Hello all-

For those who have some experience with ultralight backpacking, what tips do you have to offer that are Israel-specific?  For example, I saw in another thread that water-purification is irrelevent in Israel due to the supply of potable water in the north and the absence of water to even purify in the south.  

In what other ways have you been able to adapt your ultralight approach to Israel?

Thanks,

Ashen Yashen

The amount of water you carry prevents you from being ultralight. And to address your question: Ultralight is less underwear 2 pairs of socks instead of 3, 2 pairs of underwear not 3, titaniun spork, backpack must be comfortable, just eliminate anything that is not absolutely necessary. The minimum weight I've seen (without water and food) is 18 lib. Why don't you put a list of all you intend to carry including weight of each item and I'll help you. 

Water purification: There are few hikers who purify water in the south when water is available i.e after floods. But I agree that in general water purification is irrelevant. 

Since posting this question, I've done some more research, and here's what I'm planning to do for my hydration system.  Instead of a camelback or platypus or similar, I'm going to be taking the "Convertube," which is manufactured by Source Vagabond Systems (an Israeli company, actually, which means you get bonus points for using their equipment on the Israel Trail).

http://www.source-vagabond.com/hydration-convertube.html

This is similar to the other products above, but instead of using the floppy water sack, you use a regular bottle.  In Israel, 1.5-2 liter bottles are ubiquitous, and very light-weight (and cheap, relative to a platy).  Switching from one bottle to the next doesn't involve the usual routine of opening up the pack, digging through to find the water pouch, supporting it with one hand while trying to pour with the other, then re-assemble the pack.  Rather, it's as straight forward as unscrewing the cap from the empty bottle and screwing it on to the new one.

This item, since it is made in Israel, is one of the few that I've found to be cheaper inside Israel than out.  The going price at the usual shops (Rikoshet, LeMetayel, various bike shops) is 44 NIS, though if you go to the new central bus station in Rishon L'Tzion, you can get it for 39 NIS.  Online in the US, it is $17 (64 NIS at today's rate).

For those new to the Hebrew language, the general title for these devices in Hebrew is "Shluker", since the slang word for a "sip" (as in, "give me a sip of your soda") is "shluk".