Ultralight Hikers

[Stephen Willard]

Thanks for the word on Tyvek. Oodles of tannins where I camp. X that idea. I am super-careful to scan the site and pick up offending sticks and other objects before I pitch the BA UL. Hey, I got fancy and just bought a Caldera Cone (fancy design windscreen-pot holder with vents, the alcohol stove sits inside) and new Ti pot, my first Ti anything. I got sick of the old aluminum one with the fixed handle, also sick of scraping Esbit blackened leavings off the outside of the pot. Esbit cubes and emergency stove may be the lightest of all cooking set-ups, but the smell is a bit off-putting at the end of the day.

If Ti stands for Titanium then beware that Titanium does not conduct heat well so it is not optimal for cooking. I have a Titanium french coffee press that I love. It is lighter than aluminum, stronger than stainless steal, and does not tarnish or rust. I have yet to put a dent in my press. All of the metal parts of Ebony LF cameras are machined from Titanium which is one of the reasons there so expensive. Titanium is not cheap.

Before I resorted to llamas, I used a small Trangia cook stove that used either alcohol or methanol. It weighed around 6oz including the cookware. I used methanol that I got from University of Colorado chemistry lab because it had a higher energy content than alcohol. I was able to squeak a nice hot meal out of it. it is very simple and elegant in design and extremely reliable in function. If you search on "Mini Trangia stove" you will find it. REI has one for $35.00 and Amazon has one for $30.

[NancyP]

Well yes, I am talking nice steamy summers in MO and AR and southern IL here.... Would that we had all those bats here in the Midwest, where the little brown bat and other bat species are suffering greatly from white-nose fungal disease. All the caves on state and federal lands are closed to visitors, in an attempt to keep people from tracking out fungal spores.

[tgtaylor]

I'd just reassert that the Bib Agnes IS and ultralight, and that does imply a very thin floor - and floors are a significant weak point for leaks in rainstorms. I'd normally
velcro something heavier to the bottom to reinforce this, but I deliberately use my own BA tent as an ultralight, over the groundcloth, and am very careful about
nothing sharp where I pitch it. When things get rough, I take the Bibler. And let me add that Tyvek might seem light and waterproof, but contact with dissolved
tannins (very common in the woods) will break the surface tension of the water and let it through. But the BA tents are very popular here, have a known track
record, and no, they are proabably not rugged enough for the kind of use Stephen gives them without some supplementary reinforcement.

I agree with most of what Drew says but note that I also have a BA tent and have used it on both 3 season and, yes, heavy winter weather (up high a a major storm) without a problem. I routinely carry a lightweight military rain poncho (rip-stop nylon) for both a rain poncho and a ground cover. Using it as a ground cover will keep the tent floor free of the punctures it otherwise will suffer and during the day serves as a rain poncho that will keep you and your gear dry down to the shins. It also kept the inside of the tent dry during a major winter storm. Several us were trying to make it over this pass on night in the Sierra when the storm became too violent to continue and we were forced to bunk down for the night until it passed. The freight train ran all night just outside the door and at times it felt that the wind was on the verge of picking up the tent with me and my gear inside and toss the whole shootin' match over the cliff. After about an hour I got accustomed to that sensation and went to sleep and woke up to a very calm and beautiful morning. And no, the BA wasn't staked down.

Thomas

[Bill Burk]

Those bat detectors I saw at Florence Lake would have come in real handy for you guys...

I'll be going on an overnight backpacking trip in a couple of weeks. I think it's time to load the Grafmatics and shoot some 4x5 so my comments can remain relevant.

Stephen, The MSR water filter sounds nice, but I'm going to use what I have, an old-school pound-and-a-half Katadyn. Last trip I took it on, I blew out the main seal. It was incredible. Water spewed everywhere. At first I thought it just came unscrewed like always but no, it was the main seal. My fault really, we were at a cow trough and I had some real nice leverage going. Really bore down on it, so I got what I deserved. At home I actually had a spare ceramic cartridge unit for it, so I'm giving it another chance. This trip I'll be more careful to pump with reasonable force.

My newly-assembled "emergency coffee kit" is coming with me. NancyP, I had assembled a four-ounce kit that includes two Esbit tabs, a silly titanium stove thingy, a single-wall titanium mug and coffee. But you mention the smell and the black soot, so it's making me think twice. On one hand... I'll probably never use the Esbit tabs. So for something I won't use, 4 ounces is about the limit of what I can laugh off. I could switch out the Esbit tabs for an alcohol penny stove. But you have to be careful with alcohol stoves. I read a thread over at that backpacking light site about a big fire on the Pacific Crest Trail. In the thread, a lifetime member knew the guy who started the fire with an alcohol stove, and vouched the guy was otherwise conscientious. The problem they say is you can't turn an alcohol stove off if you knock it over. Your caldera cone sounds like a good system, I'm sure the cone more than makes up for the thermal inefficiency of titanium. My third option is to bring a cartridge stove. The big advantage to the third option is that I might actually use it, and I might actually have a cup of coffee early in the morning while everyone else is still asleep... Leaning towards that.

[Stephen Willard]

You do not need to stake a tent down in freight train rains, but you do need to properly anchor your tent when you are experiencing hurricane winds.

I suspect that most have or know about bivy bags on this string, but just case there are some who do not, I would like to acknowledge their virtues. Bivy bags are lighter than tents, pack smaller than tents, easier to setup, faster to set up, warmer than tents, you do no need level ground, and you can unzipped the head when the night sky is filled with stars. Because they are much warmer than a tent, you can pack with a lighter sleeping bag to further reduce weight. In the summer months I would pack only with a flannel sleeping bag insert with my bivy and stayed very warm. If it ever got cold, then I would throw on a jacket to add extra warmth.

The biggest disadvantage of a bivy bag is when you need shelter from a storm that lasts for days, then holing up in a bivy bag for long periods can be a suicidal experience. Other than that, they are a perfect application for the ultralight trekker.

If you should decide to get one, then I would recommend a Gore Tex bag that is not tent like, but rather hugs your sleep bag to keep the Gore Tex warm. Cold Gore Tex does breath very well when it is cold. Moist warm body vapor will condense on cold Gore Tex before it will breath.

I have used my bivy bag in summer, winter, and on top of 13,000' foot peaks and I love mine....

[Stephen Willard]

But you have to be careful with alcohol stoves. I read a thread over at that backpacking light site about a big fire on the Pacific Crest Trail. In the thread, a lifetime member knew the guy who started the fire with an alcohol stove, and vouched the guy was otherwise conscientious. The problem they say is you can't turn an alcohol stove off if you knock it over.

The Trangia alcohol stoves are designed to reduce spillage if you knock it over. However, they can explode in a small flame (not like a bomb) if they are red hot and you jar them. The jarring causes the alcohol to burst into a boil of flame. It is not a big flame, and it can be managed by keeping it away from combustable organic materials, and placing it in area where you are not likely to kick it. In all the years I used one, it happened twice.

[StoneNYC]

May I ask a question?

Everyone mentions ground cloths but no one seems to use a footprint but me?

Why use a heavy ground cloth when you can use a footprint that is the exact size of the tent and so cuts down on material so it's light.

Is there a reason? I know footprints are "relatively new" in terms of tent design compared to tents 20 years ago, when I believe it started to become more common to have a footprint, but still, why?

Thanks

[NancyP]

Footprints are properly trimmed ground cloths for tents, in some cases with nice grommets fitting on the tent poles. Ground cloths are what people call that flat cloth where you place your pad and bag, usually under a tarp?

All fuel is dangerous. Besides spillage, a danger of alcohol is that the flame is invisible in bright light. If I were desperate to shut down a burning but still contained alcohol stove, I would put an empty pot over it and wait until the oxygen has been exhausted. I think that one of the thinking skills involved in packing is deciding which mode of cooking is appropriate in which situation. Read the trail alerts or listen to the ranger's advice. If there is a drought, be careful. Look for a bare rock or if not available, bare ground without tinder. Spread out a small aluminum foil. Grumble and use the smelly Esbit stove. I do different things depending on whether I am in a designated rough campsite (with cleared cooking area) or just out there.

The Esbit stove is a perfect emergency kit stove.

[David Lobato]

All of my old tents and some backpacks developed a rotten plastic smell over time and are long gone. I have always kept my gear clean and dried thoroughly before storage in a dry place. Some like Stephen W. have had gear for decades. How do you avoid that plastic breakdown?

[Drew Wiley]

Most nylon tent floors, and a number of other things, were routinely coated with a kinda urethane sealant. So when it breaks down and smells like piss, it is basically
urea odor. You can buy rejuvenator coatings at the outdoor shops that will keep things lasting a bit longer, but after time it just happens and there is nothing you
can do except throw the gear away. High temps, storing your gear away damp, or lots of UV just accelerate the breakdown.