Ultra-Micro-Nano Light Camping Kit - One Night, One Pound?

[jyl]

I'm doing an overnight bike ride in July, coastal Washington State, and this will involve camping for one night.

Yeah, I could put a duffel in the support truck. But It seems interesting to consider traveling "self-contained and ultra-light".

Here are the mission requirements:
- One night of camping on an open grass field. No cover, no trees. Maybe bare dirt. Probably not rocks or concrete.
- July in coastal Washington - "average" night temp 55F. Record low is 37F (in 1946) but there should be advance warning of a cold snap and subject can pull the ripcord. Still, it could be 50F or even 45F. Rain not impossible (July averages 0.6 inch rain).
- Subject is a 48 y/o guy, not a comfort queen. He has done a lot of backpacking and sleeping on the ground and is cool with wearing dirty clothes, but not into being cold/wet, and will need to get sleep.
- No need to bring cooking stuff, food or drink. Repeat: no cooking or food needed. There's restaurants.
- Minimal shower facilities may possibly exist. Maybe not. The ability to brush teeth would be preferred.

What is the absolute minimum volume and weight of the "camping" kit you can come up with, for this mission?

The "luggage" will be a saddlebag hung behind the bike saddle. Available space will be at most the volume of a shoebox. Tolerable weight is one pound. Said old guy will be pedaling with that pound for two days. Discarding any disposable stuff in the morning is an option, though ungreen.

I'm thinking this will involve space blankets, thin painters tarp, something like that, the day's newspaper crumpled up, stuff like that?

[island911]

Try down town Seattle. Lots of expertise there. Look for guys carrying cardboard. ..under bridges.


(free bump)

[davidrivers]

I have used an empty mylar/plastic wine "sac" from a box of cheap wine as a pillow before on a long backpacking trek. Worked very well, compresses down to nothing, and weight is negligible. Wrap a tshirt around it for more comfort if needed.

[id10t]

2 army ponchos with 2 liners for each one and some 550 cord. Some way of boiling water and starting fire. Some sort of meal - mountain house, mre, etc.

[Schumi]

Bare minimum? How about nothing? Just lay down in the grass somewhere and pass out. I did this plenty of times in College. And I wasn't even camping.

[jyl]

Laying down and passing out would work on a sunny afternoon. Not sure about at night, 55F or lower, possibly raining, muddy, or otherwise not a warm college lawn . . .

[Aurel]

Hikelight.com - Lightweight backpacks, tents, sleeping bags, clothing, & accessories.

[john70t]

Nylon(wind/rain), over wool(air barrier), over long underwear(surface) should handle most weather conditions during medium biking and hiking.
Layers are essential to climate variables.

Plenty of water with small energy snacks are always good for backup.

Comfortable bike seat and position a must.

[fanaudical]

Doing the STP?

[RWebb]

foam pad + a nylon tarp (or garbage bags) + very light mummy bag

if you are sure you can find hay that is dry to build a bed out of, then ditch the foam pad


been backpacking recently??? your body ain't the same as when you were mountaineering and sleepin' on snow banks in a bivy sack ...

what will happen if you wake up so badly cramped you cannot ride a bike or stand up for 4 days?

[madmmac]

A space blanket and a prayer for warm weather may do it. That would be under 1 lb.

Or, a $300 sleeping bag at 1lb and nothing else.

Or, find a couple of buddies (or buddettes) and do some serious spooning. You can use the 1 lb allowance for a couple of space blankets and personal protection.

The smart guys will use the support trucks and have everything they need to be comfortable.

But, at least you did not have to use the support truck thing going for you.

[jyl]

Yes, STP.

[LWJ]

The probability of rain is very low. Assuming it won't rain you camp. If it rains, have a plan B.

To camp in the dry at 55F, you need to stay dry from condensation. A plastic sheet (painters clear thin stuff is light), then an air space between the plastic and your body will keep you comfy. The luxury option is to cover with a space blanket. If you use fleece pants / shirt as biking / sleeping wear, you could be well under one pound.

Of course, your muscles will hate you in the am for sleeping on the cold ground. I personally would opt for a cheap motel. You are being manly enough just riding STP!

Larry

[jyl]

Ain't no cheap motel for the STP and all the $300 Motel 6 rooms are spoken for anyway. I'm camping for sure.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by jyl

Laying down and passing out would work on a sunny afternoon. Not sure about at night, 55F or lower, possibly raining, muddy, or otherwise not a warm college lawn . . .

The answer seems obvious to me. Bottle of whiskey.

But seriously, I'm 54 going on 16 and I learned many years ago to not sleep directly on the ground. And it's not just because the ground is hard. The ground will also draw quite a few BTU's out of your body. If I had to have something over me OR something under me, I'm not sure what I would choose.

Then again, if I did the STP, six or seven nights would be involved.

[island911]

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2007/07/23/4003924.aspx

and if you can average 14.4 mph you can be done in ~14 hours.