Originally Posted by
WalksOn2Wheels
While we are having a fun time seeing how light we can go and still enjoy ourselves, these guys are the ones who take the cake in pushing it just to push it. I watched a video of a guy who went to test his kit out in the woods. Purposefully walked into the woods with a little altoid tin of stuff, along with a camera larger than the altoid tin, just to film himself being generally miserable and getting really cold at night due to some issues with his makeshift shelter. It just wasn't enough for the guy to be prepared, he HAD to go out and live it for a night just for kicks. Takes all kinds.
I can see why they would test it out. Otherwise you don't really know how well the exercise worked. That flavor of this madness doesn't appeal to me but I can see the attraction. Lets face it there is some level of compromise in creature comforts in any form of camping and that is part of the attraction.
Originally Posted by
WalksOn2Wheels
Anyhow, back to the subject at hand, some folks are getting a little bothered regarding including the bike in the overall weight. I think it's a useful metric, but I don't think I'm going to hold up my nose at a rider for riding a 20 pound bike with a 13 pound list when he could have bought a 17 pound bike to make it an even 30 overall. That misses the point. As would riding a carbon bike and carrying jeans and calling it UL touring. It may meet some arbitrary cutoff, but it's just kind of silly. The same would be said if someone on backpackinglight,com posted a list with a UL bivy and tarp that he put in a massive external frame pack. It would be LW by an arbitrary weight standard, but missing the point of going light.
I mostly agree with that.
Originally Posted by
WalksOn2Wheels
I think gear carried is the more important factor as far as changing one's mindset of what traveling light can be. But once you whittle it down to 10-15 pounds, it then makes sense to rethink whether or not your bike could be lighter. Simply because, as I said before, at that point of traveling light, a change in bike weight would be a bigger overall percentage of the weight moved from point A to point B. At a 60 pound load, a 30 pound bike vs. a 20 pound bike doesn't seem like a big deal. But once you're down to something like 15 pounds, swapping the same two bikes would make a pretty big dent.
Again I agree. Trimming the gear weight comes first and then it starts to make sense to reevaluate you heavier bike choice.
Originally Posted by
WalksOn2Wheels
Is it required to join our "special club"? Well, maybe. That is, if you really care what a bunch of gear nerds on an internet forum think of you. But in reality, in the end, it's all just numbers as long as you enjoy the ride.
Well said.
Originally Posted by
WalksOn2Wheels
I just wanted you to know that it wasn't just Nun who was bothered.
+1
Bek does contribute a good content, but the petty jabs do get old. Obviously he can do as he pleases, but I have to say I don't get it or find it particularly appropriate.