Lighten up! - ultralight camping gear

Lighten Up!

Ultralight camping gear will keep you dryer, warmer and won't weigh you down.

If you enjoy the fun, excitement and pleasure of an outdoor lifestyle, but don't like loading yourself down with overweight camping gear, take heart. Walking cross country, bikepacking, backpacking and touring other countries can be enhanced through the use of ultralight camping gear.

Ultralight camping gear is functional, comfortable equipment that can lighten packs by 50% or more, making treks through the woods or up a mountainside less of a chore. During the past decade, there have been significant technological advances in fabrics including the materials that go into the assortment of camping gear offered to the public. But fabrics aren't all. Metal supports have gone ultralight as well. Tents, backpacks, bicycles, sleeping bags, boots, stoves and all the gear needed to have a good time in the wilderness are possible with this new technology.

Typically, it is not impossible for a person to combine ultralight camping gear and have a weight reduction of 10 to 15 pounds. While 10 to 15 pounds may not make or break you, it certainly does make a difference on the trip. Less work means more endurance and the ability to go farther.

Does this weight reduction make the gear less reliable? I must admit that I was a bit skeptical myself. But after looking into ultralight camping gear, I found that the opposite is true. Not only is the gear lighter, but it is also more durable.

A traditional A-frame nylon tent, complete with fly and poles, will weigh between six and seven pounds. An ultralight tent like the Sierra Design's Flashlight II and North Face June Bug will weigh three pounds, nine ounces and four pounds, four ounces, respectively -- half the weight of a conventional tent.

With the same amount of floor space as the traditional A-frame tent, weight is saved through the use of lighter fabrics, poles (fiberglass or aluminum) and clever geodesic dome and trapezoid designs.

The skin of these fabrics offer high-tech advantages as well. Anyone who has camped in the traditional canvas tent has encountered the problem of interior dampness. Canvas cloth has to be dried out or the tent will stay damp and weigh more when folded up dry.

The ultralight fabric actually breathes while shunning the rain. Microscopic pores allow your body vapors to seep through the skin of the tent while raindrops are kept out.

This same kind of technology goes into other pieces of camping gear like the rainsuit.

The old-style rainsuits used to make you feel like you were in a sauna. They kept the rain out, but the inside retained perspiration. They were also heavy as well as bulky.

Enter the world of the Gore-Tex ultralight suit. A waterproof yet breathable membrane film, weighing about 13 ounces, the suit sheds water while allowing body vapors to escape.

Quite often cross country travelers would shy away from trekking around during the colder parts of the year simply because long johns were too hot. However, ultralight long johns of polypropylene, a strong woven fabric, not only allow body vapors to seep through, but dry quickly if they become wet. They never become too hot and are about half the weight of traditional long johns.

Sleeping bags and parkas have gone the same route. They are more water resistant, much lighter and warmer than conventional sleeping bags and parkas.

If you have ever had to sleep in a wet sleeping bag, you know how uncomfortable that experience can be. When Gore-Tex and other outside laminations are used, they are not only lighter, but waterproof as well. No more soggy nights, Sleeping bags weigh between two and four pounds, parkas from one to two.

As for cooking stoves and foods, you will find these have gone ultralight as well. Stoves can weigh as little as 15 ounces. Foods have lost weight because the water has been taken out. Dehydrated and freeze-dried foods are quite common and come in combinations that offer a diversified menu. Ultralight food suppliers offer complete dinners that weigh ounces instead of pounds.

Every time you trek into the great outdoors, you are taking chances with nature. The gear that is on your or in your backpack, decreases the risks because of its ability to keep out the elements and protect you better.

Ultralight camping gear is not inexpensive. The average investment in gear ranges from $300 to $600 for the entire outlay. That's about $200 to $400 more than you would normally expect to pay for camping gear.

But when you add the survival aspect to the price tag, ultralight camping gear is hard to beat. Just think of it as survival insurance and it becomes a worthwhile investment.

Richard Thomas Edwards is a freelance writer living in Westlake, Louisiana.

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