Non UL Pack Weigh-in

[Mr. Sparky]

Time for the non UL crowd to weigh-in: how much is your total pack weight for a 3-4 day Spring trip including food and water? Please specify how much water you are carrying and if you are geared up for something out of the ordinary such as extra camera equipment, et cetera.

[Feral Bill]

Maybe 30 pounds, depending on the specifics. I usually pack a liter of water.

[mt3dwards]

22-25# range for 3 days

[Sarcasm the elf]

I seem to be slowly slipping into the UL category for three season hikes, as my pack for that sort of hike would be around 19lbs. Back before I rebought my big 4, my pack would have been around 25lbs. I usually have 1 to 1.5 quarts of water on me.

[fastfoxengineering]

4 days of food and a liter of H20 I'd be right under 20lbs.

Carrying a smartphone, Sony action camera, 11oz battery bank, action cam tripod, and a bunch of other "useless" stuff.

I sometimes pack in my miniature daschund. But you said no ultralight stuff. Get it.. He's a mini.. Haha. Its late.

[bigcranky]

Non-UL? On our first real section hike my wife and I shared 110 lbs between us - 65 for me, 45 for her. For a three-night trip in Virginia in late May, in perfect weather. We each had 1.5 liters of water and we ended up having the perfect amount of food, so all the weight was inappropriate gear and clothing choices.

Lately we've been in the high 20s total pack weight for a four day spring weekend, all-in.

Waiting for Tipi Walter to, er, weigh in here.

[Tipi Walter]

I'm back! Let's see, I quit doing 3 to 4 day trips about 16 years ago so it's hard to remember but such trips were common for me back in the 1980s when all my gear was different---external-frame North Face pack was about 5 lbs, tent was 6 lbs, bag about 3.5 lbs, pad 2 lbs etc. Total I'd say for 4 days was between 30 and 40 lbs including fuel and my Svea 123 stove. In those days we humped in water melons and quart glass bottles of fruit juice and my buddy had to have his giant Dinty Moore cans of beef stew.

Today if I were to pull a 4 day trip my weight would be heavier since my pack is heavier and my tent is 8 lbs 10 ozs alone. Then add the winter gear and luxury Thermarest with minimal food and fuel and we're talking about 45 lbs with a full winter kit.

Of course last April I had to keep up with my friend Amy Willow who wanted me to thruhike the BMT with her and so I went with a much lighter pack and a 3 lb Hilleberg Akto tent and managed to stay out w/o resupply for 18 days so my food load was the killer. 18 days in the tiny Akto tent drove me nuts towards the end esp as our trip encountered a week of cold April rains.

[Another Kevin]

I seem to be slowly slipping into the UL category for three season hikes, as my pack for that sort of hike would be around 19lbs. Back before I rebought my big 4, my pack would have been around 25lbs. I usually have 1 to 1.5 quarts of water on me.

I'll confess. I've never weighed my pack. I carry what I need, and a few pounds of what I don't. When I'm replacing a piece of gear, I usually try to get a lighter one.

When I'm hiking with others, my reaction to their stuff ranges from "I can't believe you're humping a load like that" to "I can't believe you can make do with that little stuff."

I've been hiking with the Elf, so we've pretty much seen all of each other's stuff. It's pretty similar, now that I got rid of the pack I was using the last time I was Out There with him. (The pack fell in the "don't laugh, it was $79, and I've put hundreds of miles on it" category.) I had a few things he didn't: my nylon bucket, my battery pack, and my Melitta filter come to mind. On the other hand, he was using a Jetboil and I was using an alcohol stove and Grease Pot, so my cooking setup was lighter. I'm sure that my clothing and sleeping bag were a few ounces heavier because I'm bigger than he is. He carries a bigger and heavier tent than mine, for the times that he brings a dog. I usually carry more water than he does. If I hiked where he did, I'd carry less, and when he came with me, he carried about the same amount I did, because water supply was less certain where we were.

Do I wish it were lighter? Sure. But I can carry it to where I want to go. Measuring the number of pounds isn't going to make it any lighter. I'm really at the point where making it lighter means a real sacrifice in either comfort or the ability to do the stuff that I'm in the woods to do. (Photography, map making, research for the occasional blog post, ...). Or else a major expense in getting stuff that's made of exotic, superlight materials, and is likely too fragile for my rough handling. And the expense is something I can't justify on a hobby.

[Mr. Sparky]

Thank you, all. AK, this seems very reasonable and completely understandable. Tipi, Dinty Moore cans? I remember that when I was car camping, but backpacking?

I am right there with most of you at about 28 pounds including 2 quarts water. I would love a lighter weight bag and insulating coat but allergies to down, as well as my budget, make much the UL material prohibitive. A UL tent is more than twice what I paid. I've considered the tarp shelter approach, but my desire to not be feasted on by mosquitos makes me hesitant.

[Tipi Walter]

Thank you, all. AK, this seems very reasonable and completely understandable. Tipi, Dinty Moore cans? I remember that when I was car camping, but backpacking?

Oh how I wish I had pics of our 1970s camps in Pisgah NF. People weren't such wimps back then, and we carried bow saws and walmart tarps, big walmart tarps, (or were they Kmart tarps??). I didn't eat meat but my buddies did and they humped in large cans of Dinty Moore, as below, and cooked them right on the fire. These were standard-load items in the old days.


This is not my pic. It is from---
http://www.cycoactive.com/Adventure/...ethief-99-1999



Here is one of our old vintage camps on Upper Creek in Pisgah NF. Did we worry about humping gear? Oh hell no. Check out the water bottle of fruit juice by Jodal. Check out the big conga drum hauled in by one of us idiots. Check out Jodal holding the Mighty Mite. And god help me but barely visible behind and to the left of Jodal is a white canvas tipi cover I hauled in to set up in camp. We were motards but we had fun. The tipi was hellishly heavy.

[Tipi Walter]

To give you an idea of how we packed for a weekend Pisgah trip, here is George coming in with his gigantica kit---


And the trail in was a nutbuster with some rugged climbs and canyon cliff skirts. His pack was so anusly-kicking big because his wife brought up the rear with . . . wait for it . . . the KID---

[martinb]

Right around 25lbs, including 5.75lb Allak and 1 liter of H20.

[martinb]

Hiking in jeans and sweatshirts, I remember those days Walter.

[Tipi Walter]

Hiking in jeans and sweatshirts, I remember those days Walter.

Yes, we grabbed crap and hit the trail. Jodal though in the upper pic has a first generation polypropylene top, those blue things which stunk like heck and melted in the dryers.

Reminds me of a story: My backpacking buddy CampTrails Bob had an old Toyota corolla circa 1980 and it was trashed but a perfect trail car for our backpacking trips. It looked like he rolled it a couple times and would go down the road leaning alot to the right.

He always left the keys in the thing and one day some idiot stole it from his apt lot. A couple days later the cops reached him and found his car:

"Mr Bob____, we found your car out of town parked on a road. You can come and pick it up, but we're sorry to tell you it has been vandalized and partially destroyed."

So he gets to the impound lot and the cop says,

"I'm sorry sir but here it is----"

And Bob says, "It looks perfectly fine and just as I left it!!"

[AtWokman]

Anywhere from 20-70 depending on how far we are going and how much fun extra's I bring

[Another Kevin]

Hiking in jeans and sweatshirts, I remember those days Walter.

One of my favourite toasts: "Here's to my lost youth - and may the Lord save me from a relapse!"

[rafe]

Around 25 lbs., all-up, for a three or four day section. That includes about 1.5 liters of water. I still carry a camera but not a SLR. No bongo drums.

[martinb]

Yes, we grabbed crap and hit the trail. Jodal though in the upper pic has a first generation polypropylene top, those blue things which stunk like heck and melted in the dryers.

Reminds me of a story: My backpacking buddy CampTrails Bob had an old Toyota corolla circa 1980 and it was trashed but a perfect trail car for our backpacking trips. It looked like he rolled it a couple times and would go down the road leaning alot to the right.

He always left the keys in the thing and one day some idiot stole it from his apt lot. A couple days later the cops reached him and found his car:

"Mr Bob____, we found your car out of town parked on a road. You can come and pick it up, but we're sorry to tell you it has been vandalized and partially destroyed."

So he gets to the impound lot and the cop says,

"I'm sorry sir but here it is----"

And Bob says, "It looks perfectly fine and just as I left it!!"

I need one of those cars to leave at beech gap.

[Tipi Walter]

I need one of those cars to leave at beech gap.

Slap some tires on this baby and replace some wires and you're good to go. Taken at Beech Gap.

[martinb]

Walter, Yikes! Did someone deliberately torch it or...? I think someone tried to pry my pillar open on my last hike up there. Must have gotten spooked because everything was intact when I arrived. Might have to start coming up NG trail and keeping off Skyway. Not too keen on wolf laurel parking, either.