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Cuffs
09-03-2007, 17:59
Without listing all my gear (Im very happy with what I have - for now!) AALLLLL of my stuff weighs in right at 16#. Thats every item except for the clothes/boots Im wearing, food and water.

Considering that I'll be doing a hike of 6 full days with a 1/2 day on either end totalling 7 full days of food @ 1.5# per day... thats 10.5# of food. I'll be looking at 26# +, since I havent added in water yet. (and I usually overpack on food, so add a couple # for good measure!)

Where do I fit in? Is that good? Bad? Average?

Chache
09-03-2007, 18:53
Without listing all my gear (Im very happy with what I have - for now!) AALLLLL of my stuff weighs in right at 16#. Thats every item except for the clothes/boots Im wearing, food and water.

Considering that I'll be doing a hike of 6 full days with a 1/2 day on either end totalling 7 full days of food @ 1.5# per day... thats 10.5# of food. I'll be looking at 26# +, since I havent added in water yet. (and I usually overpack on food, so add a couple # for good measure!)

Where do I fit in? Is that good? Bad? Average?
You get 3 adda boys and a gold star. Thats about what I get for my 7 day trip to Escalante,ut coming on Oct 2

warraghiyagey
09-03-2007, 18:57
. . . Where do I fit in? Is that good? Bad? Average?

Nice work. Very managable.

Cuffs
09-03-2007, 18:59
Are you kidding? For some reason, I am feeling like its way too much! Im trying to squeeze out the ounces, but I like everything I have... Am I just being too overly concerned with it and have a good weight?

Chache
09-03-2007, 19:08
What type of pack, sleeping bag, ground cloth, stove and tent do you have?

Kerosene
09-03-2007, 19:14
It doesn't look like you factored in the weight of your water. I tend to carry a few liters most of the time, which might not in line given how dry it's been this year (plus I ran out of water once and would rather not repeat that situation). A liter of water weighs about 35 ounces, so carrying 2 liters would bring your pack up above 28 pounds. That's quite good if you're packing for Autumn and can expect temps below 40F. It's not ultralight, but I think you'll find that it carries well, assuming you're in reasonably good shape and your pack can comfortably carry 30-pound loads.

Now, wouldn't it be nice if you can figure out how to re-supply halfway through and cut your max weight down to 24 pounds?

SGT Rock
09-03-2007, 19:23
Carry more food.

bigcranky
09-03-2007, 19:34
What Rock said. 10.5 pounds of food is the bare, bare minimum for 6+ days of hiking. I'd be starving. The good news is that your food weight drops every day.

16 pounds of gear is terrific. That's way below average. While it's useful to look at the fringe extreme ultralighters, with their sub-5-pound base loads, there's a reason it's the fringe. You can learn a lot, but most hikers are very lucky to get their gear and clothing weight below 25 or 30 pounds.

Have fun and happy trails.

JAK
09-03-2007, 19:35
For preparation, I go by total weight skin out, and try to keep it mostly food and insulation. For comfort, I go by total weight on feet. I think you sound sufficiently prepared and comfortable, as long as you are not as overweight as I am at the moment. I think a total weight on feet of up to 175% of your lean body mass is comfortable for long hikes, and below 150% you don't need to be so much a gram weenie, unless its fun, or you plan on some running.

JAK
09-03-2007, 19:54
I think the food depends on how much you are actually capable of burning, and whether or not you have some fat to burn, and plan on doing so. If you are superfit and plan on rather high mileage 1.5 pounds is way not enough. Currently 1.5 pounds would be enough for me, as I would travel long days, but rather slowly. I would up that to 2 pounds if cold weather was possible, and up that to 3 pounds if snow was possible making time less predictable. Alternatively you could have multiple exit points to keep the time more or less fixed at 7 days, then go with 2 pounds.

JAK
09-03-2007, 19:55
p.s. I mean 'pounds per day' of course.

Kerosene
09-04-2007, 08:15
Carry more food.This depends on the person, especially for a newly starting section hiker. I actually find that I pack too much food for my 5'9", 175-pound frame, as my appetite consistently declines the first week I'm on the trail. Even so, I average 1.5 pounds per day of food, inclusive of freeze-dried stuffs and snacks, so I'd peg that as the bare minimum. Of course, if there are thru-hikers around you'll be able to get rid of any extra food if you find you're carrying too much!

SGT Rock
09-04-2007, 08:50
I have found that at the start I can normally get by with planning less (about 1.5 to 1.75) but the longer I am out the more I want to eat - and the more "real" food I am willing to tote. For the amount of food I ended up consuming at the period of my last large hiker hunger (the point I am using for my planning of meals) I was consuming about 2.1 pounds of food a day - and that was sticking to the lighter types of higher calorie:weight food hikers like.

Frolicking Dinosaurs
09-04-2007, 09:02
Going off memory, back when the dino was slimmer and younger, I start out eating about 1.5 lbs and was eating closer to 2 lbs a day by the end of the first week.

taildragger
09-04-2007, 09:02
If you're able to get around the 5K cals per day, I think that you should be fine, then again your gone only a week, so whats the biggie about a little fast and hike?

Quoddy
09-04-2007, 09:07
I allotted around 1.5# of freeze dried food per day for breakfast and dinner alone. I found that other than the first few days that was just barely enough. Those meals equated to a 25oz breakfast and a 28oz dinner when re-hydrated. During the day I find it difficult to eat much on the trail, but usually ate several oz. of dried fruit, an energy bar, and a one or two Snickers (8oz total). I can easily get by for a week or so on this, but any longer and my body weight begins to drop dramatically as the calories need to come from somewhere.

Cuffs
09-04-2007, 10:49
It takes me several days to work up an appetite. I do eat throughout the day to keep up the energy, but larger meals just dont do it for me until about day 3 or 4 and the hike will be 1/2 over with by then...

SGT Rock
09-04-2007, 10:53
I do a large breakfast and dinner, then do a smaller brunch and lunch with snacks throught the day. I couldn't hold out at three a day - and eating big lunches was a drag waiting to get to lunch and then a drag after having a big meal in me for an hour or so after lunch, then I was starving waiting for dinner. Switching to two smaller meals during the day works better for me.

Frolicking Dinosaurs
09-04-2007, 11:06
A big breafast and dinner for me as well - with two snacks and a quick lunch with a longish break during midday. I hike further and feel better when I take about an hour off during the midday to let feet air out and to camel up.

Johnny Swank
09-04-2007, 12:22
I'd starve on 1.5 lbs/day. I probably carry 1.5 lbs of twizzlers and other junk per day as it is.

Other than that, I think you've go a good plan going.

chiefdaddy
09-04-2007, 13:15
I just got back from a 4 day trip and ended up bringing back a whole day's worth of food. The best part is I lost body fat and gained muscle weight, abs showing and gaining pounds is tough. eating well on the trail = GREAT HEALTH! I was a personal trainer in the past and have a martial arts school now, food is a major part of health and being active.

My pack weighs 12# with out food or water, around 25 loaded give or take 5# and that was 4 days worth. You seem right on track! I drop things out of my pack after every trip and only carry things i use, have gotten better and better about it! Your pack weight Looks good to me!

Nightwalker
09-04-2007, 19:07
Are you kidding? For some reason, I am feeling like its way too much! Im trying to squeeze out the ounces, but I like everything I have... Am I just being too overly concerned with it and have a good weight?

On a trip like that, leave off one day of food. The first and last day end up being like half days when it comes to eating, so why not lose the 1.5#?

Nightwalker
09-04-2007, 19:10
Carry more food.

Per day. 1.5# is not enough, unless it's peanut-butter heavy and includes a few ounces of olive oil!

My daily food is around 2# even, and comes out to a really good 3500 calories. Hungry starts to suck.

But still, consider one less day of food. That idea isn't mine originally. I got it from Winton at Mountain Crossings, and it's worked well for me since.

hopefulhiker
09-04-2007, 22:28
I think the total weight is pretty good. I agree with everyone in saying to take extra food, even an extra meal or two..you can always just eat it..

Cuffs
09-04-2007, 23:03
On a trip like that, leave off one day of food. The first and last day end up being like half days when it comes to eating, so why not lose the 1.5#?


Ive already figured in the 1/2 day on either end. 6 full days on trail, dinner on the trail the first night and breakfast and lunch on the last day... to me thats another day of meals...

Im not worried about the amount of food Im carrying. Its all the other gear.

Tipi Walter
09-05-2007, 00:34
Carry what you want, load up your pack with anything that'll make you feel good for 7 days out. If it includes a book, canned sodas, a 1.75X25 inch Thermarest, a head of cabbage, well, so be it. What's wrong with a 50 pound pack? On my last 15 day winter backpack I had nearly 80 pounds with 2 huge food bags including carrots and apples, rice cakes, Tasty Bites pouch meals, the works including water, but I loved carrying it cuz I knew each step was one step further from Syphilization and I had everything needed to spend 2 weeks out alone in the high snow country.

BrianLe
09-05-2007, 19:54
I think the required amount of food varies due to a lot of factors. Long distance hikers certainly have to plan on higher per-day amounts than folks doing just a few days. For trips up to a week or 10 days or so, I can get by happily with as little as 1.1 pounds per day, though I tend to pack a bit more. I just came back from doing 68 miles in 4 days where I packed about 1.4 pounds of food per day and had some left over, primarily gorp and jerky. I also lost weight, similar to what chiefdaddy said earlier.

Appalachian Tater
09-06-2007, 00:14
I went hiking for a couple of weeks this year and planned my food based on what I ate while thru-hiking but only ate half. Hiker hunger takes a few days to kick in and my appetite was actually reduced the first week. If you have an extra day's worth and feel comfortable with what you have, 1.5 pounds a day is fine for a week-long hike. For instance, 6 packs of ramen weighs 18 oz and has 2280 calories, if you could eat all that in one day. Unless you're underweight, a little calorie deficit is no problem, you'll burn some fat.

mudhead
09-06-2007, 16:29
I lose weight on 4,000 calories. Can often put down a kilo/day.

Anyone else come out of the woods on sections with a serious jones for oddball foods?

Assume the body needs something. Usually salt, grease, and sugar.

Beer nuts!

Tipi Walter
09-06-2007, 17:02
Pistachio nuts. On most every trip I see a little pile of old shells here and there, usually around a firepit. So somebody must like 'em.

whitefoot_hp
09-07-2007, 10:17
I lose weight on 4,000 calories. Can often put down a kilo/day.

Anyone else come out of the woods on sections with a serious jones for oddball foods?

Assume the body needs something. Usually salt, grease, and sugar.

Beer nuts!
my friends and i always skip meals on the last day of a section, becuase we are in a hurry to get to the closest chinese buffet...

Bluehaus71
09-09-2007, 01:23
Your pack weight minus consumeables is respectable. If you feel good about the gear it consists of then don't sweat it. If you are looking to shave some ounces then post your gear list and let folks make some suggestions. If you are looking to pare down more it certainly can be done without a lot of sacrifice to comfort, IMHO. Of course that is very subjective. HYOH!

mweinstone
09-09-2007, 04:31
lightweight is the opposite of darkweight. darkweight, or darkmeat, is the fat layer just under the georgia state line. each spring it gathers .

Two Speed
09-09-2007, 06:13
I do a large breakfast and dinner, then do a smaller brunch and lunch with snacks through the day . . . Switching to two smaller meals during the day works better for me.Kind off subject here, but I find that a "Lunch 1" at 10:30 or so and a "Lunch 2" at 2:30 or so works better for me if I'm out for more than 4, maybe 5 days. Until then my appetite's a little off and it doesn't matter. After that trying to eat enough at one lunch leads to that "I just ate a bowling ball" effect, which makes hiking less than enjoyable.

Of course I've got to be out long enough for that whole shtick to kick in. Unfortunately, I've got the middle aged responsibility hang up, and probably will for the foreseeable future, so I don't get out for enough long trips to be completely convinced that's the best way to do things. If anyone would like to sponsor me for a couple two three years so I can research this particular phenomena in detail I'd really appreciate it. :p

saimyoji
09-09-2007, 09:48
Your gear weight looks good. This thread has turned into a food discussion, which is okay, but since you said you're not worried about food weight, the only other advise would be to post your gear list and let people comment on that.

Bottom line, you seem good to go. :cool:

Cuffs
09-09-2007, 10:20
Thanks for those who commented on the gear weight and thoroughly read my post... And as stated in my first post, I am not concerned about the food weight and I am happily comfortable with the gear I have, therefore I was not going to be posting the list...