Thread: My lightweight gear review

A few years ago I went through an exercise of lightening up my hunting gear, I did quite a bit of research at the time and a few of the items I settled on aren't that commonly used here in NZ so thought would put up some links in case they were of use to others to know about. All this gear has now had numerous trips across the Ruahines, Kawekas, Kaimanawas as well as a few trips down south in Canterbury high country and also West coast summer tahr. So it's all been well used and abused now


Pack: Sierra designs, Flex capacitor. This is an American designed pack, and while not as light as some out there is still pretty light at about 1.2 kg (most packs are 3kg+), yet it still has some semi decent padding to handle the heavy loads. I find the weight comfortable up till about 30kg, after that gets a bit sore but so do most packs. However what I really like is the ability to expand and contract the pack which is quite a unique design feature. You can pack all your gear in, then unload at the hunt/camp, and then collapse the pack down and you have a daypack. So this also save the weight of carting in a daypack as even a pikau weighs a bit (some ~500g). The only thing I don't like is the lid, as being a zip when you are fully loaded can be a bit hard to close. I have the 40-60L model, which I've done up to 7 days summer tops hunting out of with a few thing strapped on the outside to start. They now also do bigger models if needed

https://sierradesigns.com/flex-capacitor/


Boots: Trango TRK GTX Boot from La Sportiva. These boots are awesome, light weight yet still with good support. They do take a bit to toughen up your feet as are lighter construction. They only weigh 820g per pair Vs 1.8kg for the likes of a Lowa. There's been some work done that shows that the amount of weight on the feet requires about 5 time times as much energy as carrying that same weight on your back. Therefore the saving of 1kg with these boots on your feet is roughly the same as 5kg in your pack. I'd happily wear these boots for all North Island hunting, and most of the south, with the exception of winter tahr hunting.

https://www.mountainadventure.co.nz/...roduct_id=3179

Down Quilt: There are quite a few places that sell these and they are basically a sleeping bag without the hood and bottom section. This means they weigh about 500-600g depending on what ratings you go for, so about half the weight of a sleeping bag. I normally overheat in a sleeping bag so actually prefer sleeping in a quilt as an added bonus to the weight savings. Had mine out 2 weeks ago in the tent and everything froze outside, I just wore an extra layer and was fine. I got mine from the place below and have the Revelation

https://enlightenedequipment.com/

As well as a general rationalization of gear the other place I've saved weight is raincoat and insulation layer. I used to always use a Swazi tahr jacket and swazi windstopper type insulation. These are great but actually pretty heavy. So for most short/weekend trips where I can pick the weather (I avoid hunting in the rain) I have gone to a lightweight nylon type jacket as it's basically just an emergency backup, this is more than 1kg less that a tahr. Also I use a down jacket as insulation, this is instead of, not additional to a heavy fleece. I have a normal one for winter and a light weight one for summer, these only weigh 250g, so again a significant weight saving.

Anyway hopefully someone will find that useful if looking for any new gear