AT UL Pack size.

[erichlf]

I have not done any major thruhikes yet. I am to do a Thruhike on the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) this summer. My longest stretch yet was only 4 days. This summer will be 8. Any way, I was thinking of getting my pack size down to 2300 CI, with and expansion collar to 3000-3300 CI. But, before I go off designing and sewing I was wondering what people thought was an adequate AT UL Thruhiker pack size. With your answer please state why, and your base weight or FSO which ever just let me know which you are giving. Thank you.

Oh, currently I have about a 3300 CI pack, but it is never full. Again I have not done anything real long. My 10 day trip in Panama didn't even get the pack full with extra shoes, slippers, and 6 days of food. Didn't have my cookware, but that is really small and could have fit that too.

I propose...

• Medium weight solo 3-season thru-hiker. Base pack weight of 15-20#. Total wet 5-day, 2qt pack weight of ~40#. If you ever carry more than 40# on an AT thru-hiker you must have great knees.
• Lightweight solo 3-season thru hiker. Base pack weight of 10#-15#. Total wet 5-day, 1.5qt pack weight of 30#
• Ultra Lightweight solo 3-season thru-hiker. Base pack weight of 5#-10#. Total wet 5-day, 1qt pack weigth of 20-25#.
• Super Ultra Lightweight solo 3-season thru-hiker. Base pack weight of 5# or less. Total wet 5-day, 0.5qt weight of 15-20#.
  

[hungryhowie]

I'd vote, but to tell you the truth, I don't really know how large my pack is. I've got a base weight of just over 7 pounds, which includes everything except my hiking clothes (shirt, shorts, socks, packcloth low gaiters, running shoes), trekking poles, and consumables (food, fuel, water). I have no problem fitting everything in a Golite Breeze, size medium. I used to use a long Z-rest (which went on the inside of the pack, folded up, and took up about half of the available space), but I've switched to an inflatable pad (or use a hammock setup), so I even have more room now.

-howie

[erichlf]

I'd vote, but to tell you the truth, I don't really know how large my pack is. I've got a base weight of just over 7 pounds, which includes everything except my hiking clothes (shirt, shorts, socks, packcloth low gaiters, running shoes), trekking poles, and consumables (food, fuel, water). I have no problem fitting everything in a Golite Breeze, size medium. I used to use a long Z-rest (which went on the inside of the pack, folded up, and took up about half of the available space), but I've switched to an inflatable pad (or use a hammock setup), so I even have more room now.

Yeah, I don't even use a sleeping pad. I don't normally get that cold on my underside. But, I have not really done any hammock camping yet. I did a 6 day stretch in a central american hammock, but I was in Panama. I did get a bit of a chill at night. I solved that by putting a towel under me. This solved the problem. But, it probably only got down to 60F at night.

[Footslogger]

Well ...the larger the pack the more rationalizing you'll do about whether to take certain things or not. I hiked a lot as a kid but never gave a flip back then as to what size pack was appropriate. When I got back into hiking as an adult I started off with a Gregory Shasta. Great pack ...wears like a jacket and carries a lot of stuff. Over time though (and with increasing age) I began to look towards the lighter, smaller packs. I never worried too much about the capacity "number". I just looked for packs that held and carrried the stuff I wanted to take on trips.

That said, I now have my base weight (definition: everything but food and water) down to around 15 - 16 lbs, depending on the season. Most every pack I used to carry had lots of excess capacity and were of the heavy variety.

When it came time for my thru in 2003 I took my smallest pack at the time (Gregory Reality), loaded it up and headed for Springer. By the time I got through the Smokies I was tired of dragging around a 5+ lb pack that had a lot of air space inside. I tried on the Granite Gear Vapor Trail in Virginia and that was all she wrote !! The Vapor Trail is rated at 3600 cu in but that includes the side pouches and storm collar (which I did not need). At 2 lbs empty, the Vapor Trail was my baptism into lightweight backpacking. I'm not now and never will be an "ultralight" backpacker but I did discover that a 3000 to 3300 pack is sufficient (at least for me) for distance hikes.

I might add, since you mentioned an upcoming 4 day hike, that a thru-hike on the AT is really just a series of 4 - 5 day hikes all strung together over a 5 - 6 month period. Taking the season/weather into account, if you can get all your stuff into a 3000 - 3300 cu in pack for a 4 day hike you can distance hike with that pack.

'Slogger
AT 2003

[The Solemates]

If you are a true ULer wont your pack be below 3000 cu in? Poll needs more choices.

[Whistler]

Might need to expand the voting options a bit more. My 3-season base weight is about 9.5, summer is more like 7.5.

My favorite and most-used pack is 2750cu, all told. The other one is right about 3200. They have both proven sufficient for multi-day trips in the Southern Appalachians, but I prefer the smaller one. I've never needed to carry 8 days of food before, so I'm really not sure about the volume that would require.

-Mark

[tlbj6142]

If you are a true ULer wont your pack be below 3000 cu in? Poll needs more choices.

Very, very true. When thru-hiking the AT food is really the only item that consumes space requiring 3000ci.

I think the biggest reason for this confusion is the lack of definitions of lw, ulw, medium weight, etc...

I propose...

• Medium weight solo 3-season thru-hiker. Base pack weight of 15-20#. Total wet 5-day, 2qt pack weight of ~40#. If you ever carry more than 40# on an AT thru-hiker you must have great knees.
• Lightweight solo 3-season thru hiker. Base pack weight of 10#-15#. Total wet 5-day, 1.5qt pack weight of 30#
• Ultra Lightweight solo 3-season thru-hiker. Base pack weight of 5#-10#. Total wet 5-day, 1qt pack weigth of 20-25#.
• Super Ultra Lightweight solo 3-season thru-hiker. Base pack weight of 5# or less. Total wet 5-day, 0.5qt weight of 15-20#.

Too many folks consider their 15-20# base pack weight ultralight. Of course, I blame most of this on bp'er (and others) magazine. In which they list 4# packs, and 4# tents as "ultra light weight". They seem to have 2 catagories "normal" (40#+ I guess) and ultra light weight freaks (anything less than 40#). Kinda skews everyones idea of light weight backpacking.

Sorry for the rant. Its just been bugging me quite a bit lately.

[erichlf]

Yeah I meant to have smaller than 3000 but missed it. But the size I am looking for is with extension collar all the way out. This is for food. So the size I am looking for is for a 7 day pack including extra extension for food. My current pack is 3300, but the extension collar is small, so I wanted a smaller base back with large extension collar. Also, many people have larger packs for thruhikes. I would like to change the options for the poll but cannot I guess.

[The Solemates]

I like your system. I guess I would be considered a lightweight, although I always considered myself a medium weight. Makes me feel a little better about my load.

[erichlf]

I propose...

• Medium weight solo 3-season thru-hiker. Base pack weight of 15-20#. Total wet 5-day, 2qt pack weight of ~40#. If you ever carry more than 40# on an AT thru-hiker you must have great knees.
• Lightweight solo 3-season thru hiker. Base pack weight of 10#-15#. Total wet 5-day, 1.5qt pack weight of 30#
• Ultra Lightweight solo 3-season thru-hiker. Base pack weight of 5#-10#. Total wet 5-day, 1qt pack weigth of 20-25#.
• Super Ultra Lightweight solo 3-season thru-hiker. Base pack weight of 5# or less. Total wet 5-day, 0.5qt weight of 15-20#.

Too many folks consider their 15-20# base pack weight ultralight.

I agree and this is why I stated some of the things in my original question. I am trying to get down to a SUL, but that is a bit of work. I will edit the original quote to include that rule.

[The Solemates]

Well, thats 3 season I see. For winter Id be a borderline lightweight/mediumweight. For summer Id be a ultra lightweight. Cool!

[Footslogger]

Ultra Lightweight solo 3-season thru-hiker. Base pack weight of 5#-10#. Total wet 5-day, 1qt pack weigth of 20-25#

================================================== ===

Hmmm ...my pack weight without food and water is around 14 - 15 lbs. With 4 days of food and my starting water supply in the morning my total pack weight is 26 lbs.

Would that make me an ultra lightweighter ??

'Slogger
AT 2003

[erichlf]

Starting this over in another message. Sorry for the duel post.

[tlbj6142]

Would that make me an ultra lightweighter ??

There has to one in every crowd. Gotta split hairs with something that is obviously a bit subjective.

Food is a tough issue when it comes to lightweight hiking. Some folks are "happy" with 8 powerbars a day, others need 3# per day. This is espeically true for a thru-hiker. Which is why it can be difficult to be a thru-hiker whose pack has a maximum comfortable load rating is less than 20#. Even if you can get by with a 3# gear list.

I often wonder how Ray did it. Though he has been know to strech the truth from time-to-time.