So today we're going to talk about my lightweight setup that I use on my solo trips. The final weight
of the setup is 15 pounds and there's nothing too crazy about it. I feel it's a great setup for
beginners. If you follow these steps you'll be able to take this bag just right out of your closet and
hop on the trail and go backpacking for a few days. The length of a trip that you're going to be able
to do with this setup is really going to depend on how much food you're going to be able to fit
by the time we're all done packing, but we'll get to that a little bit later. There's nothing crazy
about this gear. All of it you can find on REI or Amazon so only one shopping cart is necessary and
this is the gear I use. I think it's great gear, but a lot of this gear is interchangeable. Gear really
depends on you and your needs. For example me being a six foot 200 pound side sleeper I might want a
different sleep setup than a five foot 100 pound back sleeper. So just keep that in mind, this is
not the end-all be-all for gear. But we're going to start today with our backpack. I am using the
Osprey Stratos 34. 34 because it is a 34 liter bag. It's got plenty of pockets, straps, a real versatile
bag that you can use for overnighters or even five day trips. It comes compatible with a three liter
camel's back although I don't use a camel's back and I'll show you why in a minute. The first thing
that we put into our bag is our sleeping bag. Yes, I still use a sleeping bag. I know quilts are all
the rage. I know you can use blankets now and maybe a sleeping bag is a little heavy for you. But most
people have a sleeping bag and most people start with a sleeping bag so this is my sleeping bag.
It is the Nemo Disco 15. I love this sleeping bag. I did a whole video on my sleeping setup if
you want more information on all the individual pieces I use. Link is right here up in the corner
in that little card. The next thing I'm going to pack is my tent. For my tent I am using the Nemo
Hornet one person ultra light tent. Again a lot of people are using hammocks now, you can get a bivy sack
but for the beginner I think you're going to want to start with a tent. A tent is always a good
way to go. It's still light enough, it's easy to set it up, easy to find a spot on the ground. This
tent has a vestibule so you can keep your pack and other things protected from the rain. I have
separated out my poles from my actual canvas and I am going to pack just the tent portion
in my bag first. Again with this setup it's all about how much food you'll be able to store by
the time you're done packing this. So if I can save space on the inside where I can put more food and
strap these to the outside of the bag that'll allow me to pack more food and go longer if I
want to. Next I have my Nemo Tensor insulated long wide sleeping pad. Again I'm a little bit larger
than the average backpacker so my sleeping bag is a long version, this is a long version. So if
you're just an average sized person you'll get more room out of the setup than I'm gonna get
which is quite a bit. Next is my pillow. I have my Sea to Summit down pillow. I like a down pillow.
Keeps your head a little bit warmer at night with that insulation. Just shove this down in there. For
my cooking I'm still using a Jetboil this is the Jetboil mini. This is what I use to cook my
meals, to make my coffee. Is it the smallest thing? A lot of lightweight Backpackers, solo Backpackers
might yell at me for using one of these instead of just a little stove. But again, this is more
of the beginner setup. This is a real plug and play setup that I'm trying to do here or that
I want, and the Jetboil is definitely that. it's plug and play. Even if you haven't done a lot of
backpacking this is easy to use and it'll help you make everything you need, coffee, meals, etc.. Don't
forget your fuel. Now you're going to need to take some clothes. This is obviously a setup that's not
meant for winter backpacking. I'm going to assume that you're going to go on a fairly nice weekend
or a nice day so in that case you're going to have everything that you're wearing on your adventure.
Kind of what I'm wearing right now. A hiking shirt, a hat, some sunglasses, some pants hopefully. I like
the convertible pants that you can turn into shorts or long pants and you're going to have
your socks and your shoes. So I recommend packing an extra pair of socks for sure in case your feet
get sweaty or anything. Some socks are good for the night. I only take one pair, one extra pair. A beanie.
I hike in the cold mountains, let's say it gets down into the 40s at night I like to have a
beanie. Some long underwear always nice before you get into your sleeping bag some long underwear. Of
course you could, if it's really hot, maybe you don't need these maybe you just want to sleep
in your tighty whities. I have a lot of different sizes of long underwear from thick to real thin so
it just depends if you want some long underwear. And lastly a down jacket here. Down packs really
well, I have a full video on picking your down jacket that I'll link up here. This one is a
Patagonia one, this is the one that I usually wear. A few other things that go inside the pack I have
my exped widget. I use this to pump up my sleeping pad and my pillow. It's also a light and it's also
a little charging station and as you'll see in a second I have a few electronics that I take that
I want charged and this is just a really cool gadget. Again, light, charging port, and air pump.
So I'm going to just put that in there. I have some toilet paper and I have some cord to hang my food
at night. I'm going to put that close to the top just in case I need it and that leaves me with
bit of space in here, quite a bit of space and this is where your meals are going to go. So the
rest of the space in here, on this outside pocket, are where I'm going to put my meals. And how much
food I can get in here determines how long I'm going to be able to go. The most space-saving
and weight saving way to do your meals is to dehydrate them yourself. I made a whole video
series with my mom about doing that. There is a link up in this card if you want to check that
out and learn how to prep your meals. Once you have your meals prepped I like to put
them in some sort of dry bag, a very thin dry bag. This is what I'm going to use to hang it
up in a tree at night to protect it from bears, raccoons. You might be in a place that you need
a bear canister. A lot of the places that I hike you don't need that but you still need to hang
your food and you want to keep it dry in case it rains. So my food's going to go in there and it's
going to sit right there in that dry pack, in that dry sack and then I'm gonna zip this up
and there is my pack with everything on the inside that I need. So usually for water I'm
going to take a 34 ounce, 40 ounce, just plastic water that I got at a gas station or a store or
something. Usually, typically, people are going to be backpacking around water sources. So this setup
is with that intention that you're not wandering in the desert where there's no water. This is made
for a place that has a lot of streams or lakes or some place where you can get steady water. That's
a lot of the places that I hike here in Idaho. So I'm going to start my hike well hydrated and
I'm gonna just take this and this is gonna go on the outside of my pack here. Now since we're
still on the subject of water, when this runs out or when I run low I'm going to fill it up in that
stream or creek and I'm going to use this. This is the Sawyer water filter. I used to have the
Sawyer mini. I don't recommend it. It'll save you a little bit of weight and space but it doesn't
work too well so just get yourself the regular Sawyer and honestly most of the time I'll just
hike with this on my bottle like this and I will filter as I go. So this will be like this... what
oh my God. And then I'll hike like this. I'll just leave it on there, I'll drink out of
it, and then it just goes back into the bag like this. And I'll just hike with it like that.
I also recommend taking your bag that's going to come with your filter. It is easier to fill this
bottle up if you have the bag. It just fits better you know at camp you might like some extra water
and you can always just roll this bag. There you go, you're filtering your water back into your
bottle, and I just do it that way. So there's my water, it just goes on the side here. I'll take my bag,
I'll put it in the brain here I like to utilize this top compartment quite a bit. fill this up, I
don't know why. There I have my headlamp, I'll have my trowel tool, I'll have some sort of fire starter
that goes in there. I'll have my fork and my spoon tool go in there. I'll have my cords as well, I take
two cords. One for my navigation system and one for my phone. Those can go in there. I will just use the
widget to keep everything charged. And then lastly is my little bag of goodies. My dental floss,
sunscreen, some matches just in case. I have my toothbrush which I have this little protective
head on it and I basically cut the handle off a large toothbrush so it's a little bit more
compact, easy to carry. Toothpaste of course, some aspirin, a lighter, chapstick, some extra batteries
for my headlamp. I take a tent pole repair stake. Just a little piece of metal in case your tent
pole snaps if you step on it or something. This just you jam in there, you throw some tape on
it, it's a quick fix. And I also take, yes, my little bidet. Let's talk about pooping outside. Now you've
seen I have my trowel tool, I brought toilet paper, I also have this little thing it's a little bidet.
It's really hard to stay clean I'm just going to be honest with you when you're out there.
Toilet paper is not easy to come by either so this is a little thing you just put it
on your water bottle like this. This is why I take the water bottle I mean it just it's so
useful. You turn it upside down and boom there you go. And yes that shoots up into your b-hole.
Keeps you clean. Don't knock it until you try it. A little Culo Cleaner. So all that fun stuff
goes into my little ziploc bag that goes in my brain as well with my final piece being my Sawyer
if it's not on my water bottle. So there we go we have the brain, we have the interior
packed. We have the brain packed. We have our water system on this side. We're going to put our poles
on the outside of our bag like this. Just saving us some extra space on the inside and then finally
our last thing we have navigation. So I use a Garmin inreach mini to navigate. I'm just going
to clip that on the front here. Also if you're going by yourself, it's also a good rescue tool...
And uh always take a knife. I like to keep my knife right here up at
the front I don't know why. Just easier to get to. You never know when you need it.
And then finally I have my ultralight medical kit and I like to take a little blister medics
pack just in case you get blisters that can ruin a trip in a heartbeat.
Also goes on the outside, easy to reach. You want your medic pack and your knife to be easy to
reach. I also have a little compass in there in my medical pack. Not the greatest compass because it
is really an emergency situation if we're going to use it nowadays right. But make sure you print
out a print material of a map where you're going and also take a compass just in case. And there
you have it, 15 pounds dry. As an added bonus if you're a fisherman and you want to take fishing
stuff of course you don't have to do this. I like to take a Tenkara pole out there with me so I have
my tenkara rod which will just go right next to my poles right here. We'll just share it with my yeah
there you go and this is going to take some of the room usually in with my food just right
in there or you could put it on the outside. This is my fishing gear. On the outside here
and I have a video of course, the final time, on my whole fishing setup and how to use it. Link
is right up here. So let me know if you have any questions. A full list of gear can be found in the
links below and happy backpacking. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.