28 Pounds!!!!!!

[Mad Hatter 08]

Okay I am not professing to even attempt to be ultra light but got my unmodified gear all packed up today and my total weight minus food and h2o is 28 pounds. I am actually pretty proud of myself I was just hoping that my total dry weight would be under thirty five since i was going more for comfort on some items than for UL. I still plan to do a little bit of modifications this weekend though. So I'll be signing off for now so I can finish packing cuz I'm leaving on a Jetplane..... at ten am tomorrow for home sweet home dallas.


BTW.. what's everyone elses weights look like.

[rafe]

Lacking food and water, that's kinda heavy. It would have been considered quite reasonable in days of yore. These days, it's heavy. Sorry to be so blunt about it.

You'll need roughly 1.5-2.0 lbs of food per day; say 4 days = 6 to 8 lbs food. In the heat of summer, you could be carrying 2-3 liters of water, that's roughly 4-6 lbs right there.

Bottom line, worst-case, you're looking at another 14 lbs for food and water, which brings your total to 42.

[Blissful]

Might want to post your gear list - some are pretty good here at knocking off weight which is usually in ounces, even losing two pounds will make a huge difference.

[wrongway_08]

38 ponds with food and water - depending on the stretch, not bad. Do you have a elctronic scale yet? Target sells a nice one that goes down to .05 oz., about $20.00..

Good work so far, glad to see your having fun with this.

Post up a list, would like to see what ya got.

When are you leaving?

[-SEEKER-]

Lacking food and water, that's kinda heavy. It would have been considered quite reasonable in days of yore. These days, it's heavy. Sorry to be so blunt about it.

You'll need roughly 1.5-2.0 lbs of food per day; say 4 days = 6 to 8 lbs food. In the heat of summer, you could be carrying 2-3 liters of water, that's roughly 4-6 lbs right there.

Bottom line, worst-case, you're looking at another 14 lbs for food and water, which brings your total to 42.

I just packed the food I will be taking with me for the first 6 days. It weighed just over 4lbs and I thought that was heavy. Guess that's not so bad after all!

[Phreak]

Great job on getting your pack weight down.

[Footslogger]

[quote=lizincali;542603]Okay I am not professing to even attempt to be ultra light but got my unmodified gear all packed up today and my total weight minus food and h2o is 28 pounds.
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That's great. It took me a long while to get to that level and once there, I was even able to get it down a few more lbs. Your body will thank you in ways you can not even imagine at this point.

Happy Trails ...

'Slogger

[View]

Lacking food and water, that's kinda heavy. It would have been considered quite reasonable in days of yore. These days, it's heavy. Sorry to be so blunt about it.

You'll need roughly 1.5-2.0 lbs of food per day; say 4 days = 6 to 8 lbs food. In the heat of summer, you could be carrying 2-3 liters of water, that's roughly 4-6 lbs right there.

Bottom line, worst-case, you're looking at another 14 lbs for food and water, which brings your total to 42.

There's one in every crowd!!

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Good for you! Pack weight is something that is always changing for the better.

[Programbo]

Lacking food and water, that's kinda heavy. It would have been considered quite reasonable in days of yore. These days, it's heavy. Sorry to be so blunt about it.

You don`t have to apologize for being blunt..We all know todays hikers aren`t as tough

If you are comfortable and in shape enough that that amount of weight doesn`t bother you then don`t worry about what everyone else is or isn`t carrying and take what you want to enjoy your life on the trail..The first point to dump extra weight isn`t that far up the trail so you don`t have to feel you`ll be stuck with anything for an extended period of time..And remember sometimes if the weight feels to heavy or doesn`t carry right it isn`t because you have to much stuff or to much weight, it may be because your pack isn`t fitting correctly or your pack just can`t transfer the load correctly..Keep experimenting and listen to what some of the more experienced people on here have to offer but at the same time remember that everyone is different and what some may find heavy others will think is a comfortable weight

[rafe]

There's one in every crowd!!

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Good for you! Pack weight is something that is always changing for the better.

28 lbs base weight was never "light." Now if 28 lbs. was the grand total, including 4 days food and 2 liters of water, that would be a respectable number.

Not saying it can't be done... it's certainly been done, many times over. Most of us old pharts have been there and done that. It's a lot easier when you're young.

[rafe]

I just packed the food I will be taking with me for the first 6 days. It weighed just over 4lbs and I thought that was heavy. Guess that's not so bad after all!

4 lbs. for 6 days? OK, that might, just might work for a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed thru-hiker wannabe heading north from Springer. But I guarantee you that will not work for more than a week or two.

[Jason of the Woods]

If you are comfy that's all that matters. I have mine down around 20 lbs loaded and my other half has hers up around where you are but she is ok with that. I think that we will all know a week or so into our hikes. That's what the post office is for.

[ScottP]

Posting a gearlist will be a really annoying hassle, but you might want to return a few items that are unsuitable to thru-hiking before you use them, and posting your gearlist up might help you identify these items..

[AT-HITMAN2005]

BTW.. what's everyone elses weights look like.

looking like both my wife and i packs will be hovering around 20lbs pre-food and water. which is right where i like it to be. shouldn't get more than 30 for long stretches like the smokies.(i refuse to go to gatlinburg, again!)

[Mad Hatter 08]

well, one of the things I am running heavy on is clothes, I have a total of 4 bottoms (including rain pants) and 4 tops (not including rain jacket and cold jacket.) I know I can probably shave some of it but I tend to run cold and living out here in sunny so cal it's kind of hard to properly test and see how warm I'll be, I think I would rather start out with too many clothes and send some home than not enough and get frostbite. Some of the other places that I am kind of heavy on is my pack is a Gregory, I have the hubba hubba. and my sleeping bag is a pound heavier than I was originally planning on. I will still be messing with some of my gear to shave some of the weight I was just proud of myself that with as much as I've been buying the last month I wasn't at 35 pounds instead.

[Footslogger]

[quote=lizincali;542926]well, one of the things I am running heavy on is clothes, I have a total of 4 bottoms (including rain pants) and 4 tops (not including rain jacket and cold jacket.)

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Clothing weight adds up fast. I was working with another 2008 hiker not too long ago and his initial list looked a bit like yours.

In the end only YOU can decide how many changes of clothing you feel comfortable with. That said, what I told the other hiker and what I will tell you is ...if you take all that stuff it will end up NOT WORN and dirty in your pack. In terms of tops/bottoms and socks I would suggest you consider the "wear one and carry two" approach. You will find that wearing the same clothes to hike in every day is pretty common. Change when you get into camp and under worst case scenario (extremely wet/nasty conditions) you still have a clean set of top/bottom and socks.

Just a thought ...

'Slogger

[rafe]

What 'Slogger said. Expect (and plan) to hike in dirty clothes. Just be sure you have one set, kept dry and relatively clean, for camp.

[Montego]

Congratulations on keeping the weight down and still being able to pack the way YOU want. Hope your visit home is awsome and that your hike is everything you hoped it would be. Maybe I'll see 'ya on the trail somewhere.

[Mad Hatter 08]

I don't think it's so much a dirt or smell thing as i want to make sure I won't freeze and without being able to realy test out in really cold temps I am chosing to be overly cautious until I am sure.

[take-a-knee]

I don't think it's so much a dirt or smell thing as i want to make sure I won't freeze and without being able to realy test out in really cold temps I am chosing to be overly cautious until I am sure.

Try to find some army surplus field pant liners (8 oz) and buy a nice hooded synthetic jacket like a Patagonia or a Montbell and those will handle your warmth issues without weighing you down.