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  1. #1

    :banana My Current Pack Weight - Any Advice?

    Well, I've been doing a lot of research, and I've managed to get my pack weight as low as possible (for my eyes). However, I'm reading people having their pack in the 10 pound range... I can't figure out how, unless I was a guy and totally bared down to back country essentials.

    Another major difference is I can take this same gear list into the winter (except I may change out a few fear pieces and add like 1 thing, but it essentially is the same)

    My current pack weight breakdown: (In pounds)


    Not including clothing or other factors

    TOTAL BASE: 16.78
    TOTAL FOOD/WATER (25 days worth of food; 2 L water ): 36.40

    Pack System: 5.25

    Sleeping System: 3.25

    Cooking System: .0025

    Water System: .60

    Electronics: 1.73

    General Hiking Items: 1.49

    Misc: 1.5

    Hygiene: 3.3
    ___

    Does this sound okay? I'm planning to stick to the trails as much as possible.

  2. #2
    Registered User bubonicplay's Avatar
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    Nice level.

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    For starters, that's a lot of hygiene. I bet you're bringing much more than you need between resupply opportunities.

    I can only assume you're bringing some things for comfort instead of necessity. It's impossible to tell without a breakout of your gear list. Your pack will get lighter as you get more experience with long hikes if you get rid of things you don't use and don't need.

  4. #4

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    Okay, I give in and give better data Also, I cut down weight while transferring it onto here! Yay! I feel pretty good about this pack... What do you guys think? I'm trying to prepare for all weather extremes


    Water: 4 Ibs
    Food: 20 Days 17.62 Ib

    Total: 35.73

    New Total: 14.11 (If I did the calculations right)


    Pack: - 6.25 or 5.18 Ib (still thinking about pack)

    1 Backpack 80 or 70 oz.
    Rainproof Packcover 10 oz
    Garbage/Ziploc Bags 3 oz (estimated)


    Sleeping System: - 3.25 Ib
    4 Season Tent - 16 oz
    Sleeping Pad - 2 oz
    Sleeping Bag - 42 oz


    Cooking System: .0025 Ib
    Light My Fire Spork .36 oz


    Water System: - 0.26 Ib
    Water Treatment Droplets 3 oz
    Water Bag 1.3 oz


    Electronics: .99 Ib
    Device 3.4 oz
    Charger 6.1 oz
    Light 6.3 oz


    Survival/General Gear: 1 Ib
    • Fire 2.3
    • Swiss Army Knife 2.4 oz
    • Pepper Spray 2.4
    • Compass/Mirror .6 oz
    • Trowel .4oz
    • Rope 7.9oz



    Misc. - .62 Ib
    Guide Book 10 oz
    Thinking about deck of cards?


    Hygiene - 2.81 Ib
    Travel Hair Brush - 3oz
    Hairbands
    Toilet Paper 5oz
    Misc. 16oz
    Toothbrush/Paste 8 oz (estimated)
    Toilet Paper 5 oz
    Sunscreen/Bug Spray 8 oz



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    1 Backpack 80 or 70 oz.
    This is definitely on the heavy side. You can easily save a pound or two, probably without giving up capacity or comfort.


    Rainproof Packcover 10 oz
    If you use a Packa or Poncho, you would need that pack cover, and either one of those will double as rain gear. The poncho might also serve as a poncho.


    Sleeping Pad - 2 oz
    That doesn't seem like enough for the summer, and especially for the winter.


    Sleeping Bag - 42 oz
    You can save over a pound if you switched to a backpacking quilt. If you get a Jacks R Better quilt, it'll serve as your down jacket too.


    Charger 6.1 oz
    Is your charger really twice as heavy as your phone? Yikes!


    Toothbrush/Paste 8 oz (estimated)
    Toilet Paper 5 oz
    Sunscreen/Bug Spray 8 oz

    That must be a lot of toothpaste. A travel size tube should weigh 3 ounces.

    You've listed toilet paper twice.

    Instead of bug spray, consider putting DEET in a small dropper bottle. For sun protection, you can use a hat and bandana. You'll probably already have a bandana for other purposes.

    If you add an umbrella to your gear list, it'll add 8 ounces to your gear list, but will help protect against sun and rain. Besides, if you're hiking the AT, you probably don't need sunscreen. I use an umbrella on the PCT for sun protection, but more to stay cool than to prevent sunburn. I prefer to keep my skin covered instead of using chemicals.

    One thing I want to mention is that wearing a hood in the rain is unpleasant for me and others. It's hot and claustrophobic. That's why some people will wear a rain hat or use an umbrella.

  6. #6

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    Water: 4 Ibs
    Food: 20 Days 17.62 Ib

    If you plan to hike with multiple dogs this number is WAAAy off. A. To carry 20 days worth of food it completely unnecessary. Try like 5 days of food. Also at 17.62 lbs for 20 days, thats less than a lbs of food a day for you AND your multiple dogs? No way jose that aint going to work. At five days of food i would have around 10 lbs of food and i eat a ton with hiker hunger. you could probably get away with less. you have to factor in extra POUNDS of weight carrying your dogs' food and water. bc they can get water born illnesses. so thats even more weight.




    Total: 35.73

    New Total: 14.11 (If I did the calculations right)


    Pack: - 6.25 or 5.18 Ib (still thinking about pack)
    1 Backpack 80 or 70 oz.
    Rainproof Packcover 10 oz
    Garbage/Ziploc Bags 3 oz (estimated)

    pack is way to heavy. get a pack thats at most like 3 lbs. you can get an rei flash for less than $200 bucks. its less than 3 lbs and has more than enough capacity for a thru. MORE than enough.

    packcover is way to heavy. a 3 oz pack cover is like $30 bucks. Or you could get trash compactor bags and just line your pack. keeps everything dry and is cheap cheap cheap


    Sleeping System: - 3.25 Ib
    4 Season Tent - 16 oz
    Sleeping Pad - 2 oz
    Sleeping Bag - 42 oz

    Tent is super light good job on that. You could get away with a heavier pad too. dont sacrifice comfort, those hard shelter floors are unconfortable and so is the ground in general.

    Cooking System: .0025 Ib
    Light My Fire Spork .36 oz


    I don't get this one. What are you eating? No hot meals ever? thats a bold choice but i've seen it done. Going completely dry would lessen the food weight a little but not a lot by not having a stove and what not but you could get a 2 oz alcohol stove that would boil water for like 20 bucks. whiteboxstove.com. Imusa pot for 7 bucks. cheap plastic tupperware for a bowl.


    Water System: - 0.26 Ib
    Water Treatment Droplets 3 oz
    Water Bag 1.3 oz

    Water bag? meaning a bladder to hold what type of water? drinking water or hiking water? A bladder for hands free hydration?
    A lot of people hate aquamira and a lot of people use aquamira. test this out you might not like it. see sawyer squeeze


    Electronics: .99 Ib
    Device 3.4 oz
    Charger 6.1 oz
    Light 6.3 oz


    light is way to heavy. cut that in half with a 2.9 oz petzl tikka head lamp. much easier to use.
    what charger weights 6.1 oz? If your device is a cell phone the charger should weight less.

    Survival/General Gear: 1 Ib
    • Fire 2.3
    • Swiss Army Knife 2.4 oz
    • Pepper Spray 2.4
    • Compass/Mirror .6 oz
    • Trowel .4oz
    • Rope 7.9oz

    what is 2.3 of fire? swiss army knife is good, pepper spray is unnecessary but if it makes you feel secure take it. compass is pretty much pointless until the far north, trowel good. rope is not needed. bring like 30 feet of cord for a bear bag and 15 feet for a clothesline. If you get zing it line, this can weigh less than an oz.



    Misc. - .62 Ib
    Guide Book 10 oz
    Thinking about deck of cards?

    Dont need the whole book. Just cut out specific pages and have the new pages mailed to you when you reach a new spot. you dont need the whole book.
    i wouldnt carry cards but if you want it its a valid luxury item. will be the first to go when you want to lighten your pack.


    Hygiene - 2.81 Ib
    Travel Hair Brush - 3oz
    Hairbands
    Toilet Paper 5oz
    Misc. 16oz
    Toothbrush/Paste 8 oz (estimated)
    Toilet Paper 5 oz
    Sunscreen/Bug Spray 8 oz

    tooth brush and tooth paste are too heavy trust me. a cut toothbrush is light and you only need to carry dr. bronners. it can be both your soap, body wash, and toothpaste. multipurpose and lighter. you wont need bug spray until it gets warmer. leave it at home for the beginning.
    idk what the misc 1 lbs is but ask yourself if it is useful
    Gradual Change You Can Believe in.

    Live deliberately.

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    I second the food and water.

    1.5 pounds of food per day per person is the standard. You may be able to get by with a little less weight on the first few days.

    I'm also cookless, but last winter I found a reason to carry a pot anyway. I was on a ridge with no running water, but plenty of snow. I ended up melting snow in plastic bottles and bags next to a fire. That took roughly 12 hours of tending a fire for me to hydrate and get enough water to continue. From here on out I'll just carry a pot in the winter so I can melt snow much more quickly.

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    What 4-season tent weighs 16 oz.?

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by jeffmeh View Post
    What 4-season tent weighs 16 oz.?
    an imaginary one? also, you arent crrying any clothes?
    Gradual Change You Can Believe in.

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  10. #10
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    The OP said in the original post that her list didn't include clothing. But I'd like to know about the tent, too!

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Darwin13 View Post
    an imaginary one? also, you arent crrying any clothes?
    they don't need a 4 season tent on the AT... even an imaginary one..

    Geargrams.com.. use it.. love it.. post it. then we can hack it apart

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    It is not the weight on the bathroom scale before the hike that really matters - that just gives you bragging rights, but it is the actual weight on the trail that matters. I have hiked with people, saying they are going light, but at a wilderness lodge (JBL in the Adarondacks) they have a pack scale, and what the bathroom scale says does not always equate to what the packed weight is.


    Some of your things don't seem to make much sense to me, but anyway perhaps these may help:

    Water: This is a big one for ultralight hikers that slips by the bathroom scale method of pack weight and I may as well come right out and say it I am not a believer in Aqua Mira as a ultralight choice - I find it heavier under many hiking conditions due to carrying extra water. Can you obtain water easily/often on the trail? If so then do, consider dropping your 2 L of water down to maybe as little as 8 oz carried from the water source(about 4 lbs gone off your back) and make gathering water as easy as possible so you will chose the lighter method naturally on the trail. I would suggest the 3.6 oz steripen to make that water 'instantly' drinkable at the water source and a 1/2 a liter bottle as the primary one you mostly use (bring others but expect them to remain mostly empty and light. Simply steri then drink, pack the rest of the water which is typically 8 oz and move on. The Sawer Squeeze filter works great for this also, but hikers have a tendency to top off their bottles more often then the steripen users after drinking their fill. That said if water resupply is a long distance apart chemical treatment starts making more sense.

    Likewise can you chose food that is lighter if you have the option of hot food? If so it may be wise to bring a stove and save the weight in the food, especially if you are packing for so many days of food. Hot food also helps morale which is a boost in itself.

    As mentioned can you resupply or have a food stash ahead of time, so you don't have to carry so much food.

  13. #13

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    I noticed Walmart has a 50 pound digital fish scale for $20 in the fishing supply department. Between that and a digital postal scale, you could get pretty accurate measurements of your gear weight.

    10 pound base weights are expensive to come by and are typically very marginal gear wise unless it is the middle of summer when you don't need much. I can do an overnight in the summer with a day pack and well less then 10 pounds in it, but not for a long distance hike. A base weight in the low 20's for early spring is typical and isn't hard to do these days, and that includes clothes. For Feb, you'll probably end up in the high 20's as you'll need some what warmer clothes.

    Now for Maratila's pack list.

    First, as others pointed out, you'll never need to carry 20 days of food and a typical "rule of thumb" is 1.5 to 2 pounds of food per day. Add another 0.5 pound of food per day per dog.

    You'll want hot food and drink if your out there in Feb/March. The simplest, quickest and most reliable cook method will be the canister stove. With pot and a drinking cup, this will run close to a pound.

    Water is pleantiful down south in the spring and often comes out of springs so needs no treatment. I carry at most two, 20 oz soda bottles of water when leaving a water source. Farther north in central VA to NY, it will be hot, humid and water farter apart, so you'll need to carry more, but your pack will have less gear in it, so it ballances out, overall weight wise.

    I've never seen a tent which only weighs 16 oz. 24 to 32 is more typcial for a small, one person, single wall, silnylon tent.

    Good, 3 pound packs are easy to find and a lot to choose from.

    You will definately need a good sleeping pad, this is very important in the late winter/early spring. You'll want one for your dog too, they don't like to sleep on the cold, wet ground either and will push you off of your pad if they don't have one of thier own. At a minimum, a full length Z-rest closed cell foam pad, or better, a thermarest prolite pad. A piece of the cheap walmart blue pad will be good enough for the dog.

    2.4 oz pepper spray? that's mighty small. The one I was talked into buying out west in Glacier weighs 13 oz and only has 7 seconds of spray in it. A 2.4 oz can would go for maybe a second? Pretty much useless.

    I carry a 6" x 4" x 3" plastic food container with lid as my "ditty" bag and contains all the little odds and ends one might need. The main reason for the plastic container is that it is water and crush proof, which protects my little toy cell phone and charger. This weighs close to a pound when fully stocked. In it I also have a spare lighter (always have two), a small keychain type spare flashlight, spare batteries, first aid (some bandaids, antibiotic cream, New Skin for blisters, extra asprin and assorted pain killers), sewing kit (some needles, thread, thimble and safefy pins), Nylon repair tape (find this in the sewing section of Walmart) and since I have an inflatable pad, a repair patch for that.
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  14. #14
    Registered User bubonicplay's Avatar
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    Default My Current Pack Weight - Any Advice?

    Just your backpack weighs more than my entire baseweight and a half pound of clothing.

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    Just adding to my above post Re: food and cooking and the possibility of the additional weight of the stove may or may not be offset by lower food weight depending on your food choices.

    Less then one pound of stove (Jetboil + 1 small fuel canister), still under 1 lb when you throw in your spork, would buy you 24 hot mountain houses at a estimated weight of 6 oz each. If your planned dinners come out to greater then 6 oz on average then I'd suggest running the numbers, by switching to the hot meal plan you may be saving weight.

    Again only if hot food would save weight, you may be a great candidate for a lightweight wood stove, though that is a bit more cumbersome then the Jetboil option, it would be less weight. Though there is hidden weight in even that as many people bring something along to help get the fire going.

    Base weight is not the only place to look for weight savings and it may be far better to look at both base weight and consumables and how they interplay with each other to lower total weight.

    Peace

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    Quote Originally Posted by Maratila View Post

    Electronics: .99 Ib
    Device 3.4 oz
    Charger 6.1 oz
    Light 6.3 oz
    Yer not telling us what this device is, but take a look at the specs on the charger, and see if one of those little Apple chargers will do. They weigh .8 ozs
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    Quote Originally Posted by LDog View Post
    Yer not telling us what this device is, but take a look at the specs on the charger, and see if one of those little Apple chargers will do. They weigh .8 ozs
    I took the charger as an external battery pack charger not a plug in the wall charger.

  18. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by bubonicplay View Post
    Just your backpack weighs more than my entire baseweight and a half pound of clothing.

    you got a less than 5 lbs baseweight?
    Gradual Change You Can Believe in.

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  19. #19

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    I am wondering who Bubonic is from the other place

    Mara posted this a bit in the wrong place for the weights listed... unless she posts a detailed list it is going to be hard to help.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jeffmeh View Post
    What 4-season tent weighs 16 oz.?
    Some people consider some mids to be 4 season shelters. There are some under and around 16 ounces.

    I'm just concerned about that pad. A 2 ounce pad sounds like a 1/8th inch thick torso pad. That's not nearly enough in colder temperatures, and very insufficient for winter. It doesn't matter what type of sleeping bag is used. The only way to make it work is to build bedding to sleep on, and even then it'll help to have a reflecting wall and fire.

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