How light is lightweight ?

[Erbswurst]

Really professional light weight freaks use to go in Supermarkets to watch out which kind of bottles are offered there.

It doesn't matter, what they want to sell us in the bottles. Interesting are the bottles them selfes.

If they are equipped with a proper closure and very thin, they should be usefull as excellent camping equipment.

This was a juice bottle, now it contains instant coffee:

This is fore dental care. It has the right size for shampoo on short tours:

This is another very good water bottle:

 

[Erbswurst]

Pharmacies offer very light and cheap little empty plastic tins with screw closure. We just have to ask there.

Buttons are sold in small plastic tins too.
Because people most times do not buy the complete package you can get the small containers in the shops for free in the end.

But attention!
Freezer zipp lock bags are lighter and often the better choice. They are available in 1, 3 or 6 Liters size, original Toppits are the best. It is possible to store food or even spare clothing in them. They do not last for years, but they are very cheap and very light!

Noaks bags are a little bit heavier but they have an incredible high quality and are totally water proof. Hey are available in different sizes. I use them for electronics.

 

[WildWood1965]

Some really good ideas there my friend. You have obviously put a lot of time & effort into this over the years.

Thank you for taking the time to share this with our community as I am sure that many of us will benefit from your knowledge as the discussion continues !

 

[lol]

Re breaking plastic bottles......When making plastic bottle water rockets, somewhere I learnt that the big ones can take 200psi?????

(totally irrelevant...but fun.lol!)

 

[38thfoot]

In answer to your question, yes I have seen plastic bottles break!

38

 

[Erbswurst]

Yes, for a canoe trip to Canada for example, or especially in very dry areas, may be in Australia, I would surely take minimum one 1 Litre 360 Degree stainless steel bottle with me. But for hikes in Western Europe surely two (!) plastic bottles are safe enough.

We do not throw them around. We protect them in our ruck sack. We usually carry them in the outer side pockets, we usually do other equipment in dry sacks in the north or minimum plastic bags in the south of Europe.

We usually carry a titanium mug with us to boil water, if neccesary.
Some of us carry a light water filter, most of us some Micropur Forte. So we easily would survive with mug and only one bottle in lonely areas too.

But we survivalists know, that we have to drink after two days, because after three days without water we would die.

But I have some proper hiking boots with me and some coins in the pocket. In Western Europe I can reach nearly every where a supermarket within two or three hours to replace a broken plastic bottle, every farmer can give it me for free, if I ask him, and of course drinking water too.

And in the worst case scenario in Western Europe I have to march half a day without drinking anything, until I reach the next Pub. Well, in my opinion british beer is horrible, but in such a worst case scenario I would even drink this!

 

[Madriverrob]

I find these useful for carrying water , lightweight , robust and durable .......

 

[Bopdude]

I was going to mention water filters, saves the weight of carrying in, mine will get used in earnest the summer but has already been used to good effect MSR trailshot.

 

[Madriverrob]

Trailshot is now also part of my lightweight summer set up ......

 

[WildWood1965]

I was going to mention water filters, saves the weight of carrying in, mine will get used in earnest the summer but has already been used to good effect MSR trailshot.

I have the Sawyer mini filter but I am thinking about getting that one as well !

 

[Bopdude]

I have the Sawyer mini filter but I am thinking about getting that one as well !

I've not used the Sawyer so can't compare but the trailshot works well enough

 

[Erbswurst]

As you see, I am a knife collector too.


I use the full tang knife in winter times.
It left the market and it isn't some thing special. It is a simple and cheap full tang knife. 9,5 cm blade, 168g including the leather sheath.
In my opinion something larger and heavier isn't necessary.
It gives me the option to use the batoning technique if it would be necessary.
In winter times, especially in the end of the winter this could happen.

But even in bad conditions a sharp folding pocket knife would be enough, it simply would take a far longer time to pare some twigs and branches to reach dry wood instead of splitting it.

So, in whet and cold conditions I take this light full tang knife with me.

But most times of the year I let the relatively heavy full tang knife at home!

My standard knife is the Victorinox Climber, 82g, 33 €. It is a very good travel knife, because it contains half a kitchen and the necessary nail scissors too.

In the hands of a good bushcrafter it is a good bushcraft knife. For me it is enough. In all conditions and every where.

I do not really need my full tang knife.

If I would have to replace the Climber one day, I would buy next time instead of this a VICTORINOX COMPACT. (44 €)

The Victorinox Compact is better equipped for the necessities of a hiker than the Victorinox Climber, and with only 64g the Victorinox Compact is lighter!

It includes a stainless steel needle to open blisters and a ball pen!
Because you can't put a normal needle in your pocket without a tough container,
together with the pen the Victorinox Compact saves here around 40 g and it is 18g lighter than the Victorinox Climber!

So, together it saves around 60 g if you compare it with the Victorinox Climber, a weak standard plastic pen and a needle in a small container! And you have all you need attached with a line to the man!

THE VICTORINOX COMPACT IS THE BEST TREKKING KNIFE OF THE WORLD MARKET!

For the second person in a team the Opinel Carbone No 7 folding knife is the optimal light bushcraft and trekking knife in dry conditions. Its 10 cm handle fits very well in the pocket and in the hand of an adult man. The 7,7 cm blade is incredible sharp and very easy to sharpen, even with nature stones picked up somewhere.
It is incredible light: Only 35 g !!!
And it costs only 9 €.

Is is the best foldable cooking knife i know and it is a very good carving knife!

For children I recommend the Opinel Carbone No 6 or stainless steel, Carbone No 6 is easier to sharpen. 27 g, 7,2 cm blade. The handle doesn't fit in the hands of adult persons.

The Opinel Carbone No 8 , 45 g, 8,5 cm blade doesn't fit so good in the pocket. I prefere the No 7.
(The No 8 you can see in my foto I usually have in my kitchen bag for car-camping.)

I prefere Carbone steel, because it is a bit stronger than stainless steel and easier to sharpen. But for those who prefere stainless steel: Opinel offers this too, in the same sizes.

 

[Erbswurst]

Here you can see how I attach the knife to the belt.

I used 70 cm of cord, stiched loops in it, what is of course better than every knot,
and I use this locking double hook:

Nite Ize S-Biner Micro Lock, 7 €, for a pair of only 4g each.

So I easily can open or close this locking hook if I want. That is a very well working durable system. I use the second hook to attach the house key to the rucksack while I am hiking.

Old foxes prefere small things in orange and red, because only this colours you can see in gras and snow.

 

[Rathwulven BC]

@Madriverrob

Well indeed your overall load weight should never surpass 15kg, this has a tremendously damaging effect on your joints. I am rather fit when it comes to mountain terrain and I had experienced serious injuries before after going all military-style with a 15-20kg setup.

Less is more.

@Erbswurst

Plastic should not be bought in the first place, anyway. Just as a disclaimer - the plate e.g. in the pictures is from a second hand dumpstore (10cts). If I buy plastic, I always go second hand and/or upcycle and never buy newly produced products crafted from plastic as I do not find plastic and bushcraft two things that can be combinde, to be honest. So one is, in a way, always better off with proper stainless steel products or maybe even aluminum if the budget is low (mind though that boiling in aluminum may, according to the respective mix of materials, dissolve heavy or intoxicating metals).

 

[Erbswurst]

Plastic or old school?
That is the Question!

I have nothing against a second chapter where we can discuss traditional equipment, made from natural materials.

Without any doubt it is possible to pack an equipment like this, which is very light too, if you concentrate in the absolutely necessary bits. The most important is the concentrated packing list, reduced to the essential minimum.
But nowadays the old stuff starts to become expensive.
So please let's discuss this later in another thread.
If I will come home to Berlin after a while I can take some pictures of my old school equipment to show that for example Wehrmacht equipment had been very light too, and now a days it would be no problem to construct modern equipment from nature materials in high quality with very low weight.
But this later, please!

 

[Erbswurst]

This are the little screw closure containers you can buy in a german pharmacy.
May be you can get them every where in Europe.

From left to right:

185 ml 21g € 1,-
125 ml 15g € 0,60
35 ml 6g € 0,35
25 ml 4g € 0,35

That is light and cheap!

Here you could put some instant coffee in for a week end, or sugar, tinder, soap, what ever you want to store water tight.

 

[Erbswurst]

This is a good lightweight washing kit.

Eagle Creek head torch diffusor bag 8g
Sea to Summit soap concentrated 50g
Ajona concentrated toothpaste 6ml 10g
Foldable toothbrush 13g
Wilkinson's razor 4g
Decathlon Nabaji microfibre towel S 45g

Together only 130g !!!

That is enough for one week or longer!

Beginners could replace the bag with a 1 litre toppits freezer zipp lock bag.
But it is better, when you can hang it somewhere.

The Eagle Creek bag is constructed to use it with a head lamp as a table lamp on or attached over a table like this:

Usually I roll every thing together like this:

Alternatively I use on camping grounds and in hostels this cheaper option, here with French dental powder in a small screw closure tin.

 

[Erbswurst]

The head lamp I use is the Petzl e-lite.
It weights only 27 g including two CR2032 Batteries.

The new model is a bit brighter than mine and has a bit different design.

Usually I carry only two spare batteries with me, each in its own little water tight bag.

 

[Erbswurst]

The SILVA Ranger SL Compass
weights only 24g

But it isn't a toy!
It ia real, very well working compass.

May be in Lapland I would choose a larger one, but when I am walking usually on ways and between fences this compass is really large enough!

It isn't the largest shaving mirror I ever had in my life, but even in this duty he works how England expects it!

 

[Erbswurst]

Small things like this I store in a small belt pouch, the
Decathlon Solognac X-Access Organizer S.
It weights 100 g, and that is a bit heavy.

An ultra light trekking expert would not carry this around. He would choose a 1 litre dry sack in orange of 20g instead of this, or a transparent Toppits 1 litre freezer zipp lock bag of 5g.

But I most times take this.
I don't carry always the sensible compass in the pocket of my Shirt, and wish to protect it a bit. And here I have every thing very handy together. I simply like this pouch.

As you see, my equipment fits perfectly in here:

In the small box are ear plugs for hostels, where I check in from time to time when I am travelling.

The a bit larger Decathlon Solognac X-Access Organizer size M, which you can see here, I usually do not use in my trekking equipment.
I use it for camping equipment, when I go by car.

The X-Access pouch system fits more or less together with the MOLLE system.

The washing lines you can see in the fotos I do not carry around in my standard trekking equipment. But, ok, sometimes I use that Decathlon Simond 2 mm lines, which can carry up to 80 kg!