Backpack meets scale
The weight of my pack is 27 3/4 pounds minus food and filled water bottles. Am I on target or is this still too heavy by normal standards. Thanks all. (A.T. thru hike this spring)
2 lbs per day of food, figure 10 lbs. 1 liter of water...
Not bad, but not ultra light.
That's lighter than my cold weather pack, heavier than my summer pack.
Seems awful heavy if that's your base weight......everything in pack except food, fuel and water?
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you are good to go at that weight. I don't know how much backpacking experience you have but if it's not a lot, you will sort it out on the trail. you are going to hear quickly, and frequently, that you have too much but don't worry about it. Get out there and sort it out for yourself. I started with 42 lbs. (everything incl. food and water) with little experience. I sorted it out as I went. I still carry more than most but I want to sleep and camp comfortably. You just need to find what works for you.
Pretty heavy for base weight. I start complaining when my total weight with food and water gets to 27 pounds
That is counting fuel. Not food and water though.Originally Posted by saltysack
My biggest issue is pack 5lbs, tent 3lbs, and sleeping bag 2 lbs. That's 18lbs worth of clothes, head lamp, water/camp shoes, guide book, rain gear, ect. Just not sure how to cut many more corners. Thanks for your input.
What liter pack do you carry?Pretty heavy for base weight. I start complaining when my total weight with food and water gets to 27 pounds
That would be my target weight, but heck I'm 60 yrs old and I try to go as light as I possibly can....
Post a total gear list that equates to that weight....18lbs of cloths etc is way more than you need...I'm in good shape at 210lbs and 5'11" and wouldn't think about taking that much even on a short trip...try a 40 mile weekend hike with it see what u really need!!!
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There's a few things I did on my thru attempt that I did to lighten the load a bit that may help (hopefully).
On my pack, I took off the top cover. I didn't use it except to carry my rain jacket (now I stuff it on top of my food bag). It'll get pretty heavy when it's rain soaked.
Took out the internal frame (3 pieces) but that's not really recommended unless you try it first and research how to pack correctly. There's good but a lot of bad that can happen by not shifting the weight properly, etc...
Didn't take rain pants (figured my legs are going to get wet anyway), 100% poly shirts, shorts, zipoff pants, long sleeve shirt, a hat, and a few other things, ditched the boots for sneakers.
I purchased lighter tent poles (cheap at most local outfitters) and used the bare minimum tent steaks. Mine came with 14 and I now use 7 with same results.
I took a lot of extra batteries (not really needed as they're readily available unless you use a lot of headlamp. etc..), razor blade instead of a knife to open meals/packages, dropping the guidebook for the .pdf version since I'll be carrying my phone anyway, dry out the wet wipes and re-hydrate them in a small zip lock when I needed them, smaller med kit, my cook kit is a plastic bowl, aluminum mess kit pot (walmart), plastic cup, plastic spork, MSR rocket and fuel, etc...
My mummy bag is a 30 degree military issue bag. Rolls up VERY small, and should be fairly cheap, like this one - http://www.terapeak.com/worth/us-arm.../291829451925/ available at any military gear store for usually under 100.
My pack started out around 43+ pounds and now I've got it to around 30. What a difference! So, maybe there's some ideas to shed some weight without spending any (or very little) money and I'm sure there's more people can throw in here as well. It's all a learning experience and I'm no expert by any means and what works for me might not be suitable for someone else. This is just what worked for me. Not trying to go ultralight or anything but have a better, more comfortable hike. 2 liters of water is 4.4 pounds, plus the food you'll be carrying will probably be around 10 just coming out of towns. Hope this helps.
- Trail name: Thumper
My BPW is 13.6. Would still like to cut a pound
your tent/bag are not that bad for weight. Post your list and you'll be able to make some adjustments
What is in your pack?????
Remember the old adage....WEAR ONE BRING ONE AND NO OTHER ONES!
Add up pack, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, tent, and rain gear. In your case, I'm guessing that total BPW is going to be between 14 and 15 pounds. Then, add one change of clothes, stove, pot, water purification, waste disposal, headlamp, first aid, meds, cellphone, fire kit, toilet kit and bear bag with rope. You should come in around 20 to 22 pounds, given your BPW. Not bad at all. Add 2L water for 5 pounds. Add 4 days food for 5 pounds. Your total wet full pack weight will be 30 to 32 pounds.
You can shave 3.5 pounds off your pack and 1.5 pounds off your tent for a net loss of 5 pounds from your BPW. Total cost? Around 700-800 bucks...I look at weight this way....I will gladly spend 100 bucks per pound shed from my back...YMMV
Have a great hike!!
Posting a full list is the best way to get feedback. Chances are you are packing your fears and have way too much stuff that you may think you need now but really don't.
Also- take a look at post hike gear videos on YouTube, not pre-hike videos. Pre-hike videos are pointless.
Fifteen years ago that was a very average weight for an A.T. hiker. Even today most people startoff somewhere around there and then begin to drop weight as they gain the experience to know what they do and don't need and what gear does or doesn't work for them personally. Getting your gear tuned in is an ongoing process and while lighter is certainly better, it's not something to get too worried about either. The best way to figure out what you need is to put one foot in front of the other and let things work themselves out.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Slice your guidebook down the spine into 5 or 6 sections, then only carry the part for the section you are on and have pieces sent to you as needed. Personally I don't carry camp shoes, for three season use I wear quick drying trail runners and don't find a need for anything else.
A 3lb tent and 2lb sleeping bag really is decent unless you plan to go UL. The 5lb pack seems to be low hanging fruit, you could easily save 2+ pounds if you switched to something like a ULA Circut or Catalyst, assuming that either fit you well.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
That is heavier than many by today's standards. Only you can decide if you can carry it, or need to modify it.
When I reached my forties, I simply could no longer carry that kind of weight on multi-day hikes, due to knee and ankle issues. If I wanted to hike a hundred miles, I needed to drop serious weight. (And it was thanks to the pre-WB AT hiking community that I was able to do it.) Many hikers can continue to carry heavy weights into their golden years.
I like to think of the weight of my pack itself in terms of payload ratio. A five-pound pack carrying forty pounds of weight has a payload ratio of 8:1, for instance. On my AT thru, my silnylon Gossamer Gear pack weighed 1/2 pound, and comfortably carried twenty pounds at times, for a payload ratio of 40:1. That pack cost me about $80, and I thought it very effective.
A five-pound tent may be replaced by a relatively inexpensive Tarptent ($225) that weighs well under two pounds and is fine for AT conditions.
On the AT, I carried very few extra clothes--a pair of socks and underwear, a warm shirt, a wind shirt, and a down vest, hat and gloves into Virginia. My rain gear was hand made by a friend from silnylon, and weighs 7 oz for parka and pants.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
28 lb + 10lb food + 2.5 lb water = 40+ lbAm I on target or is this still too heavy by normal standards.
"skinnbones" implies a non-husky build and a pack weight that is perhaps over 30% of body weight. Loading all up and doing a quick overnight trip (10-15 miles round-trip) will quickly answer that question, even in flat Florida. And it's going to be much tougher going in the hills of GA and NC.
Need to lop off some serious poundage IMO. Smaller people really need the lightest possible kit.
How much backpacking have you done with this pack at this weight? On steep hills? I see you are in Florida, where it's not all that steep, and that you are close to my age.
27 pounds for a base weight means 40+ leaving town with a full load of food and a couple of liters of water. Lots of people have carried 40+ pound packs on successful thru-hikes over the years, but honestly, that's pretty heavy these days. I would be unhappy carrying that kind of weight on a longer hike (and I have carried much more than that when I was younger, so I have the experience of hiking heavy).
It used to be that getting one's base weight under 20 pounds required a lot of money and/or sacrifice, but that's not the case any more. A 15 pound base weight is attainable with gear from major manufacturers at reasonable costs, with no sacrifice to comfort and safety on the trail.
Also, you have 18 pounds of stuff beyond your pack, tent, and bag -- what exactly are you carrying? A 3-lb tent and 2-lb sleeping bag are just fine. I expect a lot of your extra weight is in unneeded clothing, and other things you may end up sending home.
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