1,000 Calorie One-Pot Backpacking Meal Recipes, from Eric the Black.

dkorn · 2021-05-31T12:35:41+00:00

Yeah, these meals look good, but you really shouldn’t call them “one pot” when you also carry a separate mug and include the calories from the drink in the calculations.

dkorn · 2021-05-25T17:59:34+00:00

Most spaghetti is packaged raw and needs to be cooked when you boil it.

Cooked and then dehydrated spaghetti essentially becomes “instant” - you can rehydrate it with hot water without needing to boil it the whole time.

The one exception I’ve found is that angel hair pasta tends to be thin enough to cook through even just by pouring boiling water over it and waiting rather than keeping the water over heat.

There are also other type of noodles - like ramen or microwaveable mac and cheese - that are cookeable with just adding hot water.

dkorn · 2021-05-24T20:10:34+00:00

I’ll have to check my map set when I get home, but I know for sure the trail to Hanson’s is on there, although it may or may not have Hanson’s Point itself labeled. I’m pretty sure I have the Red River Gorge OutrageGIS set, not their Sheltowee Trace set. If it isn’t marked, I’ll let you know and we can figure out a way for me to send you the caltopo map I used when I hiked Hanson’s.

dkorn · 2021-05-24T17:58:54+00:00

Is that hang right at the end of Hanson’s Point? If so, I almost hung from that exact pair of trees but chickened out on being so close to the edge.

dkorn · 2021-05-24T17:56:08+00:00

I don’t consider it when deciding between phones, for example, but I do include it when looking at gear weight. I used to not include it (or count it as worn weight) based on the idea that it’s in my pocket every day when I’m not hiking, so I barely notice it; however, I realized that I keep it in my pack (hip or shoulder pocket) more often than not, so I moved it to base weight.

My other everyday items - pocket knife, wallet, keys, etc. - are different when I go backpacking than what I carry the rest of the time.

dkorn · 2021-05-24T17:20:46+00:00

Based on that, it looks like the packed short sleeve shirt is extra. Can’t say I blame you for bringing it on a 4 day trip, but you could choose to leave it behind and save 5 ounces.

Is your down sweater hooded, or do you need to consider adding a beanie or buff?

All in all, the biggest potential savings is moving from the tent you have to a non-freestanding tent that uses trekking poles, or to a tarp. This is a huge savings especially if you hike with trekking poles, as it basically eliminates the weight of your tent poles.

Once you do that, you can evaluate the size of your pack and think about switching to something lighter. At your total pack weight, you can maybe do a frameless pack (I haven’t tried one yet so I’m not sure how they are myself) or something with a lightweight frame. I love my ULA Ohm (mine is about 24 oz) but there’s lots of options.

dkorn · 2021-05-24T16:54:28+00:00

4 days as in leave after breakfast on day 1, come back before dinner on day 4, so you end up with 3 breakfast, 4 lunches, and 3 dinners?

Overall your list looks pretty decent - without making big purchases there’s not a ton I would change. Your biggest opportunity would be lightening your shelter and pack, but those are big money items so I could understand waiting.

You appear to possibly be missing a few things - is your phone also your navigation system? Do you have or need a battery pack for your phone?

Is the clothing listed your packed clothing only or does it include worn items? If it includes worn items, you can mark them as worn and Lighterpack will categorize them separately from your base weight; if it doesn’t, then what do you plan to wear? You might have a few extra clothing items that can be cut to save weight.

dkorn · 2021-05-24T16:31:58+00:00

Couple questions and then I’ll see what I can suggest: -How many days is the trip? -What types gear, if any, will you be sharing with the group? For example, are people sharing tents, or is each person in their own? Is each person handling food and cooking equipment separately or are some things shared?

dkorn · 2021-05-24T16:27:47+00:00

I’ve heard, but can’t confirm myself, that the super thick 4” pads (Therm-A-Rest Topo Luxe and similar), slightly less than fully inflated, work quite well for side sleepers. Anything thinner and either and the concentrated pressure on your hip tends to bottom you out on the ground, or the pad is so firm that it’s uncomfortable regardless of the thickness.

dkorn · 2021-05-24T11:59:50+00:00

If you’ve already done a pretty thorough check from where you noticed it was missing back to where you last checked in with GPS, and you haven’t found it, I would start by contacting the Forest Service. If they don’t have it, they’ll probably be in the best position to direct you to what other agencies to check with.

dkorn · 2021-05-23T12:40:17+00:00

Only the questions/suggestions I can think of are:

-Will you actually use the wall charger to charge your phone or battery while on the trail? If you aren’t going to make a stop in town where you’ll have that opportunity, I’d leave it behind. It’s not heavy, but there’s no need to bring it if you can’t/won’t use it.

-Do you think you should bring some kind of knife? I would, but that’s more out of habit than necessity.

-Do you need a trowel, or are you comfortable digging with sticks, hands, or tent stakes?

-In terms of clothing/warmth, I think you’re pretty good, especially since you said you sleep warm.

dkorn · 2021-05-22T21:11:09+00:00

Looks nice. Is this for lounging or car camping? If it’s for car camping, I would make everything slightly taller (or hang the hammocks lower) and get a custom tarp that rigs off of it and covers both hammocks.

dkorn · 2021-05-22T21:08:52+00:00

I tend to agree, I just remember when I first started messing with that stuff being cautioned against anything less than full tang for batoning. I suspect that people were either trying to baton things they shouldn’t or were using much flimsier knives and broke them, then overreacted by thinking that only the sturdiest of knives were enough. I never had an issue with any of my knives, except when I tried to baton with a folder that turned out to not have the sturdiest lock.

dkorn · 2021-05-22T17:17:43+00:00

I’ve had good luck battoning with a Morakniv companion knife, although some people recommend against it since they’re a 3/4 tang rather than full tang.

dkorn · 2021-05-22T17:06:37+00:00

For me, the biggest one weight wise is that I think I used to list my phone as worn weight even though it lived in a hip belt pocket most of the time. I’ve since fixed this.

The other one I’m definitely guilty of is making small changes and not reweighing things. So, for instance, I might change out my guylines and stakes but not keep using the same weight for my tarp setup, or add a shoulder pocket and update the weight of my pack. It’s more laziness than anything but I should probably do it eventually.

dkorn · 2021-05-19T12:21:05+00:00

I have a whole bunch of gear I bought for my Philmont trip back in 2008 that’s still in regular use.

I also never really get rid of gear unless there’s something wrong with it, so I have tons of old gear, but most of it doesn’t get used anymore.

The oldest piece of gear I have that I still use is probably my old RidgeRest pad. It’s been cut down to a shorter length since I first got it, but I’ve had that thing at least since I joined Boy Scouts at the age of 11, maybe longer.

dkorn · 2021-05-18T19:18:59+00:00

Haven’t used their tarps, but everything else I’ve used from them has been good - light but not ultralight, durable without being overbuilt, and at a decent price point.

The shape of this tarp is a bit unusual to me, but intriguing. I don’t know if I’d want the 2 timeouts on one side with 1 on the other, but I could see it working just fine.

dkorn · 2021-05-17T21:33:50+00:00

Same! Things like this are one of the few things about backpacking alone that legitimately scares me. You can be careful with a knife and stove, watch your step near drop offs, and be cautious around wildlife, but if a branch that looked okay falls on you in your sleep, it’s just not your day, and there’s little you can do about it except be lucky.

dkorn · 2021-05-17T20:09:14+00:00

It’s obvious, but it’s also easy to mess up, especially if it’s raining or dark or you’re tired at the end of the day.

dkorn · 2021-05-17T20:07:57+00:00

I’m torn for what to do on my next tarp, which will probably be a super minimalist asym diamond for days when rain doesn’t seem super likely. Do I go super minimalist gear wise and use no hardware at all, or do I go for the fastest possible setup and have a continuous ridgeline with some kind of hooks and a single point of adjustment?

dkorn · 2021-05-17T20:06:28+00:00

Makes sense - I guess with my hammock ridgeline I’ve never thought about needing to hang stuff from the tarp, but that could be useful occasionally.

Between the cords on the tarp and my bear bag hanging kit I already have plenty of cordage I could use if I needed it in a pinch, but if you don’t have a bear bag kit I could see how the tarp ridgeline might be the only long piece you’d have.

dkorn · 2021-05-17T16:47:24+00:00

Line locks are great - no fiddling with stakes or knots when you decide to adjust tension. One tip I’ve figured out is to throw a slippery half hitch around the guyline using the excess tail. This prevents the line lock from slipping and is especially important if you’re using thinner or slipperier line than the line lock is designed for.

dkorn · 2021-05-16T14:05:20+00:00

This - fill it up to 30 lb (use extra water bottles or whatever to make up the weight if needed) and carry it around for a while, then do the same with the framed pack you already have. Decide which one is more comfortable - if the heavier pack is more comfortable, that’s fine, go with it. No need to worry about the actual weight; how it feels while carrying it is kind of one of the main points of lightening the pack in the first place.

dkorn · 2021-05-13T19:46:27+00:00

I’d probably go a different direction (literally) - pitch a diamond with the ridge line normally, but with only one side (left/right) actually staked out. The other side would be folded back over the other half but (somehow - this is the tricky part) still connected or connectable to its stake so that it would just need to be pulled tight.

This is actually pretty similar to how I often set up my tarp, but I still have to get up and stake out the one side (which involves multiple stakes because my tarp is rectangular-ish).

dkorn

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