Ultralight Hike
Since gear can break on the trail, I always carry a small repair and emergency kit.
This kit packs down very small and is therefore stowed in the first-aid kit. Despite its size, it consists of various parts, which I will explain below.
This kit is for making small repairs to my gear on the trail. It consists of the following components:
One of my preferred repair tools — the material is tough and sticks very well. Not only on Cuben Fiber, but also on nylon and even on silnylon. I have already permanently repaired several pack injuries and holes in down jackets with just a small piece of tape.
For covering large areas, the much cheaper duct tape is sufficient. That’s why I carry a few meters of it on the trail.
An inflatable sleeping pad offers good sleeping comfort at night, but has the disadvantage that a hole not only reduces comfort, but also brings the insulation effect down to zero. To patch a sleeping pad on the trail, I carry two glue dots and two Type A patches from the Field Repair Kit with me. The alcohol pads for cleaning the area around a hole have moved into the first-aid kit.
Super glue helps to join back together anything that needs a firmer bond. It even works on shoe soles. That’s why I carry a sealed 1g tube of super glue in the kit.
I am particularly proud of the sewing kit, because I searched for a long time for a good way to store needles safely and lightly with little packed size.
I finally found it in a hollow Q-tip. On one side, I stuffed in a little material from a foam sleeping pad and sealed that end, like the tinder tubes. So the Q-tip tube has a small pincushion on the closed side in which two sewing needles find a hold.
Two small strips of tape near the ends form a boundary, between which I was able to wind a good 10 meters of thread.
This thread is secured against accidentally unrolling with a small self-releasing knot.
Add four safety pins and the minimal sewing kit is complete.
A piece of wire like this can be used for all sorts of things; it’s basically a fireproof piece of cord and thus suitable, for example, for hanging a pot over the fire.
This kit is not only there to start a fire even in adverse conditions or to draw attention to yourself, but also to find your bearings. It consists of the following components:
Here I learned to appreciate the Suunto Clipper, which weighs 4g. It works reliably even when it isn’t held perfectly level.
The whistle originally hung on a piece of cord. After I milled away all the excess that wasn’t needed for whistling with a Dremel, the whistle was not only smaller but also a bit lighter.
Safe drinking water is very important on the trail to avoid Montezuma’s revenge. That’s why I have 10ml of Romin with chlorine and a strip of Micropur tablets in my hygiene kit. The Micropur will probably be dropped from the kit this year, since I mostly use Romin anyway.
In this kit, in addition to my EDC, I have another firesteel. But it will probably also be dropped from the kit in the course of the year.
Here, three matches are always heat-sealed watertight in a piece of straw. We’ll see how long these remain part of the kit; I’m still undecided about this too.
In these pieces of straw, cotton pads soaked in petroleum jelly are heat-sealed watertight. They burn for a good minute. That is enough to ignite kindling even in adverse conditions. This tinder can also be ignited very well with the firesteel.
You can always use a little cord, be it as an extra guy line for the tarp/tent or to hang the food in the trees at night. Only the carabiner will probably soon stay at home, because I already have one on the towel in my EDC. And I don’t need two carabiners for hanging food.
| Firesteel | 5g |
| Matches | 2g |
| Cord + carabiner | 8g |
| Tinder | 3g |
| Stuff sack + 2x zip-locks | 4g |
| Whistle | 2g |
| 4g | |
| 3g | |
| Duct tape | 4g |
| Cuben tape | 2g |
| 2g | |
| Water purification tablets | 2g |
| Safety pins, sewing needles, thread, wire | 2g |
| Total | 43g |
I will probably trim the fire section down, because I still have a Bic Mini in my cook sets and two more options on my EDC.
