This weekend I will be heading out for another fun-filled adventure… so I figured I had better pack a bag before it’s too late… But, let me begin by saying that I have chosen not to reveal the location of our hike just yet, so you will just have to wait until I get back to find out who exactly is going, and where it is that we will grace with our presence…
So, when getting ready, one of the first things I have been doing is watching the weather forecast… and it just so happens that it changes every time I look at it! But that’s ok, because the time is drawing nearer, so I can begin to start actually believing a little bit of what they are saying… Anyway, at this moment, it looks like our first day will consist of thunderstorms with a 100% chance of precipitation, and winds up to 25 mph. But the following two days will be nice and sunny with clear skies! As far as temperatures, they are predicting lows of 38 F and highs of 68 F. So, we are going to be all over the place!
As for some of the gear I will be carrying on this specific hike, due to the weather forecast, I have decided that I can bring my ~35 F Enlightened Equipment Prodigy quilt, and supplement that with some long bottom capilene 2 pants and my down socks. Of course I will also be carrying my beloved GooseFeet Gear down pillow case with the large, Exped UL air pillow. I will be lying on my short, TAR ProLite 3 sleeping pad, and will use my ZPacks Zero backpack and a 1/8″ GG Thinlight pad under my legs and feet.
I will be carrying my super-duper awesome ZPacks Hexamid Solo Plus tarp (with the extended beak), but instead of my Hexanet, I will be carrying the ZPacks solo size cuben ground sheet, which I just received in the mail a few days ago.
For those interested, the tarp, ground sheet, and all stuff sacks, guylines and stakes come to a grand total of 12.85 oz! I love it… 🙂
I have been back and forth trying to figure out what kitchen set-up I wanted to bring… We had talked about bringing in grills to cook real food for the first night, so I was actually planning on bringing the Ruta Locura ti grill and my 0.9L Evernew pot with the matching Trail Designs Sidewinder Caldera Cone. This would have allowed me to actually boil some Bratwurst in the pot, either while on the grill with a wood fire beneath it, or in the Caldera Cone. After boiling for about 20 minutes, I was then planning to transfer them over to the little grill to finish them off….
But, with the forecast of wind and rain all day the first day, well, this has kind of turned me off to that idea. Not really interested in collecting wet wood, and then trying to build a fire and cooking for that long under my tarp… So, believe it or not, I have decided to bring my Jetboil Sol Ti… Yep, it is the heaviest cook kit that I have carried in quite a while, but I will admit, it will be nice to quickly boil my water, and not have to clean up any mess afterwards… Just gotta lug all that weight around though… 🙂
Now though, I gotta figure out something to eat on the trail… I was all set for some Brats! I guess some Ramen is now in order… (Also, in the photo above, note the paper “Stick” standing atop the upside down Snow Peak ti bowl… gotta give a huge thanks to Keith Stone, from Gear Toons, for making this up for me!)
Anyway, these are the biggest things worth mentioning, I think. Some other items are of course, my ZebraLight H51 headlight, with my DIY headband, my Sawyer Mini water filter, my Montane Minimus Smock and the ZPacks Cloudkilt, the LiteTrail NyloBarrier pack liner & food bag, and other things. Also, I am carrying my Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork poles that I have mod’ed with the GG LT grips, which thanks to the grips, I now love a lot more! And thanks to Brian Green, I have started using the Eagle Creek Pack-it Specter bag as my “ditty bag.” As well, I am also debating carrying my GoLite Chrome Dome umbrella since they are calling for so much rain the first day…
However, rather than just sitting here and listing all of the gear (like I haven’t already), how about I show you a video of it all… Hope you enjoy!
As far as weights are concerned, well, I talked about that in the video. But, I’ll repeat them here again. My BPW will be between 7.9 & 9 lbs, and my food and water will come in around 5 – 6 lbs, so I am anticipating a total pack weight of around 15 lbs. (I know, not near as detailed as normal… but this is it regardless… For a more detailed list though, click HERE. Also note, this list does not include my camera gear, which will be carried in my ZPacks Multipack, except the tripod which will be carried in the backpacks front pocket. Also, daily snacks will be in the multipack.)
Also, here is a video showing how everything fits into the backpack… hope this helps:
So, as normal, I will be doing video, and taking more photo’s while on the trip, which I will work on putting all together next week once I get back and getting them posted. Until then though, thanks for stopping by!
~Stick~
Disclaimer: I see no need for a disclaimer here… I can’t think of one anyway…
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Stick can you explain to me how you fold your pro lite and gossamer gear thinlite. I can’t seem to get mine as thin as yours. Also what’s the benefit of not using a stuff sack with your sleeping bag or quilt ?
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Justin,
I mush all the air out of the ProLite, and close the seal when it is mushed. Then I unfold the pad and fold each end of the pad towards the center so the ends meet. I will also fold the ThinLight pad in fourths and then place it on one half of the ProLite pad, and then I will fold the ProLite pad in half so that the Thinlight pad is sandwiched in the middle.
The benefits to this is that the pad is easier to deal with when packing/unpacking as I am not trying to stuff it in the tiny stuff sack, and the padding is likely less mushed, so in theory it will spring back faster. Also, IMO, it saves a bit of space in the pack since I line the back of my pack with it rather than it being a hard ball stuffed inside my pack… Of course this is not true though because the pads will still occupy the same amount of space, but IMO, it is a more efficient use of that space. Also, in my frameless packs, it becomes the structure for the pack…
As for not suing a stuff sack for my quilt, this again is a more efficient use of space. When the quilt is stuffed inside the pack, the quilt will fill all the nooks and crannies as opposed to a quilt balled up in a stuff sack. When packing my packs, I prefer to let the pack be filled as much as possible, but not with a bunch of stuff, and instead by just letting the little bit of stuff I carry fill it up… the pack rides so much better when packed like this…
Also, leaving the stuff sacks behind will save some weight too… 🙂
Hope this helps!
~Stick~
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Your stove collection is impressive. So many choices. Drool. Have a good trip. The pack video was awesome thanks for the show-an-tell. Curious about how the umbrella does. Cheers.
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Thanks Christy! I have collected a number of cook kits, both bought and made, over the last couple of years… I find it to be quite a bit of fun tinkering with them… And glad that you enjoyed the video. As for the umbrella, I have taken it on 4 trips now and I have thoroughly enjoyed it on each one of them! For me, it makes a real difference, and I will continue to bring it when it looks like I will need it.
~Stick~
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Are you concerned at all about the 100% precip and all the down gear you have? Or are you confident enough in the ground cloth and pack liner to keep it dry? Chance of 30s and wet down is not a great combo.
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CW,
I’m back now, however, even before leaving, I was not worried about getting wet with my stuff. My backpack is made with waterproof material, and I personally taped the seams on it, as well, the top has a roll down top, so it in itself is pretty waterproof. However, I still use the 1 oz waterproof liner inside the pack, which most of my gear gets put into. As well, I also carry a pack cover, as well as an umbrella. With all of this, the only way for my gear inside the pack to get wet is for me to actually fall into a creek, and even then, I would wager it would need to stay in the water a few minutes before the water would start soaking through anywhere…
As far as down, I didn’t really have much. My jacket, a hat and the socks is it. My quilt was a synthetic quilt with a quite water resistant shell on it. As for the ground sheet, it is also made of cuben, which is 100% waterproof, and as can be seen from the pic in the post, it has a very high bathtub floor.
In the end though, I did indeed stay totally dry. We waited out most of the bad rain because there were tornado warnings issued. It rained on us for a while, which turned to drizzle for a few hours, and eventually stopped by night time. After this, it was a beautiful weekend!
However, even if they were predicting 100% rain for all 3 days, I don’t think I would have changed any of my gear choices…
Hope this helps!
~Stick~
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Awesome info. I currently have a double walled tent (really 1.5 as inner wall is just mosquito net) and mummy bag, and I’m considering going tarp tent and quilt to lighten things up. I was curious if the risk of getting wet was an issue when not fully enclosed in a tent. I guess that really depends on your skill of choosing a good location and setting the tarp up properly. I didn’t realize your quilt was synthetic as well.
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I have found that when using tarps, if I am expecting to rain, I try not to set up on hard, packed ground. Instead, I look for an area in some grass, or with leaves around me. The only times I have gotten somewhat wet when using the Hexamid tarp is when the water would roll off the tarp, and then splatter on that hard ground, which would them spray towards me.
And yeah, that quilt is synthetic, as well as my orange one from EE. My HG quilt is down though, although, I never use it because it is a little small for me when on the ground, and surprisingly enough, it even weighs more than my synthetic quilt, which is rated at the same temp, yet the synthetic quilt is both longer and wider!
Anyway, I hope this helps!
~Stick~
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I am with you on the Jetboil in cold and wet weather. I take mine, all 20 ounces of kit” when it is gonna be nasty, because waiting 20 minutes for water to boil when you are cold and hungry can become dangerous, especially to hiking buddies that did take their Jetboils. Otherwise, I usually use an esbit set up or wood stove (after fire season, of course). Have fun and stay safe.
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I like the look of your new kit; traditional minimalist. Chrome Dome is a nice touch as well. You will just have to dye your white cuben now to match 🙂
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Thanks Jake! As for the cuben, I am torn… I love both the white and the black… 🙂
As for the umbrella… it is looking more and more like it will come in handy this weekend… the prediction for rain seems to be increasing now… ah well…
~Stick~
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Chad – How hard was it to modify the poles and switch grips? I use Pacerpoles all the time (hate the weight and love the grips). Also have Locus Gear poles with the opposite sentiment so I wish I could put the PP grips on the LG poles. Any thoughts? Thanks
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JD,
I can’t say about those poles in particular, but for these BD poles, it wasn’t terribly difficult… When I got the grips in, I changed one out to see how easy it would be, and it went pretty well. So, I decided to do a video to show how to do the second one, but I got in a bit of a hurry and ended up messing up the second grip. However, I got some more and corrected it… Here is the write up on it if you have seen it already:
GG LT Grips on my BD ACC Poles
Hope this helps!
~Stick~
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Jealous you are able to go out already. Stuck here in Denver anxiously awaiting the snow melt. What lid do you have on the jetboil?
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Mike,
I’d love to have some snow here, however, it has passed the point for any possibility of that now… ah well… maybe next year…
As for the lid, I can’t remember exactly… it came off a can of peanuts or something… it just so happens that it fits it perfectly. Holds tight, and is much lighter than the one that came with it….
Thanks for stopping by!
~Stick~
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Stick, You should win an award for most hyperlinks in a single blog post. Just kidding. Hope you have fun.
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Josh,
Yeah… I got link happy on that one… 🙂 I hope they help some folks out though!
Thanks for stopping by and reading!
~Stick~
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