Tag: backpacking

I hit the trail today with an almost-fully-loaded backpack (only missing food and clothes) to test out my set up. The backpack was comfortable and I worked out a few things, including how to carry my camera and if I prefer hiking with one or two trekking poles (single is better). In addition, my 700 ml bottle on the shoulder strap works great! I’m happy the water bottle sleeve I picked up from Daiso will see service. 😊

I only put in a mile and a half, but the hike was really nice with some great views. On the trail I saw several other people and I must have looked odd hiking with a huge backpack while a water bottle was all that was really needed. But I didn’t get any comments on the pack. Which is a shame… I was looking forward to explaining my training for the upcoming Big Bend trip!

I hope you had a good day!

またね～

こんばんは。How’s it going?

So I’ve been organizing my backpack kit a bit more, and focusing on weight so that the hiking is as comfortable as possible. It’s definitely not an ultralight kit, but I think it is a reasonable combination of cost, comfort, and weight. It works out to be a ~21 lb. base-weight, which is not too heavy.

It seems that there’s a point (differs from person-to-person) where the price of the ultralight gear takes off and it becomes too expensive, especially for someone who doesn’t camp/backpack often. For a through-hiker who is spending months on the trail, every ounce saved is very important so they are more willing to spend the money to save weight. But for me, I fall somewhere in the middle. There are always chances to save weight in the future as the wallet allows. 😊

I made a spreadsheet in Google Sheets to track all my camping gear, but I also have my stuff on Lighterpack.com which makes it easy to swap pieces of gear and create lists for each trip, scenario, or however you want to group your gear together. It’s really convenient! I’ve embedded my “Solo Pack” below: