Too much weight!

“This is probably a commonly-asked question by backpackers with limited experience. I ended up hauling about 40-50 lbs for a 3-day trip! Granted - I had a heavy sleeping bag... but still, where did the rest of the weight come from?

People I've talked to said that it's just about getting better (and therefore more expensive) gear and going with the freeze-dried food.

Does anyone have any suggestions or alternate advice?

Thanks”

“Post a list of everything you carried.
This bunch will gleefully tell you where you went 'wrong'. ;-)”

“Take the midget clown out of your pack next time and make him walk.”

“Yes, you don't need to carry your girl friend. Something inflatable is much lighter.”

“First off, big cans of Beef Stew are a no no unless you enjoy carrying 60 pounds or so.

Extra clothing is another big weight adder. Don't carry a set for ever day.”

“It is a process. There is no quick (or cheap) fix.”

“I agree with Stovestomper on the clothing, a lot of newbies carry way too many clothes. Canned food is ridiculous if you we're carrying any I feel sorry for ya, but it's a mistake that's usually only made once.”

“mistakes I have made in the past:
too much clothing (yupp, I did!!)

some of my food was too heavy: Never took any canned foods besides maybe sardines, but some foods can be pretty heavy, energy bars for example.

too much water ( I still make the same mistake, but I like my water so I just deal with that weight)

my first aid kit was way too large.
Knife was too heavy.
eating utensils too heavy.

Just resently I saved at least 3 lbs by buying a lighter tent, backpack and sleeping bag.”

“is that a full pack weight?? or is it just the basics?? my pack weight with everything but food and water is somewhere below 18 lbs. depending on the temp. i could really run alot of the trail if i want....and on occasion i do step it up to a jog...”

“Simplicity...what a pretty name.

Are you Amish, by chance?”

“I've only shaved a couple pounds off my pack in the past 2 years. My pack is almost completely full for a one night trip. I have to carry for two people though, until I can afford a pack for my wife.”

“Post a list of your gear...

Get a postal scale that weighs in ounces, if not grams... weigh EVERYTHING!

Freeze-dried - some of it - can work well, taste good, and add little in the way of weight. Look for ways to create your own stuff... get a dehydrator and practice with some favorite foods.

Places like Safeway, or Trader Joe's might offer much in the way of dried fruits.

Consider making your own gear. Don't know if Ray Jardine has much of a following any more, but he had some great ideas on making your own lighter-than-you-can-usually-buy-it gear.

Many people in here have lots of experience in this area, and are happy - if not ecstatic - to have someone tap their glow domes for ideas and experience.

If I'd paid attention to everything everyone in here's ever said about all there is to know about everything backpacker, I'd be a lot smarter than I used to be...”

“You can work on your personal situation using Phil's Pack Weight Calculator. It helps you see where your weight is coming from.

There are similar links around the old threads. Search on ultralight and packweight type words to find them.”

“Thoughts:
How much does your pack itself weigh?
That can be the biggest killer of all. My first pack weighed 8 lbs. My Ghost weighs 2.6 lbs. Big difference!!
I don't carry cooking pans. All I carry is a lexan cup and spoon and a tea kettle. My food is instant everything (I don't eat much freezedried). I do my dinners in Ziploc freezer quart bags.
Weigh EVERYTHING and do a chart showing what each piece weighs. It is scary to see how it adds up.
Clothing? I carry an extra pair socks and a long sleeve coolmax top. A down vest or down jacket for extra warmth (I sleep in a 45* down bag) and my rain jacket. That is it. except for an extra pair undies. In winter I will toss in long johns and a winter hat.
Figure out what is the bare amount of gear you can take and go for it! Your back will love you :-)
I used to carry a 45 lb pack. Even with carrying my son's food on trips (and his water) I rarely exceed 30 lbs now.”

“start saving for a new tent, then a new bag, then a new pack then a pocket rocket stove. also check out some eternia trail foods, and even walmart has some good "instant" type stuff if you scour the shelves.”

“Hey! Who left the door open and let the bper.com people (sarbar) in? ;-)

I remember the days when my pack weight was 55-65lbs.

Post a list.”

“I remember those days as well. Last Friday Saturday and Sunday.”

“lolz”

“May's trip to the Boundary Waters with Simer190 was my first because those when I was a kid don't really count. You know, the one where you drag the heavy canvas tent down to the river, then drag all the food you can steal from your mother, the beer, the cigarettes and the Stag Magazines.
Anyway, what I learned on the Boundary Waters trip was about bringing unneeded clothes as well. I also carried about 3 days of extra food, and even though it was dehydrated it still weighed something. One thing no one mentioned is body fat. That has to be carried too. If you're fat, set out to lose it. I've dropped more than 20 lbs in the past year and everything is now easier. Hang with it, you're in the right place.”

“Buy or borrow yourself a digital kitchen scale and weigh what you take. Write it down for reference and you'll know exactly what to leave at home verses what to take. Get a scale that goes up to five pounds and try to make sure nothing but your water weighs more than that. By weighing you'll know what stuff you need to replace and what is okay.”

“stickmanwalking...what size would your wife wear?? I have a kelty (nothing special) that I don't use. it's up in the attic so I am not sure about what kind of kelty. bought it once at dicks when I needed a pack real quick because the new one I ordered came brocken...”

“You have to keep working on the wieght. Not everyone is comfortable with being a liteweight backpacker. We discuss this a lot, about what we can live with and what we can live without on the trail. Once you get that down you will love your weight of your pack. It may consist of buying a new pack, sleeping bag and tent, and this could take time..it took me 4yrs to get my to 30lbs with all my stuff inside including food..that will last me 3 nights and 4days.”

“If you need to lose some fat, that's another good place to start.

I could stand to drop a few pounds, ugh!”

“Look at all the little items in your pack and then think about which one you didn't use at all or could have really done without.

Now take those out of your pack and never put them back in.

You'd be surprised how much those little things add up too.

Try to carry things that serve two purposes, like a bandanna can be a potholder and keep sweat outta your eyes and also serve as an emergency bandage or splint.

My cookset is a three cup grease pot from wal mart. All I do with it is boil water to rehydrate my food inside it's ziplock baggy. The bag cozy doubles as a sitting pad too. This method means all I need is a spoon, no fork no knife and since all i do is boil water there's no clean up involved.

Your pack is only too heavy if it keeps you from having fun. Its gotten too light if your no longer comfortable.

Your pack weight will drop each trip you take, especially if your going with other folks that are more experienced. You'll decided where your comfortable

Keep it up!”

“also, get a copy of Dub's gear weight spreadsheet, it's good to plus or minus 20 grams!”

“Thanks for all of the suggestions. This was a year ago, so I don't remember all of the stuff I had with me. I definitely did not have any canned food though! : )

The trip was with another person and we each had way too much weight.

The tent weighs 5-6 lbs (I think) (one of the first Coleman X-cursion tents) and I think the packs (mountain equipment co-op) themselves are too heavy. We had dehydrated milk, potatoes, pasta, etc. but we also had stuff like butter, bread, cheese and some meat (if I remember correctly). We didn't carry water, but instead had purifying tablets. We also had more than one pot (aluminum) and a Primus omnifuel stove with white gas.

The other big stuff was probably clothing. It seems that people posting here just bring what they're wearing plus socks and undies. We had a full change for three days. We had light binoculars and a camera... I can't remember what else. Oh, we had a little bell (because I'm paranoid about bears - although I know that the best deterrent is the human voice - and we got a bear visit anyway!).

As for my weight. I don't think I'm overweight. I'm 5'9" and wiegh 140-145 lbs and am pretty muscular. I don't think that's too bad, so I'm not really carrying extra blubber. I do think that I have improper and heavy boots though! (P.S. No I'm not Amish)”

“looks like th big pack weight items are the pack itself and the clothes, maybe some of that food, but thats a personal thing.”

“Well, reducing the weight of your Big Three is always a good start, that being your shelter, your sleeping bag, and your pack. This can also be where the most expense lies.

After that, go on a trip with your normal array of gear. If you wanna get fancy, put a little sticker on each piece of gear you take, and when you use it on the trip, remove the sticker. Then, when you get home take a good long look at the stuff you didn't use, and put it into two piles: essentials that just didn't get used (first aid kit, rain gear, etc.) and stuff you really don't need (map cases, extra pot, hunting knife, etc). Eliminate the stuff you don't need.

Then, begin to look at your essential gear and see if there are lighter versions of the same thing. On one of my first backpacks, I was using a 4AA battery flashlight/lantern that was pretty cool, but heavy for what it did. A friend showed me a Photon light, and I was hooked. More than a pound saved right there.

Keep iterating until your pack weight is down.”

“Heck yeah, because now that I carry less gear, and have saved so much weight, I can carry stuff like:
A block of swiss cheese
chocolate
a 2 lb block of homemade fuge
my Kahr P9 with camp holster
And while I still sweat like a mule, I don't look like a pack donkey anymore :-D”

“Read every page on backpacking.net and then Google for every other lightweight backpacking site out there. After a week of reading you'll see that it does take time (years), one piece at a time. Go on a trip, come back and find one item you can do without or something else can do the same job.

Look at your sleep system (bag & pad), shelter system (tent & groundcloth or tarp & groundcloth; see www.tarptent.com), footwear, cooking system (stove, one 2 qt. pot, one large spoon, maybe a lightweight cup).

Then look at your rainwear system. Keep in mind that you will get wet no matter what you wear, because you are working hard while you hike. The point of rainwear is to keep your core temp warm, not your body dry. So go with the lightest stuff you can find (like made out of silnylon) and forget the Gortex hype.

Finally look over your clothing, and lighten that up.

Three years from now you'll be ready for a new pack. You'll know what size you need because everything else has shrunk, and you'll be able to get one that only weighs a pound or two.”

“http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/00034.html
I think this one is free, much of the site is members only. Worth reading though.”

“Before, in 2003:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/124864919/124865115rufYiX

Recently with smaller pack on:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/149769646/149775096JDOGCE
(I am 2cnd from the left, with the ponytail)
Now, when I see pictures like this, I realize how much more comfy I am! Heck I even carry a Thermarest now!”

“een if yer Big Three (Tent, Bag, and Pack) each weigh five lbs each, that still leaves you an extra 15 lbs for everything else, plenty of room!

You are correct, clothes is a big one. You can get around that by smart shopping on SierraTradingPost.com, or the various other gear places. One thing -- NEVER pay full price. If you see something you absolutly have to have, wait a few until the price somes down, or you might find someone trying to get rid of it.”

“I just had to add a recent personal expierence: I was on a 2 night trip in the south and expecting 90 degree weather so I packed my water heavy, expecting as the trip passed my pack would get lighter. Unfortunetly all the water I drank went right through my pores and in the form of disgusting sweat into my pack (took 2 days to dry out completely). I think that my next "hot" trip, I'll be rigging my hip belts and back supports with trashbags so they don't absorb the sweat.”

“Umm, plastic on your back and hipbelt??? That will be very uncomfortable - much hotter and sweatier than you were before. And slippery! Look for a new pack that has the "air channel" design (open channel up the center of your back). It will keep your back cooler.

Belts and back pads are supposed to absorb sweat so you stay comfortable and so they don't slip all over the place. Notice that some ultralight packs use silnylon for the pack, but use regular nylon for the belts.”

“I'm leaving rain gear at home. techntrek is right about raingear not keeping you dry.

My wife and I went to Rickett's Glen this weekend and got poored on. Half way through the hike I finally took off my rain gear. Ahhhh ... what a relief it was!

It was cooler and I was just as wet as before, except without that wet-plasticy feel. It was so much more enjoyable without it ... "free at last!"

I will continue to bring a water proof pack-cover though.”

“Thanks for the advice techntrek but I may still try the plastic for a day to see how it works. Buying a new pack right now isn't exactly feasible after outfitting my girlfriend for the past 4 months. I need to get a raise or a trifecta before a new pack will be on my back”

“I just bought a new pack and thus shed 3 pounds of weight. I carry a relatively large tent, due to claustrophobia, but have a fairly lightweight sleeping bag. I think the biggest change I've made over the past couple of years is food and clothing. Even just going 3 or 4 times a year, I have gotten those two groups down to where I almost always eat all of my food and wear every article of clothing.

Sometimes it's OK to have a heavy pack, though, if you choose to carry along luxuries. Last year on a short summer hike I brought a bottle of wine, as I did on a winter trip earlier this year. Hodgeman had a monster pack on the Yoho trip last summer, but, man, did he ever cook up some amazing dinners!

I always tell newbies who ask what they should bring, "You can bring whatever you want; you just have to carry it."”

“I have the same problem, too much weight in my pack. I am going for 7 days on the JMT. I haven\\\'t backpacked for a few decades so I know that I need help. I think my list is pretty good, but I still want to go lighter.
Here is what I have so far;
Big Agnes SL1 plus footprint
Gregory shasta backpack
Marmot Helium 15
Therma-rest 3 reg
Bear Cannister
Snow peak gigi power w/ auto start
Mess Kit
Pre-cip jacket
REI rain pants
White Sierra wicking type T shirt
Nike long sleeve running shirt
Columbis PFD long sleeve shirt
Fly rod, reel, and assorted flys
ex-officio convertable pants, 1 pr on, 1 shorts in the pack
2 extra pairs of smartwool socks
compass
Petz Tikka Plus head lamp
Camelbak 1 liter hydro pack
I intend to add;
two naglene type water bottles
Spices, cooking oil, etc
personnal hygene stuff, toothbrush, hair brush, etc
Cooking pot for 2, I don\'t know how large to go for 2 people, 1.3 or 2 liters
Food for 7-8 days, (@ 1.5 to 2 lbs per day?)
5 to 6 stuff sacks of varying sizes
Thoughts, comments????
Thanks”

“Pack everything you are thinking of taking and then find a set of bleachers. Wear the pack as you go up and down the bleachers for an hour or so, then go home and figure out what you can do without. At home, we think one way. Sweating on the trail, we think a different way.”

“Gem, I think she would use a small maybe? She's 5'2" and not heavy, maybe 110 or so? I'm trying to remember seeing you two standing next to each other at TC3 to get a comparison. I think you're taller.”

“feltonf:

I'm not sure what your total pack weight would be, or what you are comfortable carrying, but here's a couple of thoughts:

1 - Your canister stove might struggle if you're hiking at high elevation or in cold weather. I prefer white gas stoves for either condition.

2 - I think a 2 liter pot would be plenty for cooking for two people. If you are just boiling water for dehydrated meals, you could perhaps use a smaller one. If you eat from the cooking pot, you could save taking part of your mess kit (though not everyone likes to do that).

3 - How will you treat the water? Boiling, filtering, polar pure...

4 - I would probably only take the Camelbak bladder and one Nalgene bottle. Also, I might leave the Camelbak's pack at home if the bladder is usable in the Gregory.

5 - Depending on what terrain you will face on the JMT, an opened trash bag might serve as a lighter groundcloth for your tent.

Of course, I need to post this disclaimer: I've never hiked on the JMT.”