What's in your pack? (weight)

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Hey all,

Just wondering what people pack in their rucksacks for longer walking trips in the likes of Ireland and similar climates during spring early Autumn. Looking for advice on week+ trips.

I tend to aim for approximately 16Kg including water and my partner will aim for approximately 14Kg (normally 13Kg). The below pack is closer to 17KG at this stage. I think there might be one or two things missing, I will edit when I arrive home.

There are definitely some non essential items in the list such as the hammock, portable hair brush, shirt and linen pants. I have carried a pack similar in weight on weekends out in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains to train and it's been ok. Not a killer but glad to get back to the car at the end of the day

My pack contains the following items, I will add weight where I can. This is for a 3 week trip.

Sleeping
Tent - Vaude 2 man tent (2.2Kg)
Hardware down sleeping bag
Self inflating pillow
Thermalite Neo-air mat (430g)
Headlamp

Toiletries
Wash bag
Cotton buds
One for all wash 250ml
travel toothpaste
2 toothbrush
Travel hair brush
Microfiber towel (Large)
Anti-Chaffing cream
Sunscrean
Multi-purpose wet wipes

Eating/Cooking
Plastic plate
Titanium cup & Cutlery
1.5Kg water (in platipus)
approximately 650g of food
Portable "kitchen sink"
Peg-less clothes line
Lighter
Sponge
Flashboil with gas (Carried by OH)
Spices (Carried by OH)
Tea/sugar (Carried by OH)

Clothes
Rain Bottoms
Flipflops
Walking boots
1 Spare pairs of socks
2 Spare Technical Tshirts (Wearin
2 Spare Technical Underwear
1 Linen pants (for the weight :P)
1 ultra light shirt for eating out
Swim shorts
Waterproof triclimate with down inner jacket
Lightweight Buff scarf
Gloves
Sun glasses

Safety
Small First aid kit (Plasters, blister plasters, multiple bandages, stitches, gloves, eyepatch, finger splint, medication, painkillers, dioralyte, burn gel, antiseptic cream, survival foil, water purification tabs).
Compass
Mirror
Whistle attached to catch on rucksack.
Ultra-Sil daypack (90g or something silly)

Electronics
DSLR & Lens
Spare Battery
Charger
SD Card
Lens pen
Joby gorillapod
Shutter release switch

Misc
Straps for holding bag together
Insulating tape
Driving License
Wallet
Passport
2 man hammock
Wap phone & Charger
Swiss army tool (carried by OH)

fergusb

Couple things missing which stand out:
Cooking pots.
Insect Spray (leave behind at your peril!)

Duct Tape:- You'd be amazing how useful it can be!

In terms of what could be left behind, it depends on how light you want to travel, if cutting down items is important:
Self Inflating Pillow: you could use your down inner jacket? Probably light though so maybe worth it

Toiletries: I usually find the most weight can be cut here. Only bring as much as you need. For example transfer Suncream to a smaller container, same with toothpaste

Eating/Cooking: Peg-less Clothes Line? Would a tree or the guy ropes on the tent work? Also for food and water, it all depends on where you are camping and if you will have access to shops during the days. 1.5kg water isn't much if you won't be near a fresh water supply. Could you use the cooking pots as your kitchen sink?

If you really want to save weight..... the DSLR and accessories are the problem (but difficult to say no to)!

Pat Mustard

Similar discussion going on in the Wild Camping forum atm, in case it is of any assistance.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=88729182#post88729182

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

fergusb wrote: »

Couple things missing which stand out:
Cooking pots.
Insect Spray (leave behind at your peril!)

Duct Tape:- You'd be amazing how useful it can be!

In terms of what could be left behind, it depends on how light you want to travel, if cutting down items is important:
Self Inflating Pillow: you could use your down inner jacket? Probably light though so maybe worth it

Toiletries: I usually find the most weight can be cut here. Only bring as much as you need. For example transfer Suncream to a smaller container, same with toothpaste

Eating/Cooking: Peg-less Clothes Line? Would a tree or the guy ropes on the tent work? Also for food and water, it all depends on where you are camping and if you will have access to shops during the days. 1.5kg water isn't much if you won't be near a fresh water supply. Could you use the cooking pots as your kitchen sink?

If you really want to save weight..... the DSLR and accessories are the problem (but difficult to say no to)!

The cooking pots will be carried by the OH and it's in the form of a flashboil.

Insect spray is included in the toiletries, I just forgot to add it in there :P Bite relieve is there also.

Have tried the guy ropes before on many occasions, they are ok at best. the clothes line is very light.

The DSLR was purchased especially for the trip, that stays :P

I am really trying to figure out what peoples packs actually weight for "long" trips, anything for a week or above.

I am not too interested in reducing what I have in my pack, I have trained with it for some time and know what I am carrying.

BarryD

Kennedi Fast Cone wrote: »

I have carried a pack similar in weight on weekends out in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains to train and it's been ok. Not a killer but glad to get back to the car at the end of the day

I'd guess you've kinda made up your mind already as to what you're prepared to carry. As to what other people might be prepared to put up with, I think it depends on many factors: your physique, fitness levels, what sort of terrain you propose to cross, are you on the go every day with the same pack or staying one spot for a while etc.

Not all weight goes into your pack and therefore onto your shoulders etc. Apart from obvious things like boots, you'd normally carry the camera in a separate case. So you end up carrying it the same but the effects are spread more around the body etc.

Why bother with a hammock?

SNAKEDOC

Have you tried camping without the tent and making a shelter to incorperate a tarp as your roof. It cuts down on weight and space. The hammock isnt needed if your bringing the tent but if you loose the tent then yea bring the hammock. I just packed my gear for a trip of indeterminate length only extra weight i will include is food.
Backpack lowe alpine kibo 65
Tent, its heavy but im going for a tarp cover next week which will be my tent
Sleeping system lightweight cold weather bag and bivvy bag
Wash bag small items soap toothbrush etc.
Camera dslr and telephoto lens ill carry that on my person while hiking
Extra clothes in stuff bag
Axe on exterior of pack
Tripod exterior of pack
Mat exterior of pack
Food 24 hour ration packs
Camping near water supply. I have purification method
Torch tent light spare battries
Gas stove spare bottle
Mess tins for washing and cooking Nd eating
Set of eating utensils
First aid kit
Map and compass(who needs gps)
Wet weather gear.
Army camo smock for wildlife photography.

My pack at the moment has the tent in it so over all weight is probably 18 kg
I estimate without the tent 14kg

blackvalley

BarryD wrote: »

Not all weight goes into your pack and therefore onto your shoulders etc.

Hi. Just a beginner at the camping game but I think I read somewhere that if your pack is fitted properly then most of the weight is on your hips as opposed to shoulders.
I am open to correction on this though.

SNAKEDOC

blackvalley wrote: »

Hi. Just a beginner at the camping game but I think I read somewhere that if your pack is fitted properly then most of the weight is on your hips as opposed to shoulders.
I am open to correction on this though.

Your half right. When you set up your pack right the heavy gear should be as close to your centre of gravity as possible this tricks your brain into thinking you grew a massive arse over night and your balance isnt affected. Your brain thinks your pack is an extension of your body. The weight should be spread out from your hips to your shoulders and your chest. Roughly 75 percent of the weight should rest on your hips with the remaining 25 percent on your shoulders. Bare in mind this is with a good pack that has proper straps and a good padded waist harness. Also there is some weight taken up with the chest strap. Setting up the pack is crutial as if its done wrong then more weight will be acting through the shoulder straps and not the waist harness. A rule of thumb is heavy items close to the body and in the middle third of the pack for steep terrain with light gera on the outside and medium gear on top. For flat terrain put the heavy gear close to the body but in the top third of the pack with light gear on the outside and medium split between below the heavy and on the outside top of the pack. Sorry if thats a bit complicated.
A great book for this is the collins camping and hiking manual. I would recommend it to any newbies to the camping world. Its full of great little tips on shelter building to emergency procedures.

Alun

Good point about the weight distribution, but be certain that the weight is actually on your hips and not too high such that the bottom of the rucksack is sitting in the small of your back which will cause lower back pain eventually.

silverharp

the biggest weight variable I have is tent/rain gear. At the lighest I bring a poncho as rain gear which then becomes a tarp for camping, shell jacket is pillow or extra layer in sleeping bag if it came to it. So far ive mitigated the weight saving by bringing an extra sleeping bag to be on the safe side.

I started using walking poles last year and I like the extra balance they provide, also very useful for any tarp setup

SNAKEDOC

silverharp wrote: »

the biggest weight variable I have is tent/rain gear. At the lighest I bring a poncho as rain gear which then becomes a tarp for camping, shell jacket is pillow or extra layer in sleeping bag if it came to it. So far ive mitigated the weight saving by bringing an extra sleeping bag to be on the safe side.

I started using walking poles last year and I like the extra balance they provide, also very useful for any tarp setup

Yea the walking poles do come in handy. A ip for tarp with the holes turn them upside down with the spike up through the gromit and the tarp itself keeps them in place rather than burying them in the ground and tieing off the tarp.
Of course this only works if your tarp has a gromit in the centre or near enough.
Im hopefully getting my tarp specially made soon found a company who do it called cunningham covers they have an office in naas and a good website. They make tarps to order and any size or shape with gromits where you want them

BarryD

I've done a good bit of mountain camping in my time, shouldered heavy packs and regardless of hip belts and harness systems etc., it's the shoulders that end up feeling they've done a good days work! Perhaps if you can walk perfectly upright & straight on a flat path like in a showroom, these things work well. But it can be a different matter on uneven, steep or rough ground etc?? YMMV etc

SNAKEDOC

When your out next time and unless your walking on perfectly flat terain pack all the heavy stuff right between your shoulder blades and shorten the straps so the waist belt is sitting higher than usual some people tend to wear the waist belt too low to benifit greatly from it. You probably have done this been experienced but if not it might help you. As i said above my pack is 20 kg or thereabouts and i have to say i feel like i have a day sack on my shoulders.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

BarryD wrote: »

Why bother with a hammock?

The hammock is a luxury item. One of a few in my opinion. It has come in extremely handy in the past when camping. It's basically a super-light giant seat :P. I would normally use my bag as a seat, but it's horrible on my back.

SNAKEDOC wrote: »

Have you tried camping without the tent and making a shelter to incorperate a tarp as your roof. It cuts down on weight and space. The hammock isnt needed if your bringing the tent but if you loose the tent then yea bring the hammock.

Nice weight there. I have carried 20KG in my early 20s when I was in the reserves, that wasn't pleasant at all.

I have camped without a tent before a couple of times, but my GF is not so keen on this idea, she want's some privacy. We won't be camping wild at all as where we are going it won't be too easy, we didn't want to risk it. I suggested several times that we should get a good poncho and bivy up. Would be awesome.

We will be leaving the tent in places where it's not needed (loop walks), so parts of my journey will be perfectly fine