Carrying extra stuff

[10-K]

So currently there are active threads about carrying extra lights, extra shoes, extra shirts and indirectly - extra food and extra water.

I'm just wondering - if you opened up your pack - how many redundancies would there be. Do you carry extras of more than one thing "just in case"?

I bet socks are a biggie...

For the record, I try not to carry anything extra but I'm not exactly a zealot. I most often have a bit too much food and too many socks.

When I pack my pack I try to load the things I need and then when I get to the point of looking at stuff thinking, "I might need this." or "I might need that." then I know I'm done and stop.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Funny enough I posted the following to another hiking site last night:

"Here's a confession, I like lightweight, but I've never been able to get into the UL gram-weeniness:

I don't think twice about carrying an ENTIRE roll of TP on the trail. I also don't think twice about a whole jar of peanut butter, or a bunch of bananas, or an extra fuel canister, or that extra liter of water. I also carry soap and wash my hands about twice a day and I carry my non lightweight locking blade pocketknife when I feel like it. Yet somehow my total three season pack weight always stays around 20-25lbs. Oh the horror. "

[4shot]

I am by no means an UL guy so most would say my pack is heavy. i have redundancy in my system in terms of keeping dry - I carry a pack cover and most of my stuff is in waterproof stuff or compression sacks. I also usually carry rain pants when most don't. 3 pairs of socks. and I never sleep in my hiking clothes - I carry a separate pair of cotton boxers. There are absolutely 2 things I will not let myself run out of - TP and fuel (canister). So I replenish well ahead of time. On short or section hikes where I am not pushing as hard for miles I also carry a paperback book.

[Jeff]

Great thread 10-K !!

Extra socks for sure...hiking in wet socks for 2-3 days in a row is just asking for trouble.

[Furlough]

My extra/redundant stuff is/are: socks, sleep cloths that could be worn to hike in if needed (note to self, have never needed them to hike in), food, pocket knife (have a leatherman squirt in my pocket and a swiss army knife in my first aid bag- 2nd note to self, always have had the SAK but rarely use it) and rain pants. One of these years I'll get around to weighing my pack. I am comfortable with what I carry.

[kayak karl]

My second day on the AT Sgt. Rock told me at Hawk Mountain Shelter I needed to "Get the Crap out of your pack". It took 500 miles for that to sink in. Everybody has their little demons and fears. Once you run out of food , water or dead batteries you realize going 4 miles no water, setting up in the dark or hiking into town hungry isn't that bad. For me it is extra cloths. Always want to take that extra set.

[Lyle]

Often depends on the trip. I generally carry the extra little light Photon light that folks have been discussing, but my main light is the e-Lite that ways less than 2 oz, so I am still well below 3 oz, including my back-up. Could I get by without back-up? Sure.

I also carry camp shoes (Dollar General Crock rip-offs). I find I am much more comfortable around camp with these then if I leave my hiking shoes on, plus I can set my hiking shoes out in a patch of sun with the insoles pulled out to let them air/dry while in camp.

I often carry back-up water treatment tablets if I carry a filter. I've been reduced to drinking boiled water in the past - tastes NASTY. A few extra tablets are way under an oz.

One extra pair of socks usually does it. In winter, two extra.

No extra shirts, per se, but I usually have at least one short and one long sleeve.

I did seriously consider carrying a spare camera on my JMT trip this past summer. I normally carry a compact dSLR, bought a top end compact, full-featured pocket camera with a fixed lens for this trip. Since it lacked any zoom ability, I bought and VERY seriously considered carrying an additional mid-range compact as back-up and for the occasional telephoto. In the end, I sent the second camera home, but it was tough to do. I have been on a two week trip in the past that my camera quit on the first photo - no pictures for the entire trip. I DID NOT want to risk that on the JMT. My reasoning for considering carrying two was that both of these cameras/extra batteries/chargers still weighed less than the dSLR set-up I normally carried.

That is my attitude in general: I've spent a lot of money tweaking my gear, reducing the weight substantially from what I used to carry. I like to enjoy my trips, I have no desire, whatsoever, to set any kind of records, speed-wise or weight-wise. Part of the advantage of spending this money is that I can carry a few luxuries like camp shoes, without over-burdening myself. My pack weight is always well under 30#, usually well under 25# with full food/water/fuel.

To each their own. Decide what luxuries/redundancies you like and have fun!

[RCBear]

An extra lightweight light source and extra small bic lighter is pretty much it for me. I don't consider 3 pairs of socks Xtra however. 1 pair only for sleeping and 2 for alternating on trail. One of these days I'll know more...so i can carry less. Cody Lundin could hike from one end of the Amazon to the other with an 10th of what we carry probably

[Hikes in Rain]

Like most of the others, extra socks. Mine always seem to get wet. But the big one for me is my corrective lenses. A spare pare or two (or three) of contacts and my glasses. Without them, my vision is hideous. In bright daylight, I can make out vague shapes, but not the blazes or even individual trees. As it gets darker, things get worse to the point I might as well just shut my eyes. So, yeah, huge multiple redundancy there.

[10-K]

Socks are a huge redundant item for lots of people I imagine. It is not uncommon for me to get to town or back home with a pair I didn't even wear.

I agree with KK that having experienced running out of food/water/batteries/etc. and finding out the world didn't end the fears associated with these things subside or go away completely.

I've still got a lot to learn but like everyone, I'm comfortable with what's in my pack.

[garlic08]

When I go solo, I pretty much carry the bare minimum, maybe a little less--think nine essentials. I'll take the risk. If I bring someone along for whom I feel some responsibility (a first-time hiker or a friend's child, for instance), I bring some extra safety stuff.

On winter trips I carry a few redundancies like extra socks, hat, and gloves.

[OwenM]

I bet socks are a biggie...

Socks are my only "redundancy", and not considered extras. I carry two pairs to hike in, and another to sleep in that's kept clean and dry. Same socks whether it's for 2 days or a week. The only thing that changes is the weight of the sleep socks. If it's getting much below freezing, I carry a third pair of the midweight Point 6 or Smartwool PhDs that I hike in. If it's not cold, a pair of Smartwool ultralightweight micros. Though very lightweight, my gear is not technically "ultralight", and I could easily cut a couple of pounds with a lighter pad, a cuben shelter, and less fully featured quilt, but prefer that my stuff to do what I want the way I want it done. My pack weight is insignificant at this point, anyway, partly because I do not bring any extras, and use every item I bring, except(usually) the first aid kit. Only exception is short outings in winter when I decide ahead of time that I want fire. For that, I have a 10" Corona folding saw for cutting, and a Mora Companion HD for splitting that make processing wood a breeze, and whose combined weight is ~13oz.

[Violent Green]

For me, it really just depends on the consequences of not having that back up item if I did actually need it. Which is admittedly almost never. Severely affecting my enjoyment of the trip is also a consequence I consider even though not life threatening. Winter hiking with precipitation? I will carry an extra pair of socks sometimes because cold wet feet sucks A LOT. The other three seasons - no extra socks. Extra food - none intentionally. Backup fire - I do carry matches. I rehydrate my meals so I need fire to eat at night. I could go without, but that would suck and I like to eat.

So, I'm not fanatical about it, just try to use forethought and careful planning. For reference, weekend pack weight with food and water is usually around 10lbs.

Ryan

[WingedMonkey]

I don't carry coffee, a smart phone or a SPOT.

Lightens up my pack for the important stuff.

[Old Hiker]

3 pair socks: 2 for hiking, one ONLY for sleeping
3 lighters: cook set, toiletries bag, first aid kit.
Extra line
Extra fuel cartridge - smaller one
3 bandanas - one for food only, one for sweat, one for washing body parts.
2 silt stoppers - one on my filter, one in the pack to exchange

I'll bet there's more.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Not sure if I like threads such as these. It's making me think too much. Grams = ounces = pounds = fear.

[Coffee]

I accept a small weight penalty for redundancy when it comes to keeping the contents of my pack dry. I use a pack liner as well as a pack cover. In addition, I carry a dry bag for my sleeping bag which I use when I either need to compress the bag for volume reasons or I expect particularly wet weather. We're talking a few ounces of weight penalty for something that could save my life in a low probability scenario, which is fine with me. I also usually carry too many extra AAA lithiums since I don't like being without light and also to ensure that I always have batteries for my SPOT device. I will carry the extra batteries for the SPOT even though the SPOT uses very little battery power (I don't use tracking). Not getting SPOT messages would cause great concern for my family. Not being able to sent SPOT message would ruin that part of the hike for me and most likely result in exiting at the nearest opportunity to get word out on my location. I also carry excess water capacity in case one of my bottles or platypus bags break. I carry a few extra VIA packets as well. I'm non-functional without caffeine - quite literally - I get debilitating headaches without caffeine.

I generally do not carry extra food or fuel since that would be measured in pounds, not ounces, and briefly running out of food is not likely to kill me, although I would be miserable. The probability of this outcome is low enough, and the consequences benign enough, to not accept the weight penalty.

[Wise Old Owl]

People pack extra based on their fears - I need a little more food. etc,

[saltysack]

For me, it really just depends on the consequences of not having that back up item if I did actually need it. Which is admittedly almost never. Severely affecting my enjoyment of the trip is also a consequence I consider even though not life threatening. Winter hiking with precipitation? I will carry an extra pair of socks sometimes because cold wet feet sucks A LOT. The other three seasons - no extra socks. Extra food - none intentionally. Backup fire - I do carry matches. I rehydrate my meals so I need fire to eat at night. I could go without, but that would suck and I like to eat.

So, I'm not fanatical about it, just try to use forethought and careful planning. For reference, weekend pack weight with food and water is usually around 10lbs.

Ryan

Total is 10lbs? U carry helium


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lyle]

Anyone remember the old recommendation to carry a small package of dog food as your "emergency" food? The idea was that any normal food you carried for emergencies may be eaten on a particularly "hungry" day. No one would eat a packet of dog food unless it was truly and emergency, and then you would be happy for it.

Never did it myself, but remember reading and hearing about others who did.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Anyone remember the old recommendation to carry a small package of dog food as your "emergency" food? The idea was that any normal food you carried for emergencies may be eaten on a particularly "hungry" day. No one would eat a packet of dog food unless it was truly and emergency, and then you would be happy for it.

Never did it myself, but remember reading and hearing about others who did.

What about those of us that hike with a dog?