Gram Counting

This past month I've decided to finally jump on the bandwagon and go ultralight for backpacking gear.  According to the 'bible' - Lighten Up - this means following the 3 + 3 + 3 rule: 3 pounds for the backpack, 3 pounds for the tent, and 3 pounds for the sleeping bag.  My main motivation for this? To be fully self-sufficient (i.e., feel a greater reward at the end) and being able to do the West Coast Trail the way I want it: not cramped into a tent in potential wet weather, staying dry, taking my time, and being comfortable.  For me a 40 pound backpack is not comfortable as I've learned on previous trips.  I'm already bending the rules a bit though, and rather than going 3 + 3 + 3, I'm giving myself 10 pounds (4.5kg) total for those three items.  I am attached to my North Face Crestone 60 backpacking pack, and unfortunately that comfort comes with a weight of roughly 5.5 pounds.  So, I'll try to get the rest down with this list of dream gear:

• Tent: Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 2.  The only downside to this tent appears to be the fact that it's not self-supporting, but for a second tent this may be a fair trade-off.  Weight of the tent can be gotten down to 940g.  Add the footprint (142g) and shelter comes in at 1,082g - just over two pounds.  That's quite a chance from the current 6 - 7 pounds. 

• Sleeping bag: I love my MEC Hybrid -12ºC bag, but the fact remains that the thing is bulky, heavy, and the half down isn't the greatest for wet conditions.  I've had the toe box get wet from the tent once and that's not fun.  That was in dry weather and things dried out quickly, but I can't imagine what a soggy ball it may turn into in rain.  My dream sleeping bag (assuming I'd win the lottery) is the Western Mountaineering Beothuk +2ºC sleeping bag.  Still has down content, but seeing how I'm hoarding a 2-person tent for myself and this thing only weighs 455g, it may be an option.  I don't know how much my currentl sleeping pad weighs, but I'm guessing around 700-800g.  That would put me at a total of roughly 1,200g for the sleeping system.

So, combined with my backpack, I'm currently sitting around 11 pounds.  Gotta work on shaving off one or two.

Also, in a step towards moving to ultralight gear, I had been intrigued by the Integral Designs Siltarp 2 - 410g for 8' x 10' of dryness.  MEC no longer carries the green unfortunately, only yellow and grey.  I figured if I spend $125 on a tarp, I better get a colour I like as well.  The reviews of the tarp are amazing, so I turned to the internet, looking for a place that carries it.  American outdoor stores don't ship it to Canada, but as luck would have it, I came across a distributor of the parent company.  They make the idential tarp locally (who knew?!), but cater to the military and police.  It was an interesting journey, they were immediately willing to sell me one (that I could pick up at lunch time).  As an added bonus, they matched MEC's price and gave me some other goodies they include to improve it - the Siltarp seam sealer and a super light titanium stake - as they believe the military and police should have the very best.  So, at lunch I went to this place that operates under a false name due to the potential security concerns for other items they carry, looked like I walked right into an office and emerged with a sweet piece of gear.  MEC has some competition now.  I weighed the tarp (on my brand new kitchen scale that's accurate to the gram) and it came in at 405g including the stuff sack.  My pile of cord tensioners is a whopping 5g total and the extra stakes that I got from MEC (not ultralight) still only weigh 15g each.

With the 'big 3' almost taken care of, I'm wondering if I can keep all clothing to 10 pounds, stove and dry food supplies for a week to 10 pounds, some luxury items (camera, GPS, etc.) to 5 pounds, and the rest (headlamp, small notebook, first aid kit, etc.) to less than 5 pounds.  WCT for 35-40 pounds?  Maybe I'm dreaming, but I sure won't be doing 50+ pounds like so many.  Next item on the list: paracord.