Lighten the load with modern equipmentBy Lee Hadley
lhadley@heraldt.comIf you’re willing to pay for it, modern camping equipment can make almost any outing easier and more enjoyable. Lightweight gear that packs small makes the most of limited capacity, which is very important when all that you have available for your comfort is what you can carry with you.
Other adventurers have different problems, but a camper’s main load comes from sleeping gear. Tents and sleeping bags are historically both heavy and bulky. Throw in an old-school isothermal sleeping pad and — even without food, water or a change of socks — you’re already talking about quite a load.
Ten years or so ago, I bought just a regular sleeping bag, the kind you picture when you think about sleeping in the backyard as a kid. For the $20 I spent on it at Kmart on my way out of town, it’s served me well, but each and every time I’ve tied it to a pack or, worse, simply carried it to a campsite, I’ve grumbled about its bulk. Six or seven pounds doesn’t seem like much weight, but the strain of an unbalanced load adds up with each and every step.
Much more recently, as part of a general gear upgrade, I purchased an ultra light down-filled sleeping bag. It weighs just under two pounds and takes up about a quarter of the space of my traditional bag. The difference while hiking is striking and I bought far from the top of the line.
One item for which I did go top of the line is a self-inflating sleeping pad. I’d only ever used a simple foam pad before; the gulf between a military surplus ISOpad and a brand new Thermarest ProLite is vast. I am not exaggerating at all when I say that the new pad and new bag together have provided the best nights of sleep I have ever experienced in the field. The ProLite packs incredibly small, requiring less space even than the down bag. Weighing in at only one pound, you don’t even notice it’s there until you wake up rested and refreshed.
Next up on my load-lightening list is a new tent. One problem here is that most of my camping is with the family; any tent big enough for all of us is going to be pretty heavy no matter its material. A solution we’ve considered involves using multiple 2-person tents. The overall weight of two two-person tents is probably heavier than a single four-person tent (more poles and stakes), but the load can be split among multiple people.
Another piece of lightweight gear that I’ve come to depend on is my titanium mug. It weighs next to nothing but is both big enough to cook in and small enough to eat from. There are plenty of camp cookware sets on the market, but a single versatile and indestructible mug is for me a better choice.
One piece of modern gear that I have not embraced is the trekking pole.
I’ve always thought that a walking stick is a good idea. My walking stick is a 5-foot long former branch. I found it during one of my earliest trips to the Charles C. Deam Wilderness, and it has accompanied me on almost every journey I’ve taken since. I have used it to fend off dogs, carry equipment and to pull my tired self up hills.
Aluminum (or titanium) trekking poles are strong and light, and can be used as tent poles for some of the ultra light one-person shelters that are available. The problem is that every trekking pole I’ve ever put my hands on feels flimsy and too short. My head knows that probably they’re just as good, but my hand trusts wood more.
Lee Hadley is an outdoor enthusiast who has lived in Bloomington since 1993.
An ultralight down sleeping bag is in the left bag while a regular 10-year-old Kmart sleeping bag takes up more space to the right. Lee Hadley | Courtesy photo
