WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 1 2 3 LastLast
Results 21 to 40 of 60
  1. #21
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-16-2015
    Location
    Chaumont,Ny
    Posts
    1,036

    Default

    [QUOTE=Secondmouse;2123684]there's plenty of reason why someone can't fit everything in a 50L pack, not everyone has been doing this for years or has a budget that makes a shop owner's eyes sparkle

    Gear first pack last . it's more expensive to start with a pack and buy the correct kit for pack size. So the op has a choice new pack or new kit.

  2. #22
    Registered User
    Join Date
    02-01-2016
    Location
    Chattanooga, Tennessee
    Posts
    1,054

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Secondmouse View Post
    there's plenty of reason why someone can't fit everything in a 50L pack, not everyone has been doing this for years or has a budget that makes a shop owner's eyes sparkle...
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    This.
    What happened to "hike your own hike"?

    Less is not always better, unless your sole concern is minimizing weight.

    Choosing how much to carry involves tradeoffs - weight, money, comfort, convenience, durability, wear & tear on body and pack, pace, etc.

  3. #23
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-25-2014
    Location
    Westchester County, NY
    Posts
    2,305

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Secondmouse View Post
    there's plenty of reason why someone can't fit everything in a 50L pack, not everyone has been doing this for years or has a budget that makes a shop owner's eyes sparkle...
    ...which is why it's best to get a bigger pack and not try to cram heavyweight gear into a too-small pack and have all manner of stuff dangling from the outside. And also make the agonizing discovery that a UL pack's suspension is very uncomfortable carrying over 25 lbs.

    A big pack can carry a small load but a small pack can't carry a big load. Hence the age-old advice to buy the pack last when going UL.

  4. #24

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by saltysack View Post
    Key word is "everything "= too much CRAP...Less is better.....it's not hard to take less...but agree you learn after you get tired of carrying useless stuff that's not needed!!!!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    did I type too fast for you?

    I'll say it again - "not everyone has been doing this for years".

    give the kid a break...

  5. #25

    Default

    [QUOTE=Cheyou;2123691]
    Quote Originally Posted by Secondmouse View Post
    there's plenty of reason why someone can't fit everything in a 50L pack, not everyone has been doing this for years or has a budget that makes a shop owner's eyes sparkle

    Gear first pack last . it's more expensive to start with a pack and buy the correct kit for pack size. So the op has a choice new pack or new kit.
    exactly...

  6. #26

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by cspan View Post
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    This.
    What happened to "hike your own hike"?

    Less is not always better, unless your sole concern is minimizing weight.

    Choosing how much to carry involves tradeoffs - weight, money, comfort, convenience, durability, wear & tear on body and pack, pace, etc.
    exactly...

  7. #27

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by cmoulder View Post
    ...which is why it's best to get a bigger pack and not try to cram heavyweight gear into a too-small pack and have all manner of stuff dangling from the outside. And also make the agonizing discovery that a UL pack's suspension is very uncomfortable carrying over 25 lbs.

    A big pack can carry a small load but a small pack can't carry a big load. Hence the age-old advice to buy the pack last when going UL.
    I'm sensing a pattern here...


  8. #28
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-02-2011
    Location
    Neptune Beach, Fl
    Age
    49
    Posts
    6,238

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Secondmouse View Post
    did I type too fast for you?

    I'll say it again - "not everyone has been doing this for years".

    give the kid a break...
    Not Intended to bust anyone's balls....he can carry what ever he wants.....packing your fears is true.......live and learn......offering my worthless opinion...


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  9. #29
    Registered User
    Join Date
    05-02-2014
    Location
    St. Louis, MO
    Posts
    1,264

    Default

    Not worthless and entirely correct, IMHO...so there!

  10. #30

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by saltysack View Post
    Not Intended to bust anyone's balls....he can carry what ever he wants.....packing your fears is true.......live and learn......offering my worthless opinion...


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    no I was just busting your balls. but I remember trying to figure out how to make everything fit so I can empathize a bit with the OP.

    it's true, we do pack our fears, or at least our inexperience. go back and read the first post. he will, as you say, live and learn, but that takes time. just telling someone to take less won't give them the confidence or knowledge to make that work on the trail.

    anyway, sorry. I was trying to be humorous and it didn't come off right. I wasn't trying to be disagreeable...

  11. #31
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-25-2014
    Location
    Westchester County, NY
    Posts
    2,305

    Default

    live and learn, but that takes time. just telling someone to take less won't give them the confidence or knowledge to make that work on the trail.


    Quite accurate, and IMO the quickest path to success is taking a bunch of short trips, starting off with simple overnighters not too far from the trailhead (Safety!) and in good weather, and then gradually extending the distances, number of nights out and weather extremes as experience is gained. I still do these short trips when testing new kit or experimenting with new techniques.... this is totally independent of how much stuff you choose to take into the woods.
    Last edited by cmoulder; 02-01-2017 at 01:25.

  12. #32

    Default

    As a followup:

  13. #33

    Default

    I have purchased an Osprey Atmos AG 65L pack arriving tomorrow, and I hope to go on a solid shakedown hike with it before heading to Amicalola Falls SP.

  14. #34
    Registered User egilbe's Avatar
    Join Date
    10-18-2014
    Location
    Lewiston and Biddeford, Maine
    Age
    61
    Posts
    2,643

    Default

    I'll add my rule of thumb for packing: nothing goes on the outside that I can't afford to lose. Pretty much shelter and bed falls into that category. You can either make room inside your pack for your important, expensive stuff, or you can get a bigger pack.

    your decision.

  15. #35
    Registered User The Cleaner's Avatar
    Join Date
    05-26-2010
    Location
    greeneville TN
    Age
    66
    Posts
    1,559
    Images
    94

    Default

    Here's what I've been using for a year or so.Got mine from Steep & Cheap.I strap it on top of my external frame pack along with my TarpTent.I can fit a BV500 inside of my pack.Clothes in the bottom and sleeping bag attached to frame under the clothes. http://www.barrabes.world/therm_a_re...FYs7gQod1JUAtA
    Sleep on the ground, rise with the sun and hike with the wind....

  16. #36

    Default

    I'm thinking this is on topic, but don't flame me if it's off the reservation. Striving for UL & have the Solplex tent paired with the Arc Blast pack. Plenty of room inside the pack to place the tent, but because that pack is basically a gigantic "dry bag" wouldn't it be best to just crumble up the Solplex into the front pouch?

    If there is any condensation, it's just going to get trapped inside the pack all day if the tent is packed inside. So should I just always pack that tent on the outside of the pack? It's only a pound.

  17. #37
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-25-2014
    Location
    Westchester County, NY
    Posts
    2,305

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by RollTide View Post
    I'm thinking this is on topic, but don't flame me if it's off the reservation. Striving for UL & have the Solplex tent paired with the Arc Blast pack. Plenty of room inside the pack to place the tent, but because that pack is basically a gigantic "dry bag" wouldn't it be best to just crumble up the Solplex into the front pouch?

    If there is any condensation, it's just going to get trapped inside the pack all day if the tent is packed inside. So should I just always pack that tent on the outside of the pack? It's only a pound.
    Nothing horribly wrong with this, although if you keep hats/gloves/windshells in that pocket the Solplex will make them harder to access because cuben fiber, despite its low weight, does not compress nearly as well as silnylon and will take up the entire pocket. Also, abrasion is the #1 enemy of cuben and is therefore one of the few things for which a stuff sack is probably a good idea, even for ardent UL advocates. Maybe keep it in the stuff sack on the outside of the pack so that it is easily accessible for drying later in the day, maybe for a lunch stop? The nice thing about cuben is that it dries very quickly with a small amount of sun and a bit of a breeze.

  18. #38
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-02-2011
    Location
    Neptune Beach, Fl
    Age
    49
    Posts
    6,238

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by cmoulder View Post
    Nothing horribly wrong with this, although if you keep hats/gloves/windshells in that pocket the Solplex will make them harder to access because cuben fiber, despite its low weight, does not compress nearly as well as silnylon and will take up the entire pocket. Also, abrasion is the #1 enemy of cuben and is therefore one of the few things for which a stuff sack is probably a good idea, even for ardent UL advocates. Maybe keep it in the stuff sack on the outside of the pack so that it is easily accessible for drying later in the day, maybe for a lunch stop? The nice thing about cuben is that it dries very quickly with a small amount of sun and a bit of a breeze.
    Just what I was thinking....in my frameless pack I've found the cuben Duomid fills the voids much better when simply placed inside a plastic grocery bag at top inside pack...i.e. Bottom is compactor bag w all dry items, then food bag then shelter. The long narrow stuff sack doesn't carry as well but I'm alittle concerned with cuben rubbing inside pack as plastic bag offers lil protection. Cuben food bag got hole after my cook pot rubbed it even inside mesh pouch....


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  19. #39

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by bladnik26 View Post
    I have purchased an Osprey Atmos AG 65L pack arriving tomorrow, and I hope to go on a solid shakedown hike with it before heading to Amicalola Falls SP.
    good solid pack. a little heavy for a thru but this will definitely get you started and this is how we learn. congratulations...

  20. #40
    Registered User
    Join Date
    12-28-2016
    Location
    Clayton, NC
    Age
    57
    Posts
    61

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by bladnik26 View Post
    I have an Osprey Exos 48 that I have been training with for months and was planning on using for my upcoming 2017 NOBO thru-hike, but once I got all my gear together, I began to realize my minimalist pack-size mentality could be a problem. My sleeping pad is a ThermaRest ProLite Plus, and rolls up shorter than 12", so it cannot be held to the bottom of the pack with the given cords. My question then, is what is the best way of externally mounting my sleeping bag, a Kelty Tuck 22, to the bottom of my pack? Bungees? Accessory straps? How? Onto what? Thanks for your input, and happy trails!
    I have this pack also. I don't call myself UL, but more of a minimalist.

    My 2 cents.

    1. You should be able to use the Exos 48 for your summer gear, but you will need to get creative for your winter gear. You can have the 48 sent to you during the warmer months.
    2. I'd definitely keep my sleeping bag in the pack.
    3. I have no problem carrying my inflatable sleeping in the outer mesh compartment, but I usually wrap it my foot print or rain gear.
    4. If I run out of room in my pack, I'll take some food out of my food bag and put it in a big Ziploc and carry that in the mesh or strap it down.

    *Full disclosure- I don't carry a stove or pot and usually just have 4 days worth of food and no more that 2 liters of water.

    Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 1 2 3 LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •