Great idea. I also like the Rod cases you can get from the Tenkara Bum website.

you know... has anyone had any luck with APEX insulation material? Its supposedly nearly as light/warm as down but does much better when wet and dries faster.

G8trwood - Last year I swapped out my 15 year old 7 pound REI pack for a newer Gregory pack at about 3 pounds. Its really freeing, isnt it?

Ive been curious on alcohol stoves myself. They are easily the lightest option for a trip that is 3 days or less by the time you factor in fuel weight. and, you dont carry extra fuel. Cool!

Majicwrench - it looks like you two know how to set up a camp kitchen! we always end up eating grits, or something even lower effort for breakfast.

food choices could be another whole discussion here. We tend to use instant oatmeal or grits for breakfast, ramen and mountain house for dinners, and sausage sticks, granola bars, chocolate bars, etc to fill in the gaps. bacon bits are a great trick for grits or instant macaroni. I also worked up a little vacuum sealed baggy full of seasoning for poaching the odd trout here or there though we normally dont eat non stocked fish.

I went on a 7 day trip as teenager where I only packed about 60% of the calories I needed. The first 3 days were some of the most miserable I can recall at the moment. luckily for me, one member had to bail out early and he gave me all of his food when he got off the trail. For about 10 years I never went backpacking again without a gross excess of food often packing more than 2x what I actually ate. eventually I got really serious about logging calories while backpacking and now I have a very good idea of how many calories Im likely to consume in given conditions at various activity levels. I pack a 20% calorie excess in the form of something really calorie dense (cal/oz) like granola bars. This practice has allowed me to carry a lot less weight over the last few years without being worried.

Nutrition is a big subject. In 2016 I had surgery on my esophagus to fix a swallowing issue, probably a complication from one of my spinal surgeries. It was unsuccessful and I ended up having to use a feeding tube for a few months.

I say that because in that situation you have to count every calorie and consider carefully where your nutrition comes from and what is in it. A hospital dietician prescribed a certain number for daily calories and protein.

I still have issues with most solid foods, and had to do some experimenting with what works. I got some advice from a PCT hiker who had survived throat cancer and been through something similar.

Anyway, that kind of discipline can help when planning backpacking meals.

BTW I use my excess partially-filled canisters that aren't full enough for backpacking trips on car-camping trips. If nothing else you can just burn off the fuel, then punch holes in them for recycling.

I think you can float the cannisters in water to eyeball how much gas is left, but I just carry an extra just in case.

Another use for the canister: the bottom of some fit directly over an Imusa cup from Walmart. Likely can be cut & made a nice Imusa lid once the gas is emptied (this is the cheapskate in me talking)

MagicMike: If you so the South San Juans in the Conejos watershed, there is a really good Nat Geo Trails Illustrated map covering that area

Lots of great info here! I have read this thread over a dozen times. I want to thank everyone who responded, I have learned a lot. I have been converted on the light weight tarp option. I did get to look at a friends Six Moon Lunar Duo explorer shelter, and it was very nice.

https://www.sixmoondesigns.com/products ... o-explorer

I did inherit an Osprey Aether 55, which felt comfortable. I even took a winter time hike with it on, loaded up with towels and canned food just to mimic some kind of load. Seemed comfortable and easy to adjust. Still working out the food portion of my trip as well as the sleeping bag and some of the camping/sleeping accoutrements. Thanks again for all who posted, I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread!

I'm aware that alcohol stoves can burn various types of alcohol, but thanks for that anyway.

Personally I prefer to minimize my exposure to methanol. Heet is almost pure methanol. You can buy Crown fuel at REI out here, but it is 65-75% methanol. The green kleen strip denatured is mostly ethanol, which why I prefer it. But CA apparently banned the sale of denatured alcohol in 2019, CARB regulations I guess.

I have a couple of older Osprey Aether 60's that I use for snow-camping and mountaineering, but they are both really old; 15 and 10 years past. The Aether series seems to have gotten heavier and heavier over the years, but I bought a new AG 65 a few years back for certain kinds of trips, like with a packraft, where I'm carrying the raft, a paddle and maybe a PFD in addition to everything else.

I like the Granite Gear Crown2 and Blaze 60 for a lot of my trips. I like the fact that they make them in short sizes, since my torso length is a bit too short for medium. In the summertime I sometimes use an Osprey Talon 44 for 2-3 days, but there I need to use a foam pad strapped to the back.

Always good to have another option. Buying denatured on ebay and shipping to CA is getting close to the cost of buying Everclear locally. I suppose I could just use something like Heet and wear gloves while pouring, too ...

I had the same problem with some of my old climbing packs on solo trips; my Bearikade Weekender just wouldn't fit (group purchase discount in 2002).

So I got a Bear Boxer Contender for short trips. It is a good bit narrower, and all I really need for 2-3 days. The locking mechanism is a little strange -- not the usual quarter-sized slots. I just use the tip of the nail file on my micro swiss army knife.