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  1. #1
    Registered User medicjimr's Avatar
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    Default Though shall not pack a heavy pack again!

    Well I am a newbie at backpacking in general, not new to the outdoors though. but I just got back from a 35 mile hike the furtherest I have done since the 15 mile forced road march from my military days. I had a great time but what would have made it even better would have been a lighter load and I mean allot lighter. My pack weighed with food , fuel and water including 60 lbs . Yes the third day in I would say I was getting a bit used to the weight on my shoulders thats used too not comfortable with. The mountains took there toll time and time again. I realize that I may never get down to an ultralight stander 15 lbs or less including food, fuel and water I will be happy with half 30 lbs. Now it starts saving for a lighter backpack 6 lb kelty red cloud now a Lighter sleeping bag 6 lb big agnes 15 degree synthetic. Tent I am happy with 3lb Kelty grand mesa II Tarp maybe lighter but hate bugs spoiling my sleep. so if I dump the pack and bag thats 12 lbs hopefully I can find a 3 lb pack and under 2 lb down bag. I dehydrate my own meals so weight food is normally low. I think planning and tweaking my gear is a fun as hiking. and look forward to all the tips here at white blaze.

  2. #2
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    Welcome to Whiteblaze. Explore the articles section to start. Plenty of help here from knowledgable folks.
    FB
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

  3. #3
    Garlic
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    I see you're at that magical age of 40-something. Funny, that's the same age I started lightening up. For me, the progression was tarp instead of tent, alcohol stove, lighter down bag, frameless rucksack instead of pack, running shoes, and just plain leaving things behind that I never used (multitool, SAM splint, etc). Best of luck finding what works for you. I never spent very much money on things, getting cheap stuff, used stuff and stuff on sale.
    "Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning

  4. #4
    Hiker bigcranky's Avatar
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    Yeah, that's how I started, with a 65 pound pack for mild weather trips. Yikes. I thought I was doing well when my base weight (everything except food and water) got below 40.

    The good news is that it's relatively easy to get your pack weight down. It's a process -- and a great excuse to get more trail time! Sure, getting your pack and bag weight down will help, and Garlic is right, one of the biggest savings comes from leaving things at home (a 100% reduction.)

    Walking away from the car with a 25 pound total weight makes a big difference in how I feel on the trail.
    Ken B
    'Big Cranky'
    Our Long Trail journal

  5. #5
    Registered User SteveJ's Avatar
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    Hi, Medicjmr. Suggestion for you: look at the various gear lists that have gear categorized and listed individually, with weight listed. Then spreadsheet your own gear. (Get a petzl stove that weighs in ounces or grams - $30 or so at office depot). You'll have a wow moment - especially when you start eliminating things from the spreadsheet that you "might" need, but really probably won't, and can live without. I"m not ultralight - don't have the mindset - but you can easily get total pack weight down to under 30 lbs. My pack last week, with 5 days of food, 2 liters of water (and a liter of scotch!), and the bear spray that my wife insisted we take (our son was with me) weighed 32 lbs.

    Have fun!
    Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.

  6. #6
    Registered User medicjimr's Avatar
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    I have a cat stove I just love using it the canister stove has seen the trail once since I bought it.

  7. #7
    I plan, therefore I am Strategic's Avatar
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    The first thing you need is a good tool for the job at hand. I use the Backpacking Gear Weight Calculator, a lovely little program written by Chris Ibbeson for his fellow hikers. It's fantastic for tracking gear weights and keeping organized for the trail.

    That said, if you really need to save weight, then there's only two real solutions: cut the big three radically (sleep, shelter and pack) or start tossing things out. There's only so many grams you can save by drilling holes in your toothbrush, but cutting your pack's weight by a pound (or in your case several) may well take no more effort than that. It comes down to looking rationally at what you actually need and use, eliminating everything else, and then making what's left as light as serviceability allows.

    I've always been something of a weight-geek, even back in the 70's when I first started backpacking, but I've still been able to shave pounds off my gear using these criteria and the advantages of the most modern materials. You could look at a Tarptent or one of the other ultralight single-wall tents, for instance, that could beat you Kelty by a pound or more (the popular Contrail model weighs in at 24.5 oz). Many packs are now under three pounds, including some of high repute (the ULA, Gossamer Gear, and Go-lite packs all have good reps) among thru-hikers. The newest quilt/pad combos can cut sleep system weights by similar amounts. These are all examples of what's out there now, both for purchase and as materials for the DYI gear maker. With a little ingenuity, you can cut your base pack weight by better than half from what you have now and never give up a single thing you'll even notice (except at the end of the day, when you're not falling-down tired from hauling 60 pounds).
    Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
    Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

  8. #8

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    Medicjimr,
    I’m close to your age 39 but complete backwards. Back in 1989, I was hiking the AT my first time with less than 15 pounds with food/water. After 10 years later of hiking on the AT/LT/PCT/COT and a few other places with a very comfortable pack, I’m now lugging around my Army Ruck. I’ve been lugging it around for the last 10 years. I wish the Army would learn to use lighter gear. It makes life a lot easier.
    Wolf

  9. #9
    2010 complete
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    My advice to men that feel they have to carry heavy packs is to load rocks. That way you can always unload the rocks.

  10. #10

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    A good friend of mine just summited McKinley.
    He was telling me today he had to lug 130 lbs up there by himself.

    The eternal hunt for lighter gear to lighten your load.
    This hunt should never end and you should always be looking at things with the question: "Is it lighter than what i use now, and will still do the job"?
    If so, get it and try it. Your pack will continually get lighter.
    Don't let your fears stand in the way of your dreams

  11. #11
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    Welcome to the addiction of light weight. My name is Joe and I have a problem.

  12. #12
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    I am 50, heaviest pack was 52 pounds, winter load, completely insane! Have found that lightweight = spending some money on the hobby we all love. Use esbit tabs and titanium wing stove, ULA pack, Tarptent, resupply every few days, skimp on all that I can. 30-35 pounds (with food and water) is the ONLY way to fly for me.

  13. #13
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    I've been in the low 30's with food and water (of coarse ) for 20 years now. *
    My Moss Solet is about 3lbs (mid 80s model)
    NF syn bag 30degree is about 3lbs -replaced w/ same model mid 90s
    NF pack that I tweak--3lbs- last replaced mid 90s
    Never weighed my coleman stove and cook kit from the 80s though I switched stoves to a canister model a few years back.... then switched from a ridgerest to thermarest.

    The right amounts of food and water, clothes and gear are keys to staying light, I think.

    *I now have a new pack, tent, jetboil and lots of things that my good friends down at Neel Gap, Winton and Alpine donated! My pack- UL is about 3, tent, Montbell- 3, same bag and when I went out last summer that darn pack was still in the low 30s and it felt great, still.
    I've never had the desire to try and get lighter, even when it began to be marketed to the masses in such a way, that it ushered in a new era, which brought the rat race mentality to the trails...

  14. #14
    Registered User medicjimr's Avatar
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    Well allot of good points I hope to get to around 25-30 lbs with everything. I have to weight till next income tax season to buy as all the gear I have now is new from tax time newbie mistakes live and learn. For remainder I will leave things home I don't use And try to lessen some weight in others I use> I have a 2 lb first aid kit I can tweak starting with putting in zip lock back compared to condura bag. Some of my gear I will pack in winter as I don't hike real far to camp and like to have a saw and axe then. for now I have my eye on the super stretch 3 pack still thinking on I like my BA Air core Mattress not that heavy and comfy. plus packs down small so will be nice when I drop cubic inches in pack.

  15. #15
    Registered User Jack - Straw's Avatar
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    Do everything you can to keep yourself under 25lbs! I got back Easter Sunday this year after hiking Springer to Erwin TN. 340 Miles, 2.5 mo's.

    I was also new to LD Hiking and my 40-50 pack kicked my a$$! Sad part was I had a pack that weighed under 3lbs (ULA Catalyst) but then I filled it with a bunch of heavy things.

    I was hiking with a guy who had me put his 23lb pack on and he carried mine for about 5 miles. I didn't feel like there was anything on my back. It was awesome. Lesson learned. Good luck, I'm hooked! JS

  16. #16
    I plan, therefore I am Strategic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by medicjimr View Post
    Well allot of good points I hope to get to around 25-30 lbs with everything. I have to weight till next income tax season to buy as all the gear I have now is new from tax time newbie mistakes live and learn. For remainder I will leave things home I don't use And try to lessen some weight in others I use> I have a 2 lb first aid kit I can tweak starting with putting in zip lock back compared to condura bag. Some of my gear I will pack in winter as I don't hike real far to camp and like to have a saw and axe then. for now I have my eye on the super stretch 3 pack still thinking on I like my BA Air core Mattress not that heavy and comfy. plus packs down small so will be nice when I drop cubic inches in pack.
    It sometimes helps to get an idea of what others carry most of the time. One of the ways I learned how to cut back was by browsing gear lists. In that spirit, here's my current one. It's pretty trimmed down and I don't carry much that's not used every day. But with a base pack weight just under 15 lbs, it means I never start with a pack heavier than 25 lbs all in. Makes all the difference to these old joints of mine.

    By the way, the other handy tool you'll be wanting soon enough is a postal scale. Fortunately, they're really cheap and easy to get online (eBay is always good for that sort of thing) and it makes the whole thing a lot easier (and it's pretty useful when you're packing food too.)
    Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
    Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

  17. #17

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    Your thread title would be lighter if you got rid of the first "g" and "h."
    Drab as a Fool, as aloof as a Bard!

    http://www.wizardsofthepct.com

  18. #18
    Registered User medicjimr's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jester2000 View Post
    Your thread title would be lighter if you got rid of the first "g" and "h."

    LoL I forgot how to spell , and for strategic I have a digital food scale now so have been looking at weights

  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by medicjimr View Post
    LoL I forgot how to spell , and for strategic I have a digital food scale now so have been looking at weights
    Yeah, I wasn't trying to be the spelling police -- it just reminded me of when people used to ask me why I spelled thru-hiker the way I did, and I would say that I was saving the weight of an o, g, and h.
    Drab as a Fool, as aloof as a Bard!

    http://www.wizardsofthepct.com

  20. #20
    Registered User big_feet's Avatar
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    I am new to WB, not backpacking I have gone from a 6 lb+ backpack to a pack,tent,pad and bag that is 6lb 11oz thanks to all of you on WB..... big_feet

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