Pack Weight...

[cmoulder]

My packs at 29 with 6# of food 4 liters of water a tent and a hammock. Its very doable

Let's see, 6# food, 9# water, 6# pack (per your previous post), which adds up to 21 lbs, which means you've managed a 14 lb base weight (6 lbs of which is your pack!) while carrying 2 shelter systems! WOW, I'm super impressed — I'd love to see that gear list!

[saltysack]

Every hike is a "shake down". Constantly evolving and changing.....don't get the term shake down as as its different from any other trip...my $.02.....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cmoulder]

Every hike is a "shake down". Constantly evolving and changing.....don't get the term shake down as as its different from any other trip...my $.02.....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I get what you mean, but for me it's a 'shakedown' if I'm testing a new piece of gear I haven't used before. I did this a few times this Spring with rain gear, intentionally going out (not too far!) when rain was in the forecast. Nowadays (and always have, really...) I look at the location, weather, season and pretty much know what gear I will need. And over time I've accumulated the gear needed for quite a wide range of environments.

As I'm sure you do, it makes me cringe when somebody's post starts with "What's the best xxxx?", to which the only answer is "Depends upon....".

[DuneElliot]

Don't go out for a whole week without doing a good shakedown hike, overnight. Then correct based on your experience.

Agreed. I did my first solo overnight and learned very quickly what did and didn't work for me. I really was glad that I wasn't out for longer with more gear than I needed and other things I didn't like. Next week is my first 5-day hike and I'm glad I got my gear dialed in before that...I'm still taking a risk on my sleeping pad but I don't like the current one I have been using.

[swjohnsey]

Let's see, 6# food, 9# water, 6# pack (per your previous post), which adds up to 21 lbs, which means you've managed a 14 lb base weight (6 lbs of which is your pack!) while carrying 2 shelter systems! WOW, I'm super impressed — I'd love to see that gear list!

It makes absolutely no sense to carry water from waterhole to waterhole.

[cmoulder]

It makes absolutely no sense to carry water from waterhole to waterhole.

LOL, well that's a big clue when somebody carries 4 liters of water (maybe in the desert?)... but I'm just working off the 'facts' proffered......

The most I've ever carried is 2 gallons, down the Tanner Trail in the Grand Canyon, for a dry camp the first night about 2/3 of the way down. So carrying that much water isn't necessarily excessive.

[Greenlight]

Go with what you've got, but take more food. You learn by experience, and this is going to be "school" for you. Have fun. Learn. Walk.

[bigcranky]

The pack is fine. Free is good. Try to keep the total weight to 30 pounds or so, but you'll need way more than 5 pounds of food for a week. I average 2 pounds of consumables per day, and I'm still really hungry when I get to town. Freeze dried meals are ok but maybe one per day, bring real food for the rest of it.

Bring just one shelter, no need to carry a second one for "options". You're not carrying a second pack or a second cook kit or whatever, right?

Once you've done a week on the trail you'll know what you want to do differently next time.

[CoolBobby]

Bring it all. Or none... It's up to you. With that said, I would personally ditch the tent (I have the same one) and stick with the hammock. Its a fine tent, but man the hammock... I hiked with the same backpack for years, with Uncle Sam and with out him. There are better ones out there, but even my ultralites don't come with the street creds or general badassery...

[MtDoraDave]

The misc stuff adds up. Clothing, first aid, hygiene, headlight, batteries, pocket knife, cordage, water filter, cell phone, rain gear, etc.
And as was mentioned, 2 lbs of food per day is more realistic.
Fill your pack with everything it will have for your trip, then weigh it - then you'll know. Without TRYING to go UL, it quickly reaches 40+ lbs for a week long trip. Ask me how I know!

[kayak karl]

Without TRYING to go UL, it quickly reaches 40+ lbs for a week long trip. Ask me how I know!

You're right there. My first trip on the AT I ended up being 42# (5 day food, no water in weight) On a trip 5 months later i did the 100 mile wilderness with a 30# pack (9 days food, no water in weight)

It was all the things that in my head I would just say "It's just a few ounces" that drove the weight up the first time.

[Connie]

The misc stuff adds up: I have removed weight one item at a time, making comparisons, and looking for dual purpose or multipurpose.

I have eliminated items I believed were important: no knife, then small folding scissors, then "milk bag" opener (razor blade in a compact protective plastic holder. That little cutter opens pesky packaging.

I had never once used or needed a knife.

Hank of paracord? No. I like bank line and I might like ZPacks 1.5 cord much better.

Like that.

[MtDoraDave]

My first pack was a USMC ILBE surplus pack. Huge, comfortable to me, but 9 lbs empty. I saw a 60 L Jansport on sale on Campmor.com, weighs 4 lbs, for $60 - and bought it on impulse. 5 lb savings for $60!!! While it isn't ideally set up, to me, it works... and forced me to bring less "stuff". First week -long trip out with it, it weighed 38 lbs, including food and 2 liters of water - though I rarely keep 2 full liters when hiking. I wanted to know max ACTUAL weight.

[CamelMan]

Experience will help you lighten your pack weight. If it's not beneath your dignity, you can always start with a car camping trip to get a good feel for what you need, and how much you'll eat, while keeping some extra food and stuff in the car in case you need it.

Personally I'm surprised at how well I estimate my food, since I don't camp out enough to justify it. But I would pack my calories by the mile, not by the day, though that's better than nothing for starters. You'll need maybe 1000 calories more food hiking 20 mile days versus 12 mile days.

[cmoulder]

I wanted to know max ACTUAL weight.

I realize this isn't the UL forum, but whether UL or not there are a lot of folks who just make WAGs about the weights of individual bits of gear and don't really know how much stuff actually weighs.

The first steps toward 'getting a handle' on pack weight are to get a kg scale accurate to at least 1g and a digital fish scale to weigh larger items, then use an online app like geargrams or lighterpack and make a brutally honest gear list that includes every little smidgen of gear you'll carry on the trail.

I use geargrams, and HERE is a list from a recent quick overnight trip. Zero rain gear because there was Zero chance of rain.

[Connie]

+1

This is what I do.

I have an everything list, then, make comparisons and put items in separate lists: UL, LW, 3-day, 4-5 days, car camping..

I even have a list for every tent stake, of interest, I find online: type description, plus length, weight, price.

I take their weights listed, or I use a grams-ounces flat digital kitchen scale I found at a good price online.

It really makes a difference to weight and compare the "small stuff" ..then, you will see it really adds up.

My UL list is in my "signature".

[cmoulder]

Connie, yours is a solid list that just about anybody would do well to emulate for 3-season.

And hey, you caught me on something because I forgot to put my watch on my list, lol!

[Connie]

I never really got my gear "dialed in" until I got that weight scale.

I like this. I'll take that this trip. Throw more in.. bad, unless it is something that really adds to my enjoyment of the hike or in the campsite.

For enroute highway Rest Stops, I love my JetBoil so it rides in my vehicle.

I have never really abandoned gear. I repurpose it, for car camping or an enroute highway Rest Stop.

[Del Q]

My 10+ year experience and I am on the older side, this hobby to me is about simplicity. The less I bring the lighter my pack and happier that I am. Its more about what NOT to take than what we must have. OLD WHITE BLAZE TIP - every time when you come home put on a table what you did not use.

With some money spent 30 lbs with food and water to me is the target.

EASY to throw figures, miles, pack weight, etc around verbally, the AT IS HARD AND RUGGED in a lot of spots. Georgia as an example, good foot tread, tough ups and downs just as reported. Every extra pound adds to the difficulty.

I just got back from a shortened hike in the White Mountains, got my butt kicked! Hard is not the word for it from Franconia North. My pack weight was great, should have tried harder to lose 10lbs on my belly which is often not talked about.

[lyagooshka]

Great tip.
Thanks all.

Del Q, I know what you mean.
I was [jokingly] going to set a goal for myself and limit my pack weight to whatever I take off the 'front' up until my hike.

Anyway, lots to think about.

Thanks again to everyone.

Alex