Common Lightweight or "Ultralight" Mistakes

[squeezebox]

Before you go stoveless on the trail, try going stoveless at home for a month or so, and see how comfortable you are with it. And throw away your TP while you're at it. Do not wait until you get out on the trail until you find out you made a mistake.

[Different Socks]

For those of you that go stoveless, especially on the sometimes continuously wet and rainy AT, wouldn't you rather have a hot meal at the end of those long, cold, rainy days?

[colorado_rob]

Sorry I should have quantified. I pack all my own meals, FBC style and every one of them is 150+ Cal/oz. I only hydrate one meal a day (dinner) the rest of the meals remain in the 150+ range but require no rehydrating so I suppose it wouldn't be a huge leap for me to go stoveless. I haven't picked up a store bought dehydrated meal in years.

Cool. I wish I had the discipline (and time) to make my own, but I don't. I don't know what "FBC" means, but you're doing well if you average 150 cal/ounce. My 120-130 numbers did include packaging (freezer bags, close to an .5 ounces each).

[Kc Fiedler]

Cool. I wish I had the discipline (and time) to make my own, but I don't. I don't know what "FBC" means, but you're doing well if you average 150 cal/ounce. My 120-130 numbers did include packaging (freezer bags, close to an .5 ounces each).

Sorry, again, FBC means Freezer Bag Cooking. It does certainly take a lot of time to plan out the super high caloric meals, but I'm certain you could do it if you ever had the mind to try. It's really no different from store bought dehydrated meals except there's no limit to the combinations of food you can bring, just your imagination and a little number crunching. Check it out here: http://www.trailcooking.com/trail-co...g-cooking-101/. Where I first learned about it.

[lonehiker]

Sorry, again, FBC means Freezer Bag Cooking. It does certainly take a lot of time to plan out the super high caloric meals, but I'm certain you could do it if you ever had the mind to try. It's really no different from store bought dehydrated meals except there's no limit to the combinations of food you can bring, just your imagination and a little number crunching. Check it out here: http://www.trailcooking.com/trail-co...g-cooking-101/. Where I first learned about it.

FBC has been discussed on this site for years.

[Kc Fiedler]

FBC has been discussed on this site for years.

Truth. Didn't have a link to a white blaze FBC to thread on hand tho. Do you know of any good FBC threads off hand? Other people might like them.

[lonehiker]

search sarbar

[squeezebox]

My bank teller goes cabin camping most weekends, she proudly states she has every thing coleman has ever done on propane. Says she actually has a propane slow cooker. I mentioned Sawyer has a good bucket filter, she'ld rather haul in 10 gal of city water each. So she's happy where she is with lots of coolers and propane. And maybe you're happy with -10 lb and no stove , So don't look down your arragant nose at me or anyone else and think you are superior. I'll be there to enjoy my hike, my way, enjoy my food. enjoy my tent. hopefully be dry. I don't owe you anything, particulary if you ask me to buy and carry 1/2 your gear.

[hoppy from GA]

After the big three, I don't worry too much until I'm at my ideal body weight. Losing a pound or ten of body weight doesn't really cost much and is a lot cheaper than spending hundreds extra to save a few ozs. Of course, you can still be reasonable with gear weight choices without going to the extreme. no scales for me!

[Kc Fiedler]

My bank teller goes cabin camping most weekends, she proudly states she has every thing coleman has ever done on propane. Says she actually has a propane slow cooker. I mentioned Sawyer has a good bucket filter, she'ld rather haul in 10 gal of city water each. So she's happy where she is with lots of coolers and propane. And maybe you're happy with -10 lb and no stove , So don't look down your arragant nose at me or anyone else and think you are superior. I'll be there to enjoy my hike, my way, enjoy my food. enjoy my tent. hopefully be dry. I don't owe you anything, particulary if you ask me to buy and carry 1/2 your gear.

I don't think anyone here is asking you to do anything...

[colorado_rob]

I don't think anyone here is asking you to do anything...

YEah, sure don't understand what that reply was about... thanks for reminding me what FBC meant, it's what I always do. I really want to try that do-it-yourself, I might go ahead now, thanks for the prod.

As far as weight on body vs. weight in pack, there sure is a difference in comfort. Any weight anywhere is a negative, of course, but backpack weight for me is more of a penalty than body weight. And weight on feet/lower legs is worse yet (not that this applies to this discussion).

So, back to original topic, the single biggest mistake wannabe lightweight hikers make is to not weigh things, everything, in fact.

And another mistake (or at least discourtesy) forum posters make are to make a post in a forum that you want absolutely nothing to do with, "happy". HYOH.

[Mags]

re: Stoveless

Cold and rainy? No. Hot, dry and open flame bans? Yes

Sometimes I like a cheeseburger. Sometimes I like a big burrito. Good to have choices.

re: Backcountry bidet

Look it up. I'd rather not describe it.

HEre's a fancy one. Use your own imagination for something simpler. Again, most the world uses something similar FWIW.
http://www.amazon.com/Boulder-Bidet-.../dp/B005ONIO1A

Always use some hand sanitize when you are done no matter what method is used.

BrianLe,

Okay, so let's say you go stoveless on a trail that you cannot resupply for days or doesn't have the convienence of a road crossing with a gas station mini mart every 3--4 days, what do you do then? Trails I am talking about? PCT, CDT, PNWT and others. You often go days with out crossing a road on those trails.

Do what you do on other trails. You buy more food.

[daddytwosticks]

Before you go stoveless on the trail, try going stoveless at home for a month or so, and see how comfortable you are with it. And throw away your TP while you're at it. Do not wait until you get out on the trail until you find out you made a mistake.

Best post yet!

[squeezebox]

portable bidet
Has anyone tried one of these portable things ? I was thinking of the bottom 2 in. of a small milk jug, with a bit of soap and a 1/2 sq ft of a synthetic chamois, for a good wash. clothes and butt will be cleaner and less stinky. pack it away a bit damp with a few drops of soap should disinfect the chamois.

[Drybones]

My bank teller goes cabin camping most weekends, she proudly states she has every thing coleman has ever done on propane. Says she actually has a propane slow cooker. I mentioned Sawyer has a good bucket filter, she'ld rather haul in 10 gal of city water each. So she's happy where she is with lots of coolers and propane. And maybe you're happy with -10 lb and no stove , So don't look down your arragant nose at me or anyone else and think you are superior. I'll be there to enjoy my hike, my way, enjoy my food. enjoy my tent. hopefully be dry. I don't owe you anything, particulary if you ask me to buy and carry 1/2 your gear.

Squeese...believe you got out of the wrong side of the sleeping bag, I doubt anyone here cares how much you carry.

[Different Socks]

Again, pardon me for posting another thing about the absence of TP, as I haven't read every single post for this OP, but:

Are some SLU'ers and UL'ers so anal(pun intended) that they actually would not carry TP that weighs ounces?

[Kc Fiedler]

Again, pardon me for posting another thing about the absence of TP, as I haven't read every single post for this OP, but:

Are some SLU'ers and UL'ers so anal(pun intended) that they actually would not carry TP that weighs ounces?

See post #133.

[Tipi Walter]

Again, pardon me for posting another thing about the absence of TP, as I haven't read every single post for this OP, but:

Are some SLU'ers and UL'ers so anal(pun intended) that they actually would not carry TP that weighs ounces?

Check out Adventure Alan's website. He mentions getting clothing ONE SIZE SMALLER to save weight. This to me is comical. But it's an interesting site to copy and read when I'm out on a backpacking trip and carrying my usual 80lb pack.

His initial thoughts on Ultraloading? See---

A pack this heavy (40-50lbs) causes plenty of problems:

• Slow, tedious hiking
• Exhaustion, irritability, and low morale on the trail
• Increased chance of injury - sore back, sprained ankles, blown knees, sore muscles, bruised and blistered feet
• Tired, cross people make bad decisions, sometimes with serious consequences.
• Slow hiking leaves less time for fun stuff - relaxing in camp, fishing, staring at clouds, skinny dipping, side trips

All this detracts from enjoying the outdoors - the reason you went in the first place. QUOTE FROM ADVENTURE ALAN.


He's right about slow hiking but it's definitely not tedious. I surely have no irritability (unless 20 overhead jets airlners roar by in an hour and pollute my wilderness experience) and definitely no low morale. And slow hiking DOES NOT leave less time for fun stuff. Anyway, check out his site---
http://www.adventurealan.com/

[Dogwood]

Sorry I should have quantified. I pack all my own meals, FBC style and every one of them is 150+ Cal/oz. I only hydrate one meal a day (dinner) the rest of the meals remain in the 150+ range but require no rehydrating so I suppose it wouldn't be a huge leap for me to go stoveless. I haven't picked up a store bought dehydrated meal in years.

Whole heartedly agree. I would like to hear how you do FBC attaining 150+cals/oz with any regularity and offering some variety in flavor and tweaked nutrition.

Here's how I do it:

High cals/oz trail bars(130-180 cals/oz) I do it because they are convenient for eating on the fly, compact(low volume), offer MORE than just high cals/oz ratios w/ the ones I aim to buy but many are pricey retail. I have some wholesale connections though.

nuts(all preferably raw - macadamias, walnuts, almonds, brazil, pecans, pine(which are really seeds), cashews, hazel nuts/filberts), seeds(chia, hemp(shelled), sesame, flax(sometimes flax meal), sunflower, pumpkin, prolly a couple I'm leaving out). This includes nut butters(peanut(NO hydrogenated oils), almond, cashew, macadamia, hazlenut some of the nut butters I eat do have palm oil as ingredients). Also seed butters or seed oils(tahini(crushed sesame seed paste), sunflower oil, etc)

Extra Virgin Olive oil(EVOO)

Coconut - oil(solid at room temp), shredded, flake(roasted w/ sea salt is good), full fat coconut milk powder, macaroons(yum!)

fatty fish - salmon(w skin and bones) preferably packed in EVOO, sardines/mackerel*(again w/ skin) in EVOO or sunflower oil, baby clams in sunflower or EVOO, Yellowtail tuna in EVOO( I was getting this for $1.29 in a foil pack but haven't located it lately), ALWAYS I seek out fish in oil for the higher cals/oz ratios as compared packed in water or broth

jerky - fish, turkey, venison, elk, buffalo - don't eat these any of this when not thru-hiking

cheese - hard cheese like a sharp cheddar, Gouda, etc - very limited cheese eater when not thru-hiking

dried fruits - mulberries, mangoes, berries, bananas, etc. Surprisingly, some dried fruits are 130-135 even 140+ cals/oz. I have to watch out for what they might add in though.

ghee

powdered hummus(w/ added EVOO and a lemon packet) w/ high cal/oz whole grain baked crackers

Lots more too, but I'll give you a chance to list some of your higher cals/oz ratio ingredients too.

The best I've ever done(which required WORK and that required mailing food rather than buying on the fly AND $$$) was 174 cal/oz avg for everything(including the wt of the ziplocs and food stuff sack and minimizing all packaging(I did have some store bought packaging though)) in an 8 day food haul with a 3400-3700 total cals per day goal AND keeping it at 20 oz of food per day(that's 1.25 lbs of food per day). My actual cals/oz ratios for JUST food was obviously a bit higher. I could rather easily have a higher cal/oz ratio(dump EVOO or Coconut oil or ghee or tahini on everything) but than negatives potentially come into play - lack of variety in flavor/tastes, storage container wt(GoTubes, or plastic jars for example), TOO MUCH FAT! in the trail diet(YES this can happen too!, have seen it a few times, not pretty), low fiber, negatively affecting other nutritional elements, etc

I can rather easily, in larger grocery store locations, resupply on the fly attaining a 160 cal/oz avg. It's NOT hard to up the cals/oz ratios even in prepackaged name brand dehydrated meals or something like Knorrs Rice Sides - add some raw sunflower seeds, hemp seed, and a Tbsp of Tahini or EVOO.

Ok let's hear what you have in those 150 cal/oz foods haul avgs.

Agree with the rec about trying going stoveless for a wk at home before you attempt to do it long term on a hike. Also, remember as you do it at home you have to transfer that same process to buying on the fly on a hike. I haven't been able to do it while saving wt AND getting the same degree of nutrition as I normally do when I mail or buy cooked food along the way. I've only gone stoveless/cookless for up to two wk stretches at a time on a thru-hike. ie; do it better than me. I'd like to hear how that works for ya.

[Deacon]

All this. I've recently discovered the Amrap Refuel Bar. 131 cal/oz, made entirely of raw ingredients such as almond butter, raw honey, etc.

http://www.amrapnutrition.com/products/refuel-bar.php