Pack weight

[Thewaz]

As a new walker with only a dozen or so walks inder my belt, 3 of which have been 3 dayers, Im still constantly learning and would love to know what is a reasonable weight to carry for a 3 day trek. With 3 lt of water in pack im normaly around 18kg start weight. Is this standard and what are other people carrying?

[pazzar]

18kg is pretty good. As you walk more you do acquire lighter gear. I just managed 13kg for a 2 night walk, but then I'm hoping to go sub 20kg for an upcoming 12 day walk. You probably don't need to carry 3L in all cases, which will get your weight down. Sometimes I'll rely on a 1L bottle to get me through, just refilling on the way. Of course there are places where 3L is necessary.

[Bill P]

Hi Thewaz,

Good on you. I reckon anything sub 20kg is 'luxury' but welcome to 'weight weenie' world !.

ATMO I'd get some scales, make up a spreadsheet and list everything in your bag. And then have a good, hard look at it.

That way you can make informed decisions on the gear you take, or choose to buy in future. You will delight in the trade off between comfort, safety and weight. Bill P.

[ninjapuppet]

As a general guide, i try to limit my maximum total pack weight such that the pack itself weighs no more than 10% of the total weight.
so if my total pack carried is 18kg, then I would select a pack that is around 1.8kg. Similarly, if my pack is 1100 grams, i try to limit my total carry weight to 11kg.
One of my 300 gram packs would struggle to carry 10kg while a 3kg macpac cascade could carry loads up to 30kg well.

There are exceptions when you start looking at cutting edge cottage designs, but i find this good starting point. So thewaz, if your pack is around 1.8kg, you shoud be fine to carry 18kg but if its an ultralight 200g pack, you will struggle.

[Dale]

As a general guide, i try to limit my maximum total pack weight such that the pack itself weighs no more than 10% of the total weight.
so if my total pack carried is 18kg, then I would select a pack that is around 1.8kg. Similarly, if my pack is 1100 grams, i try to limit my total carry weight to 11kg.
One of my 300 gram packs would struggle to carry 10kg while a 3kg macpac cascade could carry loads up to 30kg well.

There are exceptions when you start looking at cutting edge cottage designs, but i find this good starting point. So thewaz, if your pack is around 1.8kg, you shoud be fine to carry 18kg but if its an ultralight 200g pack, you will struggle.

That's an interesting way to look at pack weight and not something I'd considered before. To your point on cottage designs I've found my Six Moons Design Swift at 430g carries 6 - 7kg OK but with the hoop stay added - 120g - it's good to 12 - 13kg.

[Son of a Beach]

About 20 years ago, I used to consider 15 kg to be a difficult-to-achieve light weight. These days, I would say that 15 kg would be a fairly standard weight (for me), just because gear has gotten lighter and better, and many walkers carry much lighter loads (I'm far from a light weight walker). Adding on 3 litres of water would bring that up to 18 kg, so that sounds fairly standard, I guess (I'm lucky enough to have never needed to carry that much water - 2 litres is the most I've carried, and only needed that much on two walks).

(Disclaimer - I rarely weigh my pack, so my weights are usually just guesses)

[Tony]

Hi Thewaz,

This past winter I did a three day snowshoe trip on the Main Range around Mt Kosciuszko and my starting pack weight was around 12kg including 1200 mls of water, food, fuel to melt water and cook for two people, a PLB and GPS, the temperatures at night where very cold I am guessing it got down to around -15ºC and with my 12kg of gear I was very comfortable.

I summer for a three day walk in the Kosciuszko National Park my pack starting weight is usually around 8kg with around 2 liters of water, I have carried up to 5 liters of water at times but this only increases my pack weight to 11kg.

Tony

[Mountain Rocket]

ATMO I'd get some scales, make up a spreadsheet and list everything in your bag. And then have a good, hard look at it. .

This is the best advice as a means of cutting down your pack weight. It may sound extreme and a bit silly... but once you have the list of everything in front of you you really start asking questions. Is that extra (inset item here) worth it? Do I need to carry this? Things certainly become more relative. The idea that "Awww I will just throw this in, just encase" suddenly seems a lot more silly/unnecessary.

[Tofu_Imprint]

I find this to be one of the biggest challenges, that is pack weight.
When I first started hiking years ago, I would constantly carry too much weight and incorrectly load my pack (then wonder why I was sore or uncomfortable).
Thanks to forums like this, I learned how to adjust my pack correctly and of course find (and buy) a lot of light-weight gear.

My most recent hike was four days in NZ, I was carrying 18-20kg. I think many people would carry much less. Though I was solo and being very careful. E.g unnecessary tent.
The heaviest weight I have carried is 25kg which was doable but slow (was in snow and arduous terrain). We had heavy fresh food and a lot of camera equipment.

At the moment I favour large packs, I have a 95L wilderness equipment pack which in itself weighs 2.4kg. I feel much more at home in a larger, heavier pack because I am used to using one for work.
As to whether or not it is ideal for everything I do, most certainly not.
It's a constant learning curve, at one point I do mean to get the scales out and create a spreadsheet to share/review.

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

I'm doing 8 days on 18kg in February. Your pack weight sounds reasonable to me.

I carry 2.5L water per day in Tasmania, unless it's a shorter day, then I'll carry less.

The other thing I think is important is bulk. A big, puffy marshmallow type pack that hangs out 30-40cm behind your back which is 18kg will be a hell of a lot more stress and strain on your back/neck than an 18kg pack which is packed tight, close and flat to your back. Even if you can't get the weight down much, if you can buy compact gear it will help you pack smaller and closer to your body.

I've carried two differerent 20kg packs in one day, both had great harnesses... but one felt like 20kg, the other felt like 30kg because it was puffy and hung out way behind.

The 25% of your body weight is a good place to start. I'm a 30 year old male, quite fit, but only weigh 60kg, so that rule only leaves me 15kg to play with - not much more than 3-4 days. But I can carry 20kg quite comfortably... so that's getting up around 33% of body weight.

[juju]

I was very pleased with myself recently when I realized I was carrying a 14k pack with enough food for 9 days in. I was carrying 3 season gear and 2 liters of water. I took nothing I didn't use, layered clothes with only a spare pair of socks. My pack weighed 1.4k empty. But I'm sure with the right gear I could get even lighter. It sure beats the 20k I carried on a 10 day hike in Tassie more than 20 years ago. That was with heavy army issue wool shirt, wool jumper, wool pants etc etc.

[Tofu_Imprint]

Out of interest, how do you guys go carrying 4 season gear? I find I can fill a large pack quite quickly when I have my 4 season sleeping bag, tent and sleeping mat.

[Macca81]

My 4 season gear is almost the same as my 3 season gear.
until recently, i had a '3 season' tent that i would use year round. weighs too much so that has now been replaced by a hammock which is yet untried in winter... ill get back to you on that one...
Mat, year round is a 3/4 thermarest, i have a small piece of blue CCF that goes under my feet at night and under my bum during the day. The mat has also made way for the hammock mind you...
Sleeping bag, is a quilt. it gets me down to freezing with no hassles, and at around 700g it is light enough that i dont feel a summer bag is needed, i just stick a foot or 3 out when its hot.

[Bluegum Mic]

Yes Im with macca there (thankfully). The only changes I make between 3 season to four (and it has to be below -2) is I would take both my down sleeping bag and my Rab top bag. So that only adds an extra 500g. If above the snowline I would take my msr twin sisters which only weighs 200g more than my golite SL3 (700g). Both tents have nests that I take that weigh around 500g. I also now have a hammock too but my shelters are very light so weight is not the big advantage with my hammock....its the comfort

[ULWalkingPhil]

In March of this year, I went hiking in the Sydney area for 4 weeks, my pack weight was in excess of 20 kg. carrying a 4-season 3.5kg tent, a 1.2 kg sleeping pad and a almost 2 kg sleeping bag, as well as a 3kg pack and a 800 gram water filter.

After that trip, the first thing I did when I arrived back home is replaced almost all my hiking gear with lighter items.

I now use a hammock at a fraction of the weight of my tent, and so much more comfy than a tent. My new quilt is a -7 bag and weighs 600 grams. I still use the same water filter.

My base pack weight is now 10.5 kg, that's with a 2.5 kg pack and the filter, so there's potential to get that pack weight down even lighter.

On my last overnight hike, my total pack weight was 14 kg, and that was with almost 4 litres of water.

[ULWalkingPhil]

The base weight of 10.5 kg. includes two GPS units, a digital camera etc. I've in the past few days replaced my digital camera with a lighter option, a mobile phone with a 8 megapixel camera built in and it only weighs 115 grams. I've also saved a further almost half a kg by replacing my aluminium water containers with plastic bottles. So my base pack load, should now be less than 10kg, but I have also added a Amazon Kindle to my hiking kit.

[tasadam]

Out of interest, how do you guys go carrying 4 season gear? I find I can fill a large pack quite quickly when I have my 4 season sleeping bag, tent and sleeping mat.

Get an extra-large pack?
Seriously tho, I try not to weigh my pack without the camera gear, because it would remind me how stupid I am. But on any overnight walk, it's always over 20KG with some camera stuff. I can honestly say that at the moment I don't know what the base weight is without cam gear.
Heaviest start to a 15 day walk was about 32 kg with water, that was too heavy but got lighter fairly quickly.
8 day walk was about 27 from memory.
About 22 kg for an overnighter with cam gear.

I should add, that's with my wife, sharing cooking gear and tent, she carries a pack as well, typically between 19 and 22kg. That's with more camera gear as well...

[Tofu_Imprint]

Out of interest, how do you guys go carrying 4 season gear? I find I can fill a large pack quite quickly when I have my 4 season sleeping bag, tent and sleeping mat.

Get an extra-large pack?
Seriously tho, I try not to weigh my pack without the camera gear, because it would remind me how stupid I am. But on any overnight walk, it's always over 20KG with some camera stuff. I can honestly say that at the moment I don't know what the base weight is without cam gear.
Heaviest start to a 15 day walk was about 32 kg with water, that was too heavy but got lighter fairly quickly.
8 day walk was about 27 from memory.
About 22 kg for an overnighter with cam gear.

I should add, that's with my wife, sharing cooking gear and tent, she carries a pack as well, typically between 19 and 22kg. That's with more camera gear as well...

Sounds like similar weights to me.
I thought 95L was big enough! I have looked at huge packs like the gregory denali from the US before, perhaps this year I will try one.
Cam gear is always an issue, especially if you want to carry a DSLR and spare lens. If I want to go pure lightweight cam gear I take a gopro and thats it. But no viewfinder and its not for the purists!

My 4 season gear is almost the same as my 3 season gear.
until recently, i had a '3 season' tent that i would use year round. weighs too much so that has now been replaced by a hammock which is yet untried in winter... ill get back to you on that one...
Mat, year round is a 3/4 thermarest, i have a small piece of blue CCF that goes under my feet at night and under my bum during the day. The mat has also made way for the hammock mind you...
Sleeping bag, is a quilt. it gets me down to freezing with no hassles, and at around 700g it is light enough that i dont feel a summer bag is needed, i just stick a foot or 3 out when its hot.

Curious to know how the hammock performs in winter, especially if it snows.

I am too attached to my tent (nemo tenshi) to let it go, though I would save a lot of weight...

[Tas01]

Hello
I have got my multiday system complete Total with food/worn clothing to 9.4kg. This is all relative to how much food/water and type food being carried and the weather you might experience.

I usually take the same items all year round except for sleeping bag depending how cold its going to get. Wet weather Shell gear stays the same etc..

I have attached a spread sheet with two columns, one from a 6day overland trip and the other column with current items that I use for same extended multiday trips for comparison.
Red indicates the gear that needs replacing and green was the replacement purchased.

Hope this helps.

[etrangere]

Minus food/water my pack can weigh anywhere from 8kg to 18kg depending on which bits of gear i choose ie bivy vs tent, jetboil vs trangia etc.

The main weight in your pack here in WA can be WATER.....being scarce in many areas I have had to carry 6 - 8 liters at times, thats the real killer.

[ULWalkingPhil]

In regards to Hammock camping in the snow, plenty of Americans rave on about it and look forward to the snow so they can go hammock camping. Surround yourself in down. Down under quilt and down top quilt. and use one of the tarps with doors on the ends.

[Macca81]

I look forward to it! Just as soon as i make a down uq... The old sleeping bag works, but i think 5 degrees is about its lower limit...

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

[Ticklebelly]

I just don't have that much experience, so for what it is worth - My first serious 4night/5 day walk was with a pack weight of 15.5kg. My pack for a 3night/4day next week is coming in at 11.5kgs, with 2.3 litres of water. I got a lighter sleeping bag, saved a full kilo using a different pack, and decided that spare outer clothes are only necessary if you are a sissy. I just use a couple of Yoga mats to sleep on (300g), but do have a reasonable tent. Next week's walk is expected to be in minimum temps (overnight) of 14 and daytime, maybe up to 30. Walking along a hinterland creek with crystal clear water is also an advantage as I'm only carrying some water treatment tabs and will set off each day with 2 litres ready to drink and treat more on the track. Wanting to carry serious camera gear, and needing to carry several days water, make it hard to get the weight down.

I'm in awe of those who carry 18k and up, I did handle the 15.5kg OK but don't want to carry much more than that, eva! I do have plans to do the Overland at some stage and might have to adjust my attitude at that time to be prepared for all weather conditions. Qld rules! OK. I am even thinking that I could dump the sleeping bag in favour of trackky daks, big socks, and a fleece top. Would only save another 400g but every gram is to my advantage. Those kinds of changes and a tarp tent (say 700g) could get me under 10kg.

Ticklebelly.

[Thewaz]

Thanks for all the great info, Im doing a 2 night walk across Mt Bogong climbing the staircase and horse ridge granny spur so I would like to drop a few kgs and try and keep my pack under 15kg including water.

[ignavus davus]

As a new walker with only a dozen or so walks inder my belt, 3 of which have been 3 dayers, Im still constantly learning and would love to know what is a reasonable weight to carry for a 3 day trek. With 3 lt of water in pack im normaly around 18kg start weight. Is this standard and what are other people carrying?

18Kg is reasonable if youre comfortable carrying it and you're not carrying stuff that you don't use (with the exception of safety equpment like first aid kits which you need to carry even if you have never needed to use it). I'd rarely start a 3 day walk with less than 20Kg plus water, but I can comfortably carry that weight. I like to carry some 'extras' for comfort at the expence of weight (eg. tarp to sit under if it is raining; larger than necessary tent; more roomy rectangular sleeing bag (I hate mummy shape); camera equipment; port or bourbon; book (normally nearng 500g); runners for camp rather than thongs). It all comes down to personal preference - I'd rather carry more and be more comfortable but travel less each day if necessary. I also like to eat - I wouldn't go with less than 800g per day and often carry over 1Kg per day (fresh food) if on shorter walks up to 2 or 3 nights. Tas01 obviously has different preferences - 410g of food for 2 full days would make me miserable. So in short, yeah I'd say 18Kg with water is pretty good.

Dave.