4.7 lb Super Ultralight Pack in the Sierras
Light shelter: We weathered two days of rain and wind, completely exposed at over 11K. Our Gossamer Gear Spinn Twinn tarp kept us dry at just over 4 ounces per person.
A 15 lb pack (with food & fuel) for 7 days in the High Sierra
It’s been six years since Colin dropped 30 pounds from his pack. Time to drop some more pack-weight! Once again the brothers and their sons ventured into the Sierras with even lighter packs. We headed into the Southern Sierras. Our plan was to:
- Climb from 5K to 11K the first day
- Spend the rest of the trip traveling mostly off-trail in areas 11 to 12+K, and
- Fish remote areas, concentrating on finding Golden Trout and native Rainbow Trout
- And of course, drop some more pack weight!
A Brief Summary of the Details (with pictures below)
Detailed gear 4.7 pound backpacking gear list for 2007 Sierra Trip (PDF file)
While we did not make the huge weight savings of our 2001 trip, we still shaved another 10 pounds from our 2001 packs weights. This brings the total weight savings vs. our 1999 trip to over 40 pounds. Our packs were 75% lighter than in 1999!
- You may want to first read below, “A Brief Text Summary of What Changed,” for our 10 lb of weight savings in 2007
- A detailed analysis of weight reduction between 2007, 2001, and 1999 trips
(PDF of a fairly large spreadsheet comparing the three trips.) - A Text Summary of 40 lb of Weight Savings – 2001 Ultralight vs. 1999 Heavy Backpacking
A Brief Summary of the Details (with pictures below)
It’s been six years since Colin dropped 30 pounds from his pack. Once again the brothers and their sons ventured into the Sierras—this time with even lighter packs. We headed into the Southern Sierras. Our plan was to:
- Climb from 5K to 11K the first day
- Spend the rest of the trip traveling mostly off-trail in areas 11 to 12+K, and
- Fish remote areas, concentrating on finding Golden Trout and native Rainbow Trout
- And of course, drop some more pack weight!
The trip went without a hitch and all equipment performed well even with below freezing temps and a fluke cold front with significant amounts of precipitation and wind.
A Brief Text Summary of What Changed
| Savings vs. 1999 | ||||
| Total Pack | Total | Gear | Food & Food storage | |
| 1999 | 55 | – | – | – |
| 2001 | 25 | 30 | 23.5 | 6.5 |
| 2007 | 15 | 40 | 29.2 | 10.8 |
| 10 lb | Saved 2007 vs. 2001 | |||
While we did not make the huge weight savings of our 2001 trip, still we shaved another 10 pounds from our 2001 packs weights. This brings the total weight savings vs. our 1999 trip to over 40 pounds. Our packs were 75% lighter than in 1999!
Food: Like the reduction from 1999 to 2001, our greatest single weight savings (over 4 pounds) was from food and food storage. Our food “savings” came from taking fewer days to travel a longer trip distance over harder terrain. That is we took fewer days food. This reduction in trip days is due to:
- Both sons are older and in better shape—gaining adult strength and endurance they can hike faster and longer each day.
- The fathers can still hold their own.
- With nearly 50% lighter packs vs. 2001 we all could travel faster and farther each day (but still have plenty of time for fun, side trips and fishing for golden trout.)
Food Storage/Bear Cans: We weren’t in an area requiring bear canisters but we were close to area that did require them. We considered each taking an 8 oz Ursack (without aluminum liner) for our food, but we decided to share an ultralight food hanging system for less than 2 ounces per person. We camped well away from trails and popular areas that bears might habituate. We were fastidious about our cooking and washing up habits. We made excellent food hangs, slept next to our food and were prepared to defend it from Bears.
Packs: Colin and I used low volume, hipbeltless packs with a minimum of features. With strong but light, high tech fabric they are more than durable enough for off trail travel and light mountaineering. On the right is my 10-ounce, home made backapck with durable X-Pac fabric.
Sleeping: Average sleeping bag weight went from 1.75 lb to 1.1 lb using very light hoodless down sleeping bags. Some savings came from using 1 oz Polycryo ground cloths. We slept warm enough in below freezing temps.
Shelter: We shared a 9 ounce Gossamer Gear SpinnTwinn tarp. This two-person spinnaker cloth tarp is less than half the weight of our old tarp with heavier silnylon fabric. We weathered a couple of days of high winds and sustained rain when camping exposed at over 11K.
And this rolling in, is is the ugly weather system that sat on us for two days. Again, no problems under a tarp.
Clothing: We halved the weight of our rainwear and insulating garments by using new lighter technology clothing (a 5 oz vest each was the only warm clothing we brought). Much of this saving comes from substantially lighter fabrics. We added 1.5 oz rain chaps.
Stove/Cooking: We switched to an integrated alcohol stove/pot/cooking system from Trail Designs and Antigravity Gear. This system is lighter than a canister stove. More significant, alcohol stoves are more environmentally conscious than fuel canisters. The fuel efficiency of the Trail Designs Caldera system contributed to a weight reduction in fuel carried for the trip.
The Rest (not included above): A number of small things add up. We saved around 2 pounds vs. 2001 by taking fewer things and lighter things. It pays to look at the small details.
