Where: Philmont Scout Ranch, Cimarron, New Mexico

When: 07/04/2026 - 07/15/2026

Distance: 68 miles, ~11,000' elevation gain/loss. This was a modest trip in terms of difficulty, though the youth chose to do side hikes / bag peaks whenever they could.

Conditions:  Base camp highs in the 90s, lows in the high 60s/low 70s. Back country: Highs in the 80s, lows in the 40s. Rain in the afternoon of most days. Rain was refreshing, not cold. Elevations ranged from 6600 at base camp to 11,700 (Phillips Peak) with 2 nights spent over 10,300 feet. Very low dew points. It was just beautiful!

Lighterpack:  Last month I published my LP for a trip to Philmont for a shakedown. I call this "UL-ish" because there are some things about Philmont that are decidedly non UL. Some of the tricks I had planned on doing in order to cut weight did not pan out. Whatever. I still cut ~3.5 pounds from my BW from the 2023 trip.

This post is intended to be reflection/lessons-learned for next time. Here is a link to what I actually took: https://lighterpack.com/r/4mdrsb

Photo Album: https://imgur.com/a/4zRC9Bs

The Report: I'm going to focus not on the hiking, but on the gear.

Here are some things that I'd do differently next time

1. I will not bring the second sun hoodie. While I did wear it, my primary hoodie got washed half way through and wasn't even that stinky. I waffled on taking it. Turns out I should not have. Embrace the stink! (213 gram savings)
2. I was way more effective at battery management than I thought I would be. Next time I only bring one of the Nitecore 10K units. I finished with about 40% on my phone and never touched the second battery. (150 gram savings)
3. I brought both the butt pad and the modded-Helinox chair. I ended up using the butt pad more than 50% of the time as there are LOTS of stumps and logs to sit on at Philmont. The one I used was the cheap/1 oz one from Litesmith/GGG. It compressed a lot. Next time I'll leave the Helinox behind and bring the 2 oz Thermarest Z-seat. (377 gram savings)
4. Sleeping pads........ I ended up taking a large/wide Xlite because, of the many inflatable pads I have, it was the only one that wasn't leaking. I waited too long to deal with this prior to leaving for the trip. Next time I'll get things dealt with ahead of time so I could take one of my several lighter options. (144 gram savings minimum)
5. I brought the Finetrack Elemental T-shirt and Dutchwear Laundry Shorts to sleep in to be YPT compliant, but I always just slept in my hiking clothes. (I never used the shirt and shorts.) The same thing happened in 2023. I'll leave them in base camp next time. (132 gram savings)
6. I tested my watch at home before the trek and found I could get 13 days between recharges, so I didn't bring the charger cord in the back country. That was a mistake. I accidentally hit the flashlight function on my watch and burnt a bunch of battery life, then ran out of charge on day 8. Next time I'm bringing the charging cord for my watch. And before you ask "why don't you just get a different watch?" I've tried. I REALLY like this one. (25 gram addition)

Total weight to save for next time: 991 grams! That would have reduced my base weight from 11.31 to 9.12 pounds!

Note: Someone suggested ditching either my EE Copperfield wind shirt or my DCF rain jacket. I took both, and used both. They have different use cases. I am hesitant to give up either, especially if I give up the second sun hoodie.

Some of the things that worked remarkably well:

1. The whole concept of a carrying a separate small bear bag for coffee supplies hung via the PCT method (line, stick and carabiner) so that I could retrieve it myself before the youth even got up to take the group bear bags down was gold. 100% going to do that again. 120 grams for Toaks 750, dedicated bear bag and line was totally worth it. I got my coffee each morning before they even got up, and that made for a happy hiker.
2. I am Team umbrella and kilt. Perfect combination for the afternoon showers while hiking. (It rained most afternoons - but never anything heavy.) Oh, and the umbrella doubled as sun relief multiple times.
3. I discovered that by putting the Big Sky Dream Sleeper inside my hoodie, I could keep it from wandering around the sleeping mat at night. Bonus - my face was on fabric rather than plastic.
4. My Alpha and EE Copperfield windbreaker was all I needed when it got chilly - even when it was raining. I did not miss my puffy. I am glad I left it at home.
5. Half of a beach-towel size liteload towel was perfect for backcountry showers. 62 grams. Totally worth it.
6. Bringing the smallest Jackery battery bank to charge every thing up in base camp before departure was absolutely the right answer. (Obviously leave it behind at base camp.) Last time I had to compete for an outlet in the advisor's lounge. This time I just charged in my tent.
7. My MYOG-modded CRO quilt proved, once again, to be the sweet spot with respect to performance and weight. 411 grams! (Personally tested/proven comfortable on a 25 degree night when paired with an Xlite.)

Other Philmont-specific lessons learned:

1. I'm not going to do food substitutions next time. They give you SO MUCH FOOD. I could never eat it all and ditched probably 30% of the items. Next time I'll simply bring a couple of replacement bars to handle any substitutions I might need the first couple days, then rely on swap boxes for everything else. This would cut my weight overall.
2. Philmont trails get super dusty. I spent much of the trip sneezing and coughing. The whole bandanna-across-the-face trope of cowboys in the old west makes a lot of sense to me. I'll substitute a bandanna for my tent's Sham-Wow next time so I can use it this way.
3. I did not bring a knife. I just brought my Litesmith scissors. That worked great except I didn't have anything to clean dirt from under my fingernails. I'll have to swap something from my kit so that I have this capability for next time.
4. I need to add 10'x10' chunk of Tyvek to the group gear to lay down on the ground in the "kitchen" area so that everything is not in the dirt.
5. Because I wore pants, I left the gators behind. Big mistake. I had to clean dirt and debris out of my shoes constantly. Gators next time!

My MVP for the trip:

In 2023 the MVP was my sun umbrella. This time the honor goes to my Patagonia Capilene Daily Cool hoodie. Super comfortable and excellent at evaporative cooling. I wore it 8 of the 10 days. Worth every penny.

Looking for an OR Echo alternative that's available in the UK. Basically want maximum breathability sacrificing UPF 50 for UPF 15.

For some reason this just doesn't exist. There are options that on paper look right but don't have actual UPF rating, like the Rab Sonic or the new Patagonia Cap Ultra.

Use case is tropical country traveling and hiking+ scuba diving boats where I end up standing in red sea full sun for hours. I need it to dry quickly and not make me sweat while providing some sun protection.

Multiple people in this sub tried the Rab Sonic and said it wasn't as cool or comfortable as the OR echo, all the while not even having the same UPF rating (I assume it doesn't because it doesn't actually hit 15 and 15 is the minimum to get UPF certification).

Which is why I'm excited to see Patagonia seemingly coming out with a product in this space this year, but I can't see any reviews yet. Anyone here has it and can comment?

Thanks

Hi everyone, I’m 5’11” and roughly 134 lbs. I am having an ablative laser treatment done in the next couple of weeks. I need some recs for long sleeve breathable SPF shirts—I’m struggling to find tops with arms that reach my wrist. Im in Texas, so it is blistering hot. To cover my neck and chest I’m using gators and bandanas, but any mock neck cuts would be great too. The only decent piece I’ve found is Athleta’s Interval Jacket in Small/Tall, but again, it’s a little too warm for that right now (arms and shoulders are perfect). I bought and kept the Coolibar Women's Funnel Neck Long Sleeve Top - UPF 50+ Sun Protection - Catona, but it’s slightly short in the arm (I’ll deal).

My lady and I are looking at getting a new tent to backpack and Bikepack with, I am looking at the Pivot duo and trio as options. I can't seem to find any real good videos out there about these tents besides the Zpacks promo videos on them. questions I have is how these hold up in storms? Is the Duo big enough for me and my smaller lady or is the trio the better option? Does the headspace seem good in this tent?

So inspired by https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/1v1lcs1/can_someone_explain_fleecemid_insulating_layers/ I want to buy a an active midlayer for bikepacking/cycling. I'm planning to wear a thin mesh baselayer, then (optionally) the midlayer when it's cold and then a windbreaker. I also have a down vest and jacket which I will bring depending on the trip.

My question is: any reason why or why I should not get the Patagonia R1 Air for that (no hoodie but high/turtle neck)? One thing I don't really need is the pocket. Any good alternatives that might be a better fit for me? I would not mind merino blends since I don't wear a backpack so there should be very little wear and tear on it.

Hello, I am looking to invest in a higher quality sleeping bag (or quilt as I have been seeing a lot about those in this subreddit). Generally I like hiking on the colder end but am planning to go hiking in mid Sweden this summer so there will be relatively warm nights, around 10 degrees Celsius. The Raven or Lark from feathered friends looked like a really good bag but am unsure if those would be way too warm for my upcoming trip (though perhaps it could be zipped open and used more as blanket?) Also, I do not mind being a bit uncomfortable so perhaps a bag like that is a bit overkill in terms of quality? Anyhow, quilts seem nice as well for their adjustability and small packing size. Sleeping mat recommendations would be great as well! Main features I am interested in are small packing size and a insulation value for sub degree temperatures.

Key points

-Gear (sleeping bag/quilt and mat aimed more toward cold climate but adaptability to a temperature of 10 degrees C would be great if possible

-Low packing volume if possible

-Don't need the highest quality but if I get something I would like it to be used for a long time.

I am 189 cm so around 6'2 to 6'3 and have relatively broad shoulders

Thanks for reading and any suggestions!

Edit: would the Timmermade Coati skirt quilt be a good option?

Looking at various mat-sleeping bag-warmth-weight combinations. How does one decide whether it's better to go warmer on the mat or the sleeping bag? Where does the balance lie?