As a new dad, I don’t know how much backpacking, if any, I’ll be able to pull off in 2021. As a substitute, I’m starting to look into trail running as a way to get out and see the sights without the time commitment of spending the night. However, I’ve still had my eye on a number of backpacking upgrades for theoretical future trips:
The Zpacks Arc Air 50L backpack is 532g in size medium/medium and constructed from Dyneema. Not only is it a jaw-dropping 321 grams lighter than my Osprey Levity 60L, it uses pre-curved stays to arch the pack away from your back, giving the same ventilation that the Levity does. That’s very exciting. What’s also exciting is that the Dyneema construction means it’s more or less waterproof, which may allow me to drop another 28g by leaving the liner at home (although Zpacks recommends against this). My only concern is whether the pockets are as good as the holster pockets, but I’m also not against carrying a water bottle on my right shoulder strap to balance out the weight of the camera on my left, making the pocket issue moot.
I think I can get away with the smaller pack by downsizing to a Gryphon Gear elephant’s foot quilt and pairing it with a Cumulus Incredilite Endurance down jacket. (345g) I’d like to get the Aries overstuffed so it’s a serious contender for 30F nights, but if that’s not the case then I could probably get by with an even lighter jacket (or just stick with my Ghost Whisperer).
The other thing I can downsize is my Therm-A-Rest ProLite Apex sleeping pad. I’ve tested it down to the low teens in my yard, and I’d never intentionally go backpacking anytime the weather was anywhere near as cold as that, so it’s safe to say I can switch to something a bit less burly. Those 732 grams could be replaced by, say, the regular ProLite, which weighs 510 grams and takes up a little less space to boot. Sadly, I’m still not interested in full-blown (and much lighter) inflatables since I find them so much less comfortable.
Professional guides use Aqua Mira drops (29g) for water treatment, as I learned first-hand in Escalante. Using a Buff as a strainer, this could mean dropping the 82g Vecto and 73g Sawyer Micro completely, and perhaps even leaving the 32g second water bottle, in favor of a single 42g Evernew 2L pouch.
Of course, not all upgrades are lighter. The newly-released and incredibly compact Fuji X-S10 camera includes image stabilization, something my older X-T20 does not. Since the vast majority of my pictures are taken hand-held rather than using a tripod, I expect it would yield a noticeable improvement. At 415g without battery or SD card (they’re the same ones in my current camera) it would be 79g heavier.
Total savings? Upwards of 580 grams* or a little over a pound and a quarter, which would bring my base weight down to around 14.6 pounds. Nice!
*the weight for the elephant’s foot quilt isn’t listed, so I’m omitting it