Pack Weight

“Trying to find that "perfect" pack weight for a one-night winter trip. Assume temp range of 50 to mid 20s. What would your pack weigh on this fictional outing? How much of that is the pack itself?”

“My fully loaded pack would weigh about 20 pounds for a one-nighter like you described.

My pack is a 19 ounce GoLite Gust.”

“9 lb pack with 35 lbs of crap!”

“It goes from 15 to 40 lbs.”

“My pack is prolly 5lbs or so. I did a 3 day two night winter trip and all my junk plus food and 3qts water was about 32lbs.”

“Usually pack weight is not proportional to the number of nights. I mean, you still have to take your core gear. The only thing that increases with the number of days is food. I have never weighed my pack; I'm guessing it must weigh ~20lbs. I usually put all the stuff in that I think I want to take then try it on. If it has that dead weight sack-of-potatoes feel, I start pulling stuff out. If I can flex my shoulders and try a few steps on a step-ladder, it's OK. If you're going one night hardcore, you could pick a good weather window, eliminate tent, stove, cooking, purifier, maybe even sleep up against a tree; I don't know what you want to do or how comfy you want to be.”

“Heck, a temp range of 50-20F isn't "winter" camping; that's late spring in Superior Country, LOL. No worries about snow load, so you can use a really light shelter/bivy.

In snow country, winter loads do mount, even for your day pack, just to address keeping warm/layering.”

“20 pounds.”

“30 - 34 lbs solo

Just got a Kelty flight 1.6 lb
replaces the Mtnsmth Chimera 3.14 lb

We'll see how it fits.”

“Pssst, dude you're supposed to make her carry it. Nagging football injure works all the time, its a weather thing you know.

But, to answer your question, I don't know because I never weight it. If I can't lift and sling it over the back, then something has got to go. I'm just not that retentive has some lite packers. If you got a nice comfy pack and you're in shape, why fuss about weight for a one niter.”

“Bringing to life an old thread.
For the Rae lakes Loop (6-7) days cruising.... my pack weight is at 64 lbs. JDSmilings is at 35lbs.

I hope this does not jeopordize my Lightweight Fanatic status. LOL”

“Does that include the hand truck?”

“Geez WLD, are you back to canned goods??? LOL!!!

Good for you, WLD, it'll slow you down and she'll be able to keep up with you. It will even up the load.”

“And I thought 42lbs for 8 days on the JMT was heavy.

You said you like to eat...I hope most of that is the weight of your food....that way your pack will get lighter and lighter :)”

“Well, 24 lbs of it is food, and two Bear Canisters...

LOL, Snow Nymph, there are no can goods in my pack...

Do not forget to stop by and get your relish!”

“I probably won't see you til llamarama. Ok to get it then? Unless we meet up sometime during the week.”

“I can bring it then... I was not sure if you needed it before then.

That would be June 22-23 Duck Pass trip.... Correct?”

“WLD at 64 lbs. you GOTTA be doing something wrong dude. Seven days or not. Got a videocamera and a case of brewskies in that pack? How about posting your your gear list and letting us chop about 30 lbs. off that pack.”

“I could not think up 64 pounds to put in my pack unless it was rocks.”

“He's working on it. The tent is ~10 lbs. Earlier this year JDSmiling told him they could have got a Warmlite for the $$ they spent on tents. It was funny listening.... "move over"...."I am"...."we're getting a Warmlite"....

2 bear canisters = almost 6 lbs.
2 bearikades = 3 lbs (2 weekenders) or 2.2 lbs (1 Expedition). Might almost have him talked into it. After this trip, I bet ....hehehe!

He's working on going lighter. Or at least, she is.

Oh yeah, Bill likes to EAT! He's always talking about FOOD!!”

“I heard of a hiker / photographer who tried to hike with a 70 lb. pack, full of camera equipment. It ruined his knees and he couldn't hike for over a year.”

“are you carrying your sherpa?”

“Hmmmm I thought 42 lbs for 9 days on the PCT last summer was bad.”

“i'll post my pack weight tommorrow morning for my 3 day trip. Should be light...no sleeping pad..1.6oz sleeping bag. Hennesey hammock. Esbit stove.”

“Yes, it is going to be heavy. But I carryed a 70 lb'er over Kearsarge Pass last year. And 65lbs over Bishop Pass. So I am sure I will be ok. Remember I am carrying 14 days food. Enough for 2 people for 7 days.. When the food gets consumed the pack will lighten and then I will take some from JDSmiling. Getting her pack to under 30lbs. Mine should be under 50 lbs on the way out.”

“I have everything listed on the spreadsheet.. Excel. I will post it tomorrow if I remember.”

“28 pounds for a 3 day trip...not bad for me at all...considering i threw the new stephen ambrose book in there.
have a great memorial weekend all”

“17lbs with food/ 30* nights, two day trip. My best weight ever. I could've gotten it lighter but I like some comfort, lol.”

“My personal best was 5.5-6 pounds for 3 days in the summer. Add three more pounds and I'm down to 30-40 degrees.”

“WLD, you've got some fortitude. I wouldn't carry a 65 pound pack for any distance if I could help it, ever.

I generally run between 25 and 35 pounds depending on the length of the hike. The heaviest I've carried was 42-45 pounds for a seven day trip.

I'm really interested in seeing what you're carrying. Just by the way, they make skillets out of something other than cast iron, these days.

:)”

“i got me a 10 inch frypan from backcountry equipment, 11 oz! gonna cook me some twout up in the cloud peak wilderness. i'm lookin at 38 lbs for a 4 day hike. i have a 3-man tent(eurika apex-under 8 lbs) for me & my 2 boys(the little boy is stayin with mom) so they wont have to haul a tent. still lookin for me a backpackin guitar.”

“Nigal - I can't get to your site - is it down?”

“Here is the copy of my list from my spreadsheet. Everything is measured in ounces. Totaled then divided by 16.... to convert to pounds.
JDSmiling has many of the items I have zeros on. Like (1) Titanium Pot for boiling water. etc.

WLD's
Backpacking Weight

Material Weight Balance
backpack 118.00 118.00
tent 150.50 268.50
2 Bearcan 94.40 362.90
lantern 0.00 362.90
sleep bag
w/cacoon 55.00 417.90
sleep pad 29.00 446.90
Snow Pants 21.00 467.90
Pk Rain Cvr 6.50 474.40
Bug Juice 2.40 476.80
fuel 64.00 540.80
Gators 9.10 549.90
trek poles 0.00 549.90
stove 0.00 549.90
GPS 0.00 555.10
compass 1.40 556.50
map 1.60 558.10
1st aid kit 0.00 558.10
medi/sunscrn 0.00 558.10
Snow Shoes 0.00 558.10
Fish Tkle 22.10 580.20
Cam/200lens 26.40 606.60
300zm lense 21.50 628.10
film 6.50 634.60
knive 0.00 634.60
headlamp 2.50 637.10
extra straps 4.80 641.90
multitool 10.20 652.10
spork 0.50 652.60
Hat and net 4.10 656.70
cups 3.90 660.60
waterbottles 7.60 668.20
batteries 2.90 671.10
shirts 8.50 679.60
shorts 5.50 685.10
underwear 2.40 687.50
gloves 7.50 695.00
Hydrationpck 49.00 744.00
Food 116.00 860.00
Food 2 153.50 1013.50
Food 3 43.50 1057.00
day 4 food 0.00 1057.00
day 5 food 0.00 1057.00
day 6 food 0.00 1057.00
Cord 2.50 1059.50
Titanium Pot 0.00 1059.50
Down Vest 17.30 1076.80
Wind Jacket 29.10 1105.90
Carabiner 2.40 1108.30
Thermos 14.80 1123.10
wool socks 3.90 1127.00
patches 1.10 1128.10

1128.10 / 16 = 70.51 lbs.”

“As you can see my pack weight increased during the night. Hmmmm, maybe JDSmiling slipped something into it.... Her's was 35 lbs..
I better check it out!

Uhhrrrgggg. We better eat a lot of food that first day.....”

“"Nigal - I can't get to your site - is it down?"

I had my site piggybacked onto another site my brother ran and the guy he did the site for stopped paying so the site is gone. I got a new computer and didn't get a back up of the site before it got pulled. Two years of work shot to hell. I don't have the energy to redo it either.

RIP Dirtbag Daryl.”

“Nigal-- I am so very sorry.”

“Nigal - bummer. I enjoyed it while it lasted.”

“WLD - you have considerably more trail experience than I do so please question the wisdom of my thoughts. If you are really trying to cut the weight - it looks like you have about 9.5lbs of food for day 2? Even for two that seems a bit on the luxurious side.”

“Gawd, I can't even THINK I'd hike with that kinda weight anymore... that first hike on the JMT saw me carry a 65 lb. pack, about 12 of which I dumped at Reds Meadow re-supply... even then, it was a LOT different on my back than on the living room floor. These days - with the help of many TT friends - I've come down to about 27 pounds. That DOESN'T include food & water, but it DOES include the clothes & boots I wear... or used to... this year could see me getting an all-over tan!”

“IMHO you are being foolish--so there. If you look that list over you can see lots of stuff you do not really need. A long trip is not the time to bring the "nice to have" stuff. Methinks you might be a camper rather than a hiker at heart? You are taking unnecessary chances that you will be injured and that would spoil your whole trip and everybody else's too.

I know--I sound like somebody's mother ;)”

“Hey! Mother Mary-your 'HO' is 'RIGHTON'!!If this was a walk in and camp-that would be different.Tell me I'm'uckedFup'
whenever you notice,also.”

“WLD,

I'm reposting your pack items in pounds and ounces to make it more readable.

It seems like you could at least shave some weight off the tent (10 pounds), food (19 pounds listed for days 1, 2 and 3 alone), and fuel (5.25 pounds).

Also several items don't have a weight listed. Was your pack actually 80+ pounds?


backpack 7.37 lbs
tent 9.4
2 Bearcan 5.9
lantern 0.00 ?
sleep bag 3.43
sleep pad 1.81
Snow Pants 1.31
Pk Rain Cvr 6.5 ounces
Bug Juice 2.4 ounces
fuel 5.25
Gators 9.1 ounces
trek poles ?
stove ?
GPS ?
compass 1.4 ounces
map 1.6 ounces
1st aid kit ?
medi/sunscrn ?
Snow Shoes ?
Fish Tkle 1.38
Cam/200lens 1.65
300zm lense 1.34
film 6.5 ounces
knive ?
headlamp 2.5 ounces
extra straps 4.8 ounces
multitool 10 10.2 ounces
spork 0.5 ounces
Hat and net 0 4.1 ounces
cups 3.9 ounces
waterbottles 20 7.6 ounces
batteries 2.9 ounces
shirts 8.5 ounces
shorts 5.5 ounces
underwear 2.4 ounces
gloves 7.5 ounces
Hydrationpck 3.06
Food day 1 7.25
Food day 2 9.59
Food day 3 2.71
Food day 4 ?
Food day 5 ?
Food day 6 ?
Cord 2.5 ounces
Titanium Pot ?
Down Vest 1.08
Wind Jacket 1.81
Carabiner 2.4 ounces
Thermos 14.8 ounces
wool socks 3.9 ounces
patches 1.1 ounces”

“RE THE ABOVE LIST:

The weights without "ounces" are in pounds. The list didn't post the way I wrote it, in separate columns.”

“For a snow trip, the weight, not including snow shoes, but including food and water is 41 pounds. This is for 5 days, and I went heavy this time, since I am going solo, and didn't want to deny myself anything.

Even if I were bringing another person with me, I just can't imagine adding another 25 pounds, even if they were carrying basically nothing!

I... I don't get it.”

“WLD:

I have done this loop, last summer. There are parts of it that are a grunt. I did it in reverse, coming up Bubbs Creek so it was sorta an ass kicking climb the first two days until we got over Glen Pass and then it was all downhill from there. The bugs were particularly nasty around the Rae Lakes area so be prepared. I don't know the total weight of my pack but it was nowhere near yours. My suggestions:

Dump the two bear cannisters and rent one of the carbon fiber berikades at the trailhead. That'll knock off 3 lbs right there. Man, a 9 lb tent? I'd re-think that one and either take my chances with a tarp (and bug net) or go with a different tent, a 3-season more in the 4lb range.

Those are just a couple of easy suggestions.

You really shouldn't have to suffer that much :)”

“"Pack weight"

yes, I do pack lead weights in my BP just for the hell of it, how bout you?”

“This is WLDs longest backpack. He's taking most of the weight so JDSmiling will be comfortable. When he bought that tent (4 season) a year ago, he posted on another site, and I replied back "but it weighs 10 lbs!". He bought a lighter tent (3 season) since, but was worried about it getting too cold for this trip. (can't let the wife get cold on a long trip). So that's probably why he took the heavy tent, plus it has more room. He's a strong guy, and can carry the weight. I've been trying to help him reduce that weight, but he needs a lot of convincing. I think after this trip, he'll be posting on the New Gear thread.”

“Well SN it seems they did OK--kind of cut their milage but who cares about that. I used to carry a heavy one and Robert has been known to carry a huge one. I do know that if we had not cut the weight drastically we would not still be in the hiking business.”

“Sorry ,for subject change,but GVP has 5 G4's(old models)4 sale for $50. G4 ”