Does Ultralight Gear Must be Extremely-Costly?

Through the years, ultralight backpacking has garnered an unlucky status: obsessive, elitist, unsafe, prohibitively costly. Whereas we might debate the primary three (obsessive is the one one I’d personally cop to), the cost that ultralight backpacking is costlier is predicated on cherry-picking essentially the most excessive examples. 

Whilst you can spend a fairly penny on going ultralight because of spectacular light-weight supplies like carbon fiber, Extremely, and Dyneema, there’s additionally loads of reasonably priced ultralight backpacking gear on the market. That’s as a result of the spirit behind ultralight backpacking is solely: carry much less. So trimming down gear to simply the fundamentals is in the most effective curiosity of each your hike and your pockets.

Minimalism and Gasoline Station Hacks: Why Ultralight Backpacking Is Much less Costly than Conventional Backpacking

The primary ultralight backpackers had been dirtbags and hiker trash, and essentially the most critical ultralight backpackers at the moment are nonetheless dirtbags and hiker trash. These usually are not individuals with some huge cash; hell, plenty of these individuals don’t actually have a job. They usually can get away with this as a result of they preserve their bills to the barest minimal potential. One of the simplest ways to save cash ultralight backpacking is to simply purchase loads much less stuff.  

And that is nonetheless the easiest way to save cash and ounces when ultralight backpacking. REI may be promoting backpacking chairs, inflatable pillows, and a five-piece collapsible cookware set however that doesn’t imply you should purchase it. 

Ultralight backpackers are additionally endlessly discovering “hacks” that appear to be they had been pulled out of the dumpster behind a path city gasoline station. Trash compactor baggage as a substitute of pack liners. Disposable water bottles and plastic spoons as a substitute of Nalgenes or sporks. Whereas mountaineering the Colorado Path in 2017, I met a fastpacker who had simply picked up a pair of rubber dishwashing gloves that he swore had been lighter and hotter than any of the most effective mountaineering gloves. And I’m not going to guage, not when my favourite toothpaste for backpacking is baking soda. 

Dyneema and 900 Fill Energy Down: Why Some Ultralight Gear Will get Out of Hand

After all nobody is complaining about the price of toothpaste when they’re complaining about the price of ultralight backpacking. They’re complaining about the price of the big-ticket objects: backpacks, tents, and sleeping baggage. It’s straightforward to spend upwards of $1,000 on simply the massive three. You possibly can even spend $1,000 on considered one of this stuff: The three-person model of our favourite freestanding ultralight tent (the Zpacks Free Zip) is a cool $999.

Tents

Numerous the time, the wrongdoer with these big-ticket objects is the price of supplies. Take Dyneema, a well-liked material utilized in backpacking tents as a result of its mild weight and pure water resistance. It’s additionally ridiculously costly, to the tune of 4 to 6 instances the price of silnylon. A simple method to see how utilizing costly supplies like Dyneema impacts the value of a tent is to have a look at Dan Durston’s choices. His X-Mid 2 trekking pole tent, constituted of silnylon, will value you $270. The X-Mid 2 Professional, constituted of Dyneema however with the identical tent geometry, prices $640. Oh, you wished the ground constituted of Dyneema, too? That’ll be an additional $100. 

For an additional $400, you possibly can minimize the burden of your tent in half. Per Durston, the X-Mid 2 weighs 2 kilos, 6.4 ounces, whereas the X-Mid 2 Professional weighs 1 pound, 5 ounces. Ultralight backpackers who’re obsessive about weight financial savings will see $400 for 1 pound, 1.4 ounces to be an absolute steal; everybody else thinks they’re lunatics. 

However what will get misplaced in all of that is that Durston’s X-Mid 2 is an superior purchase. Particularly in comparison with how a lot you will spend (and the way a lot weight you will carry) in the event you roll into an enormous field retailer and plunk down your bank card. Take for instance, the Large Agnes Copper Spur. A superb tent, which tops the bestselling record at REI within the two-person class. This tent retails at $530 and weighs 3 kilos, 2 ounces. Issues are just a little higher (or worse, relying in your perspective) over at Cabela’s, the place essentially the most reviewed backpacking tent is the Marmot Tungsten. This one squeaks out the X-Mid 2 worth level by coming in at $240, however weighs 5 kilos, 14.2 ounces. That’s attending to a weight that even essentially the most staunchly conventional backpackers received’t carry it. 

Value-Efficient Ultralight Tents 

Gossamer Gear

Tarptent

Six Moon Designs

Durston

Sleeping Baggage

The price of supplies problem is much more dire with the most effective ultralight sleeping baggage. As mentioned in our deep dive on Primaloft vs Down, the price of typical 550 to 650 fill energy down fluctuates with the demand for duck and goose meat in China. That’s as a result of so little down is produced from a person duck that nobody would elevate them only for the down. However the greater high quality down — the 800 or 900 fill energy down — is much more elusive.

This down solely comes from older geese, properly previous the age that geese raised primarily for its meat would reside to. Larger fill energy down comes from geese which might be saved for breeding or raised for foie gras. A fast observe on moral concerns: Due to the potential for mistreatment of the animals by way of both force-feeding or reside plucking, it’s necessary to search for down merchandise which might be licensed by the Accountable Down Customary (RDS). 

Because of the rarity of high quality down, ultralight sleeping bag costs can get uncontrolled — $600 is fairly normal, which is nuts. In our overview of the finest backpacking sleeping baggage, the comparatively cost-effective 800 fill-power Therm-a-Relaxation Parsec is $470, whereas the 550 fill-power Kelty Cosmic Down is $160. However the distinction in weight between the 550 fill energy down sleeping bag and a 800 fill energy down sleeping bag can also be fairly vital. The Parsec is 1 pound, 12 ounces, whereas the Cosmic Down is 2 kilos, 7 ounces. 

And that is why most ultralight backpackers don’t use ultralight sleeping baggage — they use backpacking quilts. As a result of quilts don’t have any down on the underside, they’re sometimes cheaper than full-blown sleeping baggage. As with all issues ultralight, the concept right here is to ruthlessly trim inefficiencies: 900 fill energy down that your physique is sleeping on high of can’t loft, so that you don’t want it. (You do want an R-rated backpacking sleeping pad acceptable on your circumstances, however you wanted that anyway.)

Learn Subsequent: What’s R Worth? It’s Why Your Sleeping Bag Doesn’t Preserve You Heat

You possibly can see the financial savings right here even in a extra excessive ultralight model like Zpacks. Their 900 fill-power hoodless sleeping bag is $480, whereas their 900 fill-power quilt is $400. Ultralight quilt mainstay Enlightened Tools takes it one step farther: They not solely allow you to select between a $345 850 fill-power quilt and a $420 950 fill-power quilt (weight financial savings of rather less than 2 ounces) however you may as well go for a $220 artificial quilt that solely weighs 2 kilos, 1 ounce. 

Value-Efficient Ultralight Sleeping Baggage and Quilts 

Enlightened Tools

Outside Vitals

Hammock Gear

Backpacks

This one is simple: plenty of traditional-style backpacking backpacks are heavy and no cheaper than their ultralight counterparts. The likes of the 5.5-pound Thriller Ranch Bridger and the 4.5-pound Osprey Atmos value $375 and $340 respectively. A 2.5-pound ULA Circuit in Robic prices $300. And even when the value factors do begin to get just a little excessive, the wrongdoer is often expensive supplies — on this case, extra Dyneema and a more moderen material known as Extremely. 

Value-Efficient Ultralight Backpacks

Gossamer Gear

Durston

Granite Gear

Value Comparability Desk 

Nonetheless don’t consider me? Let’s check out the bestselling large three from REI and examine them to the highest picks from the finest backpacking tents, finest backpacking backpacks, and finest backpacking quilts. 

Remaining Ideas

The trope that ultralight gear is ultra-expensive is previous and drained. Some supplies, like Dyneema and excessive fill energy down, are costly. Many of the gear by a lot of the cottage firms is considerably cheaper than typical backpacking gear. Don’t shrink back from lightening your load (and mountaineering farther) with reasonably priced ultralight backpacking gear.