Light Gear

Check it out -

Marmot Arete 40 deg. sleeping bag 1.25 lbs.

Big Agnes Seedhouse 1 SL Tent 2.4 lbs.

Less than 4 lbs. and well bought at a total of $345 using REI dividend, REI 20% off, and Campmore…

I’ll have room for my martini shaker!



JH Bahn

good job!!
I think that is awesome!! One of the saying behind lightweight backpacking is ‘the big 3 under 3’. You have 2 of the 3 under 3lbs, and without a pack your right there. If you find a titanium martini shaker let me know.

How small do they stuff?
I recently purchased a Big Agnes bag and pad to reduce the overall stuffing size over a my Mountain Hardware bag and a Thermarest. Weight wasn’t so much an issue. Size was.

Both stuff
to the size of a loaf of bread. I’m amazed how compact they are. I chose the Marmot Arete over the Atom (3 oz. lighter) cause it has a full zipper, which I appreciate in hot weather. This is the first such stuff I’ve bought in over 20 yrs - I previously used a Eureka Timberline 2 man and a North Face Chamois - love 'em both but I couldn’t resist the compact size & light weight. And, the seedhouse goes up in about 3 minutes!

JH

Nicely done…
…a loaf of bread is good.

My knees have conspired to reduce my backpacking to the rearview mirror but kayak camping is alive an well. The gear that once fit easily into my Coho no longer gets past that damn skegbox or into that worhthless day hatch of my Chatham. Stuffing size of equipment is paramount and any cubic inch saved on gear equates to more food and longer trips.

Isn’t it amazing how gear has evolved since the days of your Timberline. That was a classic and still very useable today but size and weight of current gear has rendered it obsolete.

There is some really good info available on lightweight gear.

Time marches on.

ahh! but how much do they really weigh?
If you get a chance, take them down to the post office and put them on an accurate scale, packaged the way most people will carry them, and let us know what the scale tells you. Pretty much, I’ve found that the specifications-stated weights are often (usually) significantly off and understated. The weight for the sleeping bags normally does not include the stuff bag (which can be 3 or 4 oz. for a compression stuff bag)and the weights for the tent usually do not include the pegs, and stuff bags. Seems that all the manufaturers are doing this, trying to out-compete each other for the “lightest”, so you are still comparing apples to apples, just not sure how much the whole apple weighs. And for sure, you don’t have to bring any tent pegs and stuff bags when you go out, but most people do. Just curious, mostly, but I have considered getting one of the BA tents and I’d like to know the real weight.

always looking for an opportunity to
tout hammocking…I cant remember ever paddling and not seeing a place to hang…the light hammocks by Hennessey are now in the 1 lb 4oz range and they ball up to half a loaf of bread, comfort is up there with sleeping on a cloud and no roots or rocks to deel with…as far as knees go, you set up the hammock at shoulder height, this puts the entrance at hip level so you literally sit in it-no getting on the knees to grovel into a tent…not slamming tents though, got a TarpTent Double Rainbow for this past summers Rae Lakes Loop where above 10,000 feet there were not trees :frowning:

with the hammocks most of us dont use sleeping bags any more, instead we use underquilts that suspend under the hammock-that way you dont crush the down when in the hammock, and a top quilt inside the hammock. There is also a product called a PeaPod by Speer hammocks which completely goes around the hammock for late fall and winter use.

Actual weight
of my new Seedhouse tent, complete with everything, including stuff sack, is 1111 grams, about 2 lbs., 6 oz. The Marmot Arete, complete with stuff sack, is 752 grams, about 1 lb., 10 oz. The grand total is 1863 grams, a hair over 3lbs., 14 oz. If I add 2 oz. for a piece of Tyvek for a footprint, it’s about a 4 lb. package. Close enough for government work, and they pack really small!



JH