Gear to Lighten your Load on a Budget! - Part 2

hey guys it's Darwin here with more backpacking gear to help you get ultralight without breaking the bank [Music] [Applause] so not too long ago I made a video called ultralight gear on a budget showing you guys some gear that I found to help you get your pack weight down without spending too much money and the video got really good response you guys loved it I loved doing it so I figured I would make a part 2 and show you some more gear that you can pick up on the cheap to help you start doing ultralight backpacking now as I said in the last video there's tons of great gear out there and obviously there's better options than what I'm going to show you today but if you're just looking at getting into it and don't want to invest too much capital these are definitely great options to help you get started alright so in that last video I showed you an awesome little stove called the BRS ultralight I really love this guy you guys loved it so obviously just a stove is not going to be a complete cook system you also need a cook pot cup pan something to put on here to cook your food now the cook pot that I've use for a better part of two years is the Snow Peak 700 titanium mug I absolutely love this piece of gear it goes with me just about everywhere even when I'm going stove 'less it's lightweight and it's more than enough room for what I need to cook on the trail now the 700 weighs in at three point two ounces and that's without a stuff sack or lid and they're typically going to run you about $45 now the pot that snuggles uses is the Snow Peak 600 titanium mug which is a little bit smaller than mine and these guys weigh in 2.8 ounces and you can typically find them for about $35 now again more than she'll ever need because most of the time on the trail I'd say about 90% of the time we're only boiling two cups of water so 90% of the time we're just boiling water we're not really cooking anything in the pot so even though these Snow Peak mugs are great there's a little bit cheaper alternative on the market and that is the coax 550 titanium cook pot now the tokes 550 is 2.8 ounces and get this they're only $25 over on amazon.com now that's two point eight ounces without the lid and without the stuff sack that they do come with and the mugs volume is 19 point four ounces which is more than enough to boil those two cups of water now if you feel like the 550 might be a little bit too small for you they also make the 750 and it weighs in at three point nine ounces now that's three point nine ounces with the lid and the stuff set and the 750 is going to run you thirty five dollars so you can get a 750 milliliter mug for the same price that you can get the snow-peak 600 so definitely cheaper and a great way to get ultra lite now if you get the topes 550 mug and the BRS ultralight stove that's a complete Cooke system that only weighs in at 3.7 ounces and is only going to cost you forty one dollars so a complete ultralight backpacking cook system for only forty-one dollars you can't beat that okay so next up is a Sleep System so again in the last video I showed you an awesome sleeping pad called the outdoorsman lab gear ultralight sleeping pad a killer budget ultralight sleeping pad that won't break the bank but obviously you need something to cover yourself up when you're laying on the pad and there's tons of great ultralight sleeping bags and quilts on the market but obviously they're going to be super pricey now one of the ways a lot of hikers and backpackers are lowering their base weight is switching from a traditional mummy bag to a quilt obviously because they weigh less because they don't have a back on them they don't have a hood on them but they still do an awesome job and last year I did the same switching from a traditional mummy bag to an awesome down quote and I used the enlightened equipment revelation quilt a super amazing quilt and I'll never go back to sleeping bags however they can be quite pricey now the enlightened equipment quotes are super customizable and made to order but they're going to start at two hundred and fifty five dollars and that's for a 30-degree quilt and that 30-degree quote is going to weigh in right at sixteen point five ounces so not too shabby for an ultralight quilt 255 bucks but what if you don't want to invest that much money in your sleep system scouring the internet Amazon and eBay I found this guy which is the aegis max ultralight down quilt slash sleeping bag and this thing is awesome just like that enlightened equipment base revelation quote it's a 30 degree bag 800 fill goose down it weighs 16 ounces so it's actually lighter and that 16 ounces with this awesome little stuff compression sack it's made of a 20 D SIL nylon and are you ready for this they're only 73 dollars over on amazon.com so $73 for a 16 ounce 30 degree down quote amazing now when I first got this guy I was kind of on the fence thinking there's no way this is going to be good at all there's no way it's actually going to be warm or be comfortable this thing has surprised the hell out of me I've used it a handful of times now and I absolutely love it super comfortable it keeps you super warm and it has a ton of awesome options now unlike my revelation quilt it does have a zipper so you can either leave that zipper open and make it a quilt or you can zip it up to make it a little bit more like a mummy bag however it does not have a hood on it so it's much more like a quilt but again it's 16 ounces for $73 you cannot beat this guy you take the ages max ultralight quilt and you pair it with that outdoorsman lab sleeping pad you have a full sleep system only weighs one pound 15 ounces one pound 15 ounces for an awesome sleep system that's going to get you through most conditions and the best part about it is that system is only going to cost you a hundred and twenty-one dollars he'll the sleeping pad that I use was like a hundred and thirty bucks so a full sweep system cheaper than what I bought my day of sleeping pad for not too shabby if you're just getting into ultralight backpacking all right so the next one that I have for you is actually one that I got a lot of requests for and that is a shelter so there's obviously tons of different ultralight options that you can get a shelter you can just use a tarp and make some sort of a tarp tent you can use a hammock and there's tons of different tents out on the market all the way from the tent that snuggles and I carried in 2015 and 16 on the 80 which is the Big Agnes copper spur ul 2 which is an awesome tent if you have two people I'd suggest checking that out to the tint that I'm carrying now and we'll be caring for my hike of the PCT next year which is the Z packs duplex ultralight cuben fiber tent the most amazing tent I've ever owned but that tent is super super expensive costing over $500 so there's a lot of people out there that aren't as crazy as me and aren't going to invest that type of money in a shelter so what's a decent budget ultralight tent now a super popular tent that a lot of thru-hikers use on the 80 and on the PCT is the Big Agnes Fly Creek ul 1 it's a freestanding tent weighing in at 2 pounds 2 ounces which is incredible because it comes with poles it comes with stakes a fly a tent everything you need awesome tent super dependable super well-made and a lot of hikers use that but even that tent is going to cost you anywhere from 250 bucks to $300 which is also pretty damn pricey now again I highly suggest that tent if you had that type of a budget and you're wanting a great one person tent but an awesome alternative to that tent is this one which is the gear top ultralight one person tent now unlike the Fly Creek this is not a free standing tent it does use trekking poles which is what I actually prefer I love having a piece of gear that utilizes another piece of gear so I have things with dual purposes it tends to have a little bit more room than the Fly Creek though because it has a double vestibule it's made of a 20d sill nylon and the coolest thing about this tent is it comes in two separate pieces so you can either use it as a tent with a fly on top of it or you can ditch the tent and you can set it up just as a tarp tent which is super super cool now when you get this guy it comes with the tent it comes with the fly the stuff sack and all the stakes and guidelines that you need to set it up and it weighs in two pounds six ounces so two pounds six ounces is not too terrible and the best part about it is it only cost $100 so $100 for just over two pounds of a tent that's super versatile that has double vestibules that utilizes your trekking poles this guy is pretty some for the price now I spend a little bit of time setting it up and playing with it and so far I like it quite a bit now obviously coming from my Z packs duplex it's a little bit heavy for me and it's a little bit overkill for me but if you are trying to get into ultralight backpacking on a budget this would be a great first tent to pick up just to try it just to see if you like it and then as you continue and progress as an ultralight backpacker you can ditch this guy and get a little bit nicer of a tent but again 100 bucks for just over 2 pounds you kind of can't beat that alright and last but not least if you are going to be using this tent or the z-pak extent you need some sort of way to set it up or maybe you just need some really good trekking poles but trekking poles so the trekking pole that I use is the Black Diamond ergo carbon cork I love these things love them for a handful of different reasons they're made of carbon so they're only weighing in at 18 ounces for the pair they have dual flick locks which I love I can't stand barrel locks and they have cork grips which is a must-have for me because the cork actually absorbs sweat so you're not getting sweaty palms and getting blisters while you're hiking all day long now as much as I do love these guys they are quite expensive and they're typically going to cost you about a hundred and sixty dollars now sometimes you can find them a little bit cheaper and obviously there are some better options you don't have to go carbon you can go with aluminium and cut that weight down but a good trekking pole is typically going to cost you between 100 and 180 dollars so again if you're just getting into ultralight backpacking and don't want to make that investment there's another really great option on the market it's super similar to that trekking pole and that's the Cascade Mountain carbon quick lock just like the Black Diamond that have a dual flick lock they're completely made of carbon and they have the cork handle so super similar to my Black Diamond trekking poles the pair weighs in at only 15.6 ounces which is lighter than my trekking pole and they're only $45 for the pair so 45 bucks for a pair of trekking poles that's super similar to mine and they weigh less now I have personally never used those trucking poles but I know a lot of people that have tried them and are absolutely loving them now they're going to have the type of warranty and craftsmanship that the Black Diamond have no probably not but again if you're aspiring to be an ultra-light backpacker and you don't have all that move out a drop on some super fancy expensive poles definitely check those out so I really love doing these budget gear videos you guys love them I'm able to find out some new awesome gear and share them with you so you can get out on the trail get ultra Lite and get more into backpacking so I'm going to be doing a lot more of these in the future what are some pieces of gear that you want to see me review and talk about lead your suggestions in the comment box below if you haven't had a chance yet go over and check me out on Instagram I'm posting a lot of new photos of some of the things that snuggles and I have going on throughout the week plus some pictures from some past hikes so go check those out if you found any value in this video go ahead and hit that like button subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and as always guys thanks for watching you you

Channel: Darwin onthetrail

Views: 518,215

Keywords: Appalachian Trail, AT, Thru-Hike, AT Thru-Hike, UL Backpacking Gear, Backpacking, Hiking, Camping, Adventure, Hiker Trash, PCT, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT Thru-Hike, CDT, AZT, Arizona Trail, Section Hike, Long Distance Hike, SnowPeak 700, BRS UL Stove, Budget Gear, Toaks 550, Black Diamond Ergo Cork, Enlightend Equipment Revelation Quilt

Id: 5ZVZ_QplWE0

Length: 12min 55sec (775 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 27 2017