Heavyweight Ultralight Backpack

After completing the first section of the Sierra High Route last summer I realized it was time to build a much more burly backpack. Since there was nowhere to resupply on these remote trips I needed something that would comfortably hold ten days of food and a bear canister. I also needed a pack that could withstand the beating that comes with scrambling through cross country terrain in the High Sierra. I decided it was time to make my first Heavyweight Ultralight Backpack!

The Heavyweight Ultralight Backpack.

Shoulder Season Gear List 2013

My Shoulder Season Gear List includes extra warm gear for the colder temperatures and high winds typical of the High Sierras in late season. Although it is not yet winter late September and October usually bring colder temperatures down into the 20's. I have used this setup to hunker down for 16 hours at 12,280 feet during a strong snow storm and stayed warm, comfortable and safe.

Much of my gear is homemade (MYOG/Make Your Own Gear). If you are interested in the details check out the Custom Gear section here: Cool Custom Gear.

Six Moon Designs Cuben Haven Tarp and Inner Net Tent

After years of searching for a lightweight two person shelter I finally settled on the Big Sky Evolution 2P/2D/2V free standing tent. I thought it was great, but at 3 pounds it just seemed like there should be a better option. . .

Big Sky Evo 2 person/2 door/2 vestibule free standing tent on the JMT.

 Then I found the Six Moon Designs Cuben Haven Tarp & Inner Net Tent.

Cross Country Loop Around Mt. Darwin via Haeckel Col & Darwin Col

After finishing a section of the Sierra High Route a few weeks ago I met a guy named Donn while hiking out through Sabrina Basin. We talked nutrition, gear, exercise, footwear and world politics while hiking a few miles to the parking lot. I rarely meet somebody who shares so many similar common interests, including a passion for cross country backpacking in the High Sierra.

I couldn’t believe it when he showed me a map of the cross country passes he had been scouting out for the past week. They were the same passes that I had been researching all winter. We decided to take one last trip of the season together, weather permitting. 

During the next few weeks we had to delay the trip due to the mid October storm, but we lucked out and took advantage of an unusually warm break in the weather last week. 

We started out by acclimating at Midnight Lake the first day. It's only a few miles to Midnight Lake from the Sabrina Lake TH so I was able to leave home in the morning and still get there in time to have dinner at the lake.

Sabrina Basin Trail Head.

Cuben Kindle Dry Bag

Some good ideas are simple. The first time her Kindle gets dropped in a stream my wife will be hoping this was one of those good simple ideas.

The Cuben Kindle Dry Bag is made from 0.51 oz/sqyd cuben fiber and is made to fit a Kindle. All of the seams are taped with double sided cuben tape. The roll top is water tight and is attached to the body of the dry bag using hook and loop (velcro).

The total weight barely registers on my scale, but it looks like 0.1 oz (2 grams). . . and at that weight how can any of us leave home again safely without a custom Cuben Kindle Dry Bag?

The Cuben Kindle Dry Bag.

Ryan Jordan would approve!

0.1 oz.

Half Ounce Cuben Roll Top Dry Bag

Most of the lightest dry bags and pack liners that I've found are around 2 ozs, and that just seems way too heavy. So I made a simple roll top dry bag that weighs a half ounce using 0.51 oz/sqyd that is large enough to hold a 20 degree winter quilt and a puffy jacket. To some people it may seem a little extreme to go to all this trouble to save 1.5 ozs, but in this case the weight savings is 75% over the lightest alternatives.

This roll top dry bag is 26" x 18" and is made using a triple stitched flat felled seam that is taped on the inside. I used small 1/2" clasps attached to the bag using 1/2" gross grain webbing. The attachment points are reinforced with 0.51 oz/sqyd cuben fiber and cuben tape. 

Cuben Fiber Roll Top Dry Bag. 

Cuben iPhone Shoulder Pouch

The Cuben Fiber iPhone Shoulder Pouch is essentially a slimmer version of the popular shoulder pouches already offered by some cottage manufacturers. The size is perfect for an iPhone or slim camera (like a Canon Powershot ELPH 300HS). I included an adjustable exterior mesh pocket for smaller items and the whole package is easily  mounted onto a backpack shoulder strap. . . and it's lightweight. At 0.2 ozs is it the lightest iPhone shoulder pouch available?

The pouches are made using 1.43 oz/sqyd cuben fiber from Zpacks.com. I used one on the JMT last summer and it made it easy to access my camera, stickpick, aquamira and other small items while still being super lightweight.

Cuben Fiber iPhone Shoulder Pouch.

The Cuben Wedge

The Cuben Wedge is a simple tarp shelter design borrowed from the groundbreaking ultralight backpacker Glen Van Peski of Gossamer Gear. I have spent countless hours reading Glen Van Peski's gear lists and trip reports and I have purchased lots of gear from Gossamer Gear. I noticed he was using a very lightweight shelter called the Cuben Wedge, so I decided to make one for myself.

This tarp shelter is made using 0.51 oz/sqyd cuben fiber from Zpacks.com. Due to the simple design there is no need for a ridge line, which saves weight and simplifies the entire process. The tie outs with heavier 1.43 oz/sqyd cuben fiber material. The guy lines are lightweight Z-line also from Zpacks.

The first time I used this shelter was on a trip in the Anza Borrego Desert in winter. While camping on a large flat plateau we had heavy winds all night with gusts up to 50 mph starting at 3:00 am. Although all of the other shelters were blown down and damaged during the night, the Cuben Wedge made it through (I did have to lower the pitch into storm mode during the night).

The final weight: 3.5 ozs including guylines.

Here are a few pictures:

The tarp is 9 feet long before the side tapers, which allow for even more space to store gear. 

Ultralight Bivy

After reading many of the MYOG posts on BPL I started to get comfortable making most of my gear last summer. This is my humble attempt to give back a little to the online BPL community.

My goal was to make a bivy with a half length side zipper that weighed under 4 ozs while still having plenty of room for my shoulders/elbows and an inflatable sleeping pad inside the bivy. I also wanted something waterproof on the bottom with material that was durable enough to use without a groundsheet. My polycryo groundsheet was about 1.5 ozs anyway so if I could do all of this and keep it under 4 ozs I figured it was worth the effort. 

I used 0.51 oz/sqyd cuben for the bottom and 0.75 oz/sqyd Momentum 55 for the top. The cuben is available from Zpacks (http://zpacks.com/materials.shtml) and the Momentum 55 was available at Thru-hiker (http://thru-hiker.com/materials/breathable.php). Thru-hiker only carries Momentum 50 or 90 now so ymmv with the newer material. I would probably use their lighter stuff today (Momentum 50). The zippers and other hardware are available at Quest Outfitters (http://questoutfitters.com/). 

The bottom has an 8 inch bathtub floor all around. The idea with the tall sides is to use as much of the lighter weight cuben as possible and to provide some side protection from rain spray. The top has a slight 2 inch inverted bath tub (for lack of a better term) and there is an increase in height in the middle down by the foot end. The 10 inch total height seems to work for me. 

All of the seams are sewed using a french seam except the net/zipper area which has a double stitched flat felled seam. 

I used this bivy on a JMT thru hike last summer. Unfortunately there were storms during first four days. I slept under a 5.5’ x 8.5’ tarp and it worked out great. I sewed a small tab to the head end so I could attach a cord and lift it off my face, but I found it really wasn’t necessary. The net area seemed to be located just right and the material was kept off my face by my hat. 

I used an xl Kookabay inflatable pillow, GG torso pad along with a Kookabay Taperlite inflatable pad on top and a GG sitpad for my feet. This all fit inside with plenty of room for me and a puffy jacket. There is not enough room to fit a larger 2 ½ inch deep inflatable pad like a Neo-Air inside, although if needed I would just put it on the outside. I have tried the small, medium and large Neo-Air’s and finally found the ccf torso pad/Taperlite combo works best for me. 

The 0.51 oz/sqyd cuben seems to work fine as a ground sheet. I haven’t had any problems with leakage or unusual wear and tear.

The Momentum 55 is breathable and did shed some rain spray. Condensation was only a problem when I slept on the shore of Cathedral Lake with the cold wind blowing toward me off the lake. There was ice on the outside by my feet in the morning, but I was warm (and dry) inside. 

When it wasn’t raining I just slept under the stars. On the last night I slept on the west side of Whitney (by the tarn above Guitar Lake) and there were some heavy winds. I could feel my legs and feet being moved by something, but I couldn’t feel any change in temperature inside. 

I was a little unsure about using a bivy before the trip, but now I’m completely sold. I used an 18 oz quilt and slept warm and toasty (I wore an upper base layer, a windshirt and sometimes a puffy jacket, but only shorts/socks and no lower base layer to sleep). 

The dimensions are about 22” at the head tapering to 32” at the shoulders then tapering down to 24” at the foot end (all with the 10 inch height). To give some perspective I am 6 feet/190 lbs. Having enough shoulder/elbow room was important and it seems to have worked fine.

Camping above Palisade Creek on the John Muir Trail. 

Cuben Fiber Hybrid Backpack with Removable Internal Frame

After seeing some of the cuben hybrid material used on the Zpacks Exo backpacks, I decided to try some on my own version of a cuben pack. 

The idea with this pack is to make something big enough to hold a Bearikade Weekender or Expedition bear canister plus some winter gear, but still keep it around 8 ozs. I made one out of just cuben and used it on the JMT last summer, but calling it a 'prototype' would be pushing it. People usually passed me and said, "hey, homemade pack heh?". To make things worse it was made out of some bright blue cuben I got on sale on gearswap. 

I also wanted something that would hold up to 35 - 40 lbs if I needed to carry extra stuff for a few miles to our favorite Sierra waterslides this summer. I added channels for a removeable internal frame (taken from a GG Gorilla) to handle heavier loads. 

Plus, I wanted something that could take some serious abuse on the Sierra High Route this summer. 

The material is all available at Zpacks.com. The cuben hybrid is made from 1.43 oz black cuben on the inside and 50 denier polyester on the outside. It feels strong and tear resistent. 

For the pack design I borrowed generously from the Blast and Gorilla packs. For the shape of the shoulder straps I traced a North Face daypack. Some of the more original things added are adjustable elastic cords at the top of all the exterior pockets and adjustable pad straps. I like having two medium sized rear pockets instead of one large pocket. It makes it easier to find stuff after a long day.

The cuben hybrid material is attached to the bottom 3" of the pack and side pockets using a triple stitched flat felled seam. All of the attachment places are reinforced with cuben bonded to the main material at a 45 degree angle. The area where the shoulder straps attach to the main pack is triple reinforced. The internal channel for the removeable frame is made from the heavier cuben hybrid material. I noticed that the ends of the frame cut through the channel made from 1.43 oz cuben in the earlier prototype, but the hybrid doesn't rip. 

The total pack size is about 3,250 c/i. The main pack bag is 2,500 c/i, side pockets 300 c/i, rear pockets 450 c/i. The main pack is 6" deep, 12" wide and about 34" tall.

The total weight is 9 ozs (without the internal frame). The heavier cuben hyrid material added about 2.5 ozs compared to a similar pack I made with just cuben. The removeable internal frame adds 3 ozs. 

Side view (with internal frame and Gossamer Gear sitpad for back padding). 

The bottom 3" are made with the more durable cuben/nylon hybrid from Zpacks.com. 

Interior detail of the internal frame channels (without the frame)

Interior detail of the frame channels (with the frame)

Adjustable front pocket (open)

Adjustable front pocket (closed)

Adjustable side pocket (open)

Adjustable side pocket (closed)

Shoulder strap attachment detail. There is a third layer bonded at a 45 degree angle inside the pack. 

Half Ounce Cuben Pack Cover

While searching for the lightest pack cover possible I finally decided to try making one myself. Of course it had to be lightweight while also providing protection for my pack and not blow off in the wind. This one is made from 0.34 oz/sqyd cuben fiber from Zpacks. Some manufacturers use tape or adhesive when working with this material as it is the lightest cuben fiber available, but I wanted to try sewing to create the channel for the elastic cord used to tighten it up around my pack. By folding the material over onto itself three times the sewing seems to work out fine. I reinforced the area where the tiny cord lock connects the two ends of the elastic cord to create some extra strength. Finally, I made a mini stuff sack out of 0.51 oz/sqyd to hold the cover when it's in my pack.

The result is an extremely light full sized pack cover that fits a large Zpacks Zero (2,600 c/i) or other large pack when fully loaded. There are no seams to seal. The final weight is just 0.5 ounce with the stuff sack.

I used this pack cover on an 11 day JMT thru-hike last summer. It rained the first four days and the cover kept everything dry. Here's a few photos ~

Waterproof Cuben cover packs down into a small stuff sack. 

Cover on a large fully loaded 50 liter pack with an extra large 24" torso size. 

Half Ounce Cuben Pack Cover.

Anza Borrego 2012

Many thanks to Nick Gatel from Backpackinglight.com for organizing a fun trip through some of his stomping grounds in the Anza Borrego desert. We left our GPS units at home and followed Nick along mostly cross country routes that were based on his experience in the area. After leaving the Alcoholic Pass TH on Saturday we didn't see another person (or human footprint) until hiking out on Sunday. 

We followed a wash/trail up to Alcoholic Pass. Nick mentioned that the pass is named after the cattle ranchers who used this pass to access the bars in Borrego Springs many years ago. 

After a quick 600 foot incline we made it over Alcoholic Pass with some good views of the Santa Rosa Mountains.

Walking through Chola gardens on the way toward Butler Canyon. . . 

Soon we were following Butler Canyon. 

Then up the remains of an old indian 'trail' cross country toward the Playa.

The Playa with the Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains in the distance.

Nick decided to sleep under the stars and was trying out a Zpacks poncho/groundsheet, Neo-Air and cuben quilt. 

Jace kicked it in luxury, a GG Squal Classic. When he needed some advice with the tent Glen Van Peski actually invited him over for personal UL instruction at his house. Now that's customer service. 

Jim's Tarptent Squal2. 

Chad was using a bivy and later setup a tarp in storm mode when the winds kicked up. 

I was trying out a homemade cuben fiber tarp shelter based on Glen Van Peski's cuben wedge. I had just finished sewing this up on Friday afternoon and was looking forward to testing it out. Little did I know that it would be facing 50 mph wind gusts later that night. 


I was using some other homemade gear; cuben backpack, sleeping bag/quilt, bivy, poncho/groundsheet, windshirt and rain gear. 

Chilling out after a long day in the desert. 

Later the wind really got going. It was about 40 mph consistently until 3:30 - 4:00 am when we started getting some 50 mph gusts. Both of the tarptents were flattened. Chad and I made it through using some low profile tarp setups. The next morning we were all ready to get going. . .

We followed along this ridge and eventually made it down to Box Canyon on the right.

Jim navigating the ridge down toward Box Canyon. 

Here's a map of the route. 

Thanks again to Nick for showing us some of the 'Desert High Route'.