2.1 can shave off 4 tonnes of weight and free up a module slot: collect mats with a mining laser instead of a SRV
I've been testing the use of a mining laser to collect materials (from rings and belts) instead of using an SRV (for exploration-build purposes), and it looks like if your heart is made of stone and the beauty of an alien sunrise means nothing to you, such that the only reason you visit planetary surfaces is to collect materials for AFMU and/or jump-boost, then mining lasers are an option worth considering instead. (If your heart is not stone, then a mining laser might still be worth considering in-addition-to the SRV, in case you lose the SRV or somehow end up somewhere with only belts or rings
)
The lightest SRV is 6T and lightest laser is 2T, but usefully, the laser requires no module slot (you have some of the hardpoints sitting unused anyway), opening more module configuration possibilities.
I wasn't able to test laser-collecting without a cargo rack (I can't remove my rack because it's got my precious in it) but I don't think you need one. Just the laser seems to be enough. Point, shoot, target the fragments to identify materials you want, then manually scoop them. They go from scoop into materials storage, not to cargo racks. (You won't be able to collect commodity fragments without a refinery and cargo rack but you don't want those anyway)
So far, materials for basic ammo and jump boost have been easy enough to find, but materials for level 2 and 3 jump boost are pretty rare (as in, it took me a few hours to get a level 2 boost).
For tier-two jump-boost, I found that arsenic and cadmium seem to be the bottleneck. I've found them both in ice rings, but they're rare. I've checked rocky, metal rich, and metallic (rings and belts). I've spent the most time in metallic rings and never seen either As or Cd there so I suspect they are only found in icy rings (or are uselessly rare in other rings). There are still two elements for tier 3 jumponium that I've not found at all.
I haven't done enough SRV prospecting to be able to tell which is more time-efficient for materials collection.
I've been testing the use of a mining laser to collect materials (from rings and belts) instead of using an SRV (for exploration-build purposes), and it looks like if your heart is made of stone and the beauty of an alien sunrise means nothing to you, such that the only reason you visit planetary surfaces is to collect materials for AFMU and/or jump-boost, then mining lasers are an option worth considering instead. (If your heart is not stone, then a mining laser might still be worth considering in-addition-to the SRV, in case you lose the SRV or somehow end up somewhere with only belts or rings
)The lightest SRV is 6T and lightest laser is 2T, but usefully, the laser requires no module slot (you have some of the hardpoints sitting unused anyway), opening more module configuration possibilities.
I wasn't able to test laser-collecting without a cargo rack (I can't remove my rack because it's got my precious in it) but I don't think you need one. Just the laser seems to be enough. Point, shoot, target the fragments to identify materials you want, then manually scoop them. They go from scoop into materials storage, not to cargo racks. (You won't be able to collect commodity fragments without a refinery and cargo rack but you don't want those anyway)
So far, materials for basic ammo and jump boost have been easy enough to find, but materials for level 2 and 3 jump boost are pretty rare (as in, it took me a few hours to get a level 2 boost).
For tier-two jump-boost, I found that arsenic and cadmium seem to be the bottleneck. I've found them both in ice rings, but they're rare. I've checked rocky, metal rich, and metallic (rings and belts). I've spent the most time in metallic rings and never seen either As or Cd there so I suspect they are only found in icy rings (or are uselessly rare in other rings). There are still two elements for tier 3 jumponium that I've not found at all.
I haven't done enough SRV prospecting to be able to tell which is more time-efficient for materials collection.
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