Not So Random Thoughts on Pack Weight

[Radnord]

I think that both Wayback and Benwaller make great points. I have made a concerted effort to lighten my pack. With that being said, I'm afraid that I'm still in the "traditional" range. There are just some creature comforts that I am not willing to give up. I don't bring camp chairs, Colemann gas lanterns, or 4 lbs. of camera equipment, but being here in the Northwest, the weather can turn cold and rainy, or snowy, at any time of year. I refuse to spend the night shivering.

That being said, I learn a lot from ultr-light techniques and frequently gleen ideas that allow me to cut weight. I will probably never be an ultra-light hiker, but I'm glad that there are others who are. They teach this old teacher a lot.

[Mountaineerbass]

Great thread, I just had to bring it back.

First off. I vary. I live and backpack in an area that has all four seasons. During the summer my base weight is in the low "lightweight" classification and during the winter it is traditional. Let me explain.

First off the obvious. A cold temp. bag weighs and costs more. As does the extra clothing. A top of the line 800 fill 40 degree down bag is substantially lighter and costs less then a zero degree bag. Therefore I own a top of the line 40 degree bag, and a middle range 15 degree F (650 fill) down bag. If it is going to be under 15 F take both. I also don't take a beanie and warm clothing during the summer. The same goes for shelter and cooking. A tarp will do during the summer, but during the winter I like the added protection of a double wall, and take a cannister stove, if not white gas, and an alcohol stove during the hot summer months. This also means I have two packs, one winter and one summer.

Secondly, the length of the day makes a difference. I do not sleep for 12+ hours a night, therefore, in the winter, I spend some more time around camp. This means I have to keep myself entertained and comfortable. So I alway's take a book, extra piece of CC foam for a seat, and my bushcraft knife, sometimes even a guitar (not very often).

Finally, I eat more in the winter. Maybe to keep myself warm, maybe because I am in camp more. Either way I just eat and drink more when it is cold especially extra bourbon, broth(KCL), coffee, tea and/or cocoa.

And on a side note sometimes I set up a base camp and do multible day hikes from there. This means I take more, even in the summer, quite simply because I am only going to carry the whole pack in and then out, but have the contents the whole time.

[buzzard]

I'm 6'2" 230 and muscular. I'm not so worried about Ul or SUl but to each his own is what I always say. I'll go lighter if it's affordable but I can handle extra weight without flinching so whateva.

[Servingko]

I continue to look for ways to cut my base pack weight that at this point is just a bit over 10lbs. I do it mostly to keep myself entertained between trips but it also keeps me current on equipment, technology, and techniques. I am getting to the point that I will have to leave something at home to go much lower as I won't give up my downmat, full suspension pack, Jetboil, or silk sleepwear. I think you can be comfortable and carry a light weight pack if you are willing to make some concessions, but it doesn't mean you have to be cold, wet, and hungry.

I used to carry a 60lb pack for even a three day two night trip that included a change of clothes for every day, a 5 gallon sun shower, water bucket, candle lantern, metal D cell flashlight with spare batteries, large binoculars, camp chair, hand crank blender, and the list goes on. Part of this was due to the fact that I used a 7,000 cubic inch load monster pack that could hold everything and more. To make matters worse it weighed over 7lbs by itself!

The point is, most of the stuff I carried was to make me feel better after I slogged into each campsite worn-out, beat-up, hungry, thirsty, and sore. I can now hike much longer and faster, covering more miles with more elevation gain, and arrive tired but feeling great. I don't ache so much that I need a chair, a lukewarm shower, and huge amounts of calories. Where I used to just want to lie down and go to bed after arriving in camp, I now take a swim, launder my trail clothes, and go for an evening walk. It has been so liberating and has made backpacking so much more enjoyable that I can't help but not share my thoughts and experience with other backpackers.

In the end each person has to determine what works for them. To be honest, once under 25lbs for a total pack weight, I can't really tell a difference between 25lbs and 15lbs at the end of the day but I know that it takes more energy and is more inefficient to carry more weight and for long distance hiking the cumulative benefit is more noticeable.

[goalie]

After the marines, I thought anything less than 50 pounds was "lightweight."




Seriously though, great article. I personally fluctuate, as I am spoiled by kayak camping, and I will NEVER give up my hammock for some uncomfortable ground shelter, but I don't bring the kitchen sink either when I backpack even though I do when I kayak camp.

In the end, light is relative. I put on a lot of miles where armor, weapon and ammo put me into the "traditional" range of weight before you even started with your actual "camping" gear. At least I wasn't the poor bastard carrying the tripod.....

[richwads]

I’m pretty much in the same category as Bearpaw (who started this thread – GOOD JOB, BEARPAW), with base weight below 20 lb, for similar reasons. It’s funny, my base weight has ALWAYS been below 20 lb, even when I had funky cheap gear. My original army surplus external frame pack only weighed 3 lb, and my first synthetic 30* bag weighed about 4 lb, but I carried a cheap plastic pancho (8 oz – same wt as a modern silnylon pancho today), homemade plastic tarp for shelter, cooked over a fire, used a Boy Scout mess kit, wore a Pendleton shirt and nylon windbreaker for my “jacket”. I got cold and wet but didn’t die, and refused to carry a heavy pack – except once. Packing in for a week-long deer hunting trip in the Trinity Alps for what I thought would be the adventure of a lifetime, I started with a 50 lb pack. It being late September, and intending to base camp a few days in, I felt like I needed a lot of “stuff”. Ow!

My idea of the adventure of a lifetime changed after that. It evolved into “how long can I stay out with a 20 lb (base wt) pack stuffed to the top with food”. That topped out at 12 days in the Marble Mountains with a beginning pack wt of 30 lb including food and fishing gear, but still no stove. Actually, years of cooking without a stove forced me to learn a lot of skills relating to fire starting, finding dry wood, arranging a cooking fire, minimizing cooking utensils, etc., so I wouldn’t trade that for anything, though I now carry an Esbit stove for the instant coffee in the morning .

Just this year I found this forum and got serious about reducing pack weight, once I could see how it’s done. I’m amazed that I now carry a stove (Esbit), 1.5 inch inflatable pad, 20* bag, 8x10 tarp (silnylon), clothing layers for 3 seasons, i.e. “all the amenities”, in a pack with a base weight of 17 lb.

What’s really cool is there is so much room for improvement! By next spring (and some x-mas presents) my base weight will be under 15 lb. I think I’ll even be able to do a summer overnighter at under 10 lb including food (with less clothes and rain gear)!

All this is possible because of the input to this forum, from those who have gone there. Thanks, folks.

[ferball]

I would think "ideal" pack weight would be more of a percentage of body weight. At 6'6" I will never be SL or UL I'll be happy with light weight if I can still be comfortable. My shelter needs to be a bit bigger, my sleeping bag has to be a bit bigger, my pack will be a bit larger to fit me right.

Honestly me humping around a 50 pound pack is not much of feat when you consider what percentage of my weight that actually is, one of the advantages to being a Yeti.

[richwads]

Originally Posted by ferball

I would think "ideal" pack weight would be more of a percentage of body weight. At 6'6" I will never be SL or UL I'll be happy with light weight if I can still be comfortable. My shelter needs to be a bit bigger, my sleeping bag has to be a bit bigger, my pack will be a bit larger to fit me right.

Right on. At 130 lb, my need to reduce weight is a bit more desperate than that of heftier folks. 20% of body weight (26 lb) was my starting point for an 8 day high Sierra trip last August, including food. But a 200 lb hiker needs more food per day, a bigger sleeping bag, a bigger pack to carry the more bulky supplies, etc. That would be 40 lb for that hiker, which in theory would feel about the same to him as my 26 lb pack.

But, gear doesn't increase weight at that rate. For instance, I have to buy a 6 footer's sleeping bag (regular) in most cases, and even if a 5' 6" version (short) is available, it will only save a couple ounces. Yet a "long" version will weigh maybe 10% more than the regular version, even though the hiker weighs 50% more. Same with tents, pack, etc. So it should be easy to beat 20% of body weight for a bigger person.

In the end, we all carry what we're willing to and leave behind what we aren't willing to carry. . . .. Then again, in the back of my mind is a desire to carry nothing . . . .

[Drift_Woody]

I'm probably at the high end of lightweight, with a pack weight typically between 25-30 lbs fully loaded with food & water for a 3-night fall hike with temps down to 30.
My Big Four:
Pack: 2 lbs, 5 oz Granite Gear Vapor Trail
Bag: 1 lbs, 13 oz Western Mountaineering Ultralight
Shelter: 2lbs, 2 oz Tarptent Rainbow (for 2 people: SMD Lunar Duo)
Pad + Chair Kit: 2 lbs, 4 oz Exped Downmat 9 + 1lbs 4 oz Exped Chair Kit
Total = 9 lbs, 12 oz

The non-lightweight portion of that gear set is the pad/chair combo at 3 lbs 8 oz. However, the sleeping comfort of the pad (which also provides good R-value) and the comfort of the chair around camp are well worth the extra weight for me.

[Forttom]

I was hesitant to revive this thread, and I won't say much, as much has already been covered. But my pack weight (sans perishables) is easily under 16 - 18 lbs (depending on sleeping gear required).

I like to carry as light as possible. Main reason, all of the years in the military carrying heavy packs, and realizing I'm older now, and have limitations.

I do read the UL/SUL things that come out in books/magazines/other forums,
but I measure my sucsess in terms of whether I had a good time, and was comfortable, pack weight considered, not that I have reached some sort of "zen-like" state of mind by wearing one pair of underwear for 10 day's straight to save an ounce or two.

I've seen the UL bunch do some fairly dumb things also, such as forgo a usable knife for something the size of a paper clip, expensive and useless.

I never sacrifice safety for weight. Just a foolish way to end one's "zen-like" UL career quickly.

That being said, I suppose it's all really a moot point. We do this for joy/happiness/relaxation and all sorts of reasons. So I suppose that if you're absolutely happy humping a 50lb. expedition grade pack, as I am a 25lb (full) pack on a 5 day trip, and the next person is happy hiking nude to save weight, and wearing baggies on their feet for protection, eating berries on the way to forgo the weight of carrying food, and they're happy, we've all achieved the same goal.

So, if someone act's "snobby" at (their retailer), because I prefer the comfort of the 4oz item over the light weight of the 3.8oz item, then let them carry their haughty thoughts on down the trail.

And with today's gear, it's so easy to have a base pack weight under 20lbs, even down to 15lb, the line is starting to blur.

Just my thoughts.

FT.

[PBF Support]