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Just realized ultralight is not for me after my buddy's knee blew out on the Art Loeb
I've been slowly buying into the ultralight thing for like 2 years, trimming my base weight down to 11 lbs and feeling pretty smug about it. Then last weekend my buddy Dave and I did the Art Loeb Trail over 3 days and his knee gave out around mile 14 on day 2. He was carrying maybe 18 lbs and I was at 12, and I still had to take a bunch of his gear just to get us to the next camp. We ran into this older guy near Shining Rock who looked at our packs and just said "light is nice till somebody's hurt, then light is just lonely." That hit me harder than it should have. I've been skipping the extra fuel, the real first aid kit, and the backup layer to save ounces, and I never once thought about what happens when the plan breaks. Now I'm wondering if I've been packing for the hike I want instead of the hike I might actually get. How do you all balance going light with having enough to help someone else out there?
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stella_baker27d ago
Why would you leave the first aid kit at home? That weighs almost nothing and it's the one thing you can't improvise out there. I'll drop ounces on my cook kit all day but not on stuff that keeps somebody walking.
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grant.sam27d ago
My buddy tore his knee up on the Eagle Rock loop two springs back, six miles from the trailhead, and the thing that saved the trip was four ibuprofen and a roll of athletic tape from a kit that weighed eight ounces. You can't whittle a splint out of a stick when the guy needs to get down the hill before dark. The part people sleep on is that a first aid kit isn't just for you either, half the stuff I've handed out over the years went to total strangers who showed up unprepared. So yeah, the cook kit can go if you want cold oats, but trading away the one bag of stuff that keeps a bad day from turning into a rescue is a dumb bet.
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