View Full Version : Low pack weight
I am very happy at the moment because I just weighed my new pack with all gear (minus food, water), and it only weighs 22.5lbs! I know that is not a record or anything, but I was calculating based on some estimations to be a good bit higher. The new pack is a Six Moon Starlite, the old one was an REI Mars 85. The difference is like night and day. The six moon fits me much better as well.
Anyway, I just want to make sure I am not forgetting anything so here is my list:
Pack
Northface 20 synthetic bag
Kelty Crestone 1 tent
REI 1.75 trekker pad
Aquamira filter bottle
Cooking Pot
Lexan Spoon, Fork
Gloves
small bottle bug spray
sunscreen
itch relief spray
med kit
zip ties
50' nylon rope
Fleece Baraclava
Rain pants
Rain poncho
windbreaker
fleece pullover
down jacket
Mid weight baselayer
Heavy weight baselayer
Nylon Pants
Superfly stove
Fuel Canister
Bic Lighter
Aquamira water drops
Head lamp
solar powered lantern (bulky but lightweight, will run for 8hrs so i thought it would be nice for reading and stuff)
I just realized one thing I was missing was an extra pair of socks. Oh, and the Data Book. Please let me know if there is anything else I need.
Also, with food and water, what do you think my pack weight will be at full load?
I am very happy at the moment because I just weighed my new pack with all gear (minus food, water), and it only weighs 22.5lbs! I know that is not a record or anything, but I was calculating based on some estimations to be a good bit higher. The new pack is a Six Moon Starlite, the old one was an REI Mars 85. The difference is like night and day. The six moon fits me much better as well.
Anyway, I just want to make sure I am not forgetting anything so here is my list:
Pack
Northface 20 synthetic bag
Kelty Crestone 1 tent
REI 1.75 trekker pad
Aquamira filter bottle
Cooking Pot
Lexan Spoon, Fork
Gloves
small bottle bug spray
sunscreen
itch relief spray
med kit
zip ties
50' nylon rope
Fleece Baraclava
Rain pants
Rain poncho
windbreaker
fleece pullover
down jacket
Mid weight baselayer
Heavy weight baselayer
Nylon Pants
Superfly stove
Fuel Canister
Bic Lighter
Aquamira water drops
Head lamp
solar powered lantern (bulky but lightweight, will run for 8hrs so i thought it would be nice for reading and stuff)
I just realized one thing I was missing was an extra pair of socks. Oh, and the Data Book. Please let me know if there is anything else I need.
Also, with food and water, what do you think my pack weight will be at full load?
I weighed it on a digital scale by the way, multiple times and it averaged at 22.5
Blissful
01-08-2011, 23:15
You could cut some stuff. Nylon pants. Lantern (your headlamp is fine for reading). Heavyweight base layer (you have a lot of clothes) What are you hiking in?
Crocs for camp? Extra socks? rain cover and /or compactor bag?
Maps? Data book?
Camera? (optional)
Congratulations on lightening up! When is your start date as this will greatly affect the gear you will need. I doubt you will need a fleece pullover, midweight baselayer, heavyweight baselayer, and a down jacket. I also do not see any underwear listed I don't know if that was a mistake as some people do not wear any. With 2 liters water and 5 days of food you should not be over 35 pounds
Kerosene
01-08-2011, 23:26
With supplies for 5 days, you're going to end up closer to 35 pounds, which is the upper limit of the SMD Starlite without a suspension hoop.
You could probably drop a couple of pounds by replacing your sleeping bag with a down bag (see WM UltraLite (http://www.westernmountaineering.com/index.cfm?section=Products&page=Sleeping%20Bags&cat=ExtremeLite%20Series&ContentId=17)) and a single-wall tent (see the SMD Lunar Solo (http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/tents.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_smd.tpl&product_id=38&category_id=7)), but of course that takes money.
Regardless, consider adding the suspension hoop to the Starlite, even if your pack weight drops below 30 pounds, as I think you will appreciate the additional support.
It would also be advisable that you post the weights of each individual item so that you can see just how much each item adds up to your total weight
Congratulations on lightening up! When is your start date as this will greatly affect the gear you will need. I doubt you will need a fleece pullover, midweight baselayer, heavyweight baselayer, and a down jacket. I also do not see any underwear listed I don't know if that was a mistake as some people do not wear any. With 2 liters water and 5 days of food you should not be over 35 pounds
Thanks all for the quick replies. I have all of my cloths included in the weight, meaning i threw the clothes I will be wearing in the packs before I weighed it. I am going to start in mid Feb, so I though the fleece and down jacket would be necessary. I thought i would take 2 sets of baselayers: one for hiking, one for camp. I did not include underwear becuase I thought the baselayer felt fine as underwear. Thanks again for the input and let me know what else I might need for the cold feb. weather.
Whoa, 40 ounce pad! Replacing that with 1 and 1/2 walmart blue pads would save about half that weight...maybe more.
Too many base layers. Fleece is overkill unless maybe it's something very light like the R1. Aren't you going to be wearing those nylon pants? Do you really need rain pants when you're using a poncho? Either way, I wouldn't bring the rain pants. If the rain doesn't soak your legs, your sweat will. At most I would restrict the weight of rain pant to 3-4 ounces.
Leave the lantern at home.
Filter and Aquamira? If you're going to use chemicals, then do it all the way and leave the filter at home.
Do you really need a fork to eat your camp food? If so, I suggest trying a spork.
Your pack weight isn't awful though. I would have been happy to carry that load in '09.
With supplies for 5 days, you're going to end up closer to 35 pounds, which is the upper limit of the SMD Starlite without a suspension hoop.
You could probably drop a couple of pounds by replacing your sleeping bag with a down bag (see WM UltraLite (http://www.westernmountaineering.com/index.cfm?section=Products&page=Sleeping%20Bags&cat=ExtremeLite%20Series&ContentId=17)) and a single-wall tent (see the SMD Lunar Solo (http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/tents.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_smd.tpl&product_id=38&category_id=7)), but of course that takes money.
Regardless, consider adding the suspension hoop to the Starlite, even if your pack weight drops below 30 pounds, as I think you will appreciate the additional support.
I would like to get a down bag, but as you mentioned that would cost more money. I am not on a super tight budget, but would like to make use of some of the gear I already own. I decided to get a new bag because my old one was very uncomfortable on log hikes. The starlite feels great, and the weight I have mentioned includes the support hoop, which I plan I using. Thanks for the input!
[QUOTE=leaftye;1091046]Whoa, 40 ounce pad! Replacing that with 1 and 1/2 walmart blue pads would save about half that weight...maybe more.
Too many base layers. Fleece is overkill unless maybe it's something very light like the R1. Aren't you going to be wearing those nylon pants? Do you really need rain pants when you're using a poncho? Either way, I wouldn't bring the rain pants. If the rain doesn't soak your legs, your sweat will. At most I would restrict the weight of rain pant to 3-4 ounces.
Leave the lantern at home.
Filter and Aquamira? If you're going to use chemicals, then do it all the way and leave the filter at home.
I have the short version of the trekker which weighs 26 oz, I also have a thermarest z lite. You think there would be any advantage to the z lite? The trekker provides better inslulation from the ground I believe.
The full length Z lite is almost a pound lighter. You may want to some of that weight savings to carry a sit pad, again, from the walmart blue pad. Put that pad under your torso at night and you should have about the same combined warmth as that Trekker pad.
I love sit pads. It takes away my excuse to avoid breaks. I used to look for nice logs or boulders to sit on, especially when there's rain or snow. Now I plop my pack against a tree with my sit pad in front of it and sit back without worries.
bulldog49
01-09-2011, 01:45
With supplies for 5 days, you're going to end up closer to 35 pounds, which is the upper limit of the SMD Starlite without a suspension hoop.
You could probably drop a couple of pounds by replacing your sleeping bag with a down bag (see WM UltraLite (http://www.westernmountaineering.com/index.cfm?section=Products&page=Sleeping%20Bags&cat=ExtremeLite%20Series&ContentId=17)) and a single-wall tent (see the SMD Lunar Solo (http://www.sixmoondesigns.com/tents.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_smd.tpl&product_id=38&category_id=7)), but of course that takes money.
Regardless, consider adding the suspension hoop to the Starlite, even if your pack weight drops below 30 pounds, as I think you will appreciate the additional support.
Excellent suggestions!
some items not on your list to consider - lighter, TP, and small bottle of hand sanitizer. If I overlooked them I apologize.Good luck.
HeartFire
01-09-2011, 10:42
you could certainly get a better (lighter) tent - LightHeart Gear Solo tent 1lb 11oz
http://www.lightheartgear.com (http://www.lightheartgear.com/)
Bags4266
01-09-2011, 11:34
Tent, bag and pad if you got the cake, replace. (savings 3.5 lbs) If not definatly the pad 40 oz ouch. REI should take it back.
Scrap the lantern, what is your cooking setup?
to the OP - feel free to ignore those who tell you to switch your gear. That's why I cringe when someone posts a list such as yours. I know you wanted only feedback on what you might have forgotten or could leave out due to redundancy but people always want to promote their favorite gear so you always get more than you asked for. Your list is fine and is more than sufficient for you to hike the trail from Springer to BSP. Save your $$$ for food and towns along the trail. Best wishes.
skinewmexico
01-09-2011, 14:50
Evaluate after every trip, improve if necessary. It's only got to work for you. Looks good to me though.
Tent, bag and pad if you got the cake, replace. (savings 3.5 lbs) If not definatly the pad 40 oz ouch. REI should take it back.
Scrap the lantern, what is your cooking setup?
I have the short version of the pad (26 oz) and a z lite (16 oz), so I will have to decide between the 2. I have an optimus .6 liter pot and an msr superfly stove. I would like to get a new tent, but I do not think it is worth shelling out the cash when I have a capable tent. Thanks
I believe you're going to end up with a base weight two to three pounds higher than this when all is said and done. For instance the data book and if you're carrying a lantern to read with what are you going to be reading? What are you carrying water in? Organizational stuff like dry sacks, pack liners, etc? Hand sanitizer? Camera? etc. etc. and probably a few more things that are hiking style specific. All of a sudden your modest 22.5lbs becomes 26 lbs. Ounces add up quick.
58starter
01-09-2011, 23:24
Cosmos how much do you weigh and how tall are you? I can understand using what you already have to hike with. We all do not have an endless supply of money to purchase the lightest equipment available. It would be nice to have but I am sure you will not be the only guy out there with 35lbs in their pack.
Cosmos how much do you weigh and how tall are you? I can understand using what you already have to hike with. We all do not have an endless supply of money to purchase the lightest equipment available. It would be nice to have but I am sure you will not be the only guy out there with 35lbs in their pack.
I am 5'11 and 190 lbs. 35 totally full does not sound bad to me for winter. I do hate to buy new gear to replace something I have, but I'm thinkin I'm gonna get the prolite pad. Also, I'm removing the fleece. I hiked 9 miles today in the snow and rain, and have determined the fleece is not needed.
thechadders
01-14-2011, 02:55
What I noticed is that you will slowly dwindle that list down to what you need only. It might take 4-5 outings before you get to where you want to be. I think thats a very respectable base weight considering mine when i first started was in the high 20's low 30's :eek:
Thankfully i became a oz counter and my packweight fluctuates anywhere from 10-12 lbs.
I would also recomend throughing together a spreedsheet with the weight of every item to see where all your weight is coming from. If you find something that is alarmingly heavy just sell it to someone who isnt as smart ass you so you can get the lighter weight option.
just my .02
Bags4266
01-14-2011, 12:24
Chadders has good advice on the spreadsheet. Here is one I use that is simple to use. There are many to choose from, I personally like this one.
Takes seconds to download. You will need a postal scale and weigh every item you own, then pick and choose the items you bring on a hike and it catagorizes the weight and gives you a total.
http://www.backpacking.net/featured3.html