Big 3

For a thru-hiker, major weight savings can be had with the "Big 3". The Big 3 is comprised of the three heaviest items in an ultralighter's pack: sleeping bag, tent, and backpack.

This past week, I've made a change to two of my Big 3, and have trimmed just shy of 2 POUNDS off my base weight. That's HUGE! Here is a break down of my Big 3:

Sleeping bag:

Western Mountaineering Ultralight 20 Degree.

Weight: 30.1oz (with stuff sack)

I haven't changed my sleeping bag choice very much. I originally thought about a Marmot 15 degree bag that weighed around 38oz. But the Western Mountaineering bag is about a half pound lighter and is one of the lightest 20 degree bags out there.

I haven't done a TON of research on sleeping bags, because I found this to be one of the most popular sleeping bags. But you never know, I could very easily find another bag that would save me some oz.....




Tent:

ZPacks Hexamid

Weight: 11.3oz (with stakes)

I discussed tents in my last post. So lets just say that this was one of the 2 items I bought in the last week and allowed me to shave a pound over the last tent I planned on using.

Backpack:

I originally wanted to go with my Osprey Exos 58 liter pack. Its weight was around 36oz after I did a good amount of trimming of extra straps and the top.

But after some research, I found the Gossamer Gear Mariposa Plus. Weight: 20.5oz. Once again, I took a pound off of my base weight.

Big companies like Osprey don't necessarily make the lightest gear. Companies like Zpacks and Gossamer Gear were founded by previous thru-hikers who wanted a more ultralight version of the gear that the big companies produce. So the gear they make are perfect for me because they are designed specifically for ultralight thru-hiking. These companies are so small that they are mostly based out of the founder's garages.

I ordered this pack the other day a it comes in a few days. I plan to try it out on a hike this weekend.




The weight of my Big 3 is a total of 62oz (or 3lbs 14oz). This fits right in the range of an "ultralight" hiker.