View Full Version : I don't know much about backpacking...
nuevoluna
10-01-2011, 19:21
Hey guys. Long story short, this is my first post so hello! I've backpacked a little here and there but I'm looking to do a hike across America on the American discovery trail. I will do this year round rain or snow and I have much of what I already need so I went to the store to try out a pack. Now I was re come DES to try a pack that's bug so I went with a 90 liter pack totry out. I filled it up with all I would bring including food but I had SO much space left! I tried a 55 liter pack and I could fill outer pockets a little by it seemed right for what I'm bringing. Should I go bigger than 55 liters considerin I've heard of people bringing along fifty pounds of stuff? Seems excessive
Mr Breeze
10-01-2011, 19:50
50 lbs does seem excessive. 35 -40 would probably be what you would want to carry. But it comes down to how much gear you are planning on taking, and also how many days worth of food you plan on carrying. Everyone is different when it comes to pack weight, so you may get lots of opinions and advice on this,
Osprey packs are more and more popular, ULA. The more I do this the more it is about the hiking and less about gear or anything in excess.
Slo-go'en
10-01-2011, 20:16
Pick the pack to fit the gear you have (or need). A base weight of 15 to 20 pounds should be easy to achive, except for the dead of winter out west, when you shouldn't be out there anyway.
The one thing you will want is execptionally good rain gear and sun protection. Much of the ADT is open road or rail to trail path, so you will have no protection from the elements. Spray from road traffic when it's wet will be miserable and you'll bake when the sun is out. Good luck. I've done just enough of that kind of walking to know I'm going to stick to shady forest paths, with the occasional nice vista.
Ironbelly
10-01-2011, 20:20
I always like going a little bigger than what all my normal gear takes up. So if i were you and 55L held everything i wanted to bring i would go for a 65ish liter pack. This gives you ample room to pack extra food or other supplies as needed without having to strap stuff all over the outside of your pack. 50lbs is also excessive in most cases unless its the heart of winter, 35-40 is a more realistic number if you are smart about your gear choices.
Spirit Walker
10-01-2011, 23:29
Go smaller rather than larger. The temptation is to fill that big pack. Instead you should be looking for ways to decrease your load as much as possible. Road walking is hard enough. Doing it with a lot of weight is brutal. You go from town to town on the ADT, so your food weight shouldn't be that high until you get out west. Winter gear adds some weight, but it shouldn't be all that much.
You might want to use two packs - one with a bigger load capacity for winter travel (are you starting Jan. 1?) and for carrying big water loads out west, and a much smaller lighter pack for summer walking.
LIhikers
10-02-2011, 21:50
Earlier this year I did a thru hike of the C+O canal path. There was another hiker who was doing the American Discovery Trail. He felt carrying a weeks worth of food out of town was standard since he didn't know exactly where he'd be able to resupply. Needless to say he had a heavy pack coming out of town after a resupply in Pooleville. He thought it was probably 60 pounds, but that included dog food too.
nuevoluna
10-03-2011, 00:14
The weeks worth of food sounds silly to me because anyone who can check online knows if a town has a wal art or convenience store to shop at and supply. Towns aren't too far apart. At max I could see 100 miles between towns but that's 3-4 days of hiking if there are no zero days. Plus mailing supplies is possible yea?
You should either try to talk to Lion King about the ADT or watch his movies or both.
It kinda sounds like if you plan to hike the ADT year round you are sort of maybe possibly looking to "drift" for lack of a better word. Enjoy the open spaces and live free for a while, perhaps? If I was doing it that way, I'd get an old-fashioned external frame pack and a bare minimum of not-too-fancy gear, make my own wood-burning stove, carry a blue tarp for a shelter and not dress like I had any money.
Slo-go'en
10-03-2011, 10:57
You should either try to talk to Lion King about the ADT or watch his movies or both.
It kinda sounds like if you plan to hike the ADT year round you are sort of maybe possibly looking to "drift" for lack of a better word. Enjoy the open spaces and live free for a while, perhaps? If I was doing it that way, I'd get an old-fashioned external frame pack and a bare minimum of not-too-fancy gear, make my own wood-burning stove, carry a blue tarp for a shelter and not dress like I had any money.
Definately watch Lion King's videos. Half the time he is complaining about being lost. Apparently keeping track of the official trail can be difficult at times. There are also a number of ADT trip journals on trailjournals.com which make interesting reading.
Sbhikes idea of looking like a tramp/homeless person has it's points. Lion king nearly got mugged going through a sketchy section of St. Louis. But that could also work against you, especially in the rural areas where locals will look at you with more suspicion.
And yes, it is unlikely you will need to carry more than a few days worth of food. Getting across Utah and Nevada will be the most challenging. Timing will be important. You don't want to do it in the summer or winter, so there will be only a short window in the spring when crossing those states is really practical. At least that is the conclusion I came to after researching the possibility of doing this trail.
Blissful
10-03-2011, 12:53
50 lb of stuff is ripe for injury, imo.
You don't have to exactly look like a homeless person, but it helps if you look invisible and/or harmless to as many different segments of society as possible.