119bowhunter
Member
If you were going to spend the money to upgrade one item in your backcountry camping or hunting kit to conserve space in your pack what would it be?
Best Space Saving Upgrade?
- Thread starter 119bowhunter
- Start date
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Deleted member 28227
Guest
Depends on what gear you currently have... the best way to save space is probably to cull a few items from your kit, but to answer your question my biggest space saver was my sleeping pad. My thermarest neoair xtherm is about half the size of my old prolite pad.
Other possible upgrades:
Stove MSR pocket rocket, way smaller than jet boil
Tent either a tipi, bivy, on one like the MSR hubba hubba that you can set up with just fly and poles
Down jacket and rain gear instead of a soft shell or fleece
Other possible upgrades:
Stove MSR pocket rocket, way smaller than jet boil
Tent either a tipi, bivy, on one like the MSR hubba hubba that you can set up with just fly and poles
Down jacket and rain gear instead of a soft shell or fleece
I'll second the sleeping pad. The new ones are unbelievably light and small, but can still be thick and warm. I use a sea to summit insulated during hunting season (uninsulated during summer). I've definitely noticed the boost in warmth with the insulated version. Other than a single piece of gear, simply being realistic with what you NEED is important. It's way too easy to bring an extra jacket, lots of extra food or a warmer sleeping bag than necessary.
MVRK28
Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2018
- Messages
- 98
The best thing I've done for space was to stop rolling up my sleeping pad. I run a Thermarest Prolite Plus and i just fold it to half the length and width of the pad. I lay it on top of the other items in my icon pro 5200 and zip the pack closed. Saves me tons of room.
119bowhunter
Member
Sleeping pad seems to be a big one then...MVRK28 I also have a Prolite Plus, I'll have to try your method...never thought about that...I figured for my purposes switching from a synthetic bag to a down bag would be one area I could improve but not sure how much room it would actually save me...I was just curious to see ways other people make more room
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Deleted member 16014
Guest
Sleeping pad, insulation, and how you package your food are big.
MVRK28
Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2018
- Messages
- 98
Switching to a down bag saved me tons of room. But then again my synthetic was from big 5, I paid like $20 for it and never even used it. Figured my wife could use it on a camping trip. Then down bag gets at least 50% smaller.
Other space saving things I’ve done:
Vac seal all mountain houses (I carry one or two bags to cook with)
Food goes in a Kuiu small zip up game bag which gets lashed to the frame inside my pack.
Tent is broken down and folded up in to manageable sizes and then I lay the mesh body and fly on top of the food bag and use the internal lashing straps on my icon pro 5200 to secure/compress.
My alps down bag goes in the bottom of my pack, I typically lay my pad on top the tent, the clothes go in the top of the bag above the tent/food. I usually lay my thermarest z seat on top of my clothes bag and my camp shoes on top of the z seat.
I think having a pack with good use of space and we’ll thought out pockets is a big plus for space saving.
I think with the icon pro I could probably make do with a 4200(if they made that size) if it had the same pocket setup and internal lashing like my 5200.
OhHeyThereBen
Active member
Sleeping back upgrade to down saved me a ton of space inside my pack. Sleeping pad after that I'd say. You can pare down what you bring with, but I don't think that's what you're asking.
trasko
Member
I've got nothing new to add. The cheapest way is to bring less. The expensive way is buying the high-tech stuff (down, new-style air mattresses, UL/floorlesss tents). My biggest gain in recent history was going from a 0F syn. bag to 20F 850 fill down bag. It's lighter and probably 1/3rd the volume.
Bluejeep
Active member
I switched from a 3 person Coleman dome tent (all I had at the time) to a Kifaru Supertarp with the amex. Its smaller, lighter, packs easier and is way more versital. With it being floorless i can cook inside it and when money permits, i can even put in a backpacking stove to heat it up during the cold months.
