Pack Weight

“LOL, well my pack did top out over 70 lbs the first day. And no one in their right mind wants to carry a heavy pack. However, I wanted to make it, as pleasant a trip for JDSmiling as possible. So the milage/stops were based on how she was doing and the extra day was hopefully to allow more snow to melt. Good thing we stayed at Upper Paradise because we met Grave digger there. And he gave us the most current information at the time. Carrying the weight was not to bad except for, moving with a slower hiker meant carrying it for a longer period than I would normally have to. Plus crossing the South Fork on that crappy twisted log crossing. The logs were popping and snapping as they bounced underneath my weight. That made my knees shake, which caused the logs to shake more. I finally had to stop and calm them down, before making it across. We are much more agile with less weight.”

“Sooo, you gonna get the Warmlite and Bearikade? ;=)”

“Yes and YES!”

“My wife asked me what I wanted for my B-Day ...I told her a Bearikade.
After a couple of minutes of puzzled looks ...she said What's a Bearikade? After I explained it, she said sure you can have another Bear Canister......I didn't explain the price :) My garcia cans were used and only $25 when I bought those. Big difference!”

“Big difference in price, but also a BIG difference in weight. Put them side by side. That's what sold me.”

“That's why I want one too Snowy :)”

“I want it for the extra food storage space.”

“Does the Weekender hold about the same amount as the Garcia?”

“The Weekender holds more. The Garcia is 600 cu in, and the Weekender is 650 cu in. Doesn't sound like much, but its the shape of the canister that makes a difference. Repackage everything in baggies or a food sealer and you'll be able to get more in. Plus you'll have less trash to carry out.”

“To step back and get the most bang for your effort, you might sort your pack contents by weight and carefully rethink your choice of gear from there.

Once you're at the piece of gear that suits you, then get more granular with where you can trim for more weight savings.

With experience, this can be an iterative process.”

“Keep track of the food take with you and what you bring home. If you're bringing food home trip after trip after trip, you're carrying too much.”

“IS'Bearikade' an unfiltered drink from a bear inhabited stream?”

“windwalker....
let me know if you would like to get rid of the garcias when your wife buys you the new bearikade for your birthday....”

“No uncliff and an URSACK isnt for hikng sickness.....”

“I have been moving towards a lighter pack weight. I have built an excel model that shows all of my gear and various potential lists based on weather and desired weight. I created an "ultra-light" list that got rid of all the extras. The base weight (Summer) was down to just under 10 pounds, but as I scanned the list I realized my enjoyment of the outdoors would suffer. Less comfy pad, no book, no hip belt water bottle holder etc.

Then I had a thought. Instead of feeling like I'm letting myself down from my weird obsession with pack weight, why don't I create a weight that I am comfortable with? Since my GVP can comfortably handle 30 lbs I decided that that will be my upper limit for total pack weight. That means a weekend trip can be filled with fun stuff like a couple of books, heavier food and extra gear to test. But a longer hike (which I have yet to take) requires a little more discipline.

If I'm well below 30 then that is fine. This will happen more often than not here in FLA where no layers are needed most of the time.

This gives me an out to keep from being too focused on weight at the detriment to the rest of my outdoor experience.

I'll get around to posting this spreadhseet sometime.”

“That's a good general light packweight. Without going out and replacing all my gear, and just bringing the necessities, my summer packweight is in the low 20s and with food and water is under 30lbs.

That's a good medium regarding lowering weight but not replacing your gear.”

“800 pf. down is $8.00 an oz.How much will the 900 pf. that'Marmot'is using on the 2003 bags cost? A 25*F quilt will save 1.5oz.
with 900 pf..That cost money.....some will have the have it.”

“Big Coop - Hey, how 'bout some more trip reports instead of all sorts of excel planning models and pictures of things set-up in your backyard. No more planning, it's BACKPACKING ACTION we want!

Would like to see you double your number of overnights this year!
. . . . . . . . «« grinning »»

Bring your beautiful baby to Ocala and I'll carry it for you. Or, you carry the baby and I'll carry your pack piggyback on mine! I mean it.”

“Nowslimmer - yeah I know, all this tinkering with gear is my outlet when I'm not able to get away on a trip. I ruminate and daydream about trips and gear quite a bit, I would say it's approaching a "problem" level. Websites, Excel models, weighing gear, posting here, etc.

I should just try to do about one trip a month and think about something else the rest of the time. That would be healthier.

About bringing Delaney - that is quite a generous offer. I have been taking her on progressively longer dayhikes. I think we may try an overnight at some point and see how she does. I'll spare the other TT'rs this time though.”

“BC - I think you're right on target. My total summer weight, wet and viddles (three days, two nights), is about 34.5 lbs and that's with all the toys. Good goal to shoot fer. I will be having fun preparing for my first extra long trip and the food weight alone will be around 12 lbs. Lot's of toys will be left home :)”

“I know your schedule is pretty full. I was just surprised when I saw your number of overnights. I did enjoy your trip report from somewhere on the other side of Florida.

I need to get out, too. Maybe we could join up somewhere for a day hike, or even for a ½ day. Also, I'm thinking of going down to Everglades NP for some camping, hiking and backpacking in the near future.

On the baby issue, I thought we could have a ball in our own section at ONF if you brought your baby, and HPM and his wife brought their's. I would invite my daughter and her baby. And the babies would enjoy playing with the others. HPM's wife was considering bring her baby and I have not heard any more either way about it.

Anytime you want to get out with Delaney, I'll be happy to act as porter to carry some of the many necessary things. I may be slow, but my back is strong. Check your e-mail.”

“i had my pack weight down to 28 lbs for our recent WINTER hike in the buffalo. i bet i can get it down to 23-25 in the summer. amazing what a light weight solo tent will do.....

I GOT A NEW TENT! !”

“Nowslimmer - Yes - I definitely need to log more bag nights (outside of my backyard). I was thinking of an overnight trip (or even a daytrip) in the Kissimmee area in late March. I know a couple of folks including Flatlander, and perhaps”

“BC - if ya every get eh chance to get up Michigan way, we'd love to have ya!”

“tango, who might like to go. I'll think more about this. Kissimmee Three Lakes.

I wasn't sure if HPM and treebait were planning to bring Laurel or not.”

“I do like the idea of bringing Delaney along sometime. Partiularly if there are other kids to play with - she is just starting to interact with other children now and it's great to see.”