So what does your pack weigh?

[Buttercup01]

Summer winter is a big question. in my local area what temperature is range from 0 to 50 during the winter months, I find there's many layers needed to keep warm. When it's 45 degrees or above I generally wear light shirt and carry a thermal shirt and jacket just in case. It's a balance between freezing at night and sweating during the day.

[squeezebox]

Don't forget safety 1st. At 50* it's flat out dangerous to not bring a shelter or raingear. Bring proper blister care so blisters don't get infected, duct tape does not count as proper. Clothing and sleeping gear appropriate for the temps you'll get plus a little overkill. A Sawyer weighs 2 oz, cheap insursane.

[Del Q]

My most recent hike was from Springer to Franklin, met a lot of thru hikers...........I was pretty surprised that average pack weight was definitely higher than 35 pounds, possibly 40

I was at about 25 all in which is a new low for me, had back surgery last fall and did all that I could to thin things out. 2 re-supply's in 8 1/2 days helped, from experience and this trip as well, take less clothes.

[jdc5294]

Feb 19th-Aug 10th thru hike in 2012, my weight without food and water was 13 pounds, I think the heaviest it got was 27.

[squeezebox]

My guess there's a bunch of folks out there who are leaving out certain things to reduce what they claim as pack wt.. Like maybe putting the monster battery in your hip belt so you can subtract it from pack wt. If you're wearing your rain gear it doesn't count as pack wt. but if it's in your pack it does count. That's just too goofy to not laugh about.
If it's in you pack, around your neck, or on your body you're still carrying it. Just be honest about it.

[Christoph]

I just re-weighed everything except food and water and mine is now at a solid 21 pounds. This includes the clothes I'm wearing, boots, and hiking poles. so that's not too bad. I'll be pretty comfortable for the most part. Even have dinner cold weather stuff as well, just in case.

[Christoph]

Even have "added" cold weather stuff as well. Haha

[The Splitter]

I just weighed my pack in preparation for our trip later this month and it weighed in at 34 LBS including four days food and two liters of water. I'd really like to shave off four lbs but I have no idea how I can do that as I'm already pretty much down to essentials.


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[MuddyWaters]

I just weighed my pack in preparation for our trip later this month and it weighed in at 34 LBS including four days food and two liters of water. I'd really like to shave off four lbs but I have no idea how I can do that as I'm already pretty much down to essentials.


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Post your gear list and let people comment.

I will probably go for a 100 mile walk in early May to get out and stay in shape for a 3 wk trip in late summer. My pack will weigh 6.5 lbs without food and water. With water, for 5-6 days it will only weigh 17 lbs or so. I carry UL type stuff. But even if I carried normal, I cannot see anyway I could have a pack over 12 lbs except in winter. Once you reach a mindset of what is truly necessary and ONLY take that stuff, its easy.

Bug protection, framed pack, and cushy inflatable pad are necessary to me cause Im a wuss. Others that are hardier will carry much less than me.

[mattjv89]

I'm at about an 18 pound base right now so 22-32 total, the high side being with 5 days of food and 2 liters of water. I agree that 30 just out of town is the typical average out here.

A few common themes have come up in the folks with heavy (I'll qualify that as greater than 40) packs. Too much water. I've seen people carry as much as 5 liters or 10 pounds of water. Maybe necessary on parts of the PCT, AT not so much. Too much food. Usually results from way over packing mail drops or huge care packages from well intentioned loved ones. If anyone is asking about sending you care packages make sure they understand what a reasonable food weight is, just a few weeks in I've seen multiple scenes of "ugh, what am I supposed to do with 10 pounds of trail mix, a block of fudge and 30 Starbucks via packets". The other high food weight I've seen is people intending to save money by skipping town stops and packing 1-2 weeks of food at a time. The miles come a lot slower and harder doing that and doesn't have to be expensive, thumb your way in grab a meal hit the grocery store and scoot back out. I've seen a couple huge battery charge packs, unless you are doing some heavy duty filming you absolutely don't need a 15,000 mAh power brick. I have a 6400 that weighs 5 oz and will give an iphone just over 2 charges, it has been more than adequate. A lot of folks carried big Rambo style knives in the beginning, those are going away but still out there.

[Harrison Bergeron]

Base pack weight: 20.5
Belly bag: 3.0
Items worn: 6.6
2L water and for food 5 days: 12.4
Total skin-out weight: 42.5

I could cut three pounds if I left the spare fuel canister, spare lighter, shorts, altimeter watch, gaiters, trowel, ground cloth, nail clippers, sun block, repellent, compass, maps, useable knife, cellphone charger, and radio.

I'm not going to do that.

I could cut another pound by switching to a 3/4 length Neoair without a pump sack, and leaving behind the bag liner and stuff sack for my $300 ultralight bag.

I'm not going to do that either.

Heck, I could cut a half pound if I just quit drinking coffee. That's REALLY not happening. In fact, I just might add 12 oz for a flask of good Scotch.

It ain't all about the walking. Living well without relying on the kindness of strangers requires a little more work and a few extra pounds.

[Slo-go'en]

My pack weighs about 3 pounds. The stuff which goes in it weighs 15 +/- a few pounds depending on the season.

[The Splitter]

Post your gear list and let people comment.

I will probably go for a 100 mile walk in early May to get out and stay in shape for a 3 wk trip in late summer. My pack will weigh 6.5 lbs without food and water. With water, for 5-6 days it will only weigh 17 lbs or so. I carry UL type stuff. But even if I carried normal, I cannot see anyway I could have a pack over 12 lbs except in winter. Once you reach a mindset of what is truly necessary and ONLY take that stuff, its easy.

Bug protection, framed pack, and cushy inflatable pad are necessary to me cause Im a wuss. Others that are hardier will carry much less than me.

Let me know what yall think here...

Essentials:
-Pack: Arc Teryx Khyber 50
-Bag: Marmot Hydrogen 30 Long
-Pad: Thermarest
-Thermarest large camp pillow
-Stove: Snow Peak Litemax Titanium.
-Cookware: Snowpeak Titanium Cook and Save, Snowpeak Titanium fork and knife set.
-First Aid Kit: Medical tape, Coban wrap, 4x4's, 3x3's, 5 band aids each (small and large). Two small vials of super glue, emergency blanket. Ibuprofen, chap stick, Mole Skin.

Other stuff:

- 2 extra 250 gram fuel canisters
- Leatherman multi tool
- Mini Fire Starter logs.
-Fire stone
-Spare batteries for flashlight
- Clothes: 2 extra socks, 1 extra underwear, 1 extra shirt. Thermal underwear, hardshell, soft shell (depending on season)
-Toiletries: small toothbrush, toothpaste, travel size soap, nail clippers, two rolls toilet paper.
-Small plastic shovel
-Five days food, 2 liters water.

Places I'm thinking I can cut weight are...

-1 spare fuel canister instead of 2
-Sandals (for when we set up camp for the night)
- ditch the Leatherman, I've never actually used it and I'm not sure what I would even use it for.
-Lose the fire stone, I carry two lighters.

I could probably shave some weight off in food for sure by carrying lighter food but for me good food on the trail is worth it's weight. I eat oatmeal and peanut butter in the morning and usually Annies Delux Mac and cheese for lunch with some kind of meat mixed in (either tuna or pepperoni) with dinner being a Zatarians rice dish with pepperoni.



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[Slo-go'en]

How does all that come up to 34 pounds? You don't even have a tent listed.

You can drop all the extras: At most I carry 1/2 roll of TP, one fuel canister, loose the leatherman (so long as you have a good knife), fire starter log, emergency blanket. That's not going to save you a whole lot of weight, so you might just have to start replacing gear with lighter stuff.

Let me know what yall think here...

Essentials:
-Pack: Arc Teryx Khyber 50
-Bag: Marmot Hydrogen 30 Long
-Pad: Thermarest
-Thermarest large camp pillow
-Stove: Snow Peak Litemax Titanium.
-Cookware: Snowpeak Titanium Cook and Save, Snowpeak Titanium fork and knife set.
-First Aid Kit: Medical tape, Coban wrap, 4x4's, 3x3's, 5 band aids each (small and large). Two small vials of super glue, emergency blanket. Ibuprofen, chap stick, Mole Skin.

Other stuff:

- 2 extra 250 gram fuel canisters
- Leatherman multi tool
- Mini Fire Starter logs.
-Fire stone
-Spare batteries for flashlight
- Clothes: 2 extra socks, 1 extra underwear, 1 extra shirt. Thermal underwear, hardshell, soft shell (depending on season)
-Toiletries: small toothbrush, toothpaste, travel size soap, nail clippers, two rolls toilet paper.
-Small plastic shovel
-Five days food, 2 liters water.

Places I'm thinking I can cut weight are...

-1 spare fuel canister instead of 2
-Sandals (for when we set up camp for the night)
- ditch the Leatherman, I've never actually used it and I'm not sure what I would even use it for.
-Lose the fire stone, I carry two lighters.

I could probably shave some weight off in food for sure by carrying lighter food but for me good food on the trail is worth it's weight. I eat oatmeal and peanut butter in the morning and usually Annies Delux Mac and cheese for lunch with some kind of meat mixed in (either tuna or pepperoni) with dinner being a Zatarians rice dish with pepperoni.



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[MuddyWaters]

Let me know what yall think here...

Essentials:
-Pack: Arc Teryx Khyber 50
-Bag: Marmot Hydrogen 30 Long
-Pad: Thermarest
-Thermarest large camp pillow
-Stove: Snow Peak Litemax Titanium.
-Cookware: Snowpeak Titanium Cook and Save, Snowpeak Titanium fork and knife set.
-First Aid Kit: Medical tape, Coban wrap, 4x4's, 3x3's, 5 band aids each (small and large). Two small vials of super glue, emergency blanket. Ibuprofen, chap stick, Mole Skin.

Other stuff:

- 2 extra 250 gram fuel canisters
- Leatherman multi tool
- Mini Fire Starter logs.
-Fire stone
-Spare batteries for flashlight
- Clothes: 2 extra socks, 1 extra underwear, 1 extra shirt. Thermal underwear, hardshell, soft shell (depending on season)
-Toiletries: small toothbrush, toothpaste, travel size soap, nail clippers, two rolls toilet paper.
-Small plastic shovel
-Five days food, 2 liters water.

Places I'm thinking I can cut weight are...

-1 spare fuel canister instead of 2
-Sandals (for when we set up camp for the night)
- ditch the Leatherman, I've never actually used it and I'm not sure what I would even use it for.
-Lose the fire stone, I carry two lighters.

I could probably shave some weight off in food for sure by carrying lighter food but for me good food on the trail is worth it's weight. I eat oatmeal and peanut butter in the morning and usually Annies Delux Mac and cheese for lunch with some kind of meat mixed in (either tuna or pepperoni) with dinner being a Zatarians rice dish with pepperoni.

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Plan you fuel , and batteries, carefully and you wont need spares. Its only a couple days between towns on the AT.
Sandals arent necessary. You might like them. You might want them. Thats fine. Wants, and necessities, are different things.
No leatherman. Small sharp knife is all thats needed.
I dont even know what a fire stone is, so Im pretty sure its not needed.
I can go 2 weeks on 1oz of toilet paper in a ziplock. two rolls toilet paper is a lot.
No extra clothing,( or anything for that matter) , You need 2 pr socks so you can rotate. Thats not spare or extra if it has a definite use and need.
You dont need a fork and knife set, all you need is a light plastic spoon.
Thats a pretty big and heavy pot I think.
Dont need nail clippers on the trail. they are available in town.

[squeezebox]

Rei flash pillow is much lighter but also smaller.

[squeezebox]

Rei flash pillow is much lighter but also smaller.

I would like to hear what you do not include in your pack wt. Seems to vary so much from person to person it pretty much makes the term "packweight"
meaningless. MHO

[BirdBrain]

My guess there's a bunch of folks out there who are leaving out certain things to reduce what they claim as pack wt.. Like maybe putting the monster battery in your hip belt so you can subtract it from pack wt. If you're wearing your rain gear it doesn't count as pack wt. but if it's in your pack it does count. That's just too goofy to not laugh about.
If it's in you pack, around your neck, or on your body you're still carrying it. Just be honest about it.

Rei flash pillow is much lighter but also smaller.

I would like to hear what you do not include in your pack wt. Seems to vary so much from person to person it pretty much makes the term "packweight"
meaningless. MHO

I agree that people exaggerate. This fact makes it tough for inquirers to gauge reality and have good benchmarks. However, the only pack weight that I obsess over is my own. And man do I ever obsess over it. My pack weight is 8890.4 grams. My skin out weight is 10627.4 grams. If I had spent more on my big 4, it would be much lower.

What someone else claims to have or actually have is meaningless to me. I am certain there are people carrying twice as much or half as much as me. As long as we are all happy, that should be all that matters.

[MuddyWaters]

I dont really care what anyone else carries. So i dont talk much about what i carry. Never on trail, ever.
I just say that all a long distance hiker NEEDS was worked out to a science long ago by some very smart people. Rest of us are just followers.
Most carry a lot of WANTS
Some, buy themself a way to carry a few WANTS at a low weight today with $$$.
But overridingly i think, many bought heavier rei gear first, and changing that later is a $$$ battle.

I enjoy covering miles. If i can get out for a week or 3 these days, i like to cover distances and see stuff. Packing light allows that. Its not for everyone, its not a necessity.it doesnt take as much skill as some think either, mostly just common sense and caution.

[The Splitter]

Plan you fuel , and batteries, carefully and you wont need spares. Its only a couple days between towns on the AT.
Sandals arent necessary. You might like them. You might want them. Thats fine. Wants, and necessities, are different things.
No leatherman. Small sharp knife is all thats needed.
I dont even know what a fire stone is, so Im pretty sure its not needed.
I can go 2 weeks on 1oz of toilet paper in a ziplock. two rolls toilet paper is a lot.
No extra clothing,( or anything for that matter) , You need 2 pr socks so you can rotate. Thats not spare or extra if it has a definite use and need.
You dont need a fork and knife set, all you need is a light plastic spoon.
Thats a pretty big and heavy pot I think.
Dont need nail clippers on the trail. they are available in town.

One of the problems with the extra fuel I carry is the Zatarians rice dishes I cook for dinner require me to simmer them for 20-25 min, the Annies deluxe mac and cheese requires a ten min boil and my oatmeal also requires a quick boil in the AM, so I'm pretty heavy on the stove use and that concerns me. Do you think that kind of use at three meals a day I would be ok on 250 gram can for 4 days?

The TP I can drop to


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