Ramblings On Ultralight Backpacking

My "new" notebook backpack.
Awfully comfy :)

Yeps, the most comfortable notebook bag ever - fully breathable back mesh, bundles of foam on shoulder straps and lumbar support, adjustable back length and all. I started bringing my Deuter Futura Vario 50+10L hiking backpack to office today to be used as my "new" notebook bag. 3 reasons why I did this:

The first is that I needed a new comfortable notebook bag for my HUGE & HEAVY 17.3" 4 kg notebook with adapter. Normal notebook bags just seem uncomfortable to carry such load, and the previous notebook bag eventually got shredded under the weight.

The second reason is waterproofness. My Deuter backpack is not waterproof. It has a rain cover stored at the bottom of the pack, but it will still be a sore if you have to wade through rivers (like in my previous trip to Bukit Kutu posted here). Unless your stuff and clothes in the backpack are safely kept in watertight Ziploc bags, they will definitely get wet. The storing stuff in a tied dustbin bag approach is not adequate to stop water from seeping in, especially when half of the backpack is submerged in fast flowing fluid. There are other bags which, although not as durable as my Deuter backpack, will at least keep your stuff in the pack dry, even when submerged in the river.

The third reason is that the hiking bag is heavy. With a dry (empty) weight of 2.24 kg for a 50 L capacity, the bag is far from being an ultralight backpack (a bag in the ultralight category would normally weigh around 0.3-1.0 kg for the same capacity). Never mind the extra cushioning and ventilation. if one have tasted "ultralight backpacking" especially after climbing a mountain, chances are, he/she will not look back and will inevitably pursue the lighter option.

I have tasted such "ultralight backpacking" when climbing the upper half of Mount Kinabalu several years ago, and only recently that I came across the term and the approach to realize it. Reminded of how exhilarating it was to backpack light, bit by bit, I plan to shift my paradigm, to relearn packing by only bringing the essential stuff and be as light as possible. My target? A full backpack (backpack + tent + food + water + clothes + all other stuff) with a total weight of only 7 kg. Better late then never :)

Hashtags: #backpacking #backpackinglight #cyborg #deuter #deuterfuturavario #futuravario #saibog #ultralight #ultralightbackpacking