LytW8.com
Your Subtitle text

My Gear

Here is a collection of gear that I use. These are all items I have made myself, most from my own design. For lightweight fabric I usually use 1.3 oz/sq yard silnylon. For breathable light weight farbic I use Momentum 90 or the new M50.  My insultation tends to be 900+ fill down or synthetic primaloft.

My Gear Closet:

LytW8 M50 Down Pullover
Inspired by a jacket done by Brendan Swihart posted on BPL I decided to modify my thru-hiker kinsman pullover pattern to make a new pullover that was down instead of synthetic. Made from M50 material and 900 fp down this jacket looks to be a new staple in my backpacking kit. The final jacket weighs 5.1 oz and uses 2.25 oz of down. I changed the kinsman by reducing the arm girth by 2", reduced the collar height by 1/2", and shortened the zipper by 2". I had to make some modifications to how the pieces were assembled to work for down instead of synthetic insulation, but surprising this was not as hard as I had anticipated. I could not have been more pleased with the fit. Much better fit than my Montbell Down Inner or the Pantagonia Nano Puff.


Orange color makes my lawn look so good.


Highly paid professional male model, 5'10" 160 lbs.


Slightly dropped back to keep the cold out when sitting and bending.


LytW8 Summer Quilt
I had the opportunity to pick up some new and exciting fabric from thru-hiker.com. The fabric is called M50 and it is the lightest down proof fabric available to the public. I checked mine and it weighed a ridiculous .71 oz/sq yd. Having already planned to do a new summer quilt this fabric was exactly what I needed. The finished quilt weighs a crazy 10.80 oz! Compared to many other lightweight quilts this one does not scrimp on size. The top width is 50" then is has a 2/3 taper to a 38" footbox. It also retains the ability to open up flat or form a footbox using snag free velcro. The quilt has sewn through baffles, but still lofts between 1.5" to 2" inches. I expect this quilt to be good to 40 degrees or a little lower with added clothes. Lastly I find the orange color to be extremely attractive.

Click this link to download instructions on how to make your own!

LINK to FREE INSTRUCTIONS -> LytW8 Summer Quilt Instructions.pdf 

 
Quilt open flat.


Forming the footbox.


Quilt with formed footbox.


Quilt with me inside (aka carrot mode).


LytW8 1P Flat Tarp
One of my latest projects was to return to the basics. And nothing is more basic than a flat tarp. The version I made is a simple one person that is approximate 8 ft by 5 ft. It has 8 tie outs and can be pitched in multiple ways. The final weight of tarp is 7.00 oz.


Flat tarp A frame pitch.


Grosgrain Tie for attaching guy lines.


Alternate pitch using one pole.



Alternative pitch for easy side access.


LytW8 1P Catenary Tarp
I developed the following tarp to to be optimized for A frame pitching. It provides more room near ones head by sacrifising width near the feet. This tarp has a trapezoid shape and a nice 3" catenary curved ridge line. It is 8' long, 5' 9.5" wide in front, and 4' 3.5" wide at the end. It has 8 ties outs made of 3/4" gross grain webbing. I used a olive brown silnylon rather than my standard gray. The final weight of tarp is 6.75 oz. This tarp pitches tighter than any other tarp I have owned.


Tarp from the front


Tarp side view


Corner tieout


LytW8 Cuben Catenary Tarp
Here are pictures of my first cuben fiber project. It is a tapered tarp with a catenary ridgeline and was made from .51 oz cuben fiber. The tarp was bonded with Hysol U-90FL. It is 57" wide in front, 45" wide at the rear and is 106" long. The finished tarp weighs 2.7 oz.

Here is an instruction set that I put together in case someone wants to reproduce the tarp.

Link to FREE INSTRUCTIONS -> LytW8_Cuben_Tarp_Design.pdf


Cuben Tarp weighing 2.9 oz including guy lines


Ridgeline is 1" bonded


Tie outs made from 3/4" grosgrain

LytW8 Bivy
The following bivy was designed to extend the storm protection of my tarp, minimize heat loss from wind, and provide insect protection. The bottom is 1.3 silnylon, the top is momentum 09, the window is nanoseeum, and it has a chest zipper for entry. The bivy was designed to be minimalistic and only weighs 5.65 oz. It is unique in the fill width partial netting window. I find this superior to half moon or full net hood bivy's as it significantly increases ventilation (over partial window) but also provides storm protection from the top. 

Bivy Design - If interested in making your own bivy here is a simplified version of my original design. This was developed with BPL member Chris Muthig. Chris has made the original version. Please use caution as the final dimension have not been checked.

LytW8_Simple_Bivy_Design.pdf

Here is a link to BPL where Chris provided pictures and details on his version.

Chris_Muthig_Bivy_on_BPL


Bivy under tarp in Smoky Moutains National Park.


Full view of bivy with quilt inside.


Shock cord extended for sleeping at night.


Bivy unzipped for entry.


Bivy hood tucked under for sleeping with head exposed (minimizes condensation).


LytW8 Pack
After using a number of small light weight packs I decided to design my own with the features that met my needs for a pack that could carry base weight below 8 lbs and a few days of food. Features that I desired were light weight (of course), side and back pockets with mesh, an improved top closure to the traditional draw cord, and ergonomic shoulder straps. At these low weights I find sternum straps and waist belts uneeded. This pack was made from 1.2 silnylon (sides, front, pockets & collar), 2.2 coated nylon (back & bottom), and 4.0 mesh (pocket bottoms).

The finished pack weighs 4.95 oz and will hold approximately 1800 cu in (30 liters) including the pockets and extension collar. The main bag holds approximately 1200 cu in. Here is the final design loaded with about 6.5 lbs of gear (20 degree kit), 2 days of food, and 1 liter of water.


      
Pack front (pockets) and back (shoulder straps)


   
Roll top closure and side compression



Worn Pack


LytW8 Quilt
The use of quilts in lightweight backpacking is increasing in popularity. The first quilt I use was a Golite Ultra 20, sadly this quilt is not longer produced. I decided to design my own quilt with the following features: minimal weight, fairly wide torso girth, good to 20 F, will open flat, formable footbox, and minimal packed volume. My final quilt is made from 800 cu in fill down and .9 oz downproof breathable nylon fabric. It is 52" wide in the torso then half tapers to a 40" footbox. The final quilt weighs 21 oz.



Lays Flat



Nearly 3" Loft



Footbox (18" Velcro and Drawcord)



Footbox Plug (optional)



Me Inside


LytW8 Mini Tent
In a quest to simplify my tarp and bivy into one item, I developed what I call the "Mini Tent". As I don't spend much time in my shelter I just needed something large enough to crawl into at night with a spot for a few pieces of gear. I wanted a shelter that was sub 1 lb, could fend off a night of rain, and protect me from insects. I used commonly available light weight silynylon.  My final design does all of this and weighed 12.75 oz.



Side View



Front with Netting Zipped Close



Rear View from the Field



Front View with Netting Open 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Content copyright . LytW8.com. All rights reserved.
Web Hosting Companies