msr mini groundhogs

 An easy way of losing weight from your rucksack is to replace the the tent pegs that come with your shelter. Whilst these aren't necessarily poor quality they tend to be heavier with a basic Y or V design.

In the past I've replaced the supplied pegs with V titanium ones. And if the pegging point isn't going to take stress then replacing that with a basic titanium wire peg. Titanium V pegs weigh about 9g and the wire ones 6g whereas supplied pegs tend to weigh about 14g.

The downside is the cost. And if your tent doesn't need many pegs then... I'll let you do the math.

MSR Mini Groundhogs are made from aluminium and weigh 9.5g each. They come supplied with a cord pull and are in an easy to spot red. They are Y pegs but with a difference the three arms of the Y are curved. The idea that this gives them better holding power.

I used them on two nights last weekend when the weather wasn't the best and found that they held really well. They need to go all the way in to maximise their holding power however they are really easy to insert. The best thing though is that they were £10.00 cheaper than the equivalent number of Titanium pegs of the same weight.

These were bought from Ultralightoutdoor gear.

msr night glow zipper pulls

A simple and effective tent upgrade that adds less than 3g* to the shelter. They are easily installed by looping through the zip and back through the loop of the pull itself forming a simple larks foot knot. And if you're like me and have a, cough, number of tents and shelters then they can easily transfered between them.

I'm not sure whether they are best on the outer side of the fly or on the inside. Or on both!

I picked them up from Ultralightoutdoorgear.

*subject to the number put to use.