Warm and functional at 5.1 oz. I often hike in these thermal pants under my shorts. They dry out really fast and do a great job at keeping me warm.
On really cold nights, I'll wear them in my sleeping bag also.
Thermal pants available from Patagonia for $36.
I wear the mid-weights, at 5.1 oz, Theresa takes the expedition-weight womens small at 5.9 oz.
These legs are part of a pant-system and attach to a pair of shorts.
They come in useful as an extra leg-layer when things get cold, are great for wearing early morning if there is a lot of dew on the undergrowth – so I don't get soaked, and also come in handy at camp at night to keep the mozzies from munching on my legs.
Both the shorts and legs I treat at home with TX Direct, I've been using this stuff since the 90's and it's a miracle potion that causes your garments to bead water and stay waterproof.
Shorts and pant legs available from REI for $64.
Theresa wears a similar set for women – I think the REI brand ones for $55.
These shorts are part of a pant-system with zip-off legs.
For a 3+ day hike, I just take the one pair of shorts and wear them most of the time. If things get really wet, I will wear my thermal pants for a day while the shorts dry out. It's been working well for me.
OK… time for something personal. The shorts have an inner liner, so I find them comfortable enough to wear without underwear. No grundies, no extra ounces adding up. This little tip does not work for Theresa!
At 8 oz they aren't super-light, and I wonder if there is a better option, but the versatility of the pant legs, makes it worth it for me.
Shorts and pant legs available from REI for $64.
Theresa wears a similar set for women – I think the REI brand ones for $55.
Hard to beat a thermal base layer to keep the chills out.
I love this shirt, I've worn it to death. Mine is a patagonia mid-weight, looks like they no longer make that, so I linked to what I think the equivalent is – "Capilene 3". They have some nice wool shirts also and I wonder how they would be.
Available from Patagonia for $50.
Functional and light at 7 oz.
Not as light or warm as Theresas cool down vest, but I like to have my sleeves covered. Maybe I'll explore the vest some day once this is worn out.
At night, I make a pillow out of my sleeping bag sack stuffed with spare clothes and wrap this aound the outside of the stuff sack. Nice fleecy pillow… 🙂
REI has these for $55.
It all adds up.
I usually carry my car keys, a credit card, my insurance card and some cash. I have no idea why as I have yet to encounter a bear who takes Visa.
Still, probably better than leaving it in the car at the trail head for someone to snag.
You never know when you need to write home to mum.
With a little broken-off pencil you can find yourself a carrier pigeon, write on the back of the map and send messages home.
Can be sharpend with the knife if you're writing a whole lot.
Handy for keeping your lips from chapping in cold weather
It's also SPF and you can smear it on your snout to keep the sun out.
Keep your dentist happy.
We take a ¼ oz. container from REI and fill it with toothpaste. There's more than enough for two people on a 4-5 day trip.
Containers available from REI for 40•.
Light weight and cheap insurance for your the Photon Freedoms. I never know when my juice is going to die, so having an extra on hand I never have to worry.
Available from pretty much anywhere for around $5.
Ssshh… don't tell anyone else – this is our little secret.
Sometimes when you need to go in the wild, a few sheets of TP just won't cut it. That's when we reach for these little critters. Moist and antibacterial they take care of business.
Again… please remember not matter how gross it seems – pack out the used one with you, they'll take years to decompose.
Of course, taking this whole pack would blow our weight limits. So separate just a few and put them in a thin zip-lock sandwich bag. We figure about a sheet/day each.
I did read on a forum a recommendation to dehydrate the wet-ones for weight savings, and then add-water on the trail. What a brilliant idea. Haven't tried it yet.
You can get a big stash of them from Amazon for only a few bucks. Keep the lid on tight.
Yes it's toilet paper. What else can I say?
Last time I was at the trail head I saw a couple getting ready for their 4 day trip. They were packing in big loads. The conversation went like this:
Woman: "Honey, how much TP do you have"
Man: "I have tons of it."
Woman: "How much is tons?"
Man: "I have at least two full rolls."
Woman: "I'm bringing an extra."
I shudder to think what they did with 3 rolls of TP in the wilderness.
So here's my theory on TP – bring just what you need as you should be packing it all out with you. We figure about 10 sheets between us/day covers bathroom duties with some extras. We put it in a little zip-lock bag and bring an extra zip-lock for the 'dirties'.
We also carry a few wet ones for those days when it's bad enough that you might burn thro' too many sheets of TP.
I know what you're thinking – "Gee. Thanks for sharing.".
Available from your bathroom.
Yes, I said it right – the "sawn-off" toothbrush
It's pretty simple – take your favourite (lightest) toothbrush, cut off the handle, smooth it down with sand-paper and drill a few holes in the plastic for extra savings.
What do you mean you have better things to do with your saturday afternoon?
Available from your basement.
"Hyrdate or die!"
Isn't that the slogan of one of the Camel Bak marketing campaigns? It's pretty accurate and these Platypus Hosers allow us to do just that.
They fit perfectly into the back pouch of a Jam Backpack and the hose locates on your pack straps for easy access.
I found when I used to drink from nalgene bottles, I would not stop enough to consume enough water and would have headaches when I reached camp. Having full-time easy access to water allow me to sip while I'm trotting and it makes a huge difference.
Also, in my old-world of carrying a heavy pack, I found that I wanted to have an excuse to stop every so often to swig water and take of the painful load. It was such an ordeal each time. Gone are those days, and with Ultralight we just keep on moving and keep looking at the view.
Despite their effective marketing campaign, I chose the Platypus over the Camel Bak products are they are significantly lighter. Camel Baks come with big heavy fancy easy-access lids on their reservoirs, which add a lot of dead-weight.
Throw a couple of Platypus patches in your first aid kit, and you have some good insurance.
Available from Amazon for $19.95.
We use these for our water purification system.
A single tablet will treat 1 liter of water, so we need two each time we fill our platypus.
We've experimented with tiny water filters, aqua mira and iodine tablets. These win for me hands down.
First, I don't have to squat for 45 minutes pumping a cubic inch at a time to get my water, nor do I have to mess around mixing chemicals, and finally there's no weird after taste like with iodine – so no need to carry gatorade powder to hide it.
The MicroPUR tabs are based on Chlorine Dioxide (which I believe is what municipal water treatment plants use for your home), and so can even treat giardia, but you have to leave them for 4hrs to do that. We usually let them run for 30 minutes which kills most things.
The first time I used them, we had a bag of really cold water collected, dropped the tabs in an they started smoking as they reacted with the water, releasing a strong chlorine odor. It was a little disconcerting, but after 30 minutes the odor and taste had gone completely.
This system works for us, because where we hike we are mostly guaranteed access to good water – streams, lakes or rivers. If I was planning a trip where I had to use murky or sketchy water, I'd bring my filter again.
Three sheets of them weighs in a less than 1 oz..
The obvious downside is cost. It is not the cheapest way to treat your water, but hey – the cost of going Ultralight? Priceless.
Available from Amazon for $12.95.
Theresa buys hers from REI – they have some very light ones at ~2.5 oz. each
Theresa buys hers from REI – they have some very light ones at ~1 oz. each
Good old SPF 30 sunblock, placed in it's own 1 oz container. Usually we get 2-3 days of coverage between us with this amount.
Container from REI for $1.
It's rare things get so bad that we slap this on, but I always feel to good to have it.
We like Sawyer Controlled Release Insect Repellant sold at REI. It has no odor, is a nice lotion blend and is slow release for many hours. We used it extensivley in Thailand and it worked pretty well. It has 20% DEET, which is enough to keep West Nile at bay without destroying your brain cells.
We always pour it out of the bottle into a small 1 oz squeeze bottle, so we don't take too much.
Bug Repellant from REI for $4.95.
Container from REI for $1.
What's in an Ultralight first aid kit?
Well, I'm glad you asked…
My first aid kit weighs about 3.2 oz.. Its assembled from various bits and peices and everything is kept together in a zip loc sandwich bag.
Typically I buy bulk sachets of small amounts from First Aid Product.com.
I keep some patches – to fix up a burst Platypus and to fix up a punctured Thermarest. Just in case.
I also carry other small items in this bag – the tooth brushes and MicroPUR tablets.
Here are the contents of the kit:
And here is an exploded picture of the contents:
