View Full Version : Last question of the day: calculating what I’m carrying
I’ve Googled how one calculates the gear they’re carrying. I’ve been weighing everything, then documenting into lighterpack.net.
Total weight: 13.2 kg (29.1 lb)
Consumable: 3.6 kg (7.9 lb) (4 days food + 1L H2O)
Worn: 1.8 kg (4.1 lb) (assuming a late Feb/early March NOBO)
Base weight : 7.7 kg (17.1 lb)
Is clothing worn that day count towards pack weight?
Thanks
lonehiker
03-19-2018, 08:44
If it is something worn all the time it isn't part of your base weight. But, if it is say raingear, it should be counted as most of the time it will be in your pack.
garlic08
03-19-2018, 09:32
When you mention a winter start for worn clothing, are you counting items like a jacket, hat and gloves, and long trousers that might be in your pack later on? If so, they should be in your base weight, I believe.
Mugthumper
03-19-2018, 10:39
The only clothes that I do not count towards my baseweight are the ones I wear every single day to hike in. Others try to load their pockets with heavy items (phone, camera, etc.) and don't count them in baseweight because they always carry them in their pockets which I find to be a little silly. With the numbers you are posting, I wouldn't worry too much as long as you are warm at night.
Backpacking is a physics problem in its simplest terms.
Work equals weight x distance. The Hiker is the engine. Distance is the Trail. The weight is the Hiker + everything attached to the Hiker. As weight increases the work required to move the weight also increases.
“The term work was introduced in 1826 by the French mathematician Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis[1][2] as "weight lifted through a height", which is based on the use of early steam engines to lift buckets of water out of flooded ore mines. The SI unit of work is the joule (J).”
The total pile is the only thing that matters. You can trick yourself all you want but total weight determines the work required to get to Maine.
Wayne
lonehiker
03-19-2018, 11:22
Backpacking is a physics problem in its simplest terms.
The total pile is the only thing that matters. You can trick yourself all you want but total weight determines the work required to get to Maine.
Wayne
Let's take an extreme example of how weight is carried. If, for instance, you were to have to carry your pack hoisted above your head, it would take much more energy to move the same amount of weight than if carried on your back. The point to all of this is how weight is carried/distributed determines how much energy is required to move it. Weight that is centered on your body (worn) is easier to move than weight away from your body (carried in pack) as the body does not have to expend energy balancing the weight. So it may be a physics problem but you've missed part of the equation.
Slo-go'en
03-19-2018, 11:35
If you can lift your pack and your knees don't buckle when you put it on, your probably okay.
Work does equal total weight X distance. How efficiently you perform that work is a whole other problem.
hiking - or any action really - can be studied as a physics problem, if so desired.
that being said, the question was if clothing worn is included in pack weight. The answer is no. Pack weight will vary. If you take off your jacket and put it in your pack, your pack weight goes up. And you likely realize your total weight remains the same.
you'll often see folks hanging their packs on a scale before a hike. they're interested in their pack weight. Most folks realize that whatever they're carrying outside the pack also has weight.
Slo-go'en
03-19-2018, 13:30
Another way to look at it is you wear clothes all the time (well, most of the time) so you can consider them part of your body weight. Clothes that you don't wear all the time and mostly ride in the pack are part of the pack weight.
There is a difference in having weight more or less evenly distributed over your body (clothes) and weight which is ridding on your back and pulling down on your shoulders and spine.
AllDownhillFromHere
03-19-2018, 14:56
Another way to look at it is you wear clothes all the time (well, most of the time) so you can consider them part of your body weight. Clothes that you don't wear all the time and mostly ride in the pack are part of the pack weight.There is a difference in having weight more or less evenly distributed over your body (clothes) and weight which is ridding on your back and pulling down on your shoulders and spine.
Big time. Once we tried to envision/design a set of clothes that would hold water and gear, so that everything was evenly distributed. Like cargo short pockets on steroids meets Dune stillsuits. Ended up being pretty impractical, but it would have been the perfect setup.
One Half
03-19-2018, 15:13
oh gosh. it's real simple for me. weigh myself naked and then weigh myself dressed for hiking and with backpack loaded. subtract first number from second number and that's how much I'm carrying.
oh gosh. it's real simple for me. weigh myself naked and then weigh myself dressed for hiking and with backpack loaded. subtract first number from second number and that's how much I'm carrying.
Only one mistake: Don't subtract the first number. You’re carrying that weight too. :)
MuddyWaters
03-19-2018, 16:00
Base pack wt = wt of your pack - consumeables, at the trailhead
Full skin out weight= everything from skin -out.
It's semantics.
You really ought to include crap in your pockets in your base weight as well. But those things in your pockets like a phone map aren't really in your pack weight either. But it's assumed if you're wearing it at the trailhead you're probably going to be wearing it most of the time
In the end it's just a tool that lets YOU predict YOUR pack carry wt during changing food/water loads. That's all it is.
To be honest if you thought enough about the weight of everything in your pack...... You would be able to write down exactly what each item weighs from memory. I. E. AAA lithium battery 0.27 Oz. This comes from looking at a spreadsheet and concentrating on where you can reduce weight a lot without reducing attributes you want to keep.
It's okay for your packed away whatever your comfortable with. But if you don't know what's in it you're really not in control of it. And if you don't know how your other options possible compare to what you have you really haven't thought of a whole lot about how to get it down.
gpburdelljr
03-19-2018, 16:48
Good grief, just get out and hike, and leave your physics books at home. :)
Good grief, just get out and hike, and leave your physics books at home. :)
Nah, start out hiking, then when you are in Maine, you can brag about how much weight you shed at Neels Gap
cmoulder
03-19-2018, 18:58
oh gosh. it's real simple for me. weigh myself naked and then weigh myself dressed for hiking and with backpack loaded. subtract first number from second number and that's how much I'm carrying.
Hence the acronym, FSO.... From Skin Out
Supremely silly when people put stuff in their pockets so it isn't part of pack weight. :o
Good grief, just get out and hike, and leave your physics books at home. :)
My apologies then for asking.
I ask, because I’ve never thru hiked before.
I’ve never been to the southern US.
I’ve never backpacked longer than 6 days.
So yeah, I’m going to ask.
My apologies then for asking.
I ask, because I’ve never thru hiked before.
I’ve never been to the southern US.
I’ve never backpacked longer than 6 days.
So yeah, I’m going to ask.
You’re good. Better prepared than most. Cold weather can linger longer than you might think. Don’t give up your warm gear too early. Virginia maybe. It’s supposed to snow tomorrow and Wednesday in NW North Carolina, Tennessee and probably Virginia.
Good luck!
Wayne
You may want to give r/ultralight over at reddit a look.
They can be a bit overbearing but they’ll really pick over your gear list.
Happy hiking bro :)
MuddyWaters
03-20-2018, 01:17
I ask, because I’ve never thru hiked before.
I’ve never been to the southern US.
I’ve never backpacked longer than 6 days.
So yeah, I’m going to ask.
Your going on a series of short town to town hikes.
The vast majority are kess than 6 days
You know 95% of what you need
BuckeyeBill
03-21-2018, 02:17
Bow Gal,
Best of luck to you. Your gear looks OK because you took the info offered in the way it was offered. You will be fine.
But remember it you Yoyo you do no work because the distance travel from start to end is zero. At least that is what the physics guys will tell you