I am preparing for our annual ATC Xmas trip. This year we are heading for Fiordland on the SW corner of the South Island of NZ. This area is infamous for rain and sand flies. I can't wait :-)
Anyhow, I am a big fan of Backcountry Cuisine freeze dried food. It's tasty and light. You use less gas as all you are doing is boiling water. However, this food is designed to be used as "cook in the bag" - rip open the pack and pour in a cup of boiling water, re-seal and sit for 10 mins.
These bags are foil and as such add unnecessary weight. Some may argue you don't have to carry a bowl. But you still have to have a hot drinking receptacle, in my case, one serves both purposes. I use a Ti Jetboil so don't carry a bowl, billy or cup.
Whilst I was re-packing my food today I decided to check out the weight gains.
Here's the scoop...
We are out for 8 days. I use Backcountry breakfasts, Dinners and desserts, that's 3 packages each day, 24 in total.
I weighed the 24 empty Backcountry Cuisine packs in at 445 grams
Before packing, I weighed the 24 18x17 zip lock plastic bags at 86 grams.
As you can see a 359 gram weight reduction, pretty substantial in my book.
Plus, what you pack in you must pack out so this make the weight gain even more beneficial as you have to carry that packaged weight for the entire trip.
Another feature of re-packing is space saving. My supply of BC food filled a large cardboard box. After re-packing my food fits into a nice mouse and waterproof Zpacks cuben fiber stuff sack.
I might add I do the same for my soup and daytime food (I eat every 2 hours). I tip all my cup-a-soup packets into one zip bag. I also unpack all my Em Cookies, jerky and dried fruit and split these into two zip lock bag - one bag the first part of trip, the other for the balance.
This blog is designed to exchange ideas about how to dramatically cut your gear weight to make tramping (hiking) trips less strenuous, but still remain safe and sensible. Subscribe, make comments, ask for advice, or share your lightweight gear experiences with our community. The header photo features me on McKellar Saddle. The pack is the 45Lt Zpacks Arc Blast, hiking poles Helinox FL120, Dirty Girl gaiters, Spalms sunsleeves and Altra Lone Peak shoes
8 Dec 2012
6 Dec 2012
Joe and Sheryl have "left the building".
It was a joy to host these two American hikers, owners of Zpacks - ultralight gear manufactures who are walking NZ's longest trail - Te Araroa. They left Cape Reinga three weeks ago and arrived here in Auckland two nights ago.
The trail goes right past our house so they once again dropped in for a welcomed hot shower, bed and "real" food.
They expect to arrive at the Bluff around the 2nd week of March 2013.
Here are a couple of photos taken outside our house on Milford Beach as they hit the trail heading South.
It was a joy to host these two American hikers, owners of Zpacks - ultralight gear manufactures who are walking NZ's longest trail - Te Araroa. They left Cape Reinga three weeks ago and arrived here in Auckland two nights ago.
The trail goes right past our house so they once again dropped in for a welcomed hot shower, bed and "real" food.
They expect to arrive at the Bluff around the 2nd week of March 2013.
Here are a couple of photos taken outside our house on Milford Beach as they hit the trail heading South.
13 Nov 2012
Joe Valesko (ZPacks) Arrives to Start Te Araroa Trail
Exciting week!
I picked up Joe and Sheryl Valesko (Zpacks) yesterday. They flew into Auckland non-stop from their home in Palm Bay Florida. I became their first "Trail Angel" as they prepared to start their through hike of the Te Araroa trail (The length of NZ). Checkout www.teararoa.org.nz We spent the day getting DOC annual Hut Passes, food, bank and bus connections North to CapeReinga.
It was an early Christmas for me as Joe delivered my new Hexamid Tarp. I sold my original and have opted for a full screen with the heavier (Jez, did I use "H" word :-) .75oz cuben, teamed with the cuben bath tub floor. All use include tie outs - 470gms
Other goodies included:
Cuben fiber shorts to go with my cuben fiber rain jacket. I decided to get Joe to cut the legs off his pants design to make them into shorts that I can slip over my normal ones, or use them over my underwear only if it looks like a rain soaked day. I am looking forward to testing this option in Fiordland at Chrismas.
The Blast cuben fiber food bag - mouse and waterproof!
A new full length NeoAir Xlight - OK it's almost double the weight of my current short Kooka Bay pad, but after 40 plus years of "roughing" it I am going the extra 150gms for great R factor, full length (no more cold feet) and being able to attach my Mont Bell pillow on top of mat. To this end Joe gave me a great idea. He bought down some velcro strips sewn onto cuben fiber tape. I stuck the female side on the mat and male on the pillow - it works great. I have attached a couple of pictures below.
I dropped Joe and Sheryl off at the bus depot 7am this morning and they took off for Kaitaia intending to hitch to the cape to start NZ's long trail later today. The trail passes my house in Milford, so I will have a BBQ, Beer, bed and hot shower waiting for them in a couple of weeks as they pass through.
I picked up Joe and Sheryl Valesko (Zpacks) yesterday. They flew into Auckland non-stop from their home in Palm Bay Florida. I became their first "Trail Angel" as they prepared to start their through hike of the Te Araroa trail (The length of NZ). Checkout www.teararoa.org.nz We spent the day getting DOC annual Hut Passes, food, bank and bus connections North to CapeReinga.
It was an early Christmas for me as Joe delivered my new Hexamid Tarp. I sold my original and have opted for a full screen with the heavier (Jez, did I use "H" word :-) .75oz cuben, teamed with the cuben bath tub floor. All use include tie outs - 470gms
Other goodies included:
Cuben fiber shorts to go with my cuben fiber rain jacket. I decided to get Joe to cut the legs off his pants design to make them into shorts that I can slip over my normal ones, or use them over my underwear only if it looks like a rain soaked day. I am looking forward to testing this option in Fiordland at Chrismas.
The Blast cuben fiber food bag - mouse and waterproof!
A new full length NeoAir Xlight - OK it's almost double the weight of my current short Kooka Bay pad, but after 40 plus years of "roughing" it I am going the extra 150gms for great R factor, full length (no more cold feet) and being able to attach my Mont Bell pillow on top of mat. To this end Joe gave me a great idea. He bought down some velcro strips sewn onto cuben fiber tape. I stuck the female side on the mat and male on the pillow - it works great. I have attached a couple of pictures below.
I dropped Joe and Sheryl off at the bus depot 7am this morning and they took off for Kaitaia intending to hitch to the cape to start NZ's long trail later today. The trail passes my house in Milford, so I will have a BBQ, Beer, bed and hot shower waiting for them in a couple of weeks as they pass through.
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| Deflated mat and pillow showing velcro positions |
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| Deflated mat and pillow showing velcro positions |
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| Finished position |
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| Finished position |
30 Sept 2012
Shoes and Sunglassess
Another alert. High Beam the NZ importer for Inov8 trail shoe (The best!) have got some good specials on Roclites. The Roclite 319 is my "go to" shoe and you can pick this up for $99 - sensational buy. Go to their "specials" page. Also check out their bullet proof Numa sunglasses, also on special ($99). These glasses are great for tramping, light and tough.
Walking Poles
Just a quick heads up to my NZ subscribers. Kathmandu has the Fizan Compact lightweight walking poles on sale right now. Great poles and cheap! About $50 each. See a previous blog. Also I got their Tropic lightweight sleeping bag to use when travelling overnight in our club bus, $48, bargain plus!
13 Sept 2012
Camp Shoes
Have I stumbled on a winner here?
Many lightweight hikers dispense with camp shoes. I find after a hard day in my Innov8s, and a bath in the river, I don't want to climb back into my often damp and certainly sweaty hiking shoes, prefering the protection of my toe socks (warmth and mozzie protection) coupled with Teva thongs (177g).
But check out zemgear.com these "barefoot" running shoes could be all the go and at 124g!
I am ordering the Zen 360 split toe style, going one size up so if it's a cold evening (common in NZ backcountry) even in summer, I can still wear my toe socks.
Check out their site. I am interested in your thoughts.
Many lightweight hikers dispense with camp shoes. I find after a hard day in my Innov8s, and a bath in the river, I don't want to climb back into my often damp and certainly sweaty hiking shoes, prefering the protection of my toe socks (warmth and mozzie protection) coupled with Teva thongs (177g).
But check out zemgear.com these "barefoot" running shoes could be all the go and at 124g!
I am ordering the Zen 360 split toe style, going one size up so if it's a cold evening (common in NZ backcountry) even in summer, I can still wear my toe socks.
Check out their site. I am interested in your thoughts.
17 Aug 2012
Rain Jackets
Most followers of this blog will know about my latest rain wear - Joe Valesko's cuben fire rain jacket from Zpacks.
For those wanting to widen their research the Haglofs (Sweden) LIM Jacket is getting a lot of buzz from the light weight community. Weighing in at 300g, it gets the big nod for waterproofness and breathabilty as well as the hood shape.
There is a great review at http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/reviews/display_reviews?forum_thread_id=25074&cat=Clothing%20-%20Raingear&cid=46
For those wanting to widen their research the Haglofs (Sweden) LIM Jacket is getting a lot of buzz from the light weight community. Weighing in at 300g, it gets the big nod for waterproofness and breathabilty as well as the hood shape.
There is a great review at http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/reviews/display_reviews?forum_thread_id=25074&cat=Clothing%20-%20Raingear&cid=46
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