Weight Conscious

I've never really been one to count ounces before.

When it came to gear selection, durability and functionality have always outweighed other factors. My thoughts never turned to the weight of an item as I could always shed more weight through diet than I could save by buying some lighter, and invariably more expensive, bit of kit.

Well, after lifting up my jacket for the umpteenth time yesterday and feeling the weight of the stuff packing my pockets I have decided that it might be time to think about lightening my load a bit.

It should be fairly easy to do.

Swap out the LMF Army Firesteel for something smaller like the bare rod, the Scout, or even the Boy Scout HotSpark. Trade in the SwissTool for one of the small Leatherman tools like the Micra or Squirt PS4. The flashlight I carry, the Streamlight MicroStream, is already pretty small but I could swap it out for the Photon MicroLight or something comparable at a pretty significant weight savings.

A big part of the problem is that I carry so much stuff every day that I must jingle when I walk. Just removing some of the gear will make a big difference.

Now taking this same approach with my pack could be fairly significant but there are just some things I don't want to change like my Fallkniven F1 or my Bahco folding saw. We have a history together and I know those bits of gear will work no matter what so I'm going to keep them around.

I could swap out my Zebra Billy Can for something in Titanium (you all know how I love Titanium) but I like how the Zebra cooks and I've learned where the hot spots are and how the pot behaves on various sources of heat.

Keep in mind, I've gone through a phase like this before and started stripping away all the stuff I wasn't using on a regular basis and then, over time, started adding back the things I wanted to carry for those "just in case" moments.

We'll see if this goes anywhere but, for now, I'm working on shaving those ounces from the stuff I EDC so my poor belt doesn't wear out prematurely.

Thanks for reading,


B