A place to chat about gear and the philosphy of ultralight. Ultralight bushwalking or backpacking focuses on carrying the lightest and simplest kit. There is still a good focus on safety and skill.
Forum rules
Ultralight Bushwalking/backpacking is about more than just gear lists. Ultralight walkers carefully consider gear based on the environment they are entering, the weather forecast, their own skill, other people in the group. Gear and systems are tested and tweaked. If you are new to this area then welcome - Please remember that although the same ultralight philosophy can be used in all environments that the specific gear and skill required will vary greatly. It is very dangerous to assume that you can just copy someone else's gear list, but you are encouraged to ask questions, learn and start reducing the pack weight and enjoying the freedom that comes.
Common words Base pack backpacking the mass of the backpack and the gear inside - not including consumables such as food, water and fuel light backpacking base weight less than 9.1kg ultralight backpacking base weight less than 4.5kg super-ultralight backpacking base weight less than 2.3kg extreme-ultralight backpacking base weight less than 1.4kg
I made the most of my UL gear on the weekend, taking Mr 3.5 on his first overnight trip.
Transport for this adventure was bicycle, augmented by rail. ~20kms from home to the Lilydale train line, train out to Lilydale and then the ~40kms of the Warby Rail Trail.
We both managed to squeeze into my Naturehike Cloud UP 2 tent, but I'm very glad he's only small. It's true what they say about subtracting 1 from the number of people a tent fits. The caravan park at Warburton only had double sites left, however, so our tent looked positively tiny in comparison.
Your picture brought this video clip to mind for me:
My dad has a '62 MGB roadster that I used to take up to Seal Rocks a couple of times a year. Lots of heads would turn curiously when I'd drive in to the campground, pop out a tent and mattress, chair, table, esky, tarp, etc... and a bodyboard, and be all set up and in the surf within 20 minutes of arriving. You could see the cogs turning when they saw I could still cook full meals, drink cold beer and sleep in comfort. Sometimes one of my mates would come too, if I ditched the board.
Rosscodj wrote:My dad has a '62 MGB roadster that I used to take up to Seal Rocks a couple of times a year. Lots of heads would turn curiously when I'd drive in to the campground, pop out a tent and mattress, chair, table, esky, tarp, etc... and a bodyboard, and be all set up and in the surf within 20 minutes of arriving. You could see the cogs turning when they saw I could still cook full meals, drink cold beer and sleep in comfort. Sometimes one of my mates would come too, if I ditched the board.
I do similar - although not that extreme, with my Sierra Designs Flash 3 tent.
It's great for quick car camping. Not UL of course, weighing some 3 kg for the 3 person tent. But similarly magic-ed up in no time at all, and packing down very small compared to most people's car camping set-ups. And similarly with UL chairs for me (Helinox Zero) and daughter (Helinox mini).
I had an HSV Grange that I used to like flogging on dirt roads. so much fun but the Suby Outlander is better. Doesn't really get you that much further down the track but sleeping in the back makes life so much easier.
Probably should have got the window shields to keep the rain out with the window ajar but it's rare I sleep in the car. Much happier sleeping out in the bush.