.7kg (-0.8) = food, water, gas, vitamins, toothpaste, ...
Carry 11.1kg = everything I carry in my backpack (gear and clothes and carry-backs)
Front 3kg = all my rigged front bags on the shoulder straps and hip-belt - planning to move an additional ~3kg to front with the new aarn bags I found here on the forum - thanx : ) backpack should then be ~19kg (replenish + carry)
Wear 2.4kg = the base layers I'll most likely wear most of the time - not including rain or cold clothes
I'd appreciate any input and suggestions
Thanx in advance : )
Vera