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Vent: I blew $340 on ultralight gear for the JMT and carried half of it for nothing
Honestly I bought into the ultralight hype hard for my John Muir Trail trip out of Yosemite in July and it cost me. I dropped $340 on a tarp setup, a titanium pot, and a framed pack that was too small, thinking every ounce mattered. By day three near Tuolumne I was cold, wet, and miserable under that tarp while my buddy snoozed dry in his $90 two pound tent. I mailed 4 pounds of that fancy stuff home from Red's Meadow and spent the rest of the trip way happier. Tbh the weight savings were real but the comfort loss was way worse than I expected. Now I'm second guessing every 'lighter is better' post I see. Anyone else regret going full ultralight on a long thru route, or was my mistake just picking the wrong gear?
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umaf4419d ago
Used to be one of those guys who weighed every item down to the gram and felt smug about my base weight. Then I did a wet stretch in the Sierra with a tarp and got soaked two nights in a row while a buddy with a cheap tent stayed dry and got real sleep. I still go lighter than most people, but I quit treating oz like a religion. A two pound tent that keeps you dry and sane is worth the "penalty" every time. Your mistake wasn't going ultralight, it was thinking lighter always equals better on a long trip. Three weeks on the JMT is a backpacking trip, not a race, comfort compounds over that many nights.
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