Worldwide Outdoor Experience

Links

Although I have gathered a lot of knowledge on this site, I would like to present some excellent sources for further information here. This includes blogs, forums and other portals.

• Ultraleicht Trekking Forum
• Ultralight and Comfortable
• QBloggt
• Gygago
• Wanderreitkarte

Ultraleicht Trekking Forum

The Ultraleicht Trekking Forum, kurz ULTF, is the go-to place of the German UL trekking scene. Here, discussions, planning and gear modifications take place. If you have questions about UL, this is the right place to go!

Power Supply on the Go 3 - Solar on Tour

When out hiking or trekking there are several ways to ensure the power supply of navigation, camera, smartphone, lamp and so on. On the one hand it is possible to take spare rechargeable batteries for each device. On the other hand there are also models of all these devices that can be charged via USB. In this case the supply on tour would only need to be secured from one power outlet as a charging option to the next. With a power bank the required time gap to the power grid can be extended. This is the most frequently chosen method for trekking and especially for ultralight trekking. Nevertheless solar panels offer another option independent of the power grid.

Solar Calculator

This solar calculator calculates based on specified parameters how a system consisting of a solar panel, smartphone and power bank will behave under corresponding environmental conditions. The result is a forecast that does not necessarily have to match reality. However the forecast serves as a first reference point to be able to assess whether the planned combination is promising.

Blogging on the Trail

So far, I have only written my blog posts after being on a trip, but I asked myself what would speak against blogging on the trail as a trip diary.
In itself it is quite simple. You can write in a diary during a tour after all. Blogging on the trail brings some problems with it. First of all, you need many times the power for your phone. My smartphone, an LG G4, for example, has a battery life of just five and a half hours with the display switched on. So far I have been using it for one to two hours per day, mainly taking photos and sending messages. Blogging will mean I need many times more power in the future.
Then there is the writing itself. So far, all on-screen keyboards have driven me to despair sooner or later. Even with the promising Swype, writing got on my nerves within a few sentences. I still mourn my first Android smartphone with a hardware keyboard. To solve this problem, I now pack an additional Bluetooth keyboard..
To test the whole thing, I took the following items on vacation:
• LG G4 Smartphone
• Breffo Spiderpod smartphone holder
• Jelly Comb Tri-Fold Bluetooth keyboard
So far I have pre-written my blog posts in Google Docs and later published them in the blog software via copy and paste. Unfortunately, the Google Docs Android app does not offer the full range of functions compared to the web version. I especially miss the revision history. I also tried it via the Firefox browser in PC mode. That way the revision history is partially displayed. Unfortunately, half of the website is cut off; the resolution and pixel density is probably not suitable for a display.
To be able to create new files offline, I kept looking around and found the app “OfficeSuite Pro”. Unfortunately, this app is pricey at over €16. On top of that, there is around €8 for an app to get spell checking in OfficeSuite. Still, it is worth it to be able to write half-way professionally on the trail.

So far I am very happy with the setup. Maybe I will pack the keyboard more often in the future, who knows? The future will tell, I will keep you posted!

Packs

Once the gear has been put together, a fitting pack has to be found to carry it. Every pack has to fit your back well. Just because a model fits me well doesn't mean it will fit others, too.

• Laufbursche Huckepack
• Exped Lightning 60

Exped Lightning 60

Hello and thank you to Kai for the opportunity to contribute here as a guest author. Not all of my texts fit the topic of ultralight trekking, but I will gladly provide those that do. The Lightning series has existed since 2013. I first saw the pack with friends at the end of 2014 and finally gave it a trial run at the beginning of 2015. It was to be my first top-loader over 40l, and I did not make the decision lightly.

2016-12 Year-End in the Odenwald

The past year had been marked, among other things, by many beautiful trips. That settled it: the year should end with a shared trip. Originally, several people were on board - unfortunately, something came up for me, so Bimbi and I headed to the beautiful Odenwald one day later than planned.

Small Cook Set (400ml)

Over the past years, I have drastically reduced not only my pack weight but also its volume. With this set, I have reached the point in cooking where a smaller pot no longer seems practical to me. The pot with 400ml of volume is ideally suited for freezer-bag cooking