Backpack ballast

[mankind117]

I'm doing some longer multi-day trips again this year and I figure perhaps I should add some training during the week with a loaded backpack rather than just going out once a month as I always do. Does anyone have any recommendations for something good to use in place of gear to get weight in your pack. I don't want to walk around with all my actual gear during the week. One blog recommended a bag of charcoal for the grill but I'm curious what others have used.

[Just Tom]

I use poland spring water bottles for weight, and a blanket just to pad it a bit.

[Nodust]

Two big encyclopedias wrapped in a blanket. Sometimes three.

[Sailing_Faith]

I like to use the "bladders" that come inside boxes of "box wine". 3l of water, adjustable weight, and if I happen to get thirsty when hiking...l. Well, there they are!

[Malto]

Why wouldn't you use your gear? Add in a filled food bag and fill your water bottles. Doesn't get any more realistic than that.

[Old Hiker]

+1 Malto. I use my gear to give me an accurate weight distribution, load carry, etc. When I practice, I always try to have food and snacks, esp. on the longer week-end type hikes.

I would worry about water leaking, etc. Just me.

[garlic08]

If you like beans and/or rice, you can get large bags at bulk grocery stores.

I don't like carrying water, either. I used to qualify for a wildland fire crew with a pack test using a 45 pound pack of water, and that was horrible--they always leaked.

[Old Grouse]

Bird seed. The critters will love you!

[rocketsocks]

Big bag of dog food, or sack of potatoes.

[offpher]

use sand bags or bags filled with gravel

[Bearleg]

I use a medicine ball with towels


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[JumpMaster Blaster]

Why wouldn't you use your gear? Add in a filled food bag and fill your water bottles. Doesn't get any more realistic than that.

I don't use my gear and food becuase I don't want the sleeping bag and everything else being compressed for days on end (I won't be unpacking & packing after every training hike except for water). I have similarly-weighted items but for the most part I use a round gallon of water (Deer Park or something like that) a blanket, some old army uniforms, and two 5 pound weights. My goal isn't testing my loadout- I have the packing down pat- it's more about walking with a much heavier load than I would normally walk with, working my legs, back, core, shoulders, etc.

I plan on starting to bring the same pack to the gym when I get on the elliptical and stairmaster. That'll be a butt-kicker, but so was humping up Big Bald with 4 liters of water and going up Snowbird & the Smokies with 6 pounds of sleeping system.

[theeulogy]

I just take my heaviest gear and 2 full Nalgene bottles, and throw it in a pack. My heavy sleeping bag, tent, and a few other items are 20lbs or so, my AT gear and pack, with 4 days food and 2 quarts water is less than 26.

[Sandy of PA]

Food bag or bear can with 7 pounds of beans. Towels to replace all the fluffy stuff. Nalgenes full of water in the outside pockets. Need more weight add a couple books. Get tired, dump out the extra water.

[Walkintom]

2 liter soda containers of water work great.

You can always empty them if you need to shed the weight. You can drink them if you get in a tight for water. You can share them if someone else is in a tight for water.

[carouselambra]

I use a 3-gallon water bottle with two towels in the bottom of the back to provide a cushioning and raise the center point of the weight. I do my training solo around my lake nearby on Corps of Engineer land. One of the reasons I opt for the water for weight is that if I were to turn an ankle or have an injury I can dump out the water and remove a good portion of the weight from my pack.

[PD230SOI]

I always found that large volumes of water, sand bags, etc never sit like my real gear in my pack. But if it's just for leg training then it's ok.

that being said water is simple, cheap, and could really help someone else out.

[perrymk]

I walk a couple miles every morning and like to wear a pack with around 10% of my bodyweight. This helps burn a few extra calories and also helps keep me conditioned for hiking. Because my walks are usually pre-dawn I like something that fits under a reflective vest.

In the past I used a cardboard box that was just the right size to hold several bricks and put this in a small daypack. The cardboard kept the bricks from destroying the backpack. Using bricks meant the weight was distributed over an wider area.

More recently I had been using a hydration bladder pack with the bladder removed a a couple of weight plates inserted. This was fine until I got above 15 pounds. The rubbing on my back and lack of support was uncomfortable. The plates tended to sag in the bottom of the pack which was uncomfortable.

Last week I took an alice pack frame (old military backpack external frame), drilled a hole in the cross bar, and bolted in a couple of weight plates just about center of the frame so the weight is centered, not hanging on the bottom (tried that with a prevous alice pack frame setup). The hip pad and shoulder straps are reasonably comfortable for the weight I use plus I added some padding on the top bar that contacts the shoulders. Keeping the weight off my my back is awesome, especially on warm mornings. The entire setup weighs 20-21 pounds which is fine for me as I typically weigh 180-185 pounds. It's also compact enough so I can still wear a size XL reflective vest over top.

I've posted instructions elsewhere on modifying the length of an alice pack frame and am happy to send a PDF to anyone that provides an email. Not necessary for me but others have found modifying the length to be much more comfortable.

[squeezebox]

I think the square 1/2 gal juice bottles pack better than the round soda bottles. But the nice thing about the beans and rice bags are you can put them in the microwave and use them like hot water bottles to sleep with.

[peakbagger]

I used to use bricks in a day pack when I went for a walk during lunch. There was an old timer contractor that we would walk by everyday who was ripping out a large porch on a multifamily. One day we stopped to talk with him and he asked me what was in the pack. I told him bricks. He didn't believe me to I handed it to him. After he found out what he weighed he looked at me like I was crazy. I explained I was getting ready for an AT hike and the AT runs right by town, but this was something completely foreign to him.

I did find that the bricks were handy but not that great for ballast. I ended up lining the back of the day pack with an ensolite pad.