Reducing Pack Weight

[Franco]

My dog has no nose
How does it smell ?
Awful!
Franco

BTW if you were ever to use trekking poles, look also at the TT Contrail or the Six Moon Design Lunar Solo E. You can use a light pole with them but (IMHO) not as effectively as with trekking poles (IE can't put the kind of tension I use with the Contrail)

[Darren]

Franco
I agree, i have the SMD lunar solo and use the small caron fiber pole and its only just strong enough. Snow or high winds give it a hard time.
Darren

[corvus]

I am going on a special walk on Monday just an overnighter and surprise surprise excluding lunch , medicinal vodka,water and bladder I am down to 8kg
Taken all suggestions on board with the following reductions
Old WE Expedition Pack 2045g New one is 3100g
Ditched the Tent (hut??)
Ditto the towel and face washer for two Chucks
Ditto the Lantern no group get together
Ditto the Multi Tool no more Mr fix it for all
Ditto the larger sunscreen transferred into an UL small bottle
Ditto the major first aid kit Reduced by 30% will only treat me + resus mask JIC
Ditto spare Head Light battery just put a new one in
Ditto Long Thermals
Ditto all surplus carry/dilly bags
Picked one of my lighter weight burners Optimus Crux and only 88g of gas in the used canister
Food Roast Chicken BCM ,COSx 2,Maggie 2min noodles (less all packing and flavour pkt) 1 Nut Bar ,1 Energy bar, 4 teabags ,20 Glucosadine tabs and cont, medicine and container.

Here is the rub I will be adding at least 14 kg of food to replenish a food Cache with a nice big assent of around one hour or so( Hope the temp drops) followed by an easyish 3 to 3.5 hour walk
How does that sound (to me around 25kg )
corvus

P.S. M see you Monday bright and early you know who

[Tony]

Hi Corvus,

Here is the rub I will be adding at least 14 kg of food to replenish a food Cache with a nice big assent of around one hour or so( Hope the temp drops) followed by an easyish 3 to 3.5 hour walk
How does that sound (to me around 25kg )
corvus

I hope you enjoy your walk back from the hut.

Tony

[flyfisher]

I am going on a special walk on Monday just an overnighter and surprise surprise excluding lunch , medicinal vodka,water and bladder I am down to 8kg

Hey Corvus, there will be no holding you on the way back---jog all the way I expect.

FF

[corvus]

Took us around 6 hours for the trip I had 27kg geoskid the same and nuts around 35kg ,once on your back you dont really notice it after the assent however as 62 year old and weighing 74kg it was only just as unpleasant as when I did it with 18kg
Does this mean that regardless of load a BIG uphill slog is still a slog and that lighter gear would have made it easier?? ,I do admit to internal bruising on my hip area but I had the compromise lighter older less hip protecting WE pack so I guess there is no right or wrong way.
Would I do it again ? yes and other than my medicinal vodka could not find anything to leave out (sorry I did not do the sums) for a Summer trip.
c

[corvus]

The BWT Strollers are doing a three day two night this coming weekend and owing to share gear tent,stove etc I have managed to get my Pack weight including water,wine 1 Lt brique,vodka 300 ml,food, gas lantern and gas down to 15kg add 363g for my Friday lunch and 15.365kg would be my lightest pack to date still using my heavy duty gear as previously posted
c

[Penguin]

The BWT Strollers are doing a three day two night this coming weekend and owing to share gear tent,stove etc I have managed to get my Pack weight including water,wine 1 Lt brique,vodka 300 ml,food, gas lantern and gas down to 15kg add 363g for my Friday lunch and 15.365kg would be my lightest pack to date still using my heavy duty gear as previously posted
c

Corvus, just weighed my two day pack. I am at 12.8kg at the moment. Adding about another 350g of food, about 200g of toiletries and a yet to be determined amount of medicinal product. Hopefully will stay under the 14kg, but time will tell. There has to be something I have left out........

P

[olblackbilly]

a bit of charcoal is handy to clean your teeth,...other than that a pointy stick a sharp stone ,i wouldnt have any more essentials,....maybe a packet of cashews...

[corvus]

a bit of charcoal is handy to clean your teeth,...other than that a pointy stick a sharp stone ,i wouldnt have any more essentials,....maybe a packet of cashews...

oldbalckbilly how do you know I have teeth to clean and besides charcoal is hard to find in a fuel stove only area,cashews form part of my "scroggin" mix so why increase weight by including a packet
c

[Darren]

G'Day Corvus
Have you done your walk? You made a significant change to what you normally do, how did you go? Any probs, concerns?
Finally, would you do it again?
Thanks
Darren

[corvus]

G'day Darren,
Yes we did it and I could do it again supposing that you are referring to overall weight I still had 225g of "emergency " food left .
Winner energy bar,be natural nut delight bar,tea bags x3 ,cup of oats,cup of soup I also had 220g of "scroggin" left so I guess I could have gone for another day.
Overall weight wise sharing is the "go" on this trip I shared a "big "tent and stove billy which overall saved a considerable amount whist still using my normal heavy gear , I did not duplicate ,compass,map,GPS,lighter,nor did I carry excess bags .packaging etc.
I will do a total food breakdown for this trip and post later.
C

[corvus]

Three day two night walk "to a hut" total weight 11kg including eveything ,sans tent.
c

[flyfisher]

"Corvus wrote

Three day two night walk "to a hut" total weight 11kg including eveything ,sans tent.

At the current rate of pack lightening you'll be under 10kg in 2 or 3 more trips

FF

[frank_in_oz]

How does 11kg for the South Coast Track - including food sound?

I just put up a blog post with a trip report of a young woman who completed the SCT in 5 days (4 nights) who carried 11kg (unsure if that included water) - the post is here - http://frankinoz.blogspot.com/2009/03/s ... y-fit.html

What really blew me away was her Ironbound day - she walked Louisa Creek to Deadman's bay in 5 hrs, arriving there at 1130am. Since she was so early, she decided to continue on to New River Lagoon and the boat crossing. One very fit person.

Here is her gear list:

Gear: Tent, Fuel bottle, MSR stove, 2 x 32oz water bottles, mug, titanium pan, spoon, aluminum foil wind shield, aluminum foil pan lid, 2 x lighter, map, compass, whistle, loo roll, suntan lotion, lip goop, ear plugs, blister kit, safety pins, netting headnet, rucksack, rucksack cover, camp towel, anti inflamatories, pain killers, antibiotics, sleeping bag, 2 compactor liners to keep sleeping bag dry, zip locks for all night wear clothing, sleeping mat, sleeping mat compression strap, head torch.

Daily wear: trousers, sleeveless vest, shirt, jog bra, cagoule (aka rain jacket), 2 pairs of socks, boots, gaiters, gloves, woolly hat, sun hat with neck cape, over trousers, fleece, sun glasses

Night wear: lyra shorts, long johns, two shirts, 2 pairs of socks

[Darren]

G'Day
If you are fit enough, increasing you distance travelled per day can dramatically reduce you weight by reducing the fuel and food carried. Then this then leads to more distance etc.. This raises the question why you bushwalk, do you want to cover a lot of ground or do you just like getting out there. Each is fine depending on what you like. For me I just like getting out there, I will regularly hike only a couple of hours spend the night and go home in the morning just for a quiet evening in the bush. On longer trips having the flexibility to look around and take side trips is preferable. Going a little lighter can help you get to you nights stop a little earlier and less tired. This can give you a chance to have a bit of a look around.
To each there own
Darren

[frank_in_oz]

For me I just like getting out there, I will regularly hike only a couple of hours spend the night and go home in the morning just for a quiet evening in the bush. On longer trips having the flexibility to look around and take side trips is preferable. Going a little lighter can help you get to you nights stop a little earlier and less tired. This can give you a chance to have a bit of a look around.

Totally agree, our last trip was an Epiphany.

We planned to walk the SCT in 8 nights.

We ended up with:
1 night at Buoy Creek,
3 nights Louisa Bay,
1 night Louisa Creek
1 night between Faraway Creek and Buoy Creek
2 nights Melaleuka

We had a great time and it made us rethink any future trips. When we met the rest of our party in Hobart after they did the SCT they were trashed. We had had a great trip, nice lot of walking, easy days and a lot of fun. Highly recommended.