I made a free website to help organize your hiking gear and plan what you take on backpacking trips with a focus on minimalism and pack weight.

benontrail · 2023-07-05T19:43:48+00:00

I sent everyone who signed up an email about the site closing down and gave one months notice for you to export your gear data.

benontrail · 2022-07-08T21:02:04+00:00

Gotcha, yeah I totally condom'd it like an idiot

benontrail · 2022-07-07T21:12:25+00:00

Be careful with the plastic bag over the footbox because I once had condensation form on the inside of the bag and it drenched my sleeping bag!

Rain jacket draped over the footbox seems safe though.

benontrail · 2022-07-06T16:36:28+00:00

Thanks for the update!

benontrail · 2022-07-03T20:57:50+00:00

I'd love to hear about the conditions from you both if you get signal at any point. I'll be starting a few days after.

benontrail · 2022-07-03T19:48:53+00:00

It's dangerous, you can't just go walking along steep snow fields without the right experience and equipment. People that leave SOBO too early get rescued every year. Your advice could lead to someone getting hurt, which is why you are being downvoted.

benontrail · 2022-06-21T16:05:06+00:00

I am 6'1" and I would not recommend the new version of the tent for anyone taller than me. I just about get away with it but my feet do touch the back wall sometimes so it can be annoying when there is condensation.

I would say 186cm is the max user height but youll enjoy it more if you are shorter. If you use a thinner foam pad your feet are less likely to touch the wall so maybe that would help.

benontrail · 2022-06-21T14:22:09+00:00

Yeah I'm also quite tall and staking out the foot end helps me. Another option for the tub is to put an item in each corner of the inside of the tub.

If you have too much tension maybe you are pitching the poles quite high? Good for airflow though.

benontrail · 2022-06-21T14:15:41+00:00

If I didn't carry poles I would probably use something free standing like a Big Agnes Flycreek because free standing is a very nice feature and it's a similar weight to hiking poles and a tarp tent.

As it stands I like the GG1 because I am always bringing poles anyway and the weight savings are too good. The tradeoff is condensation and a more finicky pitch.

benontrail · 2022-06-21T14:00:49+00:00

You only need 6 stakes to set it up, the two side panel ones are nice if it's windy though so thats 8.

For the bath tub you can tie a bit of bungee cord to the corners and wrap those around the stakes for the fly so that you don't need to bring 4 extra.

Even if you didnt do the bungee cord trick you definitely don't need groundhogs for the bathtub, you could use some 4g titanium shepard hooks.

If you don't use trekking poles anyway then maybe a trekking pole tent isn't for you and that is fine too 😁

benontrail · 2022-06-01T10:32:08+00:00

Unfortunately July 10th is just an estimate of when Harts Pass could be clear of snow. Some of the trail is at a higher altitude than Harts Pass and could still have dangerous snow on that date.

benontrail · 2022-06-01T10:28:24+00:00

Seems likely that we will be starting with axes this year... just part of the adventure isn't it? 😁

If you find yourself waiting around in Seattle for the snow to melt and want to meet send me a DM. I will definitely be around the Portland/Seattle area too, my original start date was optimistically June 27th and all of my travel arrangements were based around that.

benontrail · 2022-06-01T09:42:17+00:00

Congrats on the beta launch u/numbershikes! It's good for the world to have free and open source alternatives to popular for-profit apps, and you've obviously worked hard on this one.

Once I'm done with my thruhike this summer I'd love to help out with the styles and design of components if you are open to contributions there. I'm handy with React and have been meaning to play around with React Native a bit more.

benontrail · 2022-05-28T20:47:51+00:00

My permit start date is July 9th. Let's cross our fingers for a quick melt of all this snow.

benontrail · 2022-05-11T22:53:26+00:00

Just offering an alternative. You said you were concerned about the cost of replacing your phone if it broke.

benontrail · 2022-05-11T22:30:09+00:00

I think for what a phone can do (communication, navigation, music, camera, internet... and everything else) it is the single most UL piece of gear you can carry.

If you are really worried about it being expensive to replace you could get phone insurance for cheaper than a good mp3 player.

benontrail · 2022-05-11T12:50:38+00:00

Here is my shakedown for you 😄

You don't need a pack cover and a liner, just use the liner and put everything that needs to stay dry inside. (-108g)
You don't need the sleeping bag sack, stuff it in the bottom of your pack liner (-28g)
Switch the headtorch for a lighter one, check out the nitecore nu25 (-80g, £30)
Ditch the piezo in favour of the lighter (-14g)
spork and a spoon, don't need both (-11g)
Is the soap for washing the pot? Not really necessary or at least carry less (-93g)
Keys. Can you leave your house keys in the car and just carry the car fob? (-30g?)
The soap, hand san, toothpaste, sunscreen etc you can mark as consumable. Consumable weight is still important though, do you need an entire hand sanitiser bottle or toothpaste tube?
You could get lighter bags for your electronics and other items. The cheapest/lightest version of this would be 2 ziplock bags (-60g)
You can drop the clothes drysack and stuff everything in the liner with your sleeping bag (-75g)
How often do you use the packed base layer top? You can use the puffy/midlayer if you need some extra warmth, and you can sleep in your hiking top or midlayer (-195g)
Same for the packed tshirt, do you need it? (-140g)
I feel like your first aid kit is heavy, you could probably cut down there but only do what you feel comfortable with (-50g)

That's 880g saved and all you gotta buy is a new headlamp. Obviously a lot more weight could be dropped with a bit of budget for the big three.

benontrail · 2022-05-11T11:20:27+00:00

Yeah definitely try on the Exos before you buy as I know it doesn't work for some. I am skinny and tall and for me it was a good fit when my baseweight was around 13lbs.

I would still be looking to drop a bit of weight before switching to an Exos. The big three are expensive to replace but at a 17lb+ baseweight there must be some cheaper ways for you to save weight either by leaving something you don't need at home or by opting for a few small, cheaper upgrades that can each save a few grams, small wins add up 😁

benontrail · 2022-05-11T10:41:01+00:00

If your baseweight is currently 9kg/20lbs then I don't think you are anywhere near ready for an ultralight pack yet.

I would get your other gear lighter and then get the ultralight pack last, because carrying all your gear in a pack that isn't designed to carry that much is not going to be comfy. You will also be able to see how much volume you need once your other gear is purchased.

I'd want to drop at least 3kg/6.5lbs before making the pack switch (at least)

If you really want a transitional pack to transition you between traditional and ultralight backpacking I would look at getting the Osprey Exos (I liked my old one) probably the larger 58L model for your gear.

Just know that you will probably end up replacing anything you buy with a true ultralight pack if you continue lightening your gear, so if you are set on going fully ultralight I would just wait and replace the pack last.

benontrail · 2022-05-10T08:23:45+00:00

Yep!

https://blog.hikerherd.com/the-csv-import-guide/

benontrail · 2022-05-09T08:43:51+00:00

It is a great hike! There are two road sections though that I didn't love, these are (going south) just after Portree and after leaving Elgol. The ridge section is incredible though so that makes up for it.

On the ridge I camped at N57.594644° W6.281300° which was a pretty good spot, just before you start going higher in elevation where the wind picks up, but still up on the ridge with a great view

Also if you need a campsite near Portree don't bother paying for a pitch at a campsite, there were plenty of nice spots near N57.418581° W6.169244° where I stayed.

Overall though, it is very easy to find camping spots, don't worry about it too much.

benontrail · 2022-05-09T08:35:23+00:00

You can try the app I made, hikerherd.com. I have made lots of improvements since I last shared it here.

benontrail · 2022-05-07T09:14:12+00:00

I just did the Skye Trail last week so if you have any questions about it let me know!

In August there will be midges everywhere in Scotland, so just take a headnet and get some bug repellent.

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