Steve House vid - Is packing your 35L for overnight realistic?

Petey Gil-Montllorwrote:

Stuff sacks are an impediment and a waste of space. The pack is the stuff sack. 

Also, leaving expandable items loose in the pack allows them to conform to available space, thus providing more rigidity to the carrying system and improving comfort for the wearer.

A few other ideas:

1. Cut down your pad and use it for a frame inside the pack. 
2. If, while sleeping, your lower half gets cold as a result of the short pad, use the empty pack as a pad or stuff you legs inside it.
3. Use shoes and misc. stuff for pillow.
4. Weigh (acceptable) food options and create a weight vs calorie ratio. Choose foods with more calories/g, especially for dinners.
5. Nalgenes are heavy.

Lee Harriswrote:

A few other ideas:

1. Cut down your pad and use it for a frame inside the pack. 
2. If, while sleeping, your lower half gets cold as a result of the short pad, use the empty pack as a pad or stuff you legs inside it.
3. Use shoes and misc. stuff for pillow.
4. Weigh (acceptable) food options and create a weight vs calorie ratio. Choose foods with more calories/g, especially for dinners.
5. Nalgenes are heavy.

Good point about the Nalgenes. A soft bottle is great for taking less room when it’s empty. But even a plastic bottle from 7-11 (like Desani) is far lighter than a Nalgene

DeLa Crucewrote:

Good point about the Nalgenes. A soft bottle is great for taking less room when it’s empty. But even a plastic bottle from 7-11 (like Desani) is far lighter than a Nalgene

Ultralight hikers have been using SmartWater bottles for ages. The caps are more reliable than other disposable plastic bottles, they come in useful sizes, and they crush down moderately well while still being somewhat reusable. And they're lighter than any water bottles intended for reuse on the market.

Great ideas and some good thought for consideration here.

David Kwrote:

Ultralight hikers have been using SmartWater bottles for ages. The caps are more reliable than other disposable plastic bottles, they come in useful sizes, and they crush down moderately well while still being somewhat reusable. And they're lighter than any water bottles intended for reuse on the market.

I've been using a Platypus (collapsible water bag) since the 90's. I pull out a couple of 2.0 liters for campsite use and it saves lots of filtering trips at dinner.  It weighs 1.3 oz and folds up to not much.  I can use a hydration hoseif necessary with them. 

Are there advantage to a Nalgene or a semi collapsible bottle?

RJNakatawrote:

Great ideas and some good thought for consideration here.

I've been using a Platypus (collapsible water bag) since the 90's. I pull out a couple of 2.0 liters for campsite use and it saves lots of filtering trips at dinner.  It weighs 1.3 oz and folds up to not much.  I can use a hydration hoseif necessary with them. 

Are there advantage to a Nalgene or a semi collapsible bottle?

To me, the primary advantage of the hard Nalgene is that it is just super robust. I’ve had a few soft bottles fail, which is enough that I don’t like to pack them full anymore. I do like to carry a 2L soft bottle on overnights for exactly the same purpose you mentioned, especially if melting snow is required. 

RJNakatawrote:

I've been using a Platypus (collapsible water bag) since the 90's. I pull out a couple of 2.0 liters for campsite use and it saves lots of filtering trips at dinner.  It weighs 1.3 oz and folds up to not much.  I can use a hydration hoseif necessary with them. 

Are there advantage to a Nalgene or a semi collapsible bottle?

Well, equivalently sized SmartWater bottles are lighter than a Platypus.

RJNakatawrote:

Are there advantage to a Nalgene or a semi collapsible bottle?

Yes, a couple of advantages with Nalgenes for mountaineering in the cold:

• You can pour hot water in them easily. Throw one in your sleeping bag before bed, in your boots in the morning -- game changer.
• Melting snow the evening before a summit push. You know the bottles will freeze a little overnight, but you can use an ice axe to easily make a hole because of the large opening. 
• Durable

My Nalgenes only come out for winter / high-altitude mountaineering, ice climbing, or tailgating. I use smart water bottles for everything else. 

*Some platypus bladders have a wide mouth opening and you can add very hot water to them, but when it's cold those are more fiddly than it's worth IMO. 

Scott Dwrote:

My Nalgenes only come out for winter / high-altitude mountaineering, ice climbing, or tailgating. I use smart water bottles for everything else. 

Ditto. Also for low elevation climbs I often filter, and the smart pairs nicely with the Squeeze. Here in the Cascades, that combo can make carrying water optional, since you can keep up with your partners instead of stopping to filter at every freshet.

To clarify too, the original Nalgenes are obese at 180g (same weight as a modern ice axe!). The newer UL bottle is ~55g and more competitive with smart bottles. The pint size can suffice for day climbs with pure water sources or complement with the 2L Platypus for overnights. The wide mouth allows a Steripen if my party is bringing one.

Would someone post a pic of what is meant by a "smartwater bottle" or "soft flask"?  I'm not getting it exactly. tnx

Thanks, in all sincere seriousness I'm not sure what is meant by a Smart Water bottle.

Do you mean like this

Edit: That's just a bottle of water you get at the grocery store right?!  Is it the form factor (tall/narrow) that is advantageous or is it thicker material?  That's the last thing I would have thought was a serious water bottle.  

Also is this what is meant by a "soft flask"?

RJNakatawrote:

Thanks, in all sincere seriousness I'm not sure what is meant by a Smart Water bottle.

Do you mean like this

Edit: That's just a bottle of water you get at the grocery store right?!  Is it the form factor (tall/narrow) that is advantageous or is it thicker material?  That's the last thing I would have thought was a serious water bottle.  

Also is this what is meant by a "soft flask"?

Yes, and yes. 

The smart water bottle form factor can be nice. But as a disposal bottle, it's lighter than, for example, a nalgene. But for a disposal bottle, it's quite durable. So, it's a good middle ground for functionality, lightweight, and resilience. 

Edit to add: though based on that pic, it looks like maybe they changed the lid, which could definitely affect longer term use. 

↑ 

↑ 

Thank you !

M Appelquist wrote:

And the smart water bottle threads fit the Sawyer Squeeze filter.

I hope that's still true because the lid looks smaller in the image above than it is in the 4-5 bottles that I have. 

I hate that this conversation has degenerated to talking about water bottles.

Regarding the Smartwater cap, yes, the new bottles have a much much smaller cap. 

Chris Cwrote:

I hate that this conversation has degenerated to talking about water bottles.

Regarding the Smartwater cap, yes, the new bottles have a much much smaller cap. 

hahahaha

Getting back to the original question. 

IMHO it is indeed realistic but not easy.
On my side I manage to do overnight bivvy with a 40 liters backpack, the condition being that I strap a lot of stuff on the outside of my pack (matress, ice tool(s), crampons, rope, pole)

If you re as dedicated to the sport as Steeve House is then I think the answer to the OP question is "yes". 

Fabien Mwrote:

Getting back to the original question. 

IMHO it is indeed realistic but not easy.
On my side I manage to do overnight bivvy with a 40 liters backapack, the condition being that I strap a lot of stuff on the outside of my pack (matress, ice tool(s), crampons, rope, pole)

If you re as dedicated to the sport as Steeve house is then I think the answer to the OP question is "yes". 

but what water bottle are you using?! that’s the key question

M Appelquist wrote:

But does the new smaller cap cover the same size threads allowing the Sawyer Squeeze you may want to carry in your 35 liter pack to still fit?

I do really want to know this... (sorry Chris C...)

If they don't, I'm gonna go to the store and stock up on the old ones. 

Fabien Mwrote:

Getting back to the original question. 

IMHO it is indeed realistic but not easy.
On my side I manage to do overnight bivvy with a 40 liters backpack, the condition being that I strap a lot of stuff on the outside of my pack (matress, ice tool(s), crampons, rope, pole)

If you re as dedicated to the sport as Steeve House is then I think the answer to the OP question is "yes". 

OP here: I come from using a 60L worksack for a 2 nighter where the only thing outside is the helmet, rope on top and tools.  Given it's fullness, whenever I pack I always wonder how a 40-45L can work, thus the question about the usability of a 35L.  (note: I'm pretty sure I'm not as dedicated to the sport at Steve House is)

Starting with a smaller (climbable) main pack (and no additional summit bag) would be be ideal.  For me it sounds like it's a matter of a) hanging more outside, b) streamlining what is taken - water bottles, mattress, etc, c) living less comfy- take less - get more "dedicated"