I sat down to a amazing lecture on ultra light backpacking. It’s inspired me to try to do it myself.  I’ll be keeping everything I learn here.

Transcript of Ultra light hiking sheet he handed out(with a few details added by me):

My Camera ran out of space and shut off near the end of his lecture. But I took notes on everything and included it below.

Backpack- Rucksack, very light thin backpack custom made
Use a trash compacter bag as a waterproof liner for the backpack.
torso sleeping pad, camp in a place with natural forest duff where its soft, the sleeping pad is just to stop conductive heat loss from the earth. sleeping pad also works as a pad for the backpack.
took the zipper off the sleeping bag to cut down weight. the idea is that he sleeps with it as a blanket over him.
I might prefer to be cocooned.
 
uses a turkey bag from the grocery store to waterproof the sleeping bag.
 
Tarp rather than tent. Uses a stick to prop it up.
grown cloth to protect him from moisture on the ground.
these two are cheap and essential.
 
Made a huge body net to protect from bugs.
 
golight umbrella-http://www.sunnysports.com/prod/GOLCDTU.html?ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=GOLCDTU
 
stove-burns on wood-http://www.bushbuddy.ca/
no need to carry fuel, no need to conserve fuel.
ate dry cereal, granola, dried fruits, dried vegetables, penutbutter and tortias, cheese, breads
buckweetgrowths, coconut powder is amazing source of fat.
 
carry cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly, just 3 so in case of emergency’s you can start a fire easily.
 
carry’s a lighter.
titanium spoon, a lot of people seem to say a titanium spoon is all you need.
 
hike in simple travel shorts and a button up shirt(which gives for venting control). Special material you would get at a hiking store, that can handle being worn for months.

Carry a black down jacket for insulation layers.
Rain jacket-lightweight rain shell.
 
wind pants- works well as a warmth layer and bug protection. Doesn’t actually use them for rain.
——INFO NOT IN THE VIDEO BELOW—–
Arm Warmers- made from black long girls socks with holes for the hand and thumb, they can be rolled to adjust cover and are easier to take off than a jacket. Portable long sleeves.

Smartwater plastic bottle- lightest of plastic water bottles and a Platypus 2 liter water bladder in backpack.

Carry’s a light around his neck and a small one he holds at his feet to light up the ground rather than infront of him.   

Had the smallest swiss army pocket knife on the market. Didn’t even use the knife, cut it in half and took off the stuff he didn’t need.
Uses the tweezers, mini scissors mostly. sort of the knife.

In the past he used a portable water purification tablets for drinking out of rivers and a filter for drinking out of really dirty stuff, but he says he’s developed a immunity over the years and doesn’t need it anymore.

Carry’s a Compass + multiple maps for navigation. He’s had a GPS unit before, it was really really useful a couple of times but he decided he didn’t need it.

Carry’s Sunglasses for snow also need sun screen or the inside of your nostrils will burn. He used to carry a full brim hat but now only wears a baseball cap as seen in the video.

Rope for hanging up food and a bear canister when going past bear country.

Ate 2lbs of food per day, he got a few mail drops of food, shoes, ect. From his friends at next adventure 6 or 9 times during his trips and otherwise refueled from local stores whenever he could.

Carried ID and Money

Longest he spent without visiting a town to refuel was 11 days.

Someone said that for most people Fear is the biggest weight of all. This was a strikingly insightful comment on the reason why most people won’t camp this light. Fear is the reason why hikers bring more than they need. Fear is the reason why hikers won’t sleep outside of a incased tent.

Is it really a hunting knife? Or is it just a security blanket shaped like a knife?

-I’ll keep this page updated as I learn more,

Jonathan

Despite the dangerous involved, every animal sleeps. Over millions of years animals have evolved to do incredible things like swim, run and fly. But no animal goes without sleep.

Its such a vitally important part of our lives, especially considering we spend about a third of our life doing it, we have spent very little time studying it and there is much we don’t understand.

But here is what I do know:

There is a good reason why sleep is the most important part of recovering from any illness. Your immune system is most active during sleep. Sleep can be directly correlated with the strength of your immune system.

Sleep spurts the release of the Human Growth Hormone responsible for physical development and cellular regeneration.

One of my worst habits is staying up late to do work when I could be doing it the following morning. Sleep Stimulates creativity Helps us Deal with lifes emotional stresses and even Improve athletic performance.

Statistically its been found that older people sleep less, I always assumed this was because they needed less sleep, but that turns out not to be the case, Sleep problems are just more common.

So sleep is pretty important, how does one get a good nights sleep?

Although its something I never get to do with my busy lifestyle, napping is fantastic. If you fail to sleep solidly the night before a nap might be exactly what you need to catch up. Its also such a good way to deal with stress just the anticipation of it can lower your blood pressure.

The ideal time to sleep would be shortly after it gets dark and then rising early in the morning on your own with the sun. If you can’t go to bed that early at least shoot for a time in which if you go to sleep you’ll wake up on your own before your alarm clock. Being awaken by a alarm will jolt you out of sleep. That’s bad. Your body does a lot of important maintenance while you sleep and it all gets interrupted and dropped with the sound of a alarm. Let yourself wake up naturally or you are going to feel groggy all morning and feel like you slept less than you did.

How much you need to sleep is something you’ll have to find for yourself. The average is 8.7, but there are plenty of normal people who need 10 hours and some who need only 6.

Your computer will keep you up at night. The screen sends out a high level of blue light which is mentally associated with the sky. I recommend the program f.lux to every die hard computer user. Your screen will be more readable at night and it might just help you fall asleep.  If you want to read more about blue light Click here.

What to sleep on is a tricky subject that there is very little scientific knowledge about. But we have a industry of bed manufactures that tell us we are supposed to sleep on LIGHT FLUFFY CLOUDS that cost thousands of dollars.

Beds like Breakfast  started off as as a novelty the wealthy enjoyed. As the middle class rose to power they took after the wealthy and soft beds became apart of our culture.

I don’t know if you have, but I looked around and I don’t see any other animals sleeping on fluffy clouds. I see them sleeping on firm surfaces.

I spent a good deal of my childhood sleeping on carpet, whether that be in a closet or the side of my mothers Californian King bed. I layed out a sleeping bag and slept fine.

It turns out that there are actually health problems caused by sleeping in those soft beds. On a firm surface you are supported by your bones when you sleep, but on a soft one you sink in and it presses lightly against your muscles and veins. It reduces blood flow and can leave you waking up in the morning with sore muscles.

A month ago I threw out my mattress and started sleeping on a series of wooden planks with a blanket placed over it. Its not as ideal as sleeping on dirt or sand but I wake up energized. I no longer get that weak sluggish feeling in the morning that most people suffer from.

If you’ve been camping you know how great you feel the morning after sleeping on the ground. Did you ever take the time  to stop and ask yourself why?

My first blog was to write about my opinions and thoughts

My second blog was to write about what I was doing, physically to improve myself

Science is my third blog, it is not about what I think, or what I’ve done, its about what I’ve learned. I am constantly studying and picking up information but I have no place to store it. Who knows what was once known may slip from my mind and my efforts to learn it lost with it. So I am devoting myself to writing about what I learn, and doing so publicly.

Welcome to science.

A database of knowledge.