Gear to Lighten your Load on a Budget! - Part 4

hey guys it's Darwin and it's been almost three years but I'm finally back with more gear to lighten your load without breaking the bank all right so it has been quite some time since I've done one of these videos November 2nd 2017 to be exact and a lot has changed since I put out that last video I've hiked a bunch of different trails I have used a ton of different gear in the field but still to this day this is probably the most requested video to bring back that I get from you guys so why did it take almost three years to make another one of these videos well personally over those past three years I have started using a lot of cottage company gear I personally like buying stuff that's made in the US that can be custom made for me and stuff that is made by hikers cottage company gears are just a part of the long distance hiking community usually started by some sort of a long-distance hiker and I just like to support that that being said I understand that some of that cottage company gear can be quite expensive and people that are just getting into backpacking or trying to lower their base weight because maybe they're gonna go do their first long-distance hike don't want to invest that much money right off the bat and you want budget options so because next week I'll be putting out my full gear list of everything that I'll be using on the trail this year in 2020 I thought now was a perfect time to bring this video series back and show you guys some budget alternatives to what I carry now real quick before we jump into the video and before I show you next week's gear list I want to let you guys know that for 2020 and going forward I'm changing how I do my gear reviews so as I'm sure you guys know as I've said a ton of times I've never been sponsored by a gear company I've never done a paid video however companies do send me free gear from time to time now usually there's no strings attached and if I want to review it I review it if I don't I don't but I do keep that gear cuz most of the times companies just don't want your stinky nasty gear back well going forward from 2020 and on I plan to send every piece of gear that a company sends me back to the company and anything that I plan on keeping and can continuing to use in the field I'm paying for at full price you see for me I really want to stand behind the things that I believe in if I'm talking about a piece of gear that I really love it and I want to continue to use it I want to love it enough to be able to pay for it at full price so all the gear in today's video all the gear in next week's video I've paid for at full price alright so the first piece of budget gear that I have for you guys is one that I got a ton of requests for over the years and that is a pack now the pack that I carry on the trail and what I'll use all of 2020 is the way mark evolve is a frameless 35 litre roll top pack that has a one-inch removable hip belt it's made out of a VX o 7 X pack material it's made in the US up in Utah and the weight comes in at 15 ounces now again it's a super simplistic pack it's only 35 liters it has a main pocket on the outside two side pockets and it's pretty stripped down the price of the Evolve is $200 so if you're just getting into ultralight hiking if you're wanting a simplistic pack that doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles I found this guy on Amazon which is the 3f ul tooter 38 so it's very similar to the packs that I carry it is a frameless pack it has a big pocket on the outside two pockets on the side it has a cinch top that's super simplistic just a top loaded pack but it does have a padded hip belt and it also has a padded back panel so it has kind of a an ass pad in the back that you can take out and use as an ass pad as well it's made out of a grid stop material that's very similar to some of the Zi packs Hall packs and the weight on it comes in at 20 ounces so a 38 liter pack for 20 ounces is pretty decent it's 5 ounces more than the pack that I carry and the price on this bad boy is a hundred and seven dollars so if you're just getting into ultralight hiking if you're trying to get that base weight down do you want to try a frameless simplistic pack this would be a really good option now I've taken it out a couple times on the trail just kind of for some day hikes but I have fully loaded it down and it definitely has its quirks it has some weird things that honestly if I was gonna buy it I would probably alter like it has this crazy long leash that uh that straps the top down it has a cinch which I'm not a big fan of on the top versus a roll and I'm not a big fan of the shoulder straps so the shoulder straps as you can see are actually really really close together so I feel like over time that would kind of eat into my neck now if you don't have a big thick neck like me that might not be too terrible of a problem but again if you're just getting in to ultralight hiking if you're trying to maybe do some longer distance stuff where you don't want to pack with a lot of bells and whistles the 3 F ul Tudor 38 would be a great option to start out with alright next up is something that is really important to me on trail and should be important to a lot of people and that is a sleeping pad a good sleeping pad can promote very good sleep on the trail which will make you feel better in the morning to put in those miles now the sleeping pad that I've been using for basically the last five years is the therm-a-rest NeoAir X light this is my favorite pad you guys have seen this in a ton of my videos this is a large so it's nice and wide nice and long and it comes in at 16 ounces but being one of the most expensive sleeping pads probably on the market it does cost $200 and if you're not wanting to invest that much just getting in to hiking I found another option on Amazon that I'm actually pretty impressed with which is the trek ecology ultralight sleeping pad this thing is actually decently long decently wide enough for me anyway it is really thick it's between three and four inches thick and it only weighs twenty point seven ounces for the pad now it does come with a stuff sack and like a pump sack but if you're just carrying the pad twenty point seven ounces is what four ounces for point seven ounces heavier than my two hundred dollar pad and speaking of cost this thing is only $30 over on Amazon now the disclaimer to that and the caveat to that is I could not find an hour value rating on this pad when I bought it so as far as its warmth how warm it will keep you in low temps especially if you're using something like a quilt I can't speak to that but at thirty bucks for twenty point seven ounces for a really comfy pad this would be a great option to get you started all right the next piece of budget gear that I have for you is something that I'll be basically living in over the next two months because I'll be on a really wet trail and that is a rain jacket now over the years I've suggested a handful of rain jackets and I even had an ultralight budget option in my last video that honestly wasn't that great well the rain jacket that I typically use and what I've been using for quite some time is the Z packs Bertus jacket it has Pitts vents a hood packs away in its own pocket and a medium comes in at 5.6 ounces honestly this is the best rain jacket I've ever used it takes a really long time to wet this guy out and it's been super dependable that being said it's crazy expensive and this thing costs me two hundred and sixty dollars now I think that that's worth it but again I'm hiking thousands of miles every year but if you're just going out for the weekend if you don't want to really invest that much money in a rain jacket I found this on Amazon which is the Frog togs extreme white now frog togs has been making rain jackets for a long time and you'll see a lot of people wearing the regular frog togs jacket as an ultralight gear option the only problem with those jackets is they do kind of start ripping after not so many miles I know people that have only put like 500 miles on them until they just started shredding so the Frog tugs extreme light jacket is made out of a little bit of a thicker material and it has some nicer options it does have velcro cuffs it has a cinch at the bottom and a really nice velcroed hood and a medium only weighs seven point four ounces so for a budget rain jacket you can basically pick up at Walmart or on Amazon it's pretty insanely light and the price comes in at $40 so again I really really really really love my virtus rain jacket because it's been so dependable and it's just been good to me in the field but if you can't swing that high price tag this would be a really good option for 40 bucks all right the next piece of gear is something that everyone should be carrying on the trail at this point and that is a trowel or poop shovel this is my tent Labs deuce of spades trowel practice good Leave No Trace people dig a proper cat hole carry a trowel this thing only weighs point six ounces and it only cost $20 so $20 is already pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things but if you're one of those people are like 20 bucks for a little shovel but I can just do with a stick fine I hear ya I found this guy which is the UST you dig it and it only cost $10 and it weighs the exact same amount as this guy they're basically the same trowel they have a little bit of a different cut but uh aside from that they both weigh the same this cost half the price of this so please pick one of these up please practice good Leave No Trace when you're in the field and dig a proper cat hole for your crap it's only ten dollars all right guys the last piece of budget gear that I have for you this time around is a tent now the tent that I'm gonna be carrying this year and the tent that I really really love and kind of considering it my perfect tint is the Z pax Alta Plex it is a one-person DCF tent that uses one trekking pole to set it up it's fully enclosed has a huge bathtub and it only weighs 15.5 ounces now for me this is basically a perfect tent it's nice and long it's nice and tall really easy to set up but it's expensive and this thing cost me 585 bucks Wow so if you're just getting into hiking if you're not wanting to spend that much money on something that one you might not really use all the time to you might not even like it you know you might get it in a tent and decide that your hammock person or a tarp person and you don't want a full-on tent I found a decent budget option it's actually a tent that people have been asking me to check out and review and give my opinion about for years and that is the land Shan ul one I'm sure a ton of you guys have heard about this tent at this point but ever since I put out that last video this became popular first with deland shan UL 2 and now the one so just like my z packs tents it uses one trekking pole it's fully enclosed it has a bathtub one door and a vestibule and this thing is actually double wall which means that the netting and the tarp are completely separate it's made out of some sort of rip stop material it obviously packs down pretty small and in only weighs one pound 13 ounces which is light it's still heavier than the tent that I carry but for its weight it only cost a hundred and twenty dollars so not bad again if you're just looking at getting into hiking trying to drop your base weight maybe get something as smaller better pack ability that fits in your pack this would be a really good option to get you started now personally this tent wouldn't work for me because it's just not long enough I'm 6 1 so I do require a longer tent which is why I go with the Ulta plex but if you're like 511 if you only got 120 bucks to spend this would be a really great option and I guess for everyone that's been asking what my opinion is on these tents again I would personally rather buy cottage company gear I need something obviously that's longer I want something that's made out of DCF but if you're just getting in to ultralight hiking and you're wanting to try it one person one trekking pole tent the land Shan UL one would be a great option alright guys so hopefully this video gives you a few budget alternatives to some of the gear that I carry and some of the gear that other people carry that have been doing this for a little bit longer keep in mind that I hike thousands of miles every year and at this point it's basically like a job for me so I'm willing to invest that extra money in the cottage company gear in the lighter weight gear and stuff that I know that I can get custom-made for me but if you're just starting to get into it if you're just starting to dabble a little bit in getting that base weight down hopefully some of this gear can help you get your base weight down out breaking the bank like I said next week I'll be dropping my 2020 gear list of what I'll be using on my section hike of the 80 my through hike of the Great Divide Trail and my through hike at the Colorado trail so keep an eye out for that so have you personally used any of the gear that I showed in today's video do you have any opinions about it has it worked out for you do you have any other budget options for everybody out there that's looking to lower their base weight leave us something down below and let us know your thoughts 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 [Music] you

Channel: Darwin onthetrail

Views: 295,786

Rating: 4.9288869 out of 5

Keywords: UL Backpacking, UL Hiking Gear, UL Hiking, Backpacking Gear, Budget Gear, Appalachian Trail, AT Thru Hike, PCT Thru Hike, Pacific Crest Trail, Gear Review, Lanshan UL 1, Zpacks, Backpacking, Hiking, Adventure, Hiker Trash, Long Distance Hiking

Id: 9O2um1ThLY4

Length: 15min 46sec (946 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 12 2020