My wife needs help !! This means I Do al so.

“Any help to give us an idea of a way for my wife to cut down her pack weight.
1) Packs (light-weight)
2) Warm, small, light sleeping bag
she's barley 5' tall & barely over 100#s we hike the AT did 400 miles this summer. Her knees bother her so we need to cut down her weight
Thanks.....”

“You could carry her pack! :-)”

“over the winter...this will strengthen the muscles around the knees...there is only so much pack weight that can be eliminated...the rest is conditioning. . If this doens't work...find another, less straining activity.good luck”

“I did while she was injured and couldn't take the weight this summer, I'm an old man and can't keep it up long.”

“Have her go to a podiatrist first before anything else to see if possibly a different type of insert might be needed in her shoes. I recently started backpacking myself, am 120 lbs, and after 14 miles first day and 12 the next, my knees were the size of grapefruits. I bought better boots for a 30-35 lb pack (soft-sided Lowa's not good for backpacking), and I still had problems. I then went to REI and was fitted with "Superfeet" sole inserts which have helped tremendously. Weight on the back is not the only reason for knee pain. It could very well be the way her feet move in her boots. Golite makes a grreat light-weight pack but they only go as small as a 16in torso. Hope I helped some.”

“Is she using trekking poles? That takes a lot of strain off of your knees.”

“Your wife is weak. Please do not reproduce.”

“Knee supports (see other posts) have helped me.”

“an occasional hummer sometimes works wonders......so i'm told...”

“Like this?

”

“I can relate with the knee pain.
My daughter is a soon to be in 5 months a Physical Therapist.
Her advice is to build up the muscle around the knee also when going downhill keep a even step and try not to hold back so much.
Where a knee wrap to keep the muscle warm this helps.
I use hiking poles also.
Less weight is a great help and make sure the pack fits correctly and is adjusted correct.
Hope these help.
Barbara”

“Muttley,
To help lighten her load you could possibly get her a junior size sleeping bag. They are considerably shorter (and therefor lighter) than regular size bags. Also, if you are up to it, you could carry all the community gear, leaving her to deal only with her personal items, like clothes, water bottle, and such. In other words, you will be carrying the tent, cooking gear, food, first aid kit, and your personal items as well. Sort of like soloing with a partner.”

“other than the golite line of packs there is the option of an osprey aether 60. it is light weight, full traditional internal suspension and carries weight great.

there are a few companies that make sleeping bags in short lengths. i have seen a few lately as i have been researching cold weather bags but they don't come right to mind. i will post if i come across them again. down filled bags will be your best warmth to weight ratio. it is also the best compactability to warmth ratio.”

“I've got the Aether 60, and it's a great pack. I did have to get a compression stuff for my 20F sleeping bag to get it into the bottom of the thing. But it is a great pack.”

“Yall miss the obvious... get a different wife!”

“buy good quality light equipment. A warmlight tent is 2.5 pounds. A lightweight down sleeping bag, titanium pot, MSR pocket rocket stove, super light clothing.”

“My husband and I split the gear and my base weight on our last long trip was 18 lbs. With food and water - 26 lbs. His base weight was 21 lbs. We divide the gear pretty evenly. If you take a little extra, her base weight shouldn't be that high. Look at her pack (there are a lot of good ones under 5 lbs), and the sleeping bag especially. For summer hiking, a sleeping quilt might work for the two of you. (I sleep cold, so would never use one for winter, but ymmv.) She needs to be ruthless about cutting her clothes and 'extra' gear weight. (That said, I always carry a book and a journal on long trips.) There aren't that many basic items that are really necessary, and with two people the weight isn't that high.

I have read that because of our pelvic structure, women are more prone to knee injury than men. Exercises and good insoles and hiking sticks are the best solutions I've heard. Also, pick trails that don't have a lot of steep up and down and take the descents slowly. On the AT my knees hurt from New York on. It took six months for them to heal after my thruhike. On the PCT, because the trails were better graded, I never had a problem.”

“marmot offers the angel fire in a 65 inch length. 15 deg. rating, 600 fill down, under $200. they may have a few others also with different temp. ratings and shell materials.

feathered friends has some short length, light down bags.

so does western mountaineering.

for the number of bag nights you must be putting in, one of the lighter, better ones may be worth the investment.”

“hmmmm... could carrying such a heavy pack on my last trip be the reason that I now have knee problems too? *grin*

now i get to blame OPIE for my aching knees!”

“Trekking poles and walking 3-5 miles 4-6 days per week.”

“Trekking poles do the body good!”

“You get to blame Opie for anything and everything.That's what wives and significant others do. It's in yer genes.”

“Glucosamine w/chondroitin 500mg/400mg, trekking poles, and a lighter pack.

I replaced my gregory with a 3 lb Kelty Flight. My sleeping bag is 2 lb (REI Solo-lite 25 deg down). I could lighten the pack by leaving the chair and camera home.”

“.....ginny said pelvic structure.....”