Gear specs, A to Z

A blank cell in this table is deliberate. 8 of the items here are cottage gear sold direct only, and most of them are built to order, which means the weight and the price both depend on the fill power, temperature rating, length and width you specify. Quoting one number for a made to order quilt would be inventing precision that does not exist. Zpacks, Durston Gear, Hyperlite Mountain Gear, Enlightened Equipment, Katabatic Gear, Nunatak, Hammock Gear and Wild Ideas all work this way. Those links go to the manufacturer, they earn us nothing, and we list them anyway because leaving them out would misrepresent the categories they dominate.

The same rule applies to weights. Trail shoes are listed per size and per colour rather than as one product, so a single ASIN for "the shoe" does not exist for most models, and the published pair weight is for one reference size that is probably not yours. Where a figure would be false precision it is left out rather than guessed at.

Everything else is the manufacturer's published figure for the size and configuration named, which is not the same as a measured figure. Published weights run optimistic often enough to matter, sometimes by an ounce or two per item, and tent specifications are the worst offender because minimum weight, trail weight and packaged weight are three different numbers for the same tent. The tent weight chart takes that apart, and a cheap digital scale is the single cheapest upgrade to any gear list, because it stops your spreadsheet lying to you.

To use these numbers rather than read them, put them into the gear list builder, which totals a full kit and sorts it into base, worn and consumable weight, or check them against the reference charts and the complete buildouts, which show these items assembled into kits from under ten pounds up to a full winter setup.

Going ultralight must not mean going unprepared. Nothing in this table is a reason to leave behind adequate shelter, insulation for the conditions you will actually meet, rain protection, navigation, water treatment or a way to call for help. Sleeping bag and quilt temperature ratings shown on the individual pages are survival ratings, not comfort ratings, and the comfort figure usually sits 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the published limit. You are responsible for the conditions you walk into, and a lighter pack does not change the weather.