Acceptable Weight

[TurboPants]

I created an excel spreadsheet to calculate weight totals so as I buy stuff I can log the item's weight and see what the pack will weigh dry (no food/fuel/h2o). Accounting for a March NoBo start, the pack would be ~20.6 lbs dry, and 30 lbs with food (6lbs) and water (2.2L). I'm not sure about the food weights as I haven't really weighed food items for a 4-5 day trek. So maybe you guys can tell me how far off 6lbs is. For those who have done a thru, is a 31.5 lb pack acceptable? I'm 5'9", 32 and in decent shape so 31.5 lbs doesn't sound like a lot, but after 2200 miles I may change my tune.

Here is the actual breakdown into ounces for each section of gear:

Backpack/Liner/Rain Cover: 42.5
Kitchen Group: 30.1
Backpack/Liner/Thermarest: 71.3
Hygiene Bag: 11.6
Tent/stakes: 36.0
Clothing/Crocs: 70.4
Misc gear: 68.0

If anyone can take a quick look and see if my weights seem way off I'd appreciate any help or suggestions. Still in the early stages of planning but nothing wrong with over preparing this far in advance. Thanks if you read this far.

[jj2044]

Starting out 31.5 pounds isnt bad.... i have always heard about 1 pound of food per day, some will a little more some a little less, depends on what your eatting......2.2L of water is a bit much, at least of me, but again its a personal thing, the first few weeks you will be coming to water at least every couple hours, i only carried a 1L bottle most of the time and was fine.

[Feral Bill]

Most people use 2 lbs MOL of food daily. I am no ultralighter, but you could probably shave a fair bit of weight, and be glad of it.

[rcrfc]

Check out the following site it may help you out. You can post the link on this thread and everyone can help with feedback.
http://www.geargrams.com/

[TurboPants]

So someone has already built a database for gear weighing. Greeeaaat! lol So I wasted a lot of time building my spreadsheet heh. I'll check it out and report back if I can figure it out this geargrams business.

[ChuckBrown]

In 2000 I arrived at amicalola with.....57 pounds, yikes, I was 35 years old. By the time I got to Maine I was around 42 lbs average.

Now my base weight is 23 lbs, no food or water .

[daddytwosticks]

As others have stated in the past and my experience also, the sudden exertion of hiking with a pack on your back may minimize your appetite at first. If this is your experience, you may be able to get away with less than 2 pounds of food per day in the beginning of your thru-hike. Have a great hike. :)

[max patch]

For those who have done a thru, is a 31.5 lb pack acceptable? I'm 5'9", 32 and in decent shape so 31.5 lbs doesn't sound like a lot, but after 2200 miles I may change my tune.



I started off with 50 lbs, got it down to 45 lbs by Damascus, and increased to to 62 lbs heading into the 100 mile wilderness, so 31.5 lbs sounds pretty darn good to me.

[staehpj1]

How much do you want to carry? You could go a lot lighter with your gear choices even without using a lot of expensive cottage industry stuff, on the other hand some folks choose to carry more than that.

I don't follow what your items on the list include so I can't make too many specific suggestions, but will say that it isn't particularly hard to get to about half of your listed total. I will say that your kitchen group is about triple what I carry, your clothing sounds very high, and I can't even guess how you manage to add that much "Misc. Gear".

Your food per day figure sounds pretty low to me. I figure closer to 2 pounds per day.

[MuddyWaters]

If I were you, I would figure out how to cut 6-8 lbs of gear/clothing wt.
You can do it now, or mail it home when you get tired of carrying it up mountains.

And plan on 1.5 lb/day food at first, and 2lb/day after about 1.5 weeks
The highest calorie foods you can get your hands on.
When real hunger kicks in after a few weeks, may be even more.

[kidchill]

Without an actual list it's hard to say, but I think you could shave some weight...I started with a BW of 15lbs and only fluctuated slightly. You have 5lbs of clothes and 5lbs of misc stuff, do you need all of that? Also, what's your kitchen set? I was at 1lb with everything (fuel, pot, cozy, stove, cup). Food, unless you've actually weighed it, is probably gonna be more like 2-2.5lbs/day. I would recommend eating every 2 hours, even at the start, even if you're not hungry. Also, you may find that you don't need 2.2L of water. I was SOBO and quit carrying water in VT unless it was absolutely necessary (you'll learn your body and how far you can go). That's just my 2cents, HYOH! People get crazy with weights and gear and all that. It's what's comfortable for you. My body is much happier when I'm carrying 25lbs or less and I knew that going into this...So, it's what makes you happy.

[takethisbread]

Being lighter is all about making a choice "I choose the comfort of the hike over the comfort of camping" I started out at 35lbs base weight and now I'm at less than 12lbs even in winter . The Warren Doyle axiom "what's in your pack is the sum of all your fears" is true. As you get more comfortable with wilderness living and your skills improve, your pack will shrink naturally . I don't subscribe to counting ounces philosophy. Every circumstance and person is different. Just start your hike and soon enough you will find your ideal packing system.

[Papa D]

you can easily get that carry-weight down to about 26 pounds vs 31 with minor tweeking - - I think those are the 5 most important pounds to shed. Getting from 26 to say 21 involves making sacrifices and there is a point of diminishing return.

[rcrfc]

Looks like you have multiple people ready and willing to help you out, but need more specifics. The geargram will help share with everyone your weights on specific items and then the weight shedding will begin.
I found out about geargram after using excel also, so now i spead the word.

[JAK]

For clothing I use the guideline of 1 oz for every degF below about 85 or 90F, for the coldest temperature you might possibly encounter. So for say 20-25F, that would be about 4 pounds, and does not include shoes, shorts, and shells.
So I think your Clothing/Crocs at 70oz is pretty close, providing that it is chosen in such a way that it can be worn all at once and provides even coverage and a wind/rain layer for the coldest wettest conditions you might encounter. Does it include shoes? If so when you subtract your crocs you are probably only good down to 35-40F. Watch for cold rain, or sleet. I would not count the crocs in that category, as they can be worn with your shoes.

[JAK]

Worry about clothing for the most extreme condition first, then your sleep/shelter for the night after hiking in that crap all day and it getting dark and crappier. Then how your going to eat and keep/get your clothes dry if wet. Then worry about all the other fluff. Packpack 20oz is enough. At least half a dozen good choices out there now. For ground pad blue foam is cheapest and warmest for its weight, and you will have room for it in your pack if you get a big but light one and use it as a tube/frame.

[RED-DOG]

Your pack Weight is whatever "YOU" are Comfortable with, Me on all three of my Thru's i started with a 30lb pack amd maintained that weight through out the entire trip, like i said carry whatever YOU are comfortable with. RED-DOG

[TurboPants]

You guys are way too fast for me. I am working on putting all my stuff into geargrams now. So I will post a link later today once I get everything entered in. Thanks guys!

[TurboPants]

Finished entering in everything into geargrams, but there's no way to link to it. So I exported to a PDF and hosted it.
http://www.designbydan.com/PT/At Pack.pdf

I would just about guarantee I missed something. The clothes are all pretty light weight items, maybe I can do without some of them. There are things I could remove but it would require adding something else in of equal weight. I may just have to suck it up and take the pain.

[Jalum]

The DSLR is your albatross.

[polechar]

To link it to WB go to the bottom of the geargram page and click "copy url to clipboard" then paste it to your thread.

[MuddyWaters]

The bag liner isnt worth the wt
get rid of pillow, use stuffsak and clothes
strip extras off of pack
Need heavier liner for pack, use trash compactor bag = 2oz
Ditch the heavy camera, your not going on a photo shoot, you have an iphone
use spectra bear cord, save 6.5 oz!!!!!!!!!!!
Dont need raincover and pack liner
Ditch the wipes, bring less tp also, you can get more every couple days you know
ditch the bladder, use a couple of water bottles. replace as needed. You have a pack made for bottles, thats its strong pt.
2.4oz for a cook stuff sak?? ***
cook set pretty heavy
use trail runners and dont need crocs
running shorts are lighter than swimsuit

you can easily be in 12-15 lb range

Your hike will revolve around protecting that DSLR, right up until you finally decide to send it home.

No first aid kit/foot kit and meds?
No sunscreen?
No groundcloth for shelter sleeping?
No gloves / waterproof covers?

[CarlZ993]

Some quick observations (probably addressed later on; stopped after the geargrams link):
Sleeping bag is really heavy for 20 deg. If you wear extra clothes, do you need your sleeping bag liner? 8 oz bear bag line? You can get something well under 2 oz. Repackage you Dr. Bonner's Soap into smaller containers. Save an oz. Jalum already mentioned the heavy camera. True camera bugs will carry heavier rigs. Personal choice there. Substitute running shorts (w/ liner for the swim trunks. Probably save 3 oz. I use them as my underwear.

[TurboPants]

I'm a photographer so it is a photoshoot and 2 lbs is barely noticable.

Had not researched lighter bear rope so thanks for that.

The pack isnt waterproof, why would I let it get soaked intentionally? It woul absorb more weight when wet than the cover weighs by double.

My cook set is the snow peak titanium mug with hotlips, it cant be lightened anymore.

I have a 1L platypus so I could use that instead of the camelbak and keep a gatorade bottle.

Forgot to list first aid. But Ive never wore sunscreen in my life cause I dont burn. I see everyone carries camp shoes so at the very least maybe flip flops to save weight? Gotta let the shoes dry out somehow.

[Slo-go'en]

I don't use camp shoes. I don't think you'll find them that useful until it warms up a lot anyway. Flip flops in March in the mud? No thanks.

I use a pack cover along with the pack liner. I also like wipes, but I don't do hand sanitizer (don't shake my hand or eat my gorp!) There's no shade for the first 500 miles when you start in March, so sun screen is important until you get a good tan. You may think you don't burn, but do you normally spend all day out in the sun?

It's nice to have a nylon water sack which can hold a gallon or so of water. There are times when it's a long walk to the spring and you don't want to do it more then once. Bladders are too heavy for this and I've seen too many of them leak for one reason or another to trust them. On the trail you don't often need to carry more than a quart at a time and a couple of gatorade or soda bottles do that.

Since your starting in March, you need some warm layers so that ups your clothes weight. Not much you can do about that. I kinda like my silk bag liner and don't go without it.

If you can get your dry wieght down to about 20 pounds, that's a good start. 30 pound base is gonna get pretty heavy with food and a little water.

[rcrfc]

All the gear you entered is contained in your "gear library" which is the main section. In order to create a url for sharing you must create a "new gear list", fill it with gear from the library (drag and drop), then the "copy url" function will become available at the bottom of the "gear list" selected. The "copy url" function is only for gear lists and not your entire "gear library".

[Maddoxsjohnston]

I'm 6'0, and my pack weighs about 26 pounds with food and water. Very comfortable weight for me, weight is a personal preference though.

[MuddyWaters]

Its all about how far you want to go each day, while climbing mountains, and how you want to feel when your done.
And about giving yourself the best chance for success.

You stand a real chance of being sidelined by physical injury.
Your best prevention, is a light pack.