Blue Beard's 7 lbs base weight. All the gear I used on my Colorado Trail Thru Hike and some feedback after 500+ miles. Lighter Pack: lighterpack.com/r/8kmevb
Thanks for the great rundown, Blue Beard! It's great to see another hiker rocking the V2. I'll likely be using mine on the CT this year. A little concerned about longer food carries, though...but it has a couple more liters of capacity than the Waymark EVLV I used last year on the PCT. I also appreciate your CT videos..VERY helpful as I plan my thru hike. Thanks for taking the time to put them together and share your journey with us!
For sure! I’d say you’ll be fine with the V2 on the CT if you made it with less capacity on the PCT. I never had a longer carry on the CT than anything I did on the PCT. Five days at most I think. Memory is a bit fuzzy tho. Thanks for watching! Happy trails!
Loved the video BB!! Especially love the ending about cold soaking haha. You and Meech are both back to the stove life with your boy!! ;) Keep bringing that content!
Solid video and set-up. I love my KUIU peloton 97. It’s definitely a hiking fleece, not a sit-and-do-nothing camp fleece. The math does workout though about getting two lightweight fleeces that can give you more variety in temp control and for different circumstances. Instead of two fleeces, i got a Montbell down vest - super lightweight and warm. And Montbell Versalite rain jacket which also works for wind and as an extra layer of warmth. I can’t comment on durability…but hopefully will last many years to be worth the price tag. Since I got the down vest and not a full puffy jacket, i ordered some arm warmers. Will try out a wool one and a thin synthetic stretchy kind for cyclists. I love having pit zips on the versalite and learned from my Patagonia fleece that i can sweat like crazy and stink up the pits really bad by using a fleece that’s too warm and thick. So pit zips, vest and arm warmers allow for ultralight flexibility without sacrificing comfort. You mention training with Altras… if you really want to train your feet, use z-trek sandals (or some other minimalist sandal) to let your feet and ankles develop. Altras are NOT minimalist …they are zero drop, but have a ton of cushion which is good and bad. Good if you have out of shape feet; bad if you want to get your feet into shape. Barefoot walking and z-trek hiking strengthen feet, balance and improved overall health. I graduated from Altra Lone Peaks to Topo Terraventure 3s. More durable and sturdy but otherwise quite similar. I rarely those though … I’m all about training my feet, real training. And that’s with the z-trek.
Hey thanks for the thoughtful comment! Makes a lot of sense to train barefoot, I guess the Altras would be an intermediary for people coming from a life-time in normal shoes. I haven't thought about a down vest but that makes a lot of sense! I'm also going to test using a Patagonia Houdini in place of one of the ultralight fleece, about a half ounce weight savings and better wind protection. Happy Trails!
Just dropping in to say thanks for the comment. I was wondering if my plan to bring a Peloton 97 and Montbell vest was cutting it too close and your comment encouraged me. I went with the UL Thermawrap vest because I am doing the LT right after where I expect a ton of rain so synthetic will be nice. Versalite is awesome, mine lasted a long time. I would keep it in its stuff sack, mine died from abrasion and I will probably replace it with a slightly heavier one from Montbell (just to try out). And I figure if that combo is still too cold I can wrap my Thinlight around my torso. Good intel on the barefoot stuff. I should try that.
Re: Polartec Alpha direct, fantastic material, much more efficient than grid fleece for the weight. Just use a rain jacket or wind shirt if it’s too windy. Re:solid sleep mats, low R value, great in hot weather. ISO sleeping bag tests show that it’s much more efficient to have a high R value mat than using a normal bag as the down is next to useless when it’s compressed. MLD etc make some very light bivy bags that will also increase the warmth of your setup. These work great for people who move around a lot.
One more comment on the Nemo, I like how you use your nemo for a sit pad, etc. but I always put mine inside the V2 to give it a little bit of structure but I'm too lazy to dig it out and replace it if I'm just taking a break on the trail.
I just did my first overnight, using a lighter and less bulky kit that included a quilt and a foam pad. Same as you, did not get a good nights sleep because lost too much heat to the ground. So I switched things around in order to have a warm set up and I still get to keep my 40 L pack.
Try out the Exped Flexmat Plus, it's the thickest CCF pad just a bit more volume and weight. Especially if you cut it down. I combine mine with a thinlight which is my siesta pad. This also enables one to be used as back padding.
Major science fail for nearly all the lightweight packs is lack of ultralight back panel , mono mesh with foam moulded to allow airflow. Considering 1 liter of water weighs 1 kilo the back panel can easily be made from a few 100 grams of material. The amount of water not lost by sweating more than makes up for the very light weight increase.
I choose comfort over weight everyday , 67 y o carrying 50 lbs and didn’t have a problem , once everything is dialed in . Definitely not a cold soaking fan , I think that’s just crazy … enjoyed your video , thanks for sharing ! : )
Much respect, I started the PCT with 50 lbs (consumables included) in 2018, did a 20 mile first day with basically no experience and limped only 6 miles on day two. After 100 miles of trail, I traded out a bunch of gear and trimmed down to about 30 lbs with consumables. I respect choosing comfort over weight, by I'd venture to guess that you could trim 10+ lbs and retain a full comfort set up. Hyperlight Mountain Gear packs, Zpacks duplex, and a nice quilt would be full comfort and a fairly light Big Three. Happy trails! Thanks for watching!
I think its funny that it is always assumed that ultra light automatically equals uncomfortable. I consider going out into the sierras with 20 -23 lbs all in for a week... ultralight. I am quite proud of my kit, I've worked it for 10 years and I want for nothing (big fat lie cause I "needanother"....not like jupiter nothing but really nothing. I have things to sit on, protection from rain and cold...10 degree cold. I have redundancy where its important. Air mattress with repair and emergency back up. Hot food, water filter, whiskey...I take everything I need and nothing "just in case" except extra guy lines. 50 lbs would kill at altitude...props to you if you can do it, but imagine 30 lbs lighter...your cast iron has to stay home though. peace
Supper is always a hot ( freezer Bag ) meal but I like to cold soak my breakfast. I use a Talenti ice cream container , one pint size. The fun is emptying it of the Ice Cream. I cold soak 1/2 cup of Old Fashion Oatmeal with a single packet of flavored instant oatmeal , both are added to a snack size zip lock bag. Sometimes I use a packet of the instant oatmeal and a packet of Quaker instant Grits. If I want milk with either I add the dried milk powder to the snack size zip lock here at the house when making my meals. Freeze Dried fruits also work pretty good as additional items mixed in.
Good, thorough video. FYI Polycro has nothing to do with polycarbonate which is a hard plastic used for things like roofing sheets and bulletproof glass.
Awesome video. Very good assortment of backpacking gear. I have ate A few times, cold meals to see if I could handle the cold soaking nails in my back packing trips and I was surprised to learn that, with hunger, you can eat and enjoy your cold meal. I’m not sure I wanna do that in my back I can trips though. I could do it in an emergency kind of situation and there’s no other choice. By the way, I liked your video so much I just subscribed to your channel and gave you like. Can you sit up in that tarp? Thank you so much for sharing this video. God bless you.
Yeah I agree, the cold meals are fine when you're starving after a long day, and while I could continue to do it, I'd just prefer not to. Yes, there is room to sit up in the tarp, but really only in the small area around the center where the trekking pole is holding up the ceiling. As I find time, perhaps I'll put together a video specifically for that tarp! It really is my favorite piece of gear! Thanks for watching my friend, I hope you found it useful! Happy Trails!
solid video, Actually some good stuff in here and not just someone using the same set up as everyone else. It feels like your distinct gear. also thank you for admitting cold soaking is psychotic… everytime I see a backpacker mention they cold soak and just casually show a jar as their entire kitchen and quickly move on I think “oh this is an insane person.. yeah this is someone who sleeps standing up in a closet like a weird android
I’ve flirted with the idea of just bringing my Moment wide lens for video. But the constant on/off drives me nuts cause it won’t fit in my pocket with the lens on. What was your experience with that?
I mostly just walked with my phone in my hand when I intended to keep filming. One minor benefit of only using one trekking pole. I could also stash the whole thing in my Fanny pack without removing the lens, though I did have to take the mic off which wasn’t a big issue. All in all I generally enjoyed using my iPhone with a rode mic and moment lens as an ultra light film setup.
What’s the name of the macpac fleece hoodie and where could one get one? And a new headlamp. Recommend the petzl bindi. Used mine for going on 2 yrs now and it’s only an oz.
Unfortunately you can’t get a MacPac unless you’re in Australia or New Zealand. However Senchi Designs makes a similar product, just good luck getting one, they sell out instantly. I’ll look into the headlamp! Thanks for watching
