For my first hike I headed out with a 39-ish# pack. Didn't stay out very long at all. Nearly crippled myself. Came home and re-evaluated things and stripped 11-ish# off my total weight with 3 days consumables. My base ends up at ~17#. Plus 6# of food. Plus 4# water. Headed back out for a hike in a couple of days. Hopefully it will go much better for me. Seems that, all things being equal, your gear budget and your final carry weight are directly related, for sure.