The UL/convenience continuum

[NFA]

The more I read in these forums, the more I love my hammocks!

I love lightening my pack while not having to sacrifice comfort, which hammock-camping has allowed me to do. Once I have the basics down with new gear, I find myself continually adjusting to try and lighten/improve my system

I am in the process of upgrading my hammock and tarp systems, and find myself doing a balancing act...I wonder if some of you guys do as well?

I have switched out the standard suspension that comes with hammocks in favor of lighter stuff like amsteel...

I have switched over to sil-nylon tarps, and then smaller sil-nylon tarps to cut the weight and space of my rainfly...

Where I find myself departing from the truly UL is with the mounting options...I like using prusiks and biners to hanging my ridgeline and tarp easier/quickers...I keep trying different hammock suspension systems that allow me to adjust more quickly/easily, even though they may be a bit heavier than just knots to tree-huggers.

I guess there was a point along the UL/convenience continuum where I chose the path more simple than light, and that has made all of the difference...where do you guys come in on this topic?

Jamie - nfa

[Hawk-eye]

I think you'll find a diverse group here ... gram weenies to pound ponderers! The old HYOH .... me personally ... light as I can without the sacrifice in comfort. For the most part a hammock is not about going lighter as it is about better camping options (at least in forests) and comfort.

I go for larger tarps because of the "front porch" factor and easy of set up. I rather think I'll not be going back to "crawling" into my bed at night on the trail. One time setting up or breaking camp in the rain under a larger tarp convinced me the benefits of the extra sil nylon in my pack!

[BurningCedar]

Jamie, I think a lot of us are in your same situation.

My history: I started out, like many others, with literally a 50-pound pack. I got by okay, but it wasn't comfortable. Then I was introduced to "ultralight backpacking" and started slashing everything I possibly could.

I was cranking out lots more mileage, but somehow, I again wasn't comfortable. My feet hurt from too little padding, my shoulders hurt from the minimalist pack straps, I was cold and wet from carrying barely adequate (but light) clothing. I didn't sleep well and my back ached from sleeping in a bivy on the ground.

I was uncomfortable at both ends of the spectrum; so I started adding things back into my kit that made my trips more enjoyable. This is what I frequently call "comfort-weight backpacking". I didn't invent the term, but I heard it and realized it exactly described what I was trying to achieve. Everyone's comfort-weight will be different.

I'm a gear-head; so I am continually tweaking my kit. And the neat part is that a lot of the innovations do let you lower your pack weight without any comfort penalty (whoopie slings for example).

[Cranky Bear]

My first pack weight was around 50# and since then I have been slowly cutting weight out in the form of things that I didn't need/use! Then came the hammock as I was never comfortable on the ground, so I have gotten the hammock weight down as much as I can (still messin with it) and now I have comfort and lightweight, my pack weighs 17lbs minus food and water with carrying a pillow/extra luxe items and I could still cut some weight out of that as there are thing's that I will use once on a trip but that's it, I only use the item once so I am thinking about how I can combine items that would be multi-use so I would have one thing that would take the place of two or three! The best part is I have more comfort now when I hike cause I am better rested and my body has the needed time to heal while out! It's such a personal thing as like Hawk-eye said HYOH kinda a thing, I will say that it was neet to see Shug's Whats in my pack vid as I was sitting there seeing what he is carrying and thinking about what I have in my pack and we were very close in whats in our pack's (same stuff just different brand!). Then I see TeWa's, Sarg's, and Jeff's post on SUL pack list's and "WOW" they made it seem soooooo easy, but as I find out for myself it's not that easy and it take's a lot of time to get your pack weight down to where "YOU" / "I" want it to be!
Great thread though, hope to hear from some of the "SUL" crowd here!!!!

[G.L.P.]

when i backpacked as a kid my pack was about 40lbs ......i got out of backpacking when i was 20....and got back into it again when i was 26 ...
when i got back into it i did what i use to do and went out and got army surplus gear...well my pack was about 35l-40lbs so i started to look more into light gear...then i got my pack down to 30lbs mind you this is befor i found out about hammocks..

then a few years ago...i would say 3 years ago i found Srg Rocks site and read the site front to back word for word and fell in love with hammocks..i got my first hammock that year it was a byers hammock ...

now 3 years later my base weight is 7lbs ... took a long time to get my base weight down and alot of money ..i also have more hiking gear then an REI

i still use some of my old gear car camping with the family but for the most part it sits just in case

this is also why i tell ppl to get the right gear the first time...yeah it's nice to have a room full of gear to play with...but think of all the money and time i could have saved

[Dutch]

Once I get down to 20 pounds i really don't mind the pack. There is a big difference between 20 and 24 pounds IMO. There is more then convenience in the weight ratio. Some companies sacrifice comfort for weight when it comes to a pack. Beware of when they say it will only carry 25 pounds comfortably. That is code for 16 pounds plus 5 pounds of food will be uncomfortable for the first 2 days. They go after that real light number but will a sub 1 pound pack really carry 15 pounds better then a 2 pound pack will carry 16 pounds? Probably not. And then how convenient is getting diarrhea instead of carrying water purification. Gear the past 10 years has lightened up more then I really need and hammock suspension is lighter then I ever expected. I think some just chase a real low number but I am chasing adventure, enjoyment, DANGER. Ok not really danger. I hmoh and I enjoy seeing how other push the limits. But at the end of the day I want sit back in my jerry chair, relax and forget about all the crap I have to go though the rest of the week. Maybe read a book and listen to some music in my hammock.

[Uticafats]

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now 3 years later my base weight is 7lbs ... took a long time to get my base weight down and alot of money ..i also have more hiking gear then an REI

Wow, 7 lbs! Please post a copy of your gear list. I'm at 11.5 lbs base weight and have a hard time dropping more then a half pound. Show me the light! (Sorry, bad pun)

[turnerminator]

Once I get down to 20 pounds i really don't mind the pack. There is a big difference between 20 and 24 pounds IMO.

I find this the magic cut off point from a pack that feels heavy to something that doesn't bother me. For me, its 10kg/22 lbs. Anything over this weight just feels heavy.

As long as im at 10kg, I'm happy. If I get lighter kit, I take more food, more spare socks and other luxuries.

I go to get away from it all and enjoy myself, not to see how light I can go, but how I can enjoy my trips more.

[mbiraman]

Twenty yrs ago i would pack overnight stuff plus climbing gear to climb some spire . I also worked( walking up and down mntsides,) in the hills and mnts all around the province for a living so hiking didn't really make sense. Now in my late fifties i'm getting out there again hiking but trying hard to keep my weight down due to back and knee injury from ten yrs ago. For me the destination is walking along and not necessarily some particular end or high point or mileage so i'm willing to cut back miles and take some luxuries. My base weight at the moment looks to be about 16-18 lbs for three season.

[Albert Skye]

I like to exercise my body and mind, especially in the wilderness; to make do with what one has at hand.

Simplicity and versatility are generally more important to me than weight, though in my experience, all three often come together. I like comfort and utility before convenience.

Generally, I aim to increase convenience by method rather than product (i.e. to use simple/versatile elements in a convenient way rather than implementing convenience with specialised equipment at the expense of simplicity/versatility). Of course, sometimes convenience wins.

I see no hard threshold; it changes as my circumstance changes. The more I learn, the less inconvenient things seem to be (though ironically, specialised convenience seems increasingly inconvenient).