Yet another sixteen ‘free’ ultralight hiking ideas. Enjoy. A Cure for Slippery Mats: I have just spent a couple of weeks sleeping on my new Big Agnes AXL Air 300 gram mat in Scotland. It is indubitably the most comfortable mat I have ever slept on, but it does suffer from being a tad slippery. …
I am tossing around some ideas concerning DIY tent stoves – as you know, so I was delighted to stumble upon this amazing website: https://timtinker.com/ by a fellow Gippsland Senior – we are good for something still after all. As you will see Tim camps in the snow all the time, so his ideas clearly …
How big a tipi can you make in a single piece out of a 3 metre (10’) wide roll of Tyvek? I began this project as I want to take one in and leave it in a canoe drum along with a small wood heater to warm it on winter nights at ‘our’ new ‘hidden …
Just like practically everyone I guess I had an ad from the ‘hellosunny’ shop (see below) for Waterproof Shoe Covers. I had spent a lot of time on this idea before coming up with my own 13 gram DIY version (https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2017/04/14/19-gram-dyneema-camp-shoes/) which have proven very serviceable and durable on many trips now. I guess that …
You can use Pipe Insulation to make extempore hiking poles or tent poles when you are in the bush. The piece shown weighs 5 grams. It certainly saves you carrying hiking poles when you don’t need them. When you do you can cut them to length with this 28 gram DIY ultralight saw. If you …
A blast of Antarctic air is coming through Victoria in the next week so that it might be time to consider how to warm your tent. This great company Titanium Goat have extremely lightweight titanium stove (heaters), stove pipes, stove accessories, and a tent boot you can sew into an existing tent to vent your …
(or, A Further Use for Toilet Trowels) Disaster will sometimes happen upon you in the wilderness. The important thing is to survive it – as less experienced folk frequently don’t! For months I have been ‘stir crazy’ what with slow recovery from my back operation and (seeming to) need a new knee, but I have …
The Americans call this ‘O.B. Wire’ (for ‘obstetrics’). Vets use it to cut up a stuck calf inside its mother! I have used this stuff to de-horn hundreds of goats in past years (It is not possible to breed poll goats as the poll gene is linked to hermaphroditism). You can quickly tie a length …
I recently bought one of these for Della for canoeing (weight saving is still relevant if you might have to portage). Her glutes are a bit underwhelming so she gets a very sore behind after a few hours paddling. She was using Klymit’s Ultralight Pillow (which is an excellent sleeping pillow) but it was not …
I just saw the Granite Gear, the Crown X60 (ie 60 litre) pack on Massdrop for US$120 which has to be very good value for such a robust award winning hiking pack. As I already have $50 credit from folks whom I have recommended who have joined, it is hard to pass up. Perhaps for …
I was after a couple of cheap light weight pillows for another project (more about that later), so I sourced two of these on eBay for less than A$20 delivered (the pair). These pillows are approximately 18” x 12’ x 4” (45 x 30 x 10 cm) and weigh 100 grams.They have a delightful soft, …
Does your pillow creep away from you during the night – or do you sometimes lose it altogether in the dark? I know I do. Here is a method of preventing that for a weight penalty of 1-2 grams. Well worth it. i think it is self-explanatory. I have just tied a piece of 1 …
Maybe not ultralight, but certainly ultra-cool – and you can cut a banana with them! https://drop.com/buy/xc-carbon-carbon-fiber-playing-cards#overview 91 grams. US $60 (May 2019) ‘No more frayed edges, stains, or fading: if cared for correctly, carbon fiber playing cards can last a lifetime. Made from 100 percent carbon fiber, these thin and durable cards have a twill …
My first sixteen posts about free stuff for hiking proved popular, so here are another sixteen: Home Made Pack Raft I bought a $40 raft (Intex) from Clark Rubber and reinforced it with a layer of poly tarp which can be attached to it with polyethylene tape (from greenhouse suppliers), ‘Gaffer’ or ‘Duct’ tape. You …
You really don’t need to spend up big to have great stuff for hiking, hunting etc as I posted recently here: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/01/30/best-5-spent-on-camping-gear-ever/. For example, for years I carried a $50 .303 Lee-Enfield which has still harvested more deer than the newer guns Della bought for me for special occasions (50th Birthday, 40th wedding anniversary etc). …
The Lower Latrobe is a delight particularly like now when most of Gippsland’s rivers are too low for a canoe trip. From Thom’s Bridge (Morwell) to Lake Wellington (Sale) is approximately 165 km (by river) or about 8 days paddling at our normal speed (4 km per hour) and five hours per day. Of course …
We knocked off early on Anzac Day to have a stroll along the Wirilda Track from the W3 ‘road’ downstream. (I am still recovering, slowly). You can put a canoe in here and with some difficulty paddle down to the old Morwell pumping station at Wirilda Park. The river used to be clearer (and may …
I am a big fan of Montbell gear. Their new Ex Light Wind Vest comes in at a mere 37 grams. Pair this with these 28 gram shorts for an extremely light dry change (65 grams) eg when you are doing the washing. I usually wear a vest of some sort most days as I …
World’s Smallest, Lightest Torch – 6 Grams: ‘At barely 1″ in length…you wouldn’t expect this torch to be able to do much. You’d be wrong. This multi-purpose flashlight is made with a titanium body and UV LED rated for a lifetime of use and guaranteed to be iceproof, smashproof, waterproof, and fireproof. UK25 (Apr 2019) …
Your mobile connectivity problems solved. We have had two different Telstra repeaters over the years: a mobile CDMA version and a 3G home version. Where we live the mobile service does not work at all without an external antenna (See this post which is a bit out of date now these new 4G antennae are available). …
