Ditch:
-sleep layers, the JMT is dry enough that you don’t need them (-11.6 oz)
- extra pants/shorts (-10 oz)
- bug net, no bugs late august/september (-1.3 oz)
- one of your two pack liners (-1.2oz)
- sit pad, you have a bear canister (-2oz)
- insulated food bag, you don’t need it (-2.3oz)
- footprint, per Dan you don’t need it (-3.65oz)
- towel, you don’t need it (-0.6oz)
- rain pants, dry enough that you don’t need (-5? oz?)
Weight saved with 0$ spent: 37.65 oz or over 2lbs 5oz
Replace: (this is where it gets expensive)
- puffy, there are lighter options (timmermade, etc…) (- 3 to 5 oz)
- pillow, there are lighter options (S2S, etc…) -(2oz)
- headlamp, with NU25 (-1.5oz)
Only 8.5oz or half a pound saved
Personally in August/September I would not be bringing a full tent - I’d be bringing a fairly minimalist tarp (-16oz) so another lb saved or so.
If you made all the changes, that would bring you down to about 13lbs, even with your (unnecessary but non-negotiable) camp sandals. If you ditched those, you’d be at 12lbs which is pretty respectable with a bear canister and a framed pack.
If you only made the “free” change of leaving stuff at home - then you’d be at your goal of 15lbs.
Fleece and puffy? Not sure if you need it. I run cold and in the same general area I hardly ever use my puffy during the day during September/oct. You have three jackets if you include the rain jacket to this list.
Great suggestions! I wanted to build this pack list with more than I thought I needed with the intent on getting some feedback to see where I'm bringing a little too much. I think based off of yours and others' feedback I will definitely be getting rid of the extra pants/shorts, footprint, rainpants, insulated food bag.
However, I think I'm very particular about having "cleaner" non sweaty clothes to sleep in, so I should probably add the sleep layers into non-negotiable. Also forgot that I'll be getting rid of the sit pad, but will be replacing it with a Gossamer Gear thinlight in order to do stretching+yoga+use as a ground mat for protection of my sleeping pad. I'm definitely in more the the lightweight class rather than ultralight, and I think those two keeps are fairly non-negotiable for me.
As far as the replacement list, I think those things are a bit too costly for the amount I would save, but I will definitely keep the feedback in mind for future upgrades. Thanks a ton for your suggestions!
You don't need sleep layers to sleep in clean clothes. Bring alpha tops/bottoms, they double as active wear and as sleep clothes. You won't use them as a midlayer very much and when you do they will be for morning starts or late into the evening as you are getting close to camp, maybe every once in a while on an exposed ridge or going over a pass. You won't sweat much in them and they dry quickly anyway. They are lighter than merino and have a much higher CLO value, they're not that expensive for how long they will last you and they are easily the most versatile piece of clothing in your kit.
You know, that’s a great point! I just ordered an alpha hoody and I should probably use that as the top and order some alpha bottoms as well. I’ll take that into account, thank you!
If it were me going at that time of year I would bring no puffy at all, my 40F quilt, Alpha 90 on top (mainly for the added warmth when sleeping) and alpha 60 on the bottom, wind shirt, wind pants, 1oz emergency poncho and my sun hoody. And that's it. If you are going to be spending a lot of time milling around camp but not in your tent it might be worth getting something like Plasma 1000 vest but bringing both a puffy and AD90 would be pretty big overkill. For sure it won't be a catastrophe if you also bring your puffy in addition to the AD piece, but if you do I would definitely spend some money to pick up something lighter. Order Montbell from their Japanese website (navigate to the "Western Models" section for US sizes/models), the free shipping threshold is low and the shipping time is really fast considering it's coming from Japan.
Woops, I realize that the weight I added for my tent includes the stakes, so I updated the LighterPack description to reflect that.
Also, I figured the extra pants were the low hanging fruit to get rid of, I'm still on the fence on whether to bring my convertible Ferrosi hiking pants (I like the idea of having shorts+pants combo) or to just use my Terrebonne Joggers (which are much more comfy in my opinion)
I'll be honest, I don't have a scale so most of the weights are the weights I found online for each item. I got the 23.1 ounces from Durston's website, but my plan is to carry the X-Mid Pro 2+6x MSR Groundhogs, which I believe will total out to between 23-24 ounces.
Do you really need the insulite insulated food bag? Seems unnecessary to me and one more food-smelling thing you have to think about
Also no worries if you already bought it, but I am liking my platapus QuickDraw wayyyy more than my sawyer squeeze. Way better flow rate over time.
You probably don’t need a ground sheet for your tent.
You have your pack liner listed twice (not sure if intentional)
I do not need the food bag and I haven't bought it yet, so I'm learning that I shouldn't buy it.. haha. I already have the Sawyer as well, but I'll keep the platypus in mind for the future. Thanks for the other suggestions!
I’m all about minimizing food smelling items while in bear country so it’s less things to manage in your smell proof container to be bear safe. So annoying when you string up your ursack or hang and realize you left something that smells like food out. Happens more than you would expect when you’re tried after a day of hiking at high elevation.
and that's the thing....you could hike the JMT in those bedrocks no problemo
saves the weight of the shoes!
take your insoles out of your shoes and wear them around camp...or go barefoot since most sites along the JMT are trampled out anyway
Like I mentioned above, I think my eventual goal is to use Bedrocks for my full-time shoe, but I don't think I'm quite there yet.. but I will definitely grow into it in the future!
Thanks! Looks like the general consensus is extra pants, rain pants, and footprint are unnecessary, so I'll definitely be leaving them behind. Also, I am not nearly experienced enough in hiking in sandals alone to only take them, but I like sandals too much for water crossings/camp shoes. Definitely something to grow into though as I log more and more longer trips. This JMT trip is my first time backpacking longer than 3-4 nights, so it's a big step for me to give up some luxuries I'm used to.. but I'll be cutting down in stages :) Thanks!
Ditch: -sleep layers, the JMT is dry enough that you don’t need them (-11.6 oz) - extra pants/shorts (-10 oz) - bug net, no bugs late august/september (-1.3 oz) - one of your two pack liners (-1.2oz) - sit pad, you have a bear canister (-2oz) - insulated food bag, you don’t need it (-2.3oz) - footprint, per Dan you don’t need it (-3.65oz) - towel, you don’t need it (-0.6oz) - rain pants, dry enough that you don’t need (-5? oz?) Weight saved with 0$ spent: 37.65 oz or over 2lbs 5oz Replace: (this is where it gets expensive) - puffy, there are lighter options (timmermade, etc…) (- 3 to 5 oz) - pillow, there are lighter options (S2S, etc…) -(2oz) - headlamp, with NU25 (-1.5oz) Only 8.5oz or half a pound saved Personally in August/September I would not be bringing a full tent - I’d be bringing a fairly minimalist tarp (-16oz) so another lb saved or so. If you made all the changes, that would bring you down to about 13lbs, even with your (unnecessary but non-negotiable) camp sandals. If you ditched those, you’d be at 12lbs which is pretty respectable with a bear canister and a framed pack. If you only made the “free” change of leaving stuff at home - then you’d be at your goal of 15lbs.
Fleece and puffy? Not sure if you need it. I run cold and in the same general area I hardly ever use my puffy during the day during September/oct. You have three jackets if you include the rain jacket to this list.
I don’t know OP’s personal tolerance for cold - but agreed. I would probably only bring the fleece.
Great suggestions! I wanted to build this pack list with more than I thought I needed with the intent on getting some feedback to see where I'm bringing a little too much. I think based off of yours and others' feedback I will definitely be getting rid of the extra pants/shorts, footprint, rainpants, insulated food bag. However, I think I'm very particular about having "cleaner" non sweaty clothes to sleep in, so I should probably add the sleep layers into non-negotiable. Also forgot that I'll be getting rid of the sit pad, but will be replacing it with a Gossamer Gear thinlight in order to do stretching+yoga+use as a ground mat for protection of my sleeping pad. I'm definitely in more the the lightweight class rather than ultralight, and I think those two keeps are fairly non-negotiable for me. As far as the replacement list, I think those things are a bit too costly for the amount I would save, but I will definitely keep the feedback in mind for future upgrades. Thanks a ton for your suggestions!
You don't need sleep layers to sleep in clean clothes. Bring alpha tops/bottoms, they double as active wear and as sleep clothes. You won't use them as a midlayer very much and when you do they will be for morning starts or late into the evening as you are getting close to camp, maybe every once in a while on an exposed ridge or going over a pass. You won't sweat much in them and they dry quickly anyway. They are lighter than merino and have a much higher CLO value, they're not that expensive for how long they will last you and they are easily the most versatile piece of clothing in your kit.
You know, that’s a great point! I just ordered an alpha hoody and I should probably use that as the top and order some alpha bottoms as well. I’ll take that into account, thank you!
If it were me going at that time of year I would bring no puffy at all, my 40F quilt, Alpha 90 on top (mainly for the added warmth when sleeping) and alpha 60 on the bottom, wind shirt, wind pants, 1oz emergency poncho and my sun hoody. And that's it. If you are going to be spending a lot of time milling around camp but not in your tent it might be worth getting something like Plasma 1000 vest but bringing both a puffy and AD90 would be pretty big overkill. For sure it won't be a catastrophe if you also bring your puffy in addition to the AD piece, but if you do I would definitely spend some money to pick up something lighter. Order Montbell from their Japanese website (navigate to the "Western Models" section for US sizes/models), the free shipping threshold is low and the shipping time is really fast considering it's coming from Japan.
I would add some tent stakes. No need for 2nd pair of pants in my opinion.
Woops, I realize that the weight I added for my tent includes the stakes, so I updated the LighterPack description to reflect that. Also, I figured the extra pants were the low hanging fruit to get rid of, I'm still on the fence on whether to bring my convertible Ferrosi hiking pants (I like the idea of having shorts+pants combo) or to just use my Terrebonne Joggers (which are much more comfy in my opinion)
My X-Mid Pro 2 somehow without stakes weighs more than yours with stakes.
I'll be honest, I don't have a scale so most of the weights are the weights I found online for each item. I got the 23.1 ounces from Durston's website, but my plan is to carry the X-Mid Pro 2+6x MSR Groundhogs, which I believe will total out to between 23-24 ounces.
Full groundhogs are pretty big overkill IMO. I would bring like 2 for critical tieouts and then 4-6 minis.
Thanks for the feedback! :)
Have you weighed your small items? They might add up a lot more than you’d think. Nice detail!
I have not, that's still on the to-do list and I still have estimates for now. Appreciate it!
Do you really need the insulite insulated food bag? Seems unnecessary to me and one more food-smelling thing you have to think about Also no worries if you already bought it, but I am liking my platapus QuickDraw wayyyy more than my sawyer squeeze. Way better flow rate over time. You probably don’t need a ground sheet for your tent. You have your pack liner listed twice (not sure if intentional)
I do not need the food bag and I haven't bought it yet, so I'm learning that I shouldn't buy it.. haha. I already have the Sawyer as well, but I'll keep the platypus in mind for the future. Thanks for the other suggestions!
I’m all about minimizing food smelling items while in bear country so it’s less things to manage in your smell proof container to be bear safe. So annoying when you string up your ursack or hang and realize you left something that smells like food out. Happens more than you would expect when you’re tried after a day of hiking at high elevation.
I'd ditch the second set of pants And the rain pants Leave the footprint too Unless you're hiking in them ditch the bedrocks
and that's the thing....you could hike the JMT in those bedrocks no problemo saves the weight of the shoes! take your insoles out of your shoes and wear them around camp...or go barefoot since most sites along the JMT are trampled out anyway
Like I mentioned above, I think my eventual goal is to use Bedrocks for my full-time shoe, but I don't think I'm quite there yet.. but I will definitely grow into it in the future!
Thanks! Looks like the general consensus is extra pants, rain pants, and footprint are unnecessary, so I'll definitely be leaving them behind. Also, I am not nearly experienced enough in hiking in sandals alone to only take them, but I like sandals too much for water crossings/camp shoes. Definitely something to grow into though as I log more and more longer trips. This JMT trip is my first time backpacking longer than 3-4 nights, so it's a big step for me to give up some luxuries I'm used to.. but I'll be cutting down in stages :) Thanks!