I am, finally, an ultra-light backpacker. On my next warm weather hike my base weight, that’s everything but food and water, will be less than 10 pounds.
Total weight is base weight plus food and water. How much your food and water weighs depends, of course, on how long you going to be out, figure 1.5 pounds of food per day on a section hike, and the availability of water. I generally start the day with one to two liters, 2.2 to 4.4 pounds.
As any seasoned backpacker can tell you, the three most important things about backpacking are pack weight, pack weight, and pack weight. I used to not know that.
On my first hike, on the Mickelson Trail in South Dakota ten years ago, I carried 43 pounds, total, equipment plus water for the day and food for a six-day hike. I didn’t know it at the time, but that’s a lot of weight, about double what I should have been carrying.
When I first started backpacking I took things I might need. That’s a mistake. You only take stuff you have to have. And if you get out there and discover you packed too light, you’ve left something important at home, just remember: If you need it and don’t have it you don’t need it.
I’ve heard plenty of people say about something they’re carrying, like a paperback book: It’s real light, it doesn’t weigh anything. They’re wrong about that. Everything weighs.
I’ve backpacked a good bit, over 3,000 miles on the Appalachian Trail and 300 miles or so on trails out West, and I’ve finally learned — I weigh all of my equipment on a postal scale and I trim every ounce I can. Three ounces here, an ounce there, it adds up.
The reasons for going light are obvious: the lighter your pack the more miles you can hike and the more comfortable you are no matter how far you want to hike each day.
Here’s my warm weather pack list:
NOTE: If I’m so concerned about pack weight why don’t I lose some belly weight? That’s a very good question, mean, but good.
Summer Pack List
Base Weight: 9 lb, 14.8 oz
SLEEPING – 2 lb, 4 oz
- GoLite down quilt and bag, comfortable to about 40 degrees. 1 lb, 6 oz
- Pad, Therm-A-Rest Neoair Xlite, and bag – 12.2 oz.
- Pee bottle, with duck tape — 1.8 oz.
BACKPACK – 1 lb., 10 oz
- Zpack Arc Haul, 62L, with accessory, 1 lb, 10 oz
CLOTHES – 1 lb., 9.6 oz
.…Carried in the compression sack, 4.8 oz, with my down quilt.
- One long sleeve shirt – 9.9 oz
- One pair of medium wool socks 3.2 oz
- One pair of underwear, 3.3 oz
- Black bag wind, rain deflector, 3.9 oz
- Head bug net 0.5 oz
TENT – 1 lb, 4 oz
- Zpacks Solplex Tent, 15.5 oz
- 8 stakes, 4.5 oz
KITCHEN – 1 lb, 3.9 oz
- Pack bag with cooking pot, lid, cup; stove in its bag; trash bag; cigarette lighter and matches stored in a water-tight medicine bottle – 8.2 oz
- Fuel – 7.5oz
- Bear rope, 46 feet, with reflectors weaved into the rope, and carabineer – 4.2 oz
WATER – 9.4 oz
- Sawyer Squeeze [includes two squeeze bags, backflow filter, hang bag for gravity filtering] — 5.9 oz
- One peanut jar size water bottle – 1.5 oz
- One Smart Water water bottle – 1.3 oz
- One Coke bottle – 0.7 oz
TOOLS – 9.0 oz
Zip lock bag for tools containing…
- Cap light
- Needle, thread, tie-ties
- Pad repair tape
- Tweezers [for ticks, or ear plugs stuck in my ear.]
- Fingernail clips
- Ear plugs
- Razor
- Extra spoon [I’ve been without a spoon. Bummer. Now I carry two.]
- Three rubber bands
- Exterior phone battery, and one wire, gives me 2 phone recharges
HYGIENE – 7.6 oz
Stored in yellow bag
- Large zip lock for toilet and tooth items
- Small zip lock bag for:
- Toilet paper stored in its own alone in a small bag
- Purel or equivalent
- Vaseline
- Small zip lock bag for:
- Toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss
- Soap, bagged separately
- Pills
- MEDICAL KIT – 5.3 oz
Medical kit and Tools stored in blue bag
- Zip lock bag for medical kit containing:
- Band-Aid Friction Block –this is really good stuff. It stops blisters before they get going.
- Band-aids
- Triple antibiotic ointment. Don’t leave home without it – I have used it many, many times and have never had an infection.
- Moleskin, 2 sheets
- Medical tape
- Stretch-tape to keep moleskin in place; sprained ankle
- Ibuprofen; insect bite treatment; Diphen for runny nose; antiseptic for cuts; and Pennsaid, to reduce pain from knee injuries
- Bug spray
SLEEPING –2 lb 4.0 oz
BACKPACK –1 lb 10.0 oz
CLOTHES –1 lb 9.6 oz
TENT –1 lb 4.0 oz
KITCHEN –1 lb. 3.9 oz
WATER –0 lb. 9.4 oz
TOOLS –0 lb 9.0 oz
HYGIENE –0 lb. 7.6 oz
MEDICAL KIT –0 lb. 5.3 oz
TOTAL 9 lb. 14.8 oz
Coming Monday: My Favorite Newspaper Story