View Full Version : Daytrip Gear Question
I was just wondering how many of you count your ounces on daytrips of 2-3 day trips? Do you try to save every ounce like you do on a thru hike, or do you not mind as much? Personally, I am significantly less concerned about weight on short trips, and don't mind carrying some extra gear that might not be necessary. What about you guys?
warraghiyagey
04-20-2007, 01:09
On a three day trip I wouldn't begrudge myself anything that wasn't completely unreasonable. 7 days or more I'd go light as possible.
I agree about the 7 days. For me, 3 days or less and I'll pretty much carry anything I might need. For a week long trip, I'd be a bit more careful about what I carry, but any more than 7 days and I start obsessing about weight.
warraghiyagey
04-20-2007, 01:30
I agree about the 7 days. For me, 3 days or less and I'll pretty much carry anything I might need. For a week long trip, I'd be a bit more careful about what I carry, but any more than 7 days and I start obsessing about weight.
Exactly.:)
On a three day trip I wouldn't begrudge myself anything that wasn't completely unreasonable. 7 days or more I'd go light as possible.
I'm actually kind of the opposite. For a three-day trip I can pretty much know what the weather is going to be like, and there are a bunch of things I can do without that I'll want on a long trip. For example, on weekend hikes these days I've gone back to using a Z-Rest, whereas I was carrying a section of Z-Rest and a Therm-A-Rest on my thru-hike because I got tired of sleeping on such a hard surface without enough padding.
The tricky bit is to define "as light as possible." Where does a pack of cards fit into that equation? I definitely bring more food per day for a shorter trip--even though I need it much less these days.
It also depends on whom I'm hiking with. Are they hard-core hikers themselves? Or innocent non-hikers I'm trying to lure into the fold? To trick the innocent, I'll carry a lot more. See what good food we hikers eat? See how much fun we have?
Cheers!
Marta/Five-Leaf
Slosteppin
04-20-2007, 07:44
When I go on a day hike I carry all kinds of stuff, including a small saw for light trail maintenance.
On a 2 or 3 day trip I am experimenting to see what works with what for me. I might hike rather heavy with duplicate gear to make comparisons. The next trip out I might go as light as I can manage at my present skill, again, just to see what I can do. These short trips are all with an hour's drive of home. If something goes too wrong I can walk out and go home.
Slosteppin
hopefulhiker
04-20-2007, 08:07
I think I would carry more stuff. I would probably use a cannister stove vs an alcohol stove, carry more luxury items...
Whistler
04-20-2007, 10:24
Depends on the type of trip. Sometimes less (testing new gear, heavy mileage, trying to see/do a lot), sometimes more (leisurely solo trip, camping with friends, testing new gear).
-Mark
welllllll. I think the real question is how far do you want to walk each of those three days? if you're out for a mellow walk in the woods and want to cover just a few miles a day, then carry away! Be comfortable in camp! Take it all! But, if you are hiking with the intention of covering some miles, then I think it is more important to carry as light a pack as possible. WB'rs are always saying that a thru hike is just a bunch of 3 day hikes strung together. If that is how you look at your hike, than it is just as important to watch the weight of your pack as it is for a thru hiker.... no, wait -- it is MORE important to carry a light pack for three days because you won't be in as good shape as the thru hiker. It just plain feels better to carry less if you are walking any distance.
Like others here, I think exact circumstances vary what a person wants to do, but there are a couple of factors that cause me to typically take my heavier "second string" gear along on day hikes.
First, a lot of ultralight backpacking gear is less durable; I'd just as soon not wear out stuff on day hikes that is somewhat expensive to replace. For the items that are durable, I find it handier to store dayhiking and longer-trip backpacking gear separately, so it's easy to just grab-and-go the appropriate pack with a lot of the 10-essentials type of stuff and some related things already in it or nearby.
The other reason is if I'm training for a trip, or just in general feel inclined to use a dayhike to help get or keep me comfortable carrying a pack. As Josephus said about the Roman Army, "their drills were bloodless battles, their battles bloody drills". Make it a little harder on training day hikes, then when you shoulder a backpack for a long no-resupply trip it's not that big a deal.
rswanson
04-20-2007, 12:53
Most of my trips are of a shorter length, usually overnighters to 4 day trips. I pack light and try to keep my base load under 10 pounds. I enjoy hiking more that way, regardless of whether I'm doing leisurely 10 mile days or maintaining a 20+ mile pace. I don't carry any more weight on longer trips, outside of food and maybe spare batt's for the camera and a little more first aid.
On a dayhike, I rarely carry more than the bare essentials but if I'm overnighting, I try to go as simple and light as possible. I've found that over the years, I don't miss carrying luxury items or extraneous gear.