HikeArizona.COM

I've been researching various ultralight websites. I have been a traditionalist for years, still carry an external frame pack. I want to start with the backpack. I notice on Gossamer Gear's site that several of their items are not available right now. Also, their packs do not come in a small. I will have to measure myself to see if their med. will fit me.

I'll be getting a small lump sum in January (student disbursement--yes, I'm going back to school) and probably will start with a backpack. You guys can yell at me a bunch about your preferences, I'll take a look. Keep in mind I'm 5'2" and I must have most of the weight on my hips--no non-waistbelt packs work for me--I use a waist belt on the lightest daypack, in fact!

ULA seems a good way to go since their stuff is very available in several sizes and colors. Z gear is not available right now because the guy is on a thru-hike.

I think, in transitioning, I should start with the backpack and maybe the cook kit as well. My cooking stuff takes up a lot of room in my pack as I just grab a plastic bowl from the cupboard, a plastic cup. I have an MSR pocket rocket which is lighter and smaller than older stoves, but not as small and light as a soda can stove. I have an old aluminum pan. A relic for Te-wa's museum, along with my backpack, Svea stove, etc.

Good sleeping bags are expensive, so that will have to wait. As for the tent, I have a solo Big Agnes eVent, which weighs a little over 3 lbs. So that is another thing I will be looking at--a solo shelter. I would keep the eVent for bad weather trips, at least for the time being.

I will never buy another Big Agnes item because their customer service stinks.

azbackpackr wrote:and poles next

Forget the sales I can get you a pair of non matching Leki's for FREE. I lost one on Secret Mountain and one in Whetrock Canyon, enjoy!

Hey, awesome, Joe! I can pay for shipping if you'll mail them! I'm still using that pair of Swissgear poles from Walmart!

Do any of the women on here use the Golite Quest? (Or men for that matter.) There is one in my size at REI clearance right now for $120.

You have to fetch 'em ;)

azbackpackr wrote:Do any of the women on here use the Golite Quest? (Or men for that matter.) There is one in my size at REI clearance right now for $120.

That's the pack I swear by. Love it, love it, love it. Dragged it on the last fifteen or so of my bp trips, and I've never found it wanting. Took a dunkin' and kept stuff dry, took a fall and didn't disgorge contents, looked darned spanky dressed up as witchiepoo for Halloween. http://www.hikearizona.com/phoZOOM.php?ZIP=111830

Not too big, not too small. Cinches down to daypack size for trips from basecamp. AND it's reasonably priced. You can often find it online for around $100 - but the return policy at REI makes that price pretty sweet...

I just ordered one! Hope I like it. The last internal frame pack I bought was a Mountainsmith. It felt like a straitjacket, and I gave it to my daughter, who loves it. I've been using the same Adventure 16 Hiphugger frame since 1975. But it doesn't work well for anything but trails. Off-trail, scrambling, it is hell.

A really great website for looking for sales is http://www.spadout.com It compares prices at a lot of different outdoor stores, and you can even sign up for a notification for when the product you are looking for drops down to your price range.

Thanks!

I have the Golite Jam 2, It may be ok for an overnight. But if your wanting an actual hipbelt with functional suspension system I would go with the Granite Gear or Osprey. If I didn't get a killer deal on my Gregory Z55 pack I would have gotten the Osprey. I loved my first Gregory Z pack, used and abused it, like I said I got a great deal on the new one so it was like a $20 upgrade for me to get the new one after I sold my other one on Craigslist. I think the female zersion would be the Jade. It comes in small and XL.

You can't beat the Walmart Grease pot for lightweight and cheap. Antigravity gear has a good little cheap pot as well. I have a Snow Peak mini solo cookset, about $50 for the titanium one. All I do is boil water for meals and no cooking in pots as I hate cleaning. The pocket rocket is great for that, I want nothing to do with alcohol stoves. Some people like them, I don't.

The Quest is a bigger pack designed for thru hikes, multi weeks, etc. I thought the Jam looked too small.

I have an aluminum pot. What I need is some sort of cup and bowl thing that nests in the pot. I could look at other pots as well, but like my old one. I am big on tall coffee cups, even if what I actually use is a 12 oz plastic drinking glass. I like to wander around at 5 a.m. drinking my coffee, before anyone else is up. Dang thing with my bowl takes up too much room, though. Maybe what I really need is some new habits...

I live with a 750ml cup. Cook in it, eat out of it, and make my coffee before breakfast (and often after as well) in it. Toss my stove into it too. Nice space savings and unless I'm melting snow I'll never carry a pot again.

I really like the Orikaso folding mug. I use that for my coffee and one of those little red plastic cookset mugs for my oatmeal.

Ok, I got the Golite Quest backpack, clearance sale REI.
Replaced my boots, same kind as before (I am very hard to fit). They are a light hiker from New Balance: WW977, and they are available in narrow.

I am busier than a one-armed paper hanger right now, with two jobs and just started NAU online full schedule semester! I haven't even put my gear in the pack, but it looks big enough to hold my BA solo tent, my North Face sleeping bag and the rest of my crap. I just hope it doesn't ride down my butt in the back. I hate that feeling when I have carried internal frame packs in the past. Perhaps some of you are adjustment whizzes? I will try to find time on the weekend to put my whole kit and kaboodle, plus water and food, in the pack, and go for a hike.

Question: Have any of you actually PAID for "premium membership" on backpackinglight.com? I resist paying, just like I have resisted joining that trails.com or whatever it's called, that you have to pay for.

i dont pay for bpl. for one thing, its too easy for a member to copy an article to pdf and email it to me for free!
but the articles they have are not even near worth paying $15 or whatever that annual cost is.
HAZ is free, and I send paying members from bpl here all the time.. touche

I paid for one article, it cost way too much for what it was, and my access expired before I remembered to print it to pdf.. that was my bad, but the $$$ they charged for 30 days access was ridiculous.

azbackpackr wrote:ave any of you actually PAID for "premium membership" on backpackinglight.com?

I did for a while, but I let it lapse. I've been rethinking that.

For backpackinglight.com, initially you won't need it, if you ever do. All of the basic info for replacing some of your older gear to lighten your weight and enjoy the trails more are easily available for free on websites like this. Later on if necessary backpackinglight (BPL) has a lot of good stuff on not only gear but techniques and ideas of ways to keep the weight off your pack but for now I'd say you could just skip it

Yeah, I sort of don't want to pay for something I could just as easily find out for free! Wonder why that is? ;)

Finally, weekend here! I have to make sure I finish a bunch of homework for school, then will try out the pack!