Did we ever come to a consensus agreement on the perfect AT pack base weight?
That would be one’s pack with all equipment, but not including the consumables of food, water and fuel.
Me? I’d accept twenty pounds. You?
Conan
Conan
Perfect AT pack base weight
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#2
I’ve been content with 20 but a recent jaunt through SNP has me motivated to get to 15. I try to strike a balance between being comfortable on the trail and comfortable in camp. I love my 5 lb Marmot Eclipse tent to keep me warm, safe, and dry at night, but I’m starting to think about one of the new freestanding silnylon jobbies to cut my shelter weight down to 2 or 3 pounds.
Lady Treehugger
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#3
20# is too much! Look at a 1# pack, a 2# shelter and a 2# sleeping bag. That leaves another 5# for clothes, cooking (or not), toiletries and first aid. That will give you a very pleasant hike.
GottaWalk
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#5
GottaWalk,
Your total, indicated above, is 10 pounds base weight.
Are you not taking an insulating sleeping pad? Worth another 8 to 20 ounces?
Conan
Conan
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#6
Sleeping pad is part of the pack weight if it is also the support. Gossamer Gear Murmur and nightlight pad are about 1#, less if you trim your pad. My z-rest has several sections trimmed off.
Phreak was right about the winter weight vs warm weather gear weight. One reason that I aim for a May 1 start date is to hike with one set of lighter gear. Lightweight gear means a later start with finish before cold season arrives in the north.
YMMV
GottaWalk
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#7
I don’t think there is an ideal packweight for everyone. I think it depends so much on the hiker’s experience. A triple crowner will have a totally different pack weight than the first time AT hiker.
After hiking the PCT and CDT, my AT pack weight this year was 10# in March, 8# by May and for the rest of the hike. There’s no way I’d recommend that pack for a first timer.
It seemed like those who made it to Katahdin and tried to lighten up along the way were getting down to 20# or less, though.
Garlic
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#9
I would like to see a DETAILED spreadsheet of all the items and weights.
I just spent two weeks in the SNP and saw guys with out a sleeping bag or stove to one guy who was carring 65 lbs including bear proof container the size of a small keg…
Bob
Rocky65
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#10
I would like to see a DETAILED spreadsheet of all the items and weights.
I just spent two weeks in the SNP and saw guys with out a sleeping bag or stove to one guy who was carring 65 lbs including bear proof container the size of a small keg…
Bob
Rocky65
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#12
Isn’t the pack weight thing relative to hiker size? A petite 5’2" gal, with say a 105 lb body weight, 26.25 lb pack is 1/4th of her total weight. For me to carry the same percentage , it would be a 70 lb pack. I’m 6’3" and 24 lbs feels almost lite, size to size…isn’t that a big consideration? Wee ones can’t carry 40 lbs like big ones, haven’t seen anything about hiker size! Please chime in… Crawl
Crawl
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#13
Crawl that is a great point. My hiking partner is a 6’4" 250+ guy. Whenever pack weight comes up he laughs because although his pack may weigh 25 pounds that is only 10% of his body weight.
I don’t think there is a pack weight that can be applied to all. If your talking an average male, my pack weight is around 20 with a 30 degree bag.
super scout
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#14
Get the hiker size and what their pack weight is, do a percentage of body weight number… figure it to expected weight loss on the trail and come up with a close percentage of you body weight. Ex, I’m 280, expect to be around 220 on the trail… 220 times maybe 15%, would be a 33 lb pack! 110 lb young lady, 16.5 lb pack, … sound too weird?
Crawl
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#15
There is no perfect generic pack weigtht. There is only a perfect pack weight for you. That weight will be determined by what you need to be comfortable. If you want perfect, you will have to obtain the lightest pack, sleeping bag, sleeping pad and shelter available. This is with the assumption that these four basic items will meet your individual needs for size, comfort reliability, etc. After that, the items and gear you carry are optional. Some folks hike with a stove, some without, Some folks hike with “camp shoes” like sandles or flip-flops, some don’t. Some carry map and compass, some don’t. How much clothing do you need? Will you carry first aid gear? What kind? Any electronic equipment such as a cell phone, GPS, MP3? What about a flashlight or other lighting device?
My opinion is that if after you determaine your essentials and have acquired the lightest possible, spent some time hiking and perhaps changed your mind about your selected optional gear and disgarded it, you will obtain the perfect pack wieght for you.
Bob
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#16
Crawl,
When I first started hiking, the question of pack weight relative to one’s own body and strength was an intriguing question for me.
In my early hiking days, all the talk was of total pack weight, much as it is now. At that time, 40 pounds was a common pack weight, for men and women both.
But, it seemed to me that pack weight as a percentage of body weight was the real issue, along with the overall strength and fitness of the individual involved.
Very quickly I switched over to percentage of body weight as the key figure, rather than total poundage and begin to experiment with pack weights as a percentage of my body weight.
For example, I realized that, starting out, with me at 150 pounds, and my pack at 55 pounds, I was carrying 36.7% of my own body weight.
Quickly, I got my pack weight down to 30 pounds, or 20% of my body weight, realized that that percentage was easy me, adopted the 20% figure as a more reasonable figure, and identified 20% as a probable good starting point for most people.
Then, I experiemented with dropping down further: 25 pounds, or 16.7% of my body weight, felt immensely better, although it was only a five pound difference; and 20 pounds, or 13.3% of my body weight felt almost like nothing at all. Through all of this, I knew I was on to something.
My point is, that it made immediate inherent sense to me that there might be, for a trim person in good shape, a positive correlation between: pack weight as a decreasing percentage of body weight; and an increasing level of comfort.
For me, 13.3% percent of my body weight, or 20 pounds, was quite comfortable. Lower still, I am sure, would be even more so.
Conan
Conan
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#17
In my mind, I’ve experimented with 12-15 pounds, or 8-10% of that 150 pound body weight, and contemplated whether that might not be my ideal percentage in terms of physical comfort while walking.
The consternation comes when I compare that with the comfort that a notebook and pen, a book, a camera, or some such thing, might provide me.
Conan
Conan
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#18
Then when people ask “what should your pack weigh?” we should ask,“well, how much do you weigh?” So my thinking is on the right path? It is relative to your size and or physical condition.
Crawl
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#19
Scouts use the 25% of body weight for MAXIMUM pack weight. The problem there is that an overweight, not very fit hiker is then carrying too much weight for comfort and safty. That hiker is carrying extra pounds and gear. Also, if you think that is the rule of thumb, then you give yourself permission to carry some unnecessary junk as long as it is within your weight limit. It’s the same idea as when you fill up a one bedroom place you move to a two bedroom place and the accumulate to fill that place up.
Too bad we can’t plot a “fun curve” using amount of fun versus the weight carried, Less weight is definitely more fun!
GottaWalk