Pack weight - Appalachian Trail

imported
#1

i just finished a short section in GA and got to meet some thru-hikers this year. no real question, but i was just amazed at the weight they were all carrying, all 35-42 lbs, and every single person walked with heavy boots. as a former thru-hiker i wanted to say to everyone to drop the weight, but just kept my mouth shut. i started with 52 lbs. on an 04 attempt and dropped to 23 lbs. on a successful 05, so i know the difference pack weight can make. hopefully the weight won’t end up giving these people problems as they go, and i know some people just don’t mind the extra weight. at least they were all doing it right and relaxing a bit in GA and not hiking too hard right out of the gate.

0101

#2

Good advice. I’ll be starting a 10 day hike from Springer Mtn. to Franklin NC on April 16 and my pack weighs less than 30 pounds. Can’t imagine carrying much more than that. And starting with a couple of short days is the way to go.

mike d

#3

I’d like to know what goes into a 25lb pack for relatively comfortable winter hiking?
pete class of 2009

pete

#4

I’d like some additional ideas, too. I’ve already read whiteblaze tips. Does the 25 pounds (or 23 or 30) include food? If the food is dehydrated do you still calculate 2lbs per day? This past Friday I left for the trail, but 3 hours later decided to come back home and deal with the pack weight issue. So far, I am switching out my REI Ridgeline for a ULA Catalyst. My food bag had only 5 days of food at 14 pounds, including B,L, D, and snacks. I have walked very well with a 39 pound pack on training walks, but add the 14 pounds of food and it was too much weight to be fun. :eek:

jennie

#5

A couple of points that need to be cleared up here…are we talking about base weight, or total pack weight?

I have no idea what my base pack weight is, and don’t care, since that isn’t what’s on my back when I’m hiking. A pack with 2L water, and food for ~five days, with any extra clothing (think: hiking at noon), is how I weigh my pack. With that in mind, my pack will never weigh greater than 30#. Obviously, that weight will change day to day with food consumption, and even hour to hour, depending on how much water I have left or what clothing layer(s) I have on.

bugleboy

#6

well, when i mentioned the 52 and 23 lb. packs i had, that was fully loaded with food and water. The lighter pack had a 13 lb. base weight. the biggest things i did was get new pack (2 lbs) and new tarptent (1.4 lbs). My sleeping bag was already 1.5 lbs. i ditched my water filter (1 lb) and i think i also took less clothing–though i would do that on the fly because that can be risky. but pretty much i had only the absolute basics and didn’t carry anything specifically for comfort in camp other than sandals.

but you also don’t need cooking stuff other than a spoon and one pot, and neosporin is about the only medical equipment you need.

0101

#7

I too did a section hike last week, Suches south bound, and worked hard at getting my pack weight down. I started at 25 with water and food, was for 3 days. It was a pleasure, knees were happy. HH, snow peak stove, aqua mira, were big additions or minuses to get the weight down. Next a lighter smaller sleeping bag, will get it down to 22 pounds. Carried an Osprey Atmos 50.

ankh

#8

http://www.backpacking.net/index.html

A good site for weight issues, check the packing lists on the left side.

ankh

#9

as it has been stated, it is important to distinguish between base weight and total pack weight…FOR PETE : paw-ee and i have always preferred an early february start and have dealt with some really cold weather…some items i think are important for warmth and comfort are smartwool base layers, a poly balaclava, a synthetic (dries quickly) sleeping quilt (jardine style, saves weight), lightweight “poofy” (quilted) synthetic jacket and pants, an umbrella, “hotties” (a few of those little hand-warmer thing-y-s, to put between layers or in your socks on a cold night), and a sil-nylon, non-breathable, very lightweight jacket, not so much for rain as for wind…and then , of course, the obvious things like cap and gloves, etc…paw-ee and i got out under 35 lbs FULLY loaded (food and water, too), by reducing the actual weight of our packs themselves, making sure lightweight items were efficiently so, and making many items serve dual (or triple) purposes…(we also used a tarp which was MUCH lighter)…you might want to check out stumpknocker’s journal and gear list…i think he did an excellent job of “paring down” and staying warm this winter!..FOR JENNIE : generally, we included even our dehydrated meals in the “2-lbs-per-person-per-day” thing…but because our foods were calorie and nutrition RICH, we could’ve gotten by with less, especially at first…try to make sure your calories include plenty of fat (believe it or not), but also as much good nutrition as possible, too…you’ll eventually be looking at perhaps 4-6000 calories per day, which may or may not come out to 2 lbs, depending on the foods you choose…and, yes, aqua mira and a pop can alcohol stove can really help save weight…i could never recommend heavy boots, but maybe they’re okay for some folks…not for me, though…

maw-ee

#10

All the advice has been very good so far. I’ll just add a couple of things for pete and jennie so that they have more of a clue as to how to calculate this stuff and make it work.

First, here’s a link to the best tool for the job of figuring out what your carrying in terms of weight:
Backpacking Gear Weight Calculator

Then, just so you can see how this is applied, here’s my gear list as generated by the calculator.

Hope this helps. Good luck and good hiking on your thrus!

Strategic

#11

so, just gear i’m at 5.2 pounds. With 5 days of food it comes to 15.2 pounds. Then if i am thirsty, I’ll carry 5 pounds of water (a little more than half a gallon… 1 gallon weights 8.3 pounds) 20 pounds total. GO AS LIGHT AS YOU CAN Of course this is summer hiking. Get ridof all the unessential crap. Doing a thru hike this year.

snail

#12

should say <20

snail