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eric d
04-10-2011, 16:09
Hey I was wondering what an average backpack weight for a through hike of the JMT would be. I don't want to be ultra light, but I don't want to be too weighted down either. What's a good average number of pounds?

Blissful
04-11-2011, 09:57
I'm aiming for 30 with the bear canister and snow gear, but it will likely be a little more.

eric d
04-11-2011, 13:42
what's an average base weight without food and clothes on back?

Helmuth.Fishmonger
04-11-2011, 15:27
the "average" will be somewhere between 20 and 50 pounds, depending on who you talk to.

Mine was 35+ pounds last year, 53 pounds last week on Whitney with winter gear and just 4 days of food.

schnikel
04-11-2011, 16:51
My wife and I are hiking the JMT this summer. Our aim is to get her pack weight around 15lbs before food and water and mine around 20lbs before food and water.
Schnikel

Miner
04-11-2011, 23:36
My baseweight for when I hiked the JMT section of the PCT in late June '09 was ~16lbs with the bear can. That also included 1.5lbs for a camcorder. But I was one of those Tarp people. I've been told we are different from normal folk.

Helmuth.Fishmonger
04-12-2011, 10:08
The tarp people will have a lot of fun this "summer" - especially in June. Make sure the tarp is large enough so you can build a raft from it.

tuswm
04-12-2011, 14:07
My wife and I are hiking the JMT this summer. Our aim is to get her pack weight around 15lbs before food and water and mine around 20lbs before food and water.
Schnikel

That is exactly what we are planning on.

I am carrying our tent, out bear can, kitchen and steri pen. totaling about 9 pounds. I did a shake down fun and came up with a base of 19 - 21 lbs before consumable depending on details.

she will carry more cloths and colder sleeping bag because she is small and gets cold. also after the Muir ranch she will need to carry a bear can as well. I dont think I can fit 110 miles worth of food for the two of us in 1 bear can.

I want to never carry more than 30 with the possible exception of after the Muir ranch.

ncalcamper
04-14-2011, 00:32
Aiming for base weight of 15lbs or less.

jasonG
04-18-2011, 14:25
"I don't want to be ultra light"

why not? you can do so much more with less. If you are coming from non-lightweight backpacking 15lbs base is a good target to shoot for(or try 13 not including bear can). you should check out some ultralight sites like backpackinglight.com to get some ideas on how to lighten up. there is a gear lists section where you can get an idea on how people achieve those base weights

Rambler
04-18-2011, 18:29
You might find this gear list to be a helpful guide:

http://www.andrewskurka.com/SHR08/gearlist.php

Phreak
04-18-2011, 18:55
My base weight was 20 pounds during my 2008 JMT and 16 pounds during my 2010 JMT. You'll see everything from sub-10 pounds packs to 70+ pound packs. All depends on what you want to bring with you on your hike.

Kanook
06-29-2011, 00:52
My base weight in 2009 was approximately 21 pounds.
This summer I am aiming for sub 15 pounds.

Most of my weight savings are from my big 4.

maxpower88
06-29-2011, 06:55
12.6lbs without the BV450 so 14.7 with it, and I carry a three season tent & rain gear. Becoming UL is the easiest thing about backpacking, all it takes is $$$! Last year I had a 22lb base weight and I had trouble doing 20’s but this year 20’s were the norm and even threw some 30 miles days in as well, good luck on your UL adventure.

ndwoods
02-15-2012, 03:25
When I hiked it my pack weight with food and water included was 32 lbs after each resupply....

tuswm
02-15-2012, 15:49
When I hiked it my pack weight with food and water included was 32 lbs after each resupply....

At the muir trail ranch both of our packs over doubled in weight.

QiWiz
02-15-2012, 17:18
It depends. If I were hiking the JMT, I would probably have 12-14 pounds plus food and water. Going south, the last half of the JMT is often done without resupply, so that can be a pretty good chunk of food weight.

lvnv1212
02-16-2012, 10:31
My base weight for this summer's SOBO JMT hike with bear canister - no food or water - is 15.7 lbs...still considering adding another lb of luxury items

TOMP
02-16-2012, 14:09
I have seen people with base weighs between 9-40 lbs. Mine is 20.

Scalawag
06-14-2012, 19:34
Just ran my gear through GearGrams. Should be around 13 - 14 lbs with the canister. Heaviest non-essential item is my camera, which is a huge reason I'm even taking the trip in the first place, so it has to come. Beyond that is an inflatable, which I think might be a good idea if we end up on some well-worn / rocky campsites that are just too nice to pass up.

And honestly, I still feel like it should be less!

Hole-In-The-Hat
06-15-2012, 00:18
13-14 with canister is pretty good!

I expect to be about 11# base weight for my JMT hike next month - but I've been working it for a while to get down to that.

QiWiz
06-15-2012, 10:54
"I don't want to be ultra light"

why not? you can do so much more with less. If you are coming from non-lightweight backpacking 15lbs base is a good target to shoot for(or try 13 not including bear can). you should check out some ultralight sites like backpackinglight.com to get some ideas on how to lighten up. there is a gear lists section where you can get an idea on how people achieve those base weights

+ 1 - why carry what you don't need and won't use? The lighter the load, the happier the hiker.

To be specific, for JMT in early September (which is when I would do it), I would carry about 10 to 12 pounds plus food, water, and bear canister. This means that for the second half of a three week N->S hike, carrying about 10 days of food (max weight, more resupplies in norther half), I would have as much as 30-32 pounds at the beginning of this stretch.

BrianLe
06-15-2012, 20:27
+1 here too --- that's just the approach I'm taking this year: base weight reasonably low, and starting in early September.