Have just spent a few bucks with Snowys and Macpac upgrading my kit and feel the need to justify the expenditure and this seems an appropriate place!
Pack - Osprey Aura Anti Gravity 65L med, 1930g (when not using motorbike panniers
). LOVE this women's pack. Had it for a few months now, just day walks filled up for training. Highly recommended!
Tent - Denali Storm III hike tent 3.2kg OR Eureka Rising Sun 2.1kg (the old Eureka I bought in '91 is still great for 1 or 2 but sometimes we'd rather the extra space and Mr Man doesn't mind carrying the extra weight so, fine by me! Can also fit an extra little body when needed) OR for car camping, just bought the Coleman Lakeside 6 Geodesic Dome (two key areas in addition to seams failed on our existing tent over xmas
.
Bag - Mont Constellation 800 (again from 1991) - 1390g, plus just purchased Macpac Escapade 150 Standard (600 Down) 530g, which will beef up the Mont as a liner in cold times and can be used on its own in warmer climes.
Mat - Sea to Summit Comfort Lite Insulated Large, 695g.
With the smaller tent solo, my big 4 is just over 5kg. But I gotta say the Osprey pack feels like I am wearing nothing and makes everything else feel lighter. Same kit in my man's pack feels much heavier.
One of the main reasons for the upgrade was space, especially for warm weather trips. I had a fairly new self inflating foam style regular Thermarest which took up 55x15cm or precious pack/pannier space (and was 1090g). And my Mont takes up 37x20cm without a compression sack. So I am pretty happy to drop $160 on the Macpac lightweight down bag and $195 on the S2S mat which both pack down really small. With my liner I think it will make for a sweet little warm weather sleep system without taking up lots of room. Considered making my own lightweight synthetic quilt from the awesome stuff at Tiergear but once I saw the Escapade I suddenly felt very lazy.
If Snowys get the mats to us in time will give it a test run overnight in Coffs next weekend. Planning to use the Escapade down bag, with the Denali tent, for 6 days on the Abel Tasman walk in March.
I relied heavily on this forum in my decision to purchase the S2S mats. Thanks everyone for your contributions to this forum. I know the large is heavier than the regular and comfort is heavier than the insulated and the insulated is heavier than the non-ins but I don't mind carrying the extra gms when I've had a good night's sleep and I liked the puncture insurance inherent in the two layered system of the comfort and the higher R rating. I also hate having my arms on the floor or having to cross my arms when I sleep on my back (which is what happens on a 55cm wide mat) and I am a bit of a fitful, tossabout side sleeper so the extra width space, albeit just 9cm, I hope will help keep things sweet.
Ok that was all far too verbose for a Big 4 post, but like I said, had to justify that $pending !