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BenOnAdventures
07-03-2015, 10:20
Hey adventurers, what are you using for your lists? Paper? Excel? Word? What's your best method? Thanks and everyone have an awesome 4th of July weekend!!

Hikingmaddie
07-03-2015, 14:30
currently keeping weight of things in a note on my phone so i always have access to it and i keep the price of everything and the item i bought on a slip of paper, course this is an easier system since i only have very few items :)

hobbs
07-03-2015, 15:02
I used Geargrams..Its already setup and a good program..They just updated..It easy to add and subtract and goes from grams to pounds..

soumodeler
07-03-2015, 15:20
Lighterpack.com is a very good site as well.

q-tip
07-04-2015, 11:18
MS Excel, if interested will send extensive gear list (UL, LT. WT., JMT). with weight and cost. Send PM with email.

kayak karl
07-04-2015, 11:21
3-5 notepad and pencil. i take it with me. no need to recharge

Tipi Walter
07-04-2015, 11:24
Gear list is in my head. Nothing on paper. What's excel?? Inquiring minds etc etc.

Everything comes together when you lay out your gear and pack up this gear. Everything has its place in the pack. It helps to have a room dedicated to gear and so everything is found. In 15 years and 165 backpacking trips I have forgotten:

** My pack cover once.
** My toothpaste once.
** My toothbrush once (bought one at a store on the drive out).
** My small gerber penknife once.

Don't need no stinking spreadsheet though:)

kayak karl
07-04-2015, 12:14
did you ever leave the kitchen sink home? :)

Tipi Walter
07-04-2015, 12:16
did you ever leave the kitchen sink home? :)


WHY DO YOU ASK??

http://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2008/Camping-with-Cuffs-and-Eman/i-hRz9sJn/0/L/Trip%2076%20002-L.jpg

Coffee
07-04-2015, 12:37
I'm a big fan of the book "Checklist Manifesto" http://www.amazon.com/The-Checklist-Manifesto-Things-Right/dp/0312430000

I apply checklists to every aspect of my personal and professional life. Even pilots with 40 years of experience use checklists to ensure that the plane is ready for takeoff. Similarly, I feel like regardless of how much experience I eventually get (and my current experience level is still pretty limited), I will always use checklists for gear.

I'll provide a trivial example of what can go wrong without a checklist. Yesterday, I received my new ULA CDT pack. I can't go on a trip right now but I did have time to load it up for a brief walk. I loaded it with the actual gear I thought that I would likely take on a summer trip this time of year. Loaded it up and walked around a bit. Only when I was unpacking all the gear to put back in my gear closet did I realize that I forgot to pack one kind of important piece of gear: my shelter. Now maybe on a real trip I'd be more mentally aware but I know that with my checklist I'd never forget.

Tipi Walter
07-04-2015, 12:51
Forgetting the shelter would be a real downer. Forgetting tent poles would suck. Forgetting a spoon ain't good. Forgetting the bic lighter and yet having 44 ozs of white gas and cookable food would also reek. Improvise? No thanks. Carry 3 mini bics in different places. Have a hidden cache on your route from previous trips with spare tent stakes and spoons etc.

Can I start a fire with a twirling stick in my hands? Not really but I could try. Far easier to carry a couple light bics. Basically it's a flint and steel with some gas thrown in.

lemon b
07-04-2015, 12:56
Do it all in my head. Almost always have more than I actually needed. Never going to be a gram counter, not my style.

Tipi Walter
07-04-2015, 13:17
Do it all in my head. Almost always have more than I actually needed. Never going to be a gram counter, not my style.

Do people actually weigh their crap? Never occurred to me.

KimmyWasHere
07-06-2015, 14:09
Pen & paper for me. Write things down as i need to. I don't exactly "count ounces" as much as just be mindful about weight. Would i carry my 7 pound twnt with me? Of course not. I left forgot my toothbrush & on my last trip to hike the approach trail & some of the Smokies, left my awol guide. But no harm, no foul.

tflaris
07-06-2015, 14:18
Www.Lighterpack.com


"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed that is the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead, Anthropologist

HooKooDooKu
07-06-2015, 14:22
For simple spread sheets and easy access from my Android phone, I've been using Google Drive (for storage) and Google Sheets (works in concert with Google Drive). It's basically a browser based spread sheet so that you can access your data from anywhere on the internet. Not as fancy as Excel, but good enough (and cheap... free).

bemental
07-06-2015, 16:16
Lighterpack.com is a very good site as well.

+1 for Lighterpack.com

BirdBrain
07-06-2015, 16:30
Gear list is in my head. Nothing on paper. What's excel?? Inquiring minds etc etc.

Everything comes together when you lay out your gear and pack up this gear. Everything has its place in the pack. It helps to have a room dedicated to gear and so everything is found. In 15 years and 165 backpacking trips I have forgotten:

** My pack cover once.
** My toothpaste once.
** My toothbrush once (bought one at a store on the drive out).
** My small gerber penknife once.

Don't need no stinking spreadsheet though:)

I am surprised you don't use charcoal on a showel ;)
I use geargrams. I am a weenie.

BirdBrain
07-06-2015, 16:32
Do people actually weigh their crap? Never occurred to me.

I don't weigh my crap. I do weigh my TP though.

rocketsocks
07-06-2015, 19:23
Do people actually weigh their crap? Never occurred to me.i weighed my crap a few years ago, and then came to the conclusion...this is the gear I have, it's all I have, and it weighs what it weighs so suck it up sunshine or buy all new stuff, and that just ain't happenn'

owall83
09-04-2015, 07:54
I weigh my crap so I know what I weigh before I start moving. You can romanticize the idea of just being out there with what you have and not giving a damn but I want to be part of the successful 10% and to me that means planning and preparing. I have a scale at home, and there are plenty of great websites to help you keep track of everything your carrying. Why wouldn't I take advantage of these two things? Every pound counts and things add up quickly. I constantly play with what I need compared to what I want, I look for deals on equipment I need but don't own and compare them based on weight vs. reviews to try and determine whats worth the extra ounces. The hike boils down to mental toughness, but a 20lb pack vs a 35lb pack makes a substantial difference on the impact your body endures with every step and at this point I have 11 months to find alternatives to the gear I have. I can't work on mental toughness over the next 11 months, but I can improve my physical strength and try and polish up my equipment situation. That might mean buying new, waiting for sales on items I want, it might mean scouring the swap sites for used gear or it may just mean leaving something at home or replacing it with another piece of gear I have. This may be my only just to attempt a thru hike before I'm of retirement age and I'm sure many people have completed their hikes with 30-40lb packs, not even batting an eye at the weight they carried but that's not me.

Odd Man Out
09-04-2015, 09:41
After my 4 day outing last month I took all my gear out, cleaned it thoroughly, repair if necessary, and then put everything back in my pack for storage. A few things I decided were superfluous were demoted to the "extra gear" box. I added a couple of things that I thought would improve my gear kit.

When I am ready for my next trip, I will take out the gear to check it out and repack, add the quilt (which is stored separately), fill the food bag with food, fill the fuel bottle, fill the water bottles, add to the clothes bag one each of socks, underwear, shirt, and pants. Essential stuff gets transferred from my regular wallet to my hiking wallet. Put on my hiking clothes, shoes, hat, and grab my poles.

If I'm curious, I weigh everything on the bathroom scale, but each bit of gear has already been selected to optimize weight/function ratio based on my wants and desires, so any additional analysis seems unnecessary.

No list or spreadsheet.

Another Kevin
09-04-2015, 11:13
I'll confess, I'm always a little frantic before a trip, because while my dedicated hiking gear stays in one place, other things that aren't hiking-specific, or the things that are specific to a particular trip or dependent on the weather, get a little disorganized. So I always have a few moments of "where did I put the camera tripod?" or "Honey, have you seen my black fleece sweater?"

I have a spreadsheet where I check off what I plan to bring, then hide the unchecked lines and print.

It helps a little. What helps more is having a neurotypical wife who can find the things I lose and remember the things I forget. (Thanks, Mary Ann!)

I don't bother with adding up the weight. I try to choose lightweight items, and I bring what I need for safety, comfort, and enjoyment. The stuff fits in my pack, and I can carry it, albeit slowly. Then again, I'm not trying to finish a thru-hike. I'm trying to get out, take pictures, make maps, see sights (from awesome views to rare creatures to mysterious ruins), smell balsam, and generally have fun. When the sights that I want to see or photograph, the places I want to map, and so on are more than half a day's walk from the highway, or I'm stringing together a set of places that's longer than a day's walk, then the stuff I need to do more than one day in safety and comfort comes along for the ride. I guess I'm more a tourist than a Real Hiker.

Harmless
09-04-2015, 11:48
I have not previously weighed, except at the total level. Then, I decided my pack was really too heavy to cover significant mileage. I'm weighing individual items for a little while, in order to make better decisions about what to leave out. Excel is handy because I can compute totals, base-weight, etc., and I can sort by weight.

After I come up with a new, lighter gear list, I don't plan to track it beyond a simple checklist.

Tracking weight isn't a goal for me -- it is a technique to tune my gear list.

capehiker
09-05-2015, 10:44
I weigh my pack. I find it fun and it's part of MY experience. I am also a sensible backpacker. While being conscious of weight, I will never sacrifice safety for the sake of being able to say I have a 10 pound base weight. The availability and science of lighter weight materials allows us to have a lighter pack without sacrificing safety. Granted, it comes at a cost, but it's possible.

Old Hiker
09-05-2015, 12:00
Borrowed a triple beam balance from my work - Science teacher.

I've been weighing, packing, unpacking, re-weighing, etc. I'm down to 30 pounds without food, carrying one 64 ounce bottle of water. I'm trying to cut my fears and equipment.

Bought a lighter quilt and pack. Got rid of never-used stuff that probably won't get used. Etc. Etc. Etc.


Most of my weight is from clothing now. As it gets closer to 29 Feb 16, I'll pay more attention to the weather forecasts for the first few weeks. I'm also going to try and get up to mid-GA (Providence Canyon State Park - Lumpkin, GA) for testing over Thanksgiving. If the wife drags me to TX for Christmas, I'll be testing there as well.

heckyesnugent
09-09-2015, 20:04
What kind of rain gear does everyone recommend? I have everything else but my rain gear and I'm a little stumped.

MuddyWaters
09-09-2015, 20:52
I know all my wts, dont care much. I take what i need for conditions out of the items i own.
My gear lists are on xcel, its only used as a checklist to insure i dont forget anything.