Shedding Pack Weight: Clothes
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- Опубліковано 21 тра 2024
- Three years ago, we were hefting pretty heavy packs. The last straw for big packs was a five day trip on the Hollyford Track. Despite being a group of 12 (meaning food, cooking equipment and other communal gear was spread out), our packs were huge and heavy!
We realised that we had to make changes or we were never going to be able to realise our dream of completing the 2000km Pacific Northwest Trail in the USA. Most importantly, pack weight was taking the enjoyment out of experiencing New Zealand's wilderness.
We came home, unpacked, got out the scales, made a spreadsheet and got stuck into analysing the problem. It didn't take long to see the problem: clothes, more clothes and yet more clothes. Here's a video of the difference between then and now.
Check out our new website to document our adventures: onefootinfrontoftheother.nz
Absolutely!
It can be really difficult as ‘that’s my favourite jacket, I’ve got to take that’ 😆
Good calls. Definitely reduce the undies to 2 pairs. Good to see you got a Montbell windshirt. I'm looking at getting one of those Macpac alpha tops as I've heard very good stuff about them. I did a 6 day winter trip recently into Mungo Hut (with 2 days track work en route) and carried 11kg all up. My base weight was 7kg and I added 3kg of food and a gas canister, a 400g DCF tarp and PLB as party gear plus I had the secateurs for the track work. I carried my ice-axe in my hand.
The alpha tops are great - so light. My brain is currently struggling with the 'but this is an 85 day tramping trip!'
It would be interesting to see your lighter pack spreadsheet, and see what your overall gear weight is. Like you I love Cactus stuff and would like to support NZ brands as I have done for years (I'm from Dunedin), but I get the impression we are very behind in the development of the ultralight philosophy in NZ. I am getting older and my body isn't as limber as 20 years ago, but I still want to go tramping, so over the last few years I have gradually forked out quite a bit of money to swop out my tent, sleeping bag and sleeping mat to lighter and more modern versions. I have also pared down the clothing and cooking kit. I took the plunge and bought a Hyperlite Mountain Gear pack a few months ago, and it is a dream to carry! Some gear is a really expensive outlay, but if you think of the money you are spending travelling to the USA and walking for several weeks, I personally think its worth it to spend the money on quality light gear that you will hopefully use for years to come. Check out Lauren Roerick's channel- she is a Canadian woman who has done multiple thru hikes including the Te Araroa and seems to manage with a fairly minimal amount of gear. Thanks for your content, and good luck with your trip!
Totally agree that lightweight is behind here. We have done the same with gear over the last couple of years. We went from a 3kg tent to 1.3kg and now to 550g. I put a post on our website about our pack/sleep/tent choices which I can't link on the FB page. Thanks, I''ll check out that channel too. I will share the lighterpack pies but I have had to redo them as I mucked things up and have to start again.
@@onefootinfrontoftheothernz Aha I had a look at your website and you have obviously been through a similar process of gear research and lightening the load to me! I love my old Macpac Ascent pack from the year 2000 (although terrible for water bottles) and Minaret tent and used to carry it solo with a digital SLR camera!! I hope the Durston dyneema tent and all the rest of the gear works out well for you. Love the videos, thanks.
Nice video, thanks for sharing. May I ask what inspired you to start a channel?
Thanks. I have a few reasons. I enjoy creating movies of the fun we have in the outdoors four our own memories and record, especially with our kids and other family I finally got them to the point that I felt they were good enough to share with the wider world. We are also pretty experienced hikers and have done some cool tramps and wanted to share that knowledge with others. Finally, as we embark on our thru-hike of the Pacific Northwest Trail in the USA, we wanted a place to share this adventure with friends, family and other interested people. We've also created a website to go with it. (onefootinfrontoftheother.nz) The as-we-go videos will be different as we hike the PNT and travel in South America - edited on an iPad using iMovie instead of Final Cut Pro, but I'll do proper edited ones next year when we return home. Not a short answer, sorry but you asked!