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  1. #1
    Trail **** Grandma Dixie's Avatar
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    Default Easy Weight Reductions

    I'll start us off with a few of the things that I do, or have heard about, to help shave some ounces. Other ideas are greatly welcomed!

    Are nalgenes really neccesary? Sure you can drop them out of an airplane, but they're heavy! Hikers seems to be very dedicated to them, despite their inferiority. Try carrying 32 ounce gatorade bottles, if you swap 4 nalgenes out with these, you save yourself over a pound.

    Is the lid to your pack necceasry? try leaving it at home!

    How many fuel bottles do you need?

    Do you really want to carry around that full length, inch thick sleeping pad? chances are you'll be tired enough by the time you get to camp you could sleep on a bed of nails. Try carrying a short riderest or z-rest. They're cheap, fairly comfy, and very light.

    What about all the attachments to your water filter for fitting it to different size bottles? (mine has 3!) take the general one, and just stick the hose in your implement of hydration.

    How many batteries do you REALLY need? (I bet we've all lived when we had a low beam on our headlamp, or our mp3 player died)

    I have an 2.5 ounce titanium gigapower stove (one of the lightest around), yet my pepsi can alcohol stove seems to weigh nothing next to it (but nothing weighs nothing!)

    Thats it for me, lets hear what you have!

  2. #2
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    Camp shoes. Got those really light ones that Ewker told me about. 1.7 oz for the pair, and take up almost zero space in the pack.

  3. #3
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    Default Camp Shoes

    Thanks for the link, I may have found a replacement for my crocs. I look at my gear list and they always seem to stand out anyways. What size are yours that weigh 1.7 oz? How durable are they? Comfortable?

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mocs123 View Post
    Thanks for the link, I may have found a replacement for my crocs. I look at my gear list and they always seem to stand out anyways. What size are yours that weigh 1.7 oz? How durable are they? Comfortable?

    The tag says size 11 (I wear 8.5 wide.) Durable? Too early to tell. At $4.39 per pair I'm not worrying much. I wouldn't hike in them. They're camp shoes, remember?

    Comfortble? Sure. They're nothing more than thin (say, 4 mm) foam soles with a loose stretch mesh for the uppers. They have no shape 'till you put your feet in them.

  5. #5
    LT '79; AT '73-'14 in sections; Donating Member Kerosene's Avatar
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    The nylon mesh shoes don't have much padding underneath (about a fifth of what a pair of Crocs might have), so you have to tread very carefully around the campsite (many of which have rocks strewn throughout). I evaluated these to replace my 11 oz. Crocs but in the end decided to go with a pair of open-toed slip on sandals from Wal-Mart (7 oz.), enhanced with neoprene booties (2 oz) in the early Spring and Fall.
    GA←↕→ME: 1973 to 2014

  6. #6

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Grandma Dixie View Post
    I'll start us off with a few of the things that I do, or have heard about, to help shave some ounces. Other ideas are greatly welcomed!

    Are nalgenes really neccesary? Sure you can drop them out of an airplane, but they're heavy! Hikers seems to be very dedicated to them, despite their inferiority. Try carrying 32 ounce gatorade bottles, if you swap 4 nalgenes out with these, you save yourself over a pound.
    I use a one liter, wide mouth plastic Aquafina bottle. You will see a few thru hikers with Nalgene, but not many as you get further north.

    Is the lid to your pack necceasry? try leaving it at home!
    You see lots of lids between Springer and Neel Gap, but then they slowly start dissappearing from the Trail....at least for the thru hikers.

    How many fuel bottles do you need?
    I don't carry any, but most carry one. If you are using an alcohol stove, just carry enough fuel to get you to the next resupply. I would carry two to three ounces when I carried a stove and that was plenty. I saw a guy carrying 32 ounces of denatured alcohol one time!!!

    Do you really want to carry around that full length, inch thick sleeping pad? chances are you'll be tired enough by the time you get to camp you could sleep on a bed of nails. Try carrying a short riderest or z-rest. They're cheap, fairly comfy, and very light.
    Sleep is important when you walk all day. I carry a short Z-Rest or something similar and set up to sleep on soft duff and leaves. I use my empty backpack under my legs and feet. If I slept in shelters, I would probably carry a heavy, thick mat to sleep on.

    What about all the attachments to your water filter for fitting it to different size bottles? (mine has 3!) take the general one, and just stick the hose in your implement of hydration.
    I don't use one, but this is a VERY personal choice and hikers need to do what they feel comfortable with....especially on this subject.

    How many batteries do you REALLY need? (I bet we've all lived when we had a low beam on our headlamp, or our mp3 player died)
    My mp3 uses the old batteries out of my headlamp, so I usually carry three AAA batteries with me.

    I have an 2.5 ounce titanium gigapower stove (one of the lightest around), yet my pepsi can alcohol stove seems to weigh nothing next to it (but nothing weighs nothing!)
    Didn't carry a stove for the last 1000 miles I walked and will not carry a stove again on a long distance walk. I found I didn't miss it at all....but again, a very personal choice for others to make.

    Thats it for me, lets hear what you have!
    I'm not an ultralite backpacker, or even a liteweight backpacker....I just go with what works for me and that alone tends to keep my pack on lite side.

    This year's hikers should go out with what they feel they need. When you are out on the Trail and realize you haven't used something, or you don't need something, then get rid of it. Nothing like personal experience to teach you the lessons you'll remember for a lifetime.
    Stumpknocker
    Appalachian Trail is 35.9% complete.

  7. #7
    Registered User Jaybird's Avatar
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    Default needs/luxury items

    Quote Originally Posted by Grandma Dixie View Post
    I'll start us off with a few of the things that I do, or have heard about, to help shave some ounces. Other ideas are greatly welcomed!

    Are nalgenes really neccesary?




    AMEN Brother!


    i dumped the Nalgenes after my first A.T. section hike in 2002!
    i switched to Two 1 litre water bottles (bottled water bottles from store)..they're thin & weigh about 1 oz each...compared to the Nalgenes which are approx. 8 oz each.

    i only take 2 batteries for my digital camera...no stinkin' IPOD for me!


    Good luck with your hike!
    see ya'll UP the trail!

    "Jaybird"

    GA-ME...
    "on-the-20-year-plan"

    www.trailjournals.com/Jaybird2013

  8. #8
    Registered User hopefulhiker's Avatar
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    Default

    I didn't take a headlamp, just two of those push button deals, I also swapped out batteries for stuff, no extra batteries. I used part of my pack for a bear bag. used platypus with no attachments. Switched to trail runners instead of boots; Planned mail drops carefully so I didn't have to carry too many days of food.. Used alcohol stove, carried a six ounce camera with two AAA batteries...

  9. #9

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    The cheapest weight to lose are those around your gut. I'd rather go ahead a lose the weight ahead of time instead of lugging that fat around for a few hundred miles.

    (OK - I trained about 25 minutes for my thru-hike, but my intentions are good!)

  10. #10
    Thru' hiker one weekend at a time... vipahman's Avatar
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    Default Some of my UL changes.

    - Replaced Nalgenes with Platys.
    - Replaced flashlight with headlamp.
    - Replaced gas stove with homemade alcohol stove.
    - Replaced heavy tent with SMD Lunar Solo E.
    - Replaced heavy sleeping bag with WM Highlite.
    - Replaced heavy sleeping pad with GG Nightlight Torso.
    - Replaced ground sheet with emergency blanket (quiet type).
    - Replaced water filter with Aquamira.
    - Replaced all cooking vessels with just Snowpeak 600.
    - Replaced penknife with razor blade.
    - Replaced wallet with Id+1 credit card+some $$.
    - Replaced keyring with just 2 keys.
    - Lots of clothing changes to list.

    All in all I got rid of about 25 lbs.
    -Avi
    AT completed: NJ6-1, NY13-2, CT5-2

  11. #11
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Swank View Post
    The cheapest weight to lose are those around your gut. I'd rather go ahead a lose the weight ahead of time instead of lugging that fat around for a few hundred miles.

    (OK - I trained about 25 minutes for my thru-hike, but my intentions are good!)
    I totally agree, although I don't know if it is either the cheapest or easiest to lose. And thanks for the honesty... a whole 25 minutes of training, wow!
    I would much rather be anywhere on a trail right now
    than just sitting in front of some computer reading about it.

  12. #12

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    Hey - I doubled that training regime to get ready for when we paddled the Mississippi!

    But really, if I were to do it again, I'd concentrate on loosing some excess flab beforehand. It's going to disappear regardless, so why lug it around for a few hundred miles?

  13. #13
    Registered User GlazeDog's Avatar
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    I met a hiker in 05 that used the Privy every morning--said something about not having to carry that extra weight around all day. LOL. What could be easier?

    GlazeDog

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by GlazeDog View Post
    I met a hiker in 05 that used the Privy every morning--said something about not having to carry that extra weight around all day. LOL. What could be easier?
    Very good point. For us old pharts, a bit of Metamucil is worth its weight...

  15. #15
    GAVA '04; GAME '05
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    you can pull those heavy pack stays out, too, and slip your tent/tarp poles in their place.

    double-check the clothes that you are taking. often hikers carry one or two pounds of unnecessary clothing.

    if you have the right type of tent, you can ditch your stakes for sticks you find at your site.

    switch from a heavy raincoat to a cheap plastic poncho; that's a pound savings.

    everything doesn't have to have its own individual stuff sack, but throw it all into a single one. also get the syn nylon ones and not the heavier vinyl ones.

    ditch the water filter alltogether for iodine/bleech/AqM.

  16. #16
    Registered User Frolicking Dinosaurs's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Swank View Post
    The cheapest weight to lose are those around your gut. I'd rather go ahead a lose the weight ahead of time instead of lugging that fat around for a few hundred miles.
    I'm in the process of doing this now... I've lost 14 pounds so far and can tell a massive difference in the amount of effort required to haul my ample arse up a hill.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frolicking Dinosaurs View Post
    I'm in the process of doing this now... I've lost 14 pounds so far and can tell a massive difference in the amount of effort required to haul my ample arse up a hill.
    Congratulations!!! Glad it's going so well.

  18. #18
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    I may carry 1/2 lb food per day for the first 3 weeks with the extra calories coming from my spare tire area.

    Sandalwood

  19. #19
    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by maxNcathy View Post
    I may carry 1/2 lb food per day for the first 3 weeks with the extra calories coming from my spare tire area.

    Sandalwood
    That may not be such a great idea. There are limits to the amount of fat stores your body can convert especially the rate at which it can do it. You'll feel nutritional deficiency as a loss of energy and will experience increased respiration and heartrate if you don't eat properly. Don't overdo the dieting on the trail. Even eating enough that you feel full you'll still be running a calorie deficit. Make sure you eat enough to keep up your energy, and to provide the nutrients for building and repairing all those muscles you're using. The normal exertion of hiking will take off the pounds and replace some of them with muscle.
    "That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4eyedbuzzard View Post
    That may not be such a great idea. There are limits to the amount of fat stores your body can convert especially the rate at which it can do it. You'll feel nutritional deficiency as a loss of energy and will experience increased respiration and heartrate if you don't eat properly. Don't overdo the dieting on the trail. Even eating enough that you feel full you'll still be running a calorie deficit. Make sure you eat enough to keep up your energy, and to provide the nutrients for building and repairing all those muscles you're using. The normal exertion of hiking will take off the pounds and replace some of them with muscle.
    Thanks for the advice, buzzard.

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