Current Pack Weight for up coming Hike

[rich5665]

I'm uploading my current gear list spread sheet for my up coming hike. My base pack weight is currently 24.8lbs. I'm still upgrading equipment so, some items may change in the next couple of weeks, but I'm pretty sure the weight should still be in the 20 - 25lbs margin.

Three items that might get upgraded soon

Sleeping bag 48oz
Poncho 25oz
"Down" Jacket 28.4oz

[Buffalo Skipper]

That looks good to me. I especially like the spreadsheet you used. That's slick.

As for weights, the cheapest and easiest thing to save weight on is the poncho. For $20, you can get a set of Dry Ducks at 10 oz.
I agree that the sleeping bag and jacket are areas where significant weight savings can be had. But the biggest potential for weight is your pack. You are getting down to near 20 lbs, so you can't have an excessive bulk of gear, and you can start to pair down the pack size and weight. For me, I was at a huge barrier I could not get past (25ish pounds). Once I replaced my pack, the rest seemed to come off easily.
There are lots of good packs to look at in the ±2 lbs range. I am particularly fond of my ULA Circuit, but also consider Gossomer Gear, Six Moons, MLD, GoLite and others.

As for your sleeping bag, I highly recommend you move to a top quilt. The provide a signifanct weight savings, but if you are in a hammock, it will enhance your hammock experience significantly. They are not cheap, but you can find a 20° top quilt in the 23 oz range, half what your current bag is, and much more comfortable and easy to get in and out of. GoLite has some good quilts, but I cannot say enough about Hammock Gear. Best products I have found.

Hope that helps.

[RED-DOG]

After you pack your food and water it will probably well over 30 lbs, but whats a SHAMMY

[rich5665]

That looks good to me. I especially like the spreadsheet you used. That's slick.

As for weights, the cheapest and easiest thing to save weight on is the poncho. For $20, you can get a set of Dry Ducks at 10 oz.
I agree that the sleeping bag and jacket are areas where significant weight savings can be had. But the biggest potential for weight is your pack. You are getting down to near 20 lbs, so you can't have an excessive bulk of gear, and you can start to pair down the pack size and weight. For me, I was at a huge barrier I could not get past (25ish pounds). Once I replaced my pack, the rest seemed to come off easily.
There are lots of good packs to look at in the ±2 lbs range. I am particularly fond of my ULA Circuit, but also consider Gossomer Gear, Six Moons, MLD, GoLite and others.

As for your sleeping bag, I highly recommend you move to a top quilt. The provide a signifanct weight savings, but if you are in a hammock, it will enhance your hammock experience significantly. They are not cheap, but you can find a 20° top quilt in the 23 oz range, half what your current bag is, and much more comfortable and easy to get in and out of. GoLite has some good quilts, but I cannot say enough about Hammock Gear. Best products I have found.

Hope that helps.

I found the spread sheet on this Site and liked it. The only modification I made was to line 100 - Total weight. Thanks for the information about Dry Ducks, the nylon poncho I was looking at was a little over 15oz, so I'll be grabbing the Dry Ducks Ponch I bought for my son during the summer . A ULA Pack and top quilt are my big ticket upgrades that I hope to have by the end of the year.

After you pack your food and water it will probably well over 30 lbs, but whats a SHAMMY

Think ShamWow I was going to just carry a golf towel, but a shammy weighs less. With food and water I'm looking at 33.5lbs

[RED-DOG]

Okay cool i never thought about a ShamWow but i think it would work well, 33.5lbs thats good but i do think you can still drop some if you really wanted to.

[Deacon]

Okay cool i never thought about a ShamWow but i think it would work well, 33.5lbs thats good but i do think you can still drop some if you really wanted to.

I use a Sham-wow for a washcloth, towel, tarp wipe, and it dries in no time. Hang it up wet at night and it's dry by morning.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[58starter]

What is your height and weight? 1/8 of body weight should be a good measure for pack weight. Yours looks great to me. I can't seem to get under 30 lbs.

[rich5665]

What is your height and weight? 1/8 of body weight should be a good measure for pack weight. Yours looks great to me. I can't seem to get under 30 lbs.

Height 5' 7" Weight 195lbs, 195x.125= 24.375. It looks like I'm right were I need to be.

[gunner76]

Suggestions... take one compass, not 2
.....get TQ vice the sleeping bag
.....dump the heavy water bottle for a gator aid bottle

[jakedatc]

What is your height and weight? 1/8 of body weight should be a good measure for pack weight. Yours looks great to me. I can't seem to get under 30 lbs.

bzzzz.. random number generator is no way to pack a pack. pack what you NEED leave what you don't

http://andrewskurka.com/how-to/seven...to-lighten-up/

[jakedatc]

definitely lighter pack, lighter tarp?, over quilt is a good idea , not seeing a first aid kit., get just a <10 oz light rain jacket.. 25oz poncho? yiiikes for something you rarely use

Lose: 1 compass, multitool, pack cover (you have a liner), 1 extra socks (1 extra hiking, 1 clean sleeping sock is plenty), get 1L smart waterbottles over nalgene, 1 fuel canister (that is like 1.5lb of stuff)

how far are you going? what are you cooking? boiling water every night i had a 8oz canister last me the entire long trail.. 16-18 boils. get better food than Mtn house.. even Lipton pasta sides taste better and can be freezer bag cooked easily. add tuna, french fried onions, olive oil packet, powdered milk to add more calories

adjust your baseweight a bit. it does not include consumables. ie not food and water.. technically fuel but it is harder to guess how much the empty can weighs. Depending on your hike you could get away with only carrying 1L of water if sources are plentiful enough.. look at the map/guide and see

[q-tip]

Just a thought, I am 5'6" and was 195 in Jan. '12- I lost 40 lbs to get to 155 by May. Your body is the cheapest way to cut weight--A Pound Is A Pound Is A Pound......

[Odd Man Out]

Shammy = pack towel, originally chamois.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamois_leather

[jakedatc]

Just a thought, I am 5'6" and was 195 in Jan. '12- I lost 40 lbs to get to 155 by May. Your body is the cheapest way to cut weight--A Pound Is A Pound Is A Pound......

well done, definitely will help you. ditching gear you don't need is also 0 cost too. and when i upgrade stuff i try to sell my old stuff to offset the cost a bit.

[q-tip]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[rich5665]

Suggestions... take one compass, not 2
.....get TQ vice the sleeping bag
.....dump the heavy water bottle for a gator aid bottle

Actually I'm taking 1 compass, Compass also happens to be the brand name of my Pack
I've toying with the Gator Aide bottle idea and may still go that route.

[rich5665]

definitely lighter pack, lighter tarp?, over quilt is a good idea , not seeing a first aid kit., get just a <10 oz light rain jacket.. 25oz poncho? yiiikes for something you rarely use

Lose: 1 compass, multitool, pack cover (you have a liner), 1 extra socks (1 extra hiking, 1 clean sleeping sock is plenty), get 1L smart waterbottles over nalgene, 1 fuel canister (that is like 1.5lb of stuff)

how far are you going? what are you cooking? boiling water every night I had a 8oz canister last me the entire long trail.. 16-18 boils. get better food than Mtn house.. even Lipton pasta sides taste better and can be freezer bag cooked easily. add tuna, french fried onions, olive oil packet, powdered milk to add more calories

adjust your baseweight a bit. it does not include consumables. ie not food and water.. technically fuel but it is harder to guess how much the empty can weighs. Depending on your hike you could get away with only carrying 1L of water if sources are plentiful enough.. look at the map/guide and see

Tarp - I've just upgraded the Tarp went from a 28oz HarborFreight Tarp to a 13.5oz Warbonnet Big MambaJamba

Poncho - Swapping out the EB Poncho ~ 25oz for a DriDucks ~10oz tonight

Compass - I'm only carrying 1 compass. I think the confusion has to do with the fact that "Compass" is also the brand name of my pack

FirstAid Kit - Listed under Misc Essentials my kit weighs 6.2oz, better than the one I was planning on carrying, that one was 25oz

Socks - I had inadvertently listed a total of four pairs of socks on the list it is actually three. 1 pair for sleeping, the other two for hiking. I plan on changing my socks during the hike.

Multitool - I probably drop this all together.

Weight - there are two fields at the bottom of the spread sheet. Carried Weight and Base weight is the pack weight, Carried Weight is everything that is not in the pack

Water - is split between Base and carried. I'll have one bottle in the pack and one tied outside the pack somewhere. (That may change if I go to a Gatoraide Bottle)

The planned hike is just over 80 miles ~ six days on the AT in NJ/NY

[rich5665]

Just a thought, I am 5'6" and was 195 in Jan. '12- I lost 40 lbs to get to 155 by May. Your body is the cheapest way to cut weight--A Pound Is A Pound Is A Pound......

Easier said than done. I leave in two weeks, I'll probably shed maybe 5lbs by then. A few years ago I was able to drop my weight to 175lbs and plateaued there. I'm hoping to knock a few pounds off with this hike and all the daily walking and hiking that I've been doing. The big issue has been the diet. To much fast food. I come home and my wife will have a pizza a sub or a burger waiting for me

[rich5665]

bzzzz.. random number generator is no way to pack a pack. pack what you NEED leave what you don't

http://andrewskurka.com/how-to/seven...to-lighten-up/

Actually I'm not using a random number generator. I'm taking the gear that I have used for Scouting trips and swapping out all the heavy camping equipment that I used to focus more on long distance hiking trips. I'm shooting for the 25 year plan on the AT. I've always managed to keep my total weight at around 35lbs on the Scouting Trips, but they are more like 1 or 2 over nights with maybe a 5 - 10 mile hike. I've been slowly acquiring lighter gear as funds allow. Once I have the gear down to an acceptable weight I'll then invest into a much lighter pack. But, understand I do not plan on being a fanatic about what I'm carrying in terms of weight. I'll be happy with getting my total gear weight down to the 15 -17 lbs range.

[rich5665]

What about substituting a 2 liter Soda Bottle for Nalgene? At 1.8 oz I'm dropping 11oz by replacing 2 Nalgenes with a one 2 liter bottle