What does your pack weigh?

[gary c.]

We have found that eating good and sleeping comfortable are the keys to a good trip, that and staying dry. I think, although there are certainly many exceptions, that the younger you are, the more extreme ultra light will work for you.

homeranch,
I'm with you on that one Last year at Red's Meadow a solo guy doing the PCT came out of the store and opened his resupply box to fill his pack. All that he had was 2 gallon size ziplocks, one with gorp and the other had rice. he also had a sandwich baggie with what looked like some spices and tea bags. There may have been more but I didn't see it if there was. It was no surprise to see him eating an icecream and a bag of Doritos at the same time.
Gary C.

[giantbrookie]

Does anyone actually jump on a scale with their pack to see what it really weighs? Scares me sometimes when i do, and i look for something else to leave back. I can't believe that my one canister of white gas makes up the difference between what i think stuff weighs and what actually happens. We spread the gas over the team where we can.
I spread my "stuff" over the dining table the week before i go, and stare at it (painful).. and then try and cull what i think is over the top. Still 52lbs every trip when i pack it up and jump on the scale.
OldRanger had a great list. that Food?? thing was a little dicey, but i suspect i need to eat more trout. We only plan to eat them if we do harm.
Russ

Very seldom have I actually jumped on a scale. I've only done this when it was clear that I had a really epic pack and I was curious. Otherwise, I'm not too concerned, so I don't bother. Between my friends and I or my wife and I we try to eliminate any redundancy, but so as long as I can lift the thing onto my back I'm not concerned. If it ever gets to the point where I'm the slowest person holding up the group, then I will get serious about pruning weight (or dumping it on folks that are faster than me), but I've nearly always been the fastest one of the group, so whatever I carry has no impact on the overall progress of the group (ie measured by the progress of the slowest individual).

More fish in the diet to save weight on food? I eat a ton of fish on my trips, because I love the flavor (better than any backpacking meal I can think of; even at sea level fresh-caught trout is no. 1 among my kids too) and because it's some high octane nutrition. However, I would advise strongly against counting on fishing success and reducing the dinner and lunch food in anticipation of catching fish. I learned this lesson the hard way. On a trip to climb Mt Rodgers I caught and released innumerable fish en route to the campsite, but proceeded to strike out where we camped the first night. On the second day, knowing we had an issue with lack of dinner food, we shifted the campsite to a place where I had released lots of fish the day before. I struck out again in the clutch. We ended up exhausting our breakfast food (oatmeal) for dinner (not a crumb of anything left in our packs). On the trail out the next morning (hiking the last few miles to the car), I pounded Gem Lake and caught brookies up to 14" that served as a belated brunch for two very hungry backpackers. After that trip in 1987 my group has always carried enough dinner food so that we can eat well even if the waters pitch a total shut out every dinner time. Does this result in left over food at the end of the trip? Of course it does. But, as I said earlier in this thread, I'd rather be left with a surplus than be going hungry up there. For those of you who followed my accounts of the death marches of 2007 (Blackchuck) and 2008 (Tunechuck), it's pretty obvious there was a whole mess of food left over at the end of those trips as a result of the enormous amount of trout consumed (collectively we still had close to half of our dinner food at the end of the trip, for example, and a healthy surplus in the other categories, too).

[oldranger]

Russ,

I'm not convinced that eating fish saves weight if you can't cook them over a campfire. The ??? for food is that I never weigh it separately and this summer I'm going to try out some of the food ideas others have shared on this forum to cut down on both weight and volume. I probably should cut out a couple of z-rays but gb has gotten me addicted to them. I figure that I have cut 3 lbs from pack, 11/2 lbs from sleeping bag, 1 lb from pad, and 3lbs from tent over what I used to carry solo--there is 81/2 lbs right there. I've cut way back on the weight of my clothes, too.

You can do it. But only if it matters to you.

mike

Yes I jump on the scale. Gotta figure how much stuff to dump on my wife or kids!

[rlown]

I'm not convinced that eating fish saves weight if you can't cook them over a campfire.

You're right.. we never plan on eating fish, and we carry a full compliment of meals; hence we come out with extra food. actually more comforting to have extra. Given that most areas we all go to do not allow fires, that requires fuel and a pan.

Russ

[oldranger]

Despite what John wrote about not counting on fish I do, but conservatively. On short trips, two nights or less I never count on fish. In the cascades I never count on fish. In the sierra and I know there are fish where I am going I will count on fish for one night on a 3 or 4 night trip and maybe for two nights on a 5 day trip. On longer trips I will count on fish 1/3 of the nights. I don't number my meals so when I catch the appropriate 9-12 inch fish in the afternoon that is the night I have fish.Since I generally have something with the fish I won't go completely hungry if I don't catch fish. And, unless I forget to pack it, I usually have some cheese and salami or summer sausage to go with my evening cocktails. We must be civilized!

Cheers

Mike

[rayfound]

the only reason I really backpack, is to fish. Yet, I find myself less and less inclined to actually use the trout as a food source.

I have no moral objection to keeping fish in these backcountry lakes, as fishing pressure is low enough to not amount to any significant take on most I've visited.

I do enjoy the taste of fresh trout (though I have grown somewhat tired of it).

BUT:

I don't think it saves weight, and it makes a mess that needs to be cleaned... Taking away time I could be fishing!



Next year, I plan to switch over to a jetboil or similar stove and use pack-meals for all dinners, granola, snickers and trail mix for lunches, and oatmeal for breakfast. By not actually cooking, I can leave behind the oil, seasonings, utensils (except spoon), cooking set. If I really want trout I figure I could Jet-boil steam it somehow. When I've planned for fish meals, I've always counted on, at most, 2 dinners per 6 nights to be fish. I can almost always manage a few smaller fish in the streams if I'm starving.


I don't drink coffee, and despite my love for all things Rum, I can't justify packing any, so I pretty much will drink straight-up water for the entire trip, with the odd dose of powdered gatorade or kool-aid.

I also picked up a new lighter pack (christmas present), REI UL Cruise 60, and I'll try desperately to make a trip packing just one fly rod (we'll see how that goes...)

That being said, I am hoping this plan will finally get me under 40lbs. for about 6 days.


man, just thinking about it makes me want to get back out there!

[rlown]

Ok..

Here's what i propose for those who aren't enjoying the storm by backcountry skiing. We all pull our gear and do a simple weight test. A two column spreadsheet in ounces. For a 7 day late fall trip with chance of bad weather. Tent can be optional, but pointed out for it's weight.
I use a postal scale as i do for my home brewing. but it works for my backpacking stuff as well. I cross-check it with my bathroom scale so i can detect anomolies.

First column: what you take (everything you would carry on your back)
Second column: ounces it weighs (total weight)

7 day trip, late fall with threat of snow.. above 10,000'

Russ

[SSSdave]

http://www.davidsenesac.com/Backpacking ... cking.html

[rlown]

http://www.davidsenesac.com/Backpacking ... cking.html

Perfect. A picture is worth a thousand words, and your picture of you with your pack makes me feel, well, not so bad. Glad you laid out your weights for your photography gear as well.

Russ

[el cuervo]

David,

the images on your website are breathtaking.

May I suggest that you redo the image of you.

Smile.

The current image is a cross between a DMV photo and a passport photo.

Again, the images you have recorded are stunning.

If I made images that pretty, I'd be grinning ear to ear.