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[at-l] Less Weight, more miles.

Jim Mayer made a good point in one of his postings, i.e., it would be nice to
read a list of things that thru-hikers have deleted from their lists over the
years. Here's a partial list of mine, which reflects my obsession with saving
weight.

1. An inflatable pillow.  It made incredible crunching noises when you layed
your head on it. Replaced it with a softer, Slumberjack quallofil pillow.

2. Slumberjack quallofil pillow.  Better than the inflatable, but wanted to
lose the weight (7 oz).  Use pack top stuffed with clothes over a rock
instead.

3. Folding Sierra Saw. Replaced with Prozig saw.  Lighter.

4. Folding Prozig Saw. Replaced with United folding saw.  Lighter.

5. Brinkman AA battery flashlight.  Replaced with MAG LITE AAA flashlite.
 Lighter.

6. Swiss Multi-blade Pocket Knife. Replaced with Buck (single blade) knife.
 Lighter.

7. Guidebooks/maps.  I reproduce and trim, then burn when used. 

8. Olympus Stylus camera. Replaced with recycleable camera. Lighter, mail
when finished. Pix not a priority.  

9. Snake bite kit. Unnecessary.  Prefer to play the odds.

10. Cooking Pot and Pan set.  Carry only one 2-cup pot w/top.

11. Knife, fork, and spoon set.  Carry only spoon.

12. Butane stove.  Replaced with MSR Whisperlite 600.  Multi-fuel, rugged as
hell, fuel available by the ounce at resupply points, light, rugged as hell.
 Carry the 11 oz fuel bottle, don't carry the windscreen/heat reflector.

13. Food.  Freeze dried or Lipton pasta types, candy bars, no gorp.
 Repackage all in baggies, lose commercial packaging. Never carry a can or
bottle of anything, except water, two 16oz Nalgene.

14. Rain coat.  Prefer to get wet directly from the rain. (Summer only).

15. Nylon tarp.  Replaced with Slumberjack summer bivy.  Allows camping
anywhere, better weather protection, doubles as full-body netting to fight
black flies, mosquitoes, light, small enough to setup in shelters, no lines,
rainfly doubles as tarp, pancho. Neat. Not recommended for winter.

16. Sleeping bag. For summer use (July, Aug, early Sep) replaced Slumberjack
40 degree mummy with two Salt mummy liners, supplemented by REI longies in
case of unusually cold night.  Saves 1 pound.

17. Air Mattress. Replaced Thermarest 3/4 mattress with new thermarest
Ultralite II full length.  Full length, same weight.

18. Pack. Started with external frame pack, replaced after first thru-hike
with Gregory internal frame.  Gregory is more rugged and  heavier, and I
prefer wearing the pack instead of just having it tag along back there.
 Internal frame is narrower, less snagging, more stable on the PA and other
rocks.

Big E



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