Gear to Lighten your Load on a Budget! - Part 3

Hey guys, it's Darwin here yet again with more gear to lighten your load without breaking the bank. So if you're not familiar with this series, this is part three of a series that I've been doing for a while where I wanted to show you guys the ultralight gear that I carry in my backpacking kit and then give you a few suggestions of some things that you can get on a budget to help lighten that load. I try to scour things like Amazon and eBay to find gear that's not too shabby for someone just starting out so you're not putting together too bulky of a kit for your first time. So first up, let's talk about rain jackets. Now the rain jacket that I've been using for quite some time is the Outdoor Research Helium. Now I've had two different iterations of the jacket. The first one that I had that I carried on the AT in 2015, 2016, had on the Arizona Trail, it's been on the Continental Divide Trail, it's pretty much been everywhere with me, was the Helium HD. Now the Helium HD is the one that has the pit zips, it has pockets in it, and it's a little bit heavier. Used it for years and it was a great jacket, but eventually it failed on me, the seams started ripping out, so I got a replacement which is the Outdoor Research Helium 2 jacket. Now the big difference between this and the HD is going to be this guy does not have pit vents, it has no hand pockets, and it's a lot lighter. So some of the great features of this jacket are it has a really nice hood, it is taped and sealed from the inside, and you can fold it up and store it in its own little pocket. Now a medium in the Helium 2 comes in at 6.1 ounces and comes with a pretty hefty price tag between $150 and $170 depending on where you get it. Now I absolutely love this jacket and I would suggest it for anyone, especially because I've put so many miles on one. However, that expensive of a jacket is not going to be for everyone. So looking around on Amazon I actually found a pretty good alternative to this, which would be this guy. This is the 4U Cycling Rain Jacket. Now it is advertised as a cycling jacket, but it has a lot of the same attributes as the Outdoor Research Helium. It has a nice hood, it's completely seam sealed from the inside, it folds up in its own pocket, and it only weighs 6.2 ounces. So just 6.2 ounces for this guy, so it's .1 ounces heavier than the Helium. And the best part about it is if you are a newbie and you're getting into backpacking, this thing only costs $10 on Amazon. So $10, what's the catch? Well, for starters, it only comes in one color, so if you don't like safety green, it's probably not the jacket for you. It only comes in one size. For me, it fits me pretty good, but if you are a larger hiker, it's probably not going to work. But if you're about 6'1", weigh about 168 pounds, it wouldn't be a bad alternative. Now is it made of a cheaper material than the Helium? Sure. Will it breathe as good as the Helium? Probably not. But in my experience of having rain jackets on the trail, whether it's the Helium, whether it was a Marmot rain jacket that I used to own, rain jackets never really breathe well. And when you're hiking, they end up feeling like a big sweaty trash bag anyways. And I've yet to have a rain jacket that didn't eventually wet out in a hardcore downpour. So if you're new into hiking and you're trying to drop that weight but still get a little bit of rain protection, I think the 4U Cycling Jacket would be awesome. So next up is a piece of gear that for a long time I would never carry and I made fun of people for carrying it. You guys have probably heard me talk about it in a previous video, and now I'm a huge advocate for it, and that is a backpacking pillow. So at first I thought these things were super silly, I wouldn't use it, but after I grabbed one just to do a little bit of research, I found out I got so much better sleep on the trail. Now the pillow that I use is the Sea to Summit Eros Ultralight Pillow, and I've been carrying it since 2016 on the AT and every other trip that I've done. Even when I go super ultralight on my kit, this is one luxury that I always bring with me. The Eros is one of the lightest backpacking pillows that are on the market, only weighing in at 2 ounces, but as you guessed it, it comes with a hefty price tag between $40-50. So $40-50 for something that most people think is kind of silly can be a little bit outrageous, but I think it's totally worth it. If you're not willing to invest that much in this guy, I found a really awesome alternative, and that is the Trekology Ultralight Pillow. Now I found this guy over on Amazon, and the reason I picked it up is because it looks so similar to the Eros. You can see it basically has the same shape, except for this guy is actually bigger. So if you've got a big ol' noggin like me, this actually might be a better deal. They both have a very similar valve in how you blow it up, how you inflate it and deflate it. They're covered with basically the same exact material that's a really nice soft surface. The Trekology comes in a ton of different colors. It comes with a stuff sack, if that's what you're into. And for the larger size, it only weighs 2.6 ounces. So just .6 ounces heavier than the Eros, but you get a ton more surface area. And here's the biggest benefit of it, it only cost $15 on Amazon. When I picked it up, I was like $15 vs $50. It's probably not going to be that good, it's probably not going to hold air, it's going to be tiny. This thing has really surprised me. So if you're wanting to improve your sleep on the trail and give a pillow a try but don't want to spend between $40 and $50, the Trekology is definitely an awesome piece of gear. Alright so next up is one that I actually got a request for from my last video and that is a headlamp. Now if you guys have been watching my videos lately, you'll probably see that I actually switched off of a headlamp and went to a mini LED flashlight. And if you haven't seen that yet, I'll put a link to the video up here. But when I do carry a headlamp, I typically carry the Black Diamond Spot. Now this is the headlamp that Snuggles and I both carried on the entire AT and it's been an awesome headlamp. It takes three AAA batteries, it has a really nice stretchy headband, it has two different brightness settings, and a red light. It's really adjustable where I can angle it wherever I want to on the trail. It's 130 lumens and it weighs in at 3.3 ounces. And from using it for years, I can tell you it is an awesome headlamp. Now lately they have upgraded the Spot and the new one is going to run you about $40. But cruising around on the internet, I actually found this guy. Which is the Cree, Cray, the Cree headlamp. And this thing is basically a clone of my Black Diamond. It looks almost identical. So I decided to pick it up and give it a try. Now it essentially has all the same features that my Spot did. It has a nice stretchy headband, it's super adjustable, it takes three AAA batteries, two brightness settings, has a red light, but it's brighter than my Spot, coming in at 160 lumens. It weighs 2.8 ounces, which is actually lighter than my Spot, and the best part is it's only $10. And like I said, if you look at them again, they're basically clones of each other. So a headlamp that is brighter than my old one, it's lighter than my old one, and it's cheaper, this is definitely a great piece of ultralight budget hiking gear. Alright, next up is one that you guys probably expected and probably seen coming, but it is my arse pad. Because YouTube is starting to be weird with what you can say in a video and whatnot, we're going to start calling it a butt pad. So you guys know how much I love my butt pad. And I use the Therm-a-Rest Z seat. Now this is the same one that I've had for three years, and every trail that I've hiked and been on, and all the miles that I've hiked, this is the same exact one that I always take with me. Now I won't go into my spiel about how much I love it, why I love it, and all the benefits that I get from one of these. I'm sure you guys can find that throughout my other videos. But I can tell you it weighs 2 ounces, and they're typically only $15, pretty much anywhere that you look. Now $15 is pretty cheap, but if you're a hardcore cheapskate and you're like, I'm not going to pay $15 just to try out a butt pad, there is another cheaper option, which is the Port Fia XPE Cushion. Now it is definitely a lot smaller than my butt pad, but it only weighs 1 ounce and they're only $6 on Amazon. Now it doesn't have that thermal finish, and it is a bit smaller, so if you have a bigger hiking butt, it might not work for you. But like I said, at 1 ounce and only $6, you know what, stop being a cheapskate. Just get the Therm-a-Rest Pad. It's $15 and you get a ton of benefit from it. Get one of these, or I guess get the other one. But this is an awesome thing to have in your pack, barely weighs anything, and it's good and cheap. Alright guys, the last piece of ultralight gear that I have for you on a budget is my duh product. So it's a product that you don't really have to spend any money on. Most of you have it laying around your house, and that is a Ziploc bag. There are tons of different stuff sacks and dry sacks on the market. You can go crazy with those things made out of all these different types of materials. Just get a Ziploc bag. They don't weigh anything, chances are you have them sitting around your house, and they're basically free, or you know, you can at least buy a box of 50 of them for like $3. So if you're wanting to lower the weight in your pack, start getting rid of some of those stuff sacks and start picking up a Ziploc bag. A good example is I used to carry a trail wallet on the trail. It's what I carried on the AT, which is essentially a little bitty sil-nylon zipper pouch. It's what I kept my credit card in, my ID, and some cash. But now, I just carry a little Ziploc sandwich bag. Like I said, I got them laying around anyways. It's much lighter than that little sil-nylon wallet. It didn't cost me anything, and when it wears out, I can throw it away and get another one. And if you got more crap than that, use a gallon bag. Again, come on people. They're light. They work. Use them. Alright guys, so hopefully all that gear will help you lower your base weight and get you into ultralight hiking without spending too much money up front. If you have any ideas for some gear for me to check out for the next episode, go ahead and leave it in the comment box below. If you haven't had a chance yet, go over and check me out on Instagram. I've been posting a lot of new photos lately of some of the things that Snuggles and I have going on throughout the week, plus some pictures from some past hikes. If you found any value in this video, go ahead and hit that like button. Subscribe to my channel if you haven't already, and as always guys, thanks for watching.