This week on Gritty Bowmen we meet again with Aron Snyder of Kifaru International to talk about why your pack is so freakin’ heavy. At the end of this podcast you will know what Aron does to lighten his backpack. As Aron explains in this podcast, most guys pack for Siberia but go to Africa. Aron will also teach you how to modify your gear to make it lighter without sacrificing function. But you’ve got to be carful doing this. As Aron said, “Brian, “When you start hacking parts off your pack and you think you ‘might’ be wrong--you’re probably wrong. One of my army instructors told me that. But if that thing has been in your pack or part of your pack for 3 years and you’ve never used it... hack that thing off like Hannibal Lecter!”

This podcast is chalk full of what I call Aron Snyderisms. Like, “ounces make pounds and pounds make pain.” And “usually it’s the bad-ass person who goes too ultralight and turns out to be the dumb-ass person.”

The podcast has some glitchy spots but it’s not too bad and the content is well-worth the time. In the last 30 minutes of theis podcast Aron and I go off on a tangent and talk about sponsorships in the hunting and outdoor industry--we talk about what we don’t like about sponsorships and why. And Aron tells me what his favorite clothing choices are right now, right down to the brand name. Which, will probably make some people in the hunting industry mad at him. Sorry Aron.

Featured in this Podcast:

How to shed useless, dead weight-- pack lighter without sacrificing your comfort.

5 WAYS TO LIGHTEN YOUR PACK:

1. Assess the situation. Don’t pack for Siberia when you’re going to Africa.
2. Cutting and modifying your gear--shed useless weight.
3. Splitting gear with your hunting buddies.
4. Buy the lightest weight gear that you can afford that fits your style of hunting.
5. Lose the weight off your ass.

When you’re pushing the envelope to save weight you can’t have our cake and eat it too. “My wife wants a gun that shoots down trees, doesn’t make noise and doesn’t kick -- and they just don’t have that...”

“It’s kind of like building a building... you can have quality, quantity, and cost-efficiency and you can have any two of those you want but you can’t have all 3. It’s the same with paying the piper for lightweight.”

“First Lite makes a jacket we call the “unpronounceable”... the oounncompadre.”

Question: “What is a woobie and when do you use it?”
Answer: “Oh I know. And what’s horrible is Kifaru also makes a Doobie, which is probably because Patrick was a hippie.”