Welome Back, Mike

Mike is back from his.... uh.... well, his week off. He still needs to make his announcement -It's not mine to make.

But I wanted to say we're glad y'all made it back safe and we need to hit the trail sometime soon.
                                                                                              -Steve

Five Favorite Weight-Saving Tips

I doubt anyone sets out to carry as much weight as possible on a backpacking trip. Wouldn’t you rather carry less weight on your back while still being able to be functional? Who wants to carry fifty plus pounds on their back while backpacking? You will probably be exhausted at the end of the day and just too tired to enjoy any aspect of the trip.

If you are like me, you research time-saving, space-saving, and other ideas to make your trip more enjoyable. For me, the easiest way to make my trip more enjoyable is not necessarily to take less stuff, but to find ways to take less weight. With a lighter pack, I am able to enjoy the scenery around me, take fewer breaks and I have more energy at the end of the day than I used to.

We all have our favorite sleeping gear, cold-weather clothes, and our favorite hammock so it may be difficult to lighten the loads in these areas without spending more cash, but there are many ways to lighten your load without spending a lot of money. Here are my five favorite tips to that might help to lighten your load just a little bit. I hope you can use these tips and I assure you that your back and your knees will appreciate every ounce you can remove from your pack.

From your personal Kit

·         Toothpaste pods instead of tubes

Ounces saved:  3oz 

Toothpaste can be a bulky item as well as heavy. The tube I have to take weighs 3 1/8 oz. I have tried the “travel-size” and realized that I had the same tube for a couple of years and it was taking a long time to go through it. Why was I taking the same weight each time I hit the trail? And yes I brushed my teeth. Twice a day. Each day on the trail. So I started looking around and I ran across this tip and have used it since the first time I found it.

I call them toothpaste pods. Here is what you will need to make your own pods: Straws, lighter, scissors, paper towels, needle-nose pliers, and your favorite brand of toothpaste.

Straws? Yup, straws. Here is what you do. Get a straw –the McDonald’s straws work great because of the large diameter of their opening. Squeeze a small portion of toothpaste into one end of the straw. Keep in mind that you are making single use items here so you only need enough for one session of tooth brushing. Take your pliers, pinch the straw tight leaving bout an eighth of inch, and wipe the excess toothpaste from the straw. Take your lighter and melt the straw all the way to the pliers. It may take some practice getting the plastic to melt enough to seal the end.

Using your scissors to cut the straw on the other end and repeat the melting process. Make as many as you will need for your trip and unless you skip a day, you will not have any weight on your last day when you hike out.

For a three-nighter trip I will need five or six pods. Five pods weigh 1/8 oz so I saved three ounces. Depending on how large you make your pods, you should still weigh in at less than ounce for a trip lasting only a few nights and if you only brush your teeth in the morning, three pods weigh in at 1/8 oz. what that tells me is that each pod hardly registers when viewing in ounces so I switched to grams. Each pod weighs only a gram or two, depending on their size. Two pods weigh one ounce and five pods weigh five ounces.

Hopefully you can see the benefit of the pods verses a big tube of toothpaste. They are quite a bit lighter.

·         Deodorant

Ounces saved: 3.5 oz 

Leave your deodorant it at home. I have been on many trips where I took deodorant and never used it once. Instead, use Handi Wipes, Baby Wipes or some other cleansing wipes.  Just wash under your arms. I have and it was actually more refreshing. I felt cleaner and it was a real psychological boost for me on the trip.

·         Handi Wipes-vs-antibacterial lotion

Ounces saved: 1oz

I have taken both on trips but all I really needed were the Handi Wipes. As I stated earlier I would use the wipes to wash under my arms. I would use the lotion for my hands. Well, once I realized what I was doing, I started washing my hands and then my arms and it worked out great. So ditch the anti-bacterial lotion and take the wipes instead.

Take enough to wash your hands like usual, and then run them under your arms and be done with it.

From your pack

·         Cut the straps and tags from your pack

Ounces saved: 4oz 

All the packs I have bought in the past had too much length to their straps so I started cutting to the length that I needed. On my Osprey pack I saved about four ounces and since every ounce counts, I was working towards a lighter pack.

From your cook kit

·         DIY stoves

Ounces saved: 1.5oz 

DIY gear can be much lighter than what you can purchase, although it may not be cheaper, so make your own if you have the ability. DIY stoves are both cheaper and lighter so you can have yourself a win-win if you work it right. Search You Tube for DIY stoves, and you will find plenty of styles to choose from. I use a stove I made from an aluminum Bud Light bottle but from I have noticed in the stores you can’t find this style of Bud Light beer bottles anymore. There are still so many DIY stove styles you can make so research it and make your own.

              I have one primary stove that I would take with me. The Soto Microregulator. It is an awesome stove and I take it on the short hiking trips or when I go car-camping. But on longer trips like the one coming up soon, I will take my DIY. The Soto weighs 2.5 ounces. My DIY bud Light stove weighs one ounces which saves me 1.5 ounces

I hope these tips will help you shave some weight from your pack. I’m sure your back and knees will thank you for any weight you can shave from your total pack weight. As we say on GaHammockBros, Plan Right and Pack Light, which means we try to think about every aspect of the trip. The what to take, how to load the pack, and how to shave some ounces from the pack which is the Pack Light part of our motto.

Every ounce counts and it is easier than you might think to shave some weight. Notice the weight saved on each items. While each tip only saved me a few ounces each time, the total amount saved is 13 ounces. All I need to do is find three more ounces and I will have saved a whole pound.

If you can affectively shave four ounces in four areas, that is sixteen ounces which is a pound. A pound is a lot of weight to shave from your pack so if you can find four or five areas to shave three to four ounces in each area, you have done a fantastic job on shaving weight. Pat yourself on the back.

 
Keep looking at your pack and the items you carry and you to will be able to Plan Right and Pack Right. You may even start down the path to becoming a Gram Weenie –like me.

Staying Warm On The Trail This Winter

It is easier to just tell you what not to wear when you go backpacking -COTTON. There is a phrase that I always use when discussing clothes with anyone who is interested in going backpacking.

“Cotton Kills”

And here is why: Cotton holds water longer than your synthetic materials like polyester or nylon. So when cotton is wet, it loses its insulating value. Unlike wool which will retain its insulating value even when wet. So if you must wear natural material, wear wool.

When water evaporates, the surface that holds the water, cools down. So if you have on cotton while hiking, and you get wet, you will need to dry that article of clothing out as soon as possible. The clothes protect you from the elements somewhat so if you are in wet clothes, you will cool off faster and could slip into a dangerous area called hypothermia.

Hypothermia:  is simply when your body’s core temperature is way lower than normal. A body’s core temperature needs to only drop a few degrees to be considered hypothermic.

Normal human body temperature in adults is 94–100 °F  (34.4–37.8 °C).
Sometimes a narrower range is 98–100 °F  (36.5–37.5 °C).

Hypothermia is defined as any body temperature below 95.0 °F  (35.0 °C).

So you can see that if you wear cotton ,due to cotton’s inability to let go of the water, you will be colder. Not only when it rains or you fall and get wet, but when you sweat while hiking, working at camp gathering wood and so on. Your best bet is to wear synthetic material. You will not find any cotton in my pack other than a few bandannas. I wear and carry polyester and nylon or other synthetic material when I am on the trail.

Now, Let’s talk layers: Using layers is how you are able to control your body’s core temperature and not get too cold or too warm. There is much room for debate on what to wear while on the trail. This is mainly because your body type, the forecasted weather, your elevation, part of the country and many other factors will help you in deciding what to wear. There are, however three basic layers to consider.

Base Layer:

Your Base Layer needs to have a level of insulation factor. Your Base Layer needs to have a wicking property as well. Wicking is the process whereby the fabric pulls moisture away from your skin allowing the moisture to evaporate without affecting the temperature of your body therefore not allowing you to get cold due to evaporation process. But don’t depend on hyour base layer to remove all the sweat you can produce. You will need to maintain your body tempurature by removing or adding layers depending on if you get too warm or too cold.

Insulation Layer:

This layer is just what it sounds like. This layer’s primary job is to insulate you from the cold. It can be fleece, down, polyester, nylon –but never cotton. Remember… Cotton kills.

You may need multiple layers based on the weather conditions. You may survive with only one layer of insulation. If the temperature is foretasted to really plummet, you may need to have multiple layers of insulation or even a layer of down. This is all up to you and your needs. In Georgia, where I do much my backpacking the coldest I have been in was 15 degrees F (-9.4° C) so I can limit my number of insulation layers. I am very hot-natured so I don’t need as much insulation as someone like my wife who is very cold natured. She freezes in the summer time as well.

Shell Layer:

Your shell layer is a wind/water-proof layer to keep out the water and wind. When shopping for a shell, remember to keep it light, folks. After all you will be carrying this layer with you unless it is raining while on the trail. My shell is a light and thin raincoat with a hood and works great for me.

Your shell can be used in place of an insulation layer if the weather is too warm for your actual insulation layer, but too cold to walk around in just your base layer. The shell is also good for adding extra insulation on top of all your other layers when the temperature drops below the expected. My raincoat has come in handier with keeping me warm that it has been for keeping me dry. I have walked around in my top base layer and only my raincoat because it was enough to keep me warm while I was working at the campsite. Then as I started to cool down at rest, I removed the shell and put on a layer of insulation.

This is how “Layering” works. You put on or take off layers to regulate your body’s core temperature. The process works like a thermostat in your home. If you get too cold, bump the thermostat. On the trail when you start to cool down, you add a layer. And visa-versa when you get too warm.

Oh one more thing, don’t forget about your hat. An insulated hat like a wool or fleece beanie will also help in keeping in heat or letting some heat escape. All of these layers can help with keeping you operating at a comfortable temperature while backpacking, so layer up or down in ways that meet your needs. Don’t worry about the other guy or gal since they might have different body types so their layering methods could differ from your own.

Layer in a way that works for you. Make the layers as light as possible because we like to Plan Right and Pack Light.