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To
be totally honest, in the beginning I did a horrible
job outfitting Yumi and myself. I was in such a hurry
to purchase gear that I didn't make the wisest choices.
If
I had to do it again I'd have never bought the MSR
Dragonfly---too heavy. This was taken care of on 3/26/2005
with the purchase of a new Pocket Rocket which has
served me well thus far. The Nalgene bottles, while
nice to use around town, should not have been taken
into the back country. In the future I will use soda
or Gatorade bottles instead. I gladly traded my mammoth
Kelty Redcloud for a Gregory Forester for a 2.3 lb.
weight reduction.
On
the positive side, we haven't carried anything that
we didn't need on our Glacier trip---with the exception
of carrying too much food and gas. The potential is
there to lighten our 5-6 day load by about 8 lbs.---not
including food. Not bad for newbies.
I've been a busy boy
this winter and spring. The Forester has been
replace by a Granite Gear Vapor Trail. The TNF Slickrock
won't be taken along as much since I went out and
got a Henry Shires Cloudburst 2 tarptent. Finally,
a new Hooded Aspen sleeping bag from Western Mountaineering
rounds out my big 3. For the first time in years I
find myself not perusing the web for gear. It's looking
like I can go under 30 lbs. total for a 6 night trip.
My pack weight including
water and food for my 5-night Glacier trip weighed
in at 34 lbs. I'm getting there. I could lose another
1.5 pounds buy purchasing a solo shelter, and another
half pound by switching to a down bag. I'm also toying
with eliminating a few other odds and ends which could
save another half-pound.
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