Quoted By:
So in July I am planing on hiking the John Muir Trail and have been training and acquiring the gear necessary for the trip. Currently I have a Sierra Designs Backcountry Bed 600 down 3-season sleeping bag, Kelty Grand Mesa 2 tent, and Gregory Baltoro 75 backpack. Last week I hiked the Silver Moccasin trail—a 53 mile hike in the San Gabriel Mountains—and decided afterwards that I would like to lighten my load a bit. Currently my base packweight is sitting at 20.8lbs which is obviously very heavy. Alternatively, I am looking into trading in some of this gear, excluding the backpack, and going for a more ultralight approach. The Mountain Laurel Deigns Monk Tarp costs $100—as much as I paid for my tent— and I am wondering if this would be a suitable replacement. Secondly, I will be trading in the sleeping bag for the Enlightened Equipment Revelation ultralight sleeping bag giving me +$100 to spend. For protection from bugs and a wet floor, I was thinking about using the money to get the Outdoor Research Bug Bivy. By doing this, I will be going from 13lbs for my "big three" to 7.5lbs. I am also looking at getting the Ray Way backpack for weekend trips and weighing in at 9.5oz I would be sitting at 2.18lbs for my big 3 which is impressive. I am looking for anyone with tarp backpacking experience to give insight on how this sleep system would hold up for the John Muir Trail. I cannot currently spend very much money above what I already have for equipment and am looking to swap around things at little to no cost if possible.
Pic is from my recent trip at the top of Mt. Baden Powell... Cheers!
