Packing Lists

January 15, 2007 |

I was recently trying to find my packing/gear list and I eventually did, but I figured it might be interesting to readers of mike-warren.com and would have the useful side-effect of being easier for me to find.

General

Most skiing or climbing trips I find I take almost identical things. The big difference is that I always take a down jacket in the winter, but sometimes just a primaloft one in the summer. I have also been using a softshell system in the summer and for ice-climbing (single-day) recently. I still find I need a hard-shell in the winter, so I usually just wear it (making the overall system lighter).

Sleeping

I take the same sleeping bag winter and summer for the most part. It is a down ~-10C M.E.C. "Anniversary" bag with draft tubes; they don't make it anymore with the most-similar one being this Western Mountaineering bag. I use a Thermarest ProLite 4 sleeping mat (R-value of 3.2). In winter, I sleep with full long-underwear on. If things get desperate, I also wear my down jacket and/or toque. I have slept down to -30C with this setup.

Action Suit

I wear a full set of long underwear. These days, this consists of a "skin 200" Icebreaker merino wool top and bottom. Over this depends upon the activity:

skiing: liner socks, wool socks, hardshell pants, hardshell jacket, light gloves (shoeller) and a toque.

ice-climbing: shoeller pants/tights, shoeller jacket (plus hardshell if it's wet or cold), Cloudveil "ice floe" gloves, toque, helmet and two pairs liner socks with mountain boots.

(summer) alpine climbing: lighter or no long-underwear bottoms, sometimes short-sleeved top, shoeller jacket, two pairs liner socks + mountain boots (hardshell in pack).

Shelter

Since I bought a Hilleberg Nallo 2 tent [in Hermit meadows] I've used it winter and summer. A Bibler I-Tent [in Bostock creek] is another great option (my brother and friend Brad both own one, so I've used them a lot) although heavier than the above.

I have also used my megamid [during Yoho traverse] as a lighter-weight alternative (especially for 3 people). It also allows one to easily cook in shelter.

Sometimes, we've made snowcaves out of skis plus a Sil-tarp.

The Lists

Wearing

In Pack: General

In Pack: Ski Mountaineering

"General" plus:

In Pack: Multiday Skiing

In Pack: Overnight: sleeping system

In Pack: Overnight: eating system

Food: As a rule of thumb, you food will weigh between 1 and 2 lbs per day. One pound is very light; you will likely not be getting as many calories as you need. I find that I can get my food to 1.5 lbs by being very careful, but this depends a lot on how many calories you burn. My brother considers my "normal" food practically starvation rations, for example.

In the summer, since both my girlfriend and I are light eaters, a standard day's worth of food (each) consists of:

In the winter, my dinner usually consists of just a single 2-person boil-in-a-bag dinner for myself and a bit of chocolate. Often I bring a little soup powder for the occational extra-long day. (You will burn more calories in the winter and eating some fat before bed will keep you warmer).

Since you are melting snow for water in the winter, it is a Very Bad Idea to cook anything at all in your pot (you will have burned-tasting, nasty water for the rest of the trip). This is the beauty of boil-in-a-bag dinners: you just pour hot water in the bag, seal it up and stuff it under your down coat for 10 minutes.

Fuel: In the winter, we have gotten by (just) with as little as 100ml/person/day with a heat exchanger. Without one, 125ml/person/day is a bare-minimum. Taking 140ml-150ml will give you a little extra cushion, which is always nice (maybe some nights you want to make a hot-water bottle or extra tea). In the summer, you can get by with a lot less since you're not melting water (I usually take about 100ml/person/day which allows for lots of tea and for simmering the dinners, which makes them taste a whole lot better). In the summer, it is also possible to buy the much, much nicer Soft Path organic dinners -- they are not instant so in the winter they break the "nothing but water in the pot" rule. (Also, their serving sizes are accurate: it is tough for two people to finish one of their dinners, whereas it is easy for one person to eat a supposedly two-serving backpacker's pantry dinner).

Good vs. Bad

All of the Soft Path dinners I've tried have been very tasty.

Community Natural Foods in Calgary has many bulk (and not-bulk) dried soups. Lots of them are organic. There is one brand which comes in cubes which I would not recommend, since it is hard to get it to dissolve.

Recommended Backpacker's Pantry dinners:

Un-recommended Backpacker's Pantry dinners:

name:
email:
URL:
Private mail only; don't publish anywhere.