What difference does it make?

[One Half]

What difference does 1lb make? Can anyone quantify it for me? But what effect does losing 1 pound from your gear make? Is it the same to go from 25lbs to 24 lbs (fully loaded) as it is if you go from 16lbs to 15 lbs? And what about 12lbs to 11lbs? (not even sure if that's doable for a full week with food)

[AfterParty]

Well none but going from 30 to 18 would but that's just me.

[RockDoc]

It's more important if you loose it off your body rather than your gear. I'm surprised there's not more attention paid to weight loss of heavy hikers.

[Starchild]

The military did such a study, basically weight = mileage (in an inverse relationship), I did know what the 1 extra pound meant, but yes it is significant and does add up.

Not so much if you plan your hike out, but on a free thru hike that means a further distance every once in an while (assuming shelter to shelter fixed distances).

In my own experience the 1 pound means a lot more when the pack weight is low (in the teens) then dead heavy (in the 20's )

[Hikingjim]

It's more important if you loose it off your body rather than your gear. I'm surprised there's not more attention paid to weight loss of heavy hikers.

Fair enough. But I would hike a lot better with 12 lbs of fat and a 20 lb pack instead of no fat and a 32 lb pack.

[Hikingjim]

What difference does 1lb make? Can anyone quantify it for me? But what effect does losing 1 pound from your gear make? Is it the same to go from 25lbs to 24 lbs (fully loaded) as it is if you go from 16lbs to 15 lbs? And what about 12lbs to 11lbs? (not even sure if that's doable for a full week with food)

different for each person. 1 lb is nothing. But if every major piece of gear you have is 1-2 lbs too heavy, then it's a problem.
Your pack weight fluctuates as you resupply and have full water (can fluctuate 10-15 lbs), so 1 lb does not matter. But if your pack weight is less on average then it makes your overall experience more enjoyable at certain points. Depends on your strength, conditioning, what pack you use, etc.

[AfterParty]

The military carries 40# craptastic rucksacks and 6# sleeping bags. Who did they study? It was probably one of the countless mandatory fun quizzes everybody fills out from time to time. I agree weight matters but you want to shave a pound look at your groceries. If they really did a survey the soilders,they just carried less on the last leg cause they ate all their food and knew the sooner they got done they could eat or sleep or shower. Just saying I had 16 years of it. I even been written up for not bringing stuff I wasn't going to use ever as in never ever never never ever. K rant over

[Sarcasm the elf]

If you have everything you need, then having an extra pound of unnecessary stuff, or heavier than necessary stuff is annoying and you will grumble about it to yourself when walking. Then again...

If it's cold, having an extra pound of insulation (or having a pound less than you need) can make a big difference.

If you are on a tight budget, spending $400 less on super expensive gear and instead buying slightly heavier but cheaper gear may be worth it if it means that you added a pound to your pack but also an extra $400 to add to your on trail budget.

If you buy a pack that is a pound heavier, but much more comfortable than another pack you tried, then that pound may be well worth it.

It's all about balance and everyone gets to choose what works for them. Which is nice.

[garlic08]

Walk around with a 16 oz bottle of water all day. Never put it down. Then answer the question.

[Venchka]

It's more important if you loose it off your body rather than your gear. I'm surprised there's not more attention paid to weight loss of heavy hikers.

"No more phone calls folks, we have a winner."
In my case, 40 pounds. Maybe 1 or 2 more. I didn't own a scale when the weight started falling off. Stabilized at 145 pounds.
I took a few pounds out of my backpack also.
I'm older than dirt and slower than molasses, but I had no problems in Colorado from 8,000' to 12,200' and back to 8,000'.
Shed pounds from your frame folks.

Wayne



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hosh]

This site probably represents the extreme from ultra light gram wienies to the other extreme, "what if", "extra this", "contingency that", "fearing this" and then the "look how strong I am based on what I carry".

It's a very personal decision, leave extra insulation behind in a volatile climate at a transition time of year or at altitude.. "don't be an idiot", bring extra sleeping pads, repair kits, ground cloths and a four season tent in the middle of summer, "chill a bit, trust or learn some new skills"

For me, ultra light comfort backpacker, my base weight is about 11#'s depending on how many wet wipes I carry.

[Puddlefish]

There can be thresholds based on pack comfort certainly. The straw that breaks the camel's back, so to speak. 31 pounds and my pack drags at my shoulders more, at 30 it feels pretty good.

Just picking up a pack, before and after you add a liter of water, you can feel it. (Yes, the water is 2.2 lbs. per liter.) Can't necessarily feel the difference between 21 and 20 on my back however.

I'd imagine a lot depends on your pack design/fit/comfort if you can notice one pound.

[MuddyWaters]

Well, theres a real measureable difference.

You might not be able to discern 1 lb effect, but if you were to hike with
Both 30 and 40 lbs, chart miles, you could interpolate it. Probable on order of 1/4 to 1/2 mile per day. Miniscule, 5-10 min of walking, but its cumulative. Especially in steep mtns. You simply compensate for that 1 lb easily when needed so its really unnoticed. As you pile more of the 1 lbs on, its harder to do, at some point you cannot compensate and mileage falls or your super tired.

Different at lighter wts. Now also considering ability of light wt or ul packs to comfortably carry wt too.

[hobbs]

One pound or two pounds of gear means more food I can take and eat

[Engine]

...If you are on a tight budget, spending $400 less on super expensive gear and instead buying slightly heavier but cheaper gear may be worth it if it means that you added a pound to your pack but also an extra $400 to add to your on trail budget...

Exactly! In putting together some new gear for our 2017 thru-hike I was really looking hard at the Zpacks Duplex, but ended up with a Tarptent MoTrail instead. The Duplex would have saved almost 1 pound, but at $630 vs $259 I could not justify the additional expense. I was able to trim some fat from my load in other areas, making up about 1/2 the difference, and spending about $100 of that almost $400 to do it. So in the end, I'm only carrying what amounts to the weight of an additional cell phone and I've saved nearly $300.

Will I notice that added weight? Since I've never hiked without it, probably not. I may hike .02 miles less each day, but what's the rush...I like backpacking. :-)

[Engine]

Walk around with a 16 oz bottle of water all day. Never put it down. Then answer the question.

Make sure you put it in a day pack, because carrying it in your hand is absolutely apples and oranges.

[kayak karl]

when i leave town with 4 days of food and i eat lunch and dinner the next day i don't notice a difference in weight, but each day after that i can feel the pack getting lighter and lighter. so I can feel a 2 lb difference which is a 10% drop.

[Engine]

The military carries 40# craptastic rucksacks and 6# sleeping bags. Who did they study? It was probably one of the countless mandatory fun quizzes everybody fills out from time to time. I agree weight matters but you want to shave a pound look at your groceries. If they really did a survey the soilders,they just carried less on the last leg cause they ate all their food and knew the sooner they got done they could eat or sleep or shower. Just saying I had 16 years of it. I even been written up for not bringing stuff I wasn't going to use ever as in never ever never never ever. K rant over

Some of your complaints are justified because the general military is infected with the "what if" attitude. But it needs to be in order to cater to the lowest common denominator in the field. You didn't need some of those items and probably wouldn't have even if you had been out for 6 months, but some brain trust somewhere decided that's what you needed.

Often these studies involve spec ops guys (lots of funding for this type of study in those budgets) who have much more freedom when choosing their loadout. Look at what a typical squad of operators is wearing for a 30-mile overland insertion vs that carried by infantry soldiers on a 30-mile ruck. The difference is night and day, and it's purely common sense and budget driven. They get to choose what they carry and the cost to outfit over a million soldiers and marines with high-end gear would break the bank.

[bigcranky]

One pound or two pounds of gear means more food I can take and eat

Exactly. A pound out of my gear means another eight or ten Snickers bars.

[Sandy of PA]

I can feel a pound, I even try to balance the amount of weight in my left and right water bottles. Over half the weight of my pack is food and water. When I am heading in for a resupply and only need one liter of water, I unclip my hip belt and dance down the trail!