Monday
Nov232009
November 23, 2009 Really minimal
Check out Tynan, a hardcore lifestyle minimalist. His Life Nomadic list will surely provoke you to reexamine your own. (Thanks to OBOWer Scott for the tip).
Update on November 23, 2009 by
Frank@OBOW
Frank@OBOW
Reader Comments (10)
For a minimalist, he sure has some very expensive items....
Those five finger shoes are just a little too weird for normal use. And if they start to smell that bad I can't see them ever being popular.
Buzz - I assume he's funding this little lifestyle experiment, at least in part, through affiliate sale commissions and proceeds from his Amazon "store". That might be the reason for so many high-dollar items. I think most OBIWers realize you don't have to go top-of-the-line with everything, indeed most of us couldn't if we wanted to.
I first found this guy on Gadling (www.gadling.com)...he does travel blogging, and has a couple of books for sale.
If you think about it, he's perfectly justified in having some expensive stuff...since he has so little, it has to be high quality.
The packing list video shows all his stuff...so if you add up the total cost of his wardrobe, it'll come out much less than what most of us have in our closets/dressers.
He's young, and a little extreme, but he's got some excellent gear for ultralight travel.
I'm not saying he shouldn't have good quality things....but traveling to some of the places he goes, I wouldn't wear a $500 watch or tote around a camera upwards of $1500. It's like asking for trouble.
But, if that's what makes him happy.....
And I agree with the shoes as well as his clothes....i guess he doesn't expect to go anywhere "fancy."
dressed the way he is, and carrying only a daypack, who would expect him to have anything expensive? :-)
I don't know. I am not terribly impressed. It's not really a super minimalist set-up except for clothes. His clothes are very good functional choices that will look like you're a hiker even if you are in a metropolitan area. Also some of his info is not spot on. For example the Patagonia R4 is probably the slightly better fleece jacket compared to the Arcteryx Delta SV. None of them has interior pockets (afaik), which is a let down when you are traveling. Half of his weight is tech gadgets. That's where minimalism could be really useful.
What I did like a lot was the APC adapter and Moon multiplug. I had never seen those things and can see the utility right away. I have owned a pair of Silhouette sunglasses similar to the Maui Jim he wears, except that Silhouette is from Austria and they invented the Titanium wire, no-joint frames and are still a tad cheaper. They are indeed super lightweight BUT they are bulky. You cannot fold them flat and you cannot hook them to a collar or shirt pocket. The only way to temporarily stow them is on your head. This has a number of potential drawbacks. They can fall off. You might still feel the pressure (my head was very sensitive to that). It may look strange. They are easily stolen. It may destroy your hairdo. Thus not a good choice for traveling. Also, if you need prescription lenses anyway, a better choice would be spring-loaded titanium frames that fold flat and stay in place with an additional sun clip to protect against bright light. Less weight and better functionality plus less risk of theft and loss.
As a watch, the Casio Pathfinder 1300 model in Titanium is probably the better choice for traveling and can be had for $225. It doesn't synchronize in China but the 1500 model does, even though it is a tad heavier.
As a camera, the Epson (which one of my best friends owns and uses with his Leica lenses) is good but not practical and too expensive for what it is. It is also not a full-frame sensor but an APS-C size. Technologically it is totally outdated and even two years ago the picture quality from my G9 was at least as good or better as we found in a direct comparison of the same motives on his computer. What makes things worse is that it's slow to handle and has no autofocus. It's a wonderful photo enthusiast and gear lover camera but clearly not a good tool for travel photography in 2009. The G9 or now the G11 also take video good enough for what he does. So no dedicated camera would be necessary. Moreover, they weigh less than the Epson, especially if you consider the added zoom functionality that you can only get from the Epson with more lenses, i.e. more weight and more risk for dust on the sensor. The gorilla pod is hard to adjust, bulky and heavy. A Giotto Uni-ball ball pod easily does the trick and weighs a fraction. It is sufficient for the G11 but perhaps not for his Epson. With a G11 he could get rid of the Epson, the lenses and his video camera plus chargers and cables. I'd say that would cut 1.5-2kg off right there. If you can easily cut that much weight in your tech gear without losing functionality (actually gaining functionality and quality) and slash the price by factor 4, your gear is clearly not optimized. Sorry.
His grooming accessories are all very good indeed. He didn't show a comb or brush, though, I think. The Dovo and Henckels Twinox series are about the best there are. There is only a Swiss brand that can compete. Something that starts with an R but the name escapes me right now. The very flat nail clipper I just saw from Twinox was gorgeous industrial design. I almost bought it just for that. But I am too minimalist. If I carry nail scissors anyway, why would I carry nail clippers on top of that? As a comb I have scaled down to a pocket comb from Kent. My hairbrush was always too heavy. I saw that my GF had a cheap hairbrush from Conair with natural bristles that was just the right size. I told her to get one for me. I will cut the handle off and sand it, to make it even lighter and more compact. The Fuchs toothbrush is great, indeed. Classic German design. I've had those before but unfortunately forgot to buy one when I was just in Germany. Of course, as a true minimalist he would not use anything else than a ziploc or Aloksak as a toiletry bag.
The idea that the Pathfinder exomesh would prevent his backpack from being stolen is delusional at best. Even if he ties it to the bed (by the way, that was what impressed me the most), the thief can sever the bed nylon or the strap on the backpack easily. The brass lock is a nice object, though.
So, yes, he is well equipped but the stuff is not thought through all the way and could still be more minimalist except for the clothes which could be more stylish. However, his love for high quality objects is obvious and I respect that.
"The idea that the Pathfinder exomesh would prevent his backpack from being stolen is delusional at best. Even if he ties it to the bed (by the way, that was what impressed me the most), the thief can sever the bed nylon or the strap on the backpack easily."
I agree that nothing is theft-proof, however the pacsafe encloses the entire pack, and is locked to the plastic leg of the cot by a steel cable. Nobody is going to wander by and pick that up without waking him unless they happen to be carrying a pair of bolt cutters to sever the cable.
http://www.pacsafe.com/www/index.php?_room=3&_action=detail&id=11
The cot is quite awesome...after thinking about it for a year, I picked one up for the infrequent camping I do. It's much more comfortable than a Thermarest pad, and way lighter than an air mattress. The downside is the $200 pricetag.
http://www.luxurylite.com/cotindex.html
As for excessive tech gear, since he earns his money online, he's justified in using whatever he feels works best for him.
And although I can't recall ever seeing him provide a weight, this is all he takes to live for months at a time, anywhere in the world, and it all fits in a 25L backpack. Not too shabby from a "one bag" point of view. :-)
Hey guys,
Sorry I didn't have a chance to answer this post yet. Thanks for the link!
As some of you pointed out, I could get rid of less. My MO was to get the bag size that I wanted and then fit as much USEFUL stuff in there as possible. I do have some very expensive items, but even after two years of travel, none have been stolen or damaged.
I'm constantly making changes. I have a smaller laptop (x200s) now and the video camera and Epson have been replaced with a Panasonic GF1. I have so few posessions that I like to have the best of each one. Capturing my memories is important and I enjoy photography, so I have an expensive camera.
My setup isn't perfect for everyone, but it seems like everyone has gotten a few good ideas from it, just as I have from other packing lists.
As someone mentioned, I do fund my travels partly through Amazon affiliate links, but that's just a couple hundred a month. For those of you who bought through them -- thank you!
Take care,
Tynan
Glad you made some adjustments on the tech gear that fit your needs and lighten your load. Thanks for the feedback.