Ultra Light Backpacking

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Comment by John Smith on April 28, 2008 at 9:14pm

Kevin,

Your Gregory Palisades pack weighs around 6 pounds 3 oz empty. Have you looked at lighter weight packs? The REI Cruise UL 60 Pack http://www.rei.com/product/747520 is a good pack if you need more support and weighs about half of the Gregory pack. That would save you 3 lb alone and still be able to carry basically the same amount of gear.

John

Comment by Kevin on April 22, 2008 at 6:31pm

For me, it really depends on how long and where I am going. I can day hike on basically water, but usually bring around 6-8 lbs worth of stuff. From 1-3 days My pack weight is usually in the 15-20lb range. Anything over 3 days, I easily carry 25 lbs worth of stuff, if not more. I don't know yet though, I have yet to test my new Gregory Palisades 80 Liter.

Comment by John Smith on April 21, 2008 at 9:30pm

The first thing to do is to list the items that you carry and weigh each of them. I do this at my store. I work for Safeway and have access to the scales at the store for free. Fellow workers think I am nuts but then again they may be right. After you have figured out what each part weighs you need to do two things. 1) Look hard at the biggest three weights you carry. These are likely your backpack, tent and cookset (including stove). For some their sleeping pad is a concern as well. Look for alternatives. I have two awesome packs one external and the other internal frame and they both weigh over 6.5 lbs each. They are comfortable and excel at carrying huge loads. If you can drop 4 to 5 lb off your pack your load will drop to 18lb on the first trip. 2) The next thing you need to do is look at what you take with you. Do you really need it? Have you ever used it on a trip? Is it simply a security blanket? Some things I carry on a trip are for security like a first aid kit. However a couple of first aid classes and some wilderness EMT training and I discover that the single most important thing in a first aid kit is my knowledge. With that I can drop quite a bit of weight. Also think of lowering the weight of your pack as part of your first aid kit. It is my experience tha ta great many injuries are a result of exhaustion. If you are less tired you are less likely to make poor choices when packing. You will likely make your planned camping area earlier and in better light. You will not be so calorie drained that you are a candidate for hypothermia.

Lots of reason to drop lots of weight. It can be done safely and with comfort. Perhaps not as comfortable a campsite as some other folks but you will be a lot more comfortable getting there.

john

Comment by Jesse DeMent on April 21, 2008 at 11:44am

This is a goal of mine, to hit a low pack weight by summer’s end. This is going to be our first year backpacking, since last year we car camped. But on our first outing, which was just to see how we would do (one night) my pack weighed in around 23lbs., and my son’s was around 15lbs. I would love to hit the 15lbs for me and 10 for him, but it will take a bit on my part. I need to go the next step and weigh the items in the pack as is, so that I can see where to start. Any help on this would be great. Looking forward to learning…..

Comment by John Smith on April 20, 2008 at 10:30am

Depending on the hike I carry about 8lb not counting food and water. I average 1.5 lb of food per day and normally carry a quart of water at a time. So for a 3 day hike I will carry about 15 lb.

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