My wife and I went on a hike to Bomber Mountain in the Bighorns over Labor Day weekend, and we wound up losing one pair of expensive sunglasses and breaking another one. But we also realized our camping gear needs a major overhaul.
Most people who spend a lot of time under a backpack will tell you your pack should never be more than about 20 percent of your body weight. That’s all well and good, as long as you have gear that fits in that window. But my tent and sleeping bag alone make up about half of that amount. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for clothes, cooking gear and food, let alone beer and other things that make your time in camp more enjoyable.
So I’ve already started looking for some new gear. I could cut my pack weight by close to 20 pounds with just two new items – a tent and a sleeping bag. I’ve got my eye on the Mountain Star tent and Super Down 15-degree sleeping bag, both made by Kuiu. All that stands in my way is money. Neither of these items is cheap. The tent, with the carbon fiber poles, is $500. And the sleeping bag, because I need the “long” version, is $659. But that $1,159 investment would represent a total of 12.6 fewer pounds than my current tent and sleeping bag combo. That leaves me 32.4 pounds for other gear, like the camp stove, fishing gear, dry clothes, and more importantly, food, to still stay within the 20 percent threshold of my body weight.
The only trick is to convince my wife that the expense is worth it. Maybe next time we take a hike, I’ll find a way to convince her to carry the tent. Maybe if she has to carry the tent, we’ll at least be able to get the Kuiu tent for our next outing.
