Guided Sheep Hunt - packing list and weight critique

[ejs21]

Yep but that includes everything worn as well (boots clothes etc). Skin out weight.

Pack weight with water and food around 60.


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Lots of great insight from everyone here! Your list is very similar to what I haul around. I've found it to be no problem to carry for an extended hunt. No matter how hard you try it will be hard to get below 55lbs with food and water for a hunt that long.
You could go lighter on an item or two but I wouldn't sweat it. If theres a piece of gear or a comfort item that will make the hunt more enjoyable, bring it. Go have fun!

 

[schmalzy]

I’d say 7.3 ounces is significant. Have you looked at how hard it would be to shorten it up? That could drop a cool 12 ounces total (counting the use of the ball head) off your original tripod weight. For free. Most hardware stores sell rubber feet & such. There is probably one that fits. If you have a caliper I’d try the following.
- sit (or kneel) with your optic mounted. Remember you’ll want it a tad long in case it is below you (downhill) when glassing.

-pull out the legs starting with the top ones.

-see how many leg sections you could do without.

-measure the bottom section with your caliper and find out if there is a cap/rubber foot available.

-remove leg sections and glue caps on with super glue.

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[Wyobohunter]

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Nice. Is that with the ball head attached? Out of curiosity, what is the total difference?

 

[schmalzy]

Nice. Is that with the ball head attached? Out of curiosity, what is the total difference?

That’s with ball head. From original setup to now it 14oz. Pretty significant.

I think from when I first posted to where I’m sitting now I’m almost 5 pounds lighter. Significant.


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[Wyobohunter]

Now, to helium purge that spotter

 

[schmalzy]

Now, to helium purge that spotter

The akto has a footprint on it which is like a pound. I already cut the zipper pulls and other metal off of it. I’m going to experiment with some tyvek or something for a lighter footprint. Its too damn easy right now as the foot print stays on it and makes it easy.

I think my wife would literally kill me if I brought home another tent.

If I can find the hose adapters for the platypus bladder/bottles I’ll give those a try.


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[AK Troutbum]

Here’s a few options to shave some wt.
Stove system.

Silex w/10 stakes and cordage.

.308 Kimber Adirondack w/Tally's and UL Leuopold

Kestrel mountain scalpel

Kowa TSN 553 w/Akto tripod

Kestrel S/S knife set.

10* EE down quilt.

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[Wyobohunter]

Have you considered just not using a footprint? I’ve never used or owned a Hilleberg but from what I’ve read they are bomber. I bet the footprint is superfluous. You’ll probably be setting up on grassy type areas and I bet that Akto has a really tough bathtub floor. If the footprint is a whole pound I’d have a real hard time justifying it. And… free.

I looked it up. Hilleberg lists the footprint at 9 ounces. If it were me I’d ditch it and not replace it with something else. You’ve made a noticeable dent in pack weight. Most people could feel 5-6 lbs if they had the packs side by side. I have no idea how experienced you are in the mountains so I apologize if this is already obvious. Talus slopes (aka rockslides ) are tricky to negotiate. Every bit of weight you can ditch makes you safer on them.

 

[Wyobohunter]

If you haven’t seen it. Check out this calories burned calculator and play around with pack weight. This one doesn’t account for elevation, it’s just the first one that popped up.

Calories Burned Hiking Calculator

Use our calories burned hiking calculator to work out how many calories you can burn hiking with or without a backpack and on various terrains.

caloriesburnedhq.com

 

[Wyobohunter]

I wouldn’t even think twice about keeping the spare ammo. You probably have it listed for a good reason. One of those for me is if you bump your scope and need to confirm you are still sighted in.

That bino harness is a little chunky. A super cheap one can be made out of paracord. Then you can wear it for a while and see if it’d work for you. Mine is kind of a copy of the Rick Young but with double the cordage on the weight bearing spots. Let me know if you are interested in seeing that. It looks much like this, and works the same. There is a video in this link.

Basic Ultra-light Bino Harness

Get the best Bino Harness straps and accessories for hunting including bino cover, vertical rack, lens cleaner, DVD titles and more for outdoor activities. Browse our binocular gears and order now!

rickyoungoutdoors.com

 

[schmalzy]

Have you considered just not using a footprint? I’ve never used or owned a Hilleberg but from what I’ve read they are bomber. I bet the footprint is superfluous. You’ll probably be setting up on grassy type areas and I bet that Akto has a really tough bathtub floor. If the footprint is a whole pound I’d have a real hard time justifying it. And… free.

I looked it up. Hilleberg lists the footprint at 9 ounces. If it were me I’d ditch it and not replace it with something else. You’ve made a noticeable dent in pack weight. Most people could feel 5-6 lbs if they had the packs side by side. I have no idea how experienced you are in the mountains so I apologize if this is already obvious. Talus slopes (aka rockslides ) are tricky to negotiate. Every bit of weight you can ditch makes you safer on them.

At this point I’ll probably leave it off, need to test run it some though. Ive read from a few guys it helps with condensation mitigation.

I’m definitely not a highly experienced mountain hunter, I appreciate all the ideas and advice. Some of it I already knew/experienced, but a lot of it I haven’t. Never been to AK before. Done a few diy trips in the Southwest which was definitely rugged but cold or other weather never a big worry. Backpacked in the sierras 10 years ago enough to know that I want to be as light as reasonably practical.

Going to stick with bino harness. I’ve tried others and they’ve annoyed the hell out of me. This one works.


Been a wealth of knowledge and experience on these threads. I may not take every piece of advice or direction but I’ve certainly taken a bunch and know I’ll have a better experience because of it.

 

[ejs21]

Schmalzy just a thought... you might want to see how everything fits in that pack. I have the 6900 and found its a tight squeeze for 10 days. Ended up getting myself the 900ci attachment bag to make it work better

 

[schmalzy]

Schmalzy just a thought... you might want to see how everything fits in that pack. I have the 6900 and found its a tight squeeze for 10 days. Ended up getting myself the 900ci attachment bag to make it work better

Absolutely. This is in the works, just need to buy 10 days worth of food. I’ve packed everything else up before and THINK I’ll be good, but need to confirm.

I don’t know if we will realistically head out for 10 days without a resupply or coming back to a spike camp etc but want to be prepared for it.


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[Wyobohunter]

Ive read from a few guys it helps with condensation mitigation.

That’s only in the vestibule. I’ve never had a problem with vestibule condensation from ground moisture evaporation.

 

[ejs21]

Absolutely. This is in the works, just need to buy 10 days worth of food. I’ve packed everything else up before and THINK I’ll be good, but need to confirm.

I don’t know if we will realistically head out for 10 days without a resupply or coming back to a spike camp etc but want to be prepared for it.


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More than likely you will head out with half and get a food drop later, but definitely good to know if you can handle it all at once

 

[mtwarden]

Not sure who your hunting with, but I was told we'll only be bringing 5-6 days of food and be resupplied (if needed). My thought is if that's the case, I'll leave spare base layers, spare charger, etc behind as well. They can bring them in with the resupply- if there is was one.

I weighed the removal of my lower legs and the tall center piece and it shaved a little over 6 oz; that's carbon would be even a little more with aluminum.

My ball head vs the VA-5 is a savings of 10 oz. I still want to do a lot of comparing with the pan head vs the ball head with the spotter (with just bino's the ball head is fine)

 

[MattB]

I personally would dump the spotter/tripod and the footprint (or at least replace it with Tyvek). I've been on 5 dall hunts and have probably spent 10 minutes behind the guide's spotter on all of them combined. That is a lot of weight for what amounted to me as very little use.

 

[schmalzy]

I personally would dump the spotter/tripod and the footprint (or at least replace it with Tyvek). I've been on 5 dall hunts and have probably spent 10 minutes behind the guide's spotter on all of them combined. That is a lot of weight for what amounted to me as very little use.

Going to try the tyvek route.

On your hunts, was there just not a lot of time judging or was everything pretty apparent?

Thanks for the feedback.


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[MattB]

Going to try the tyvek route.

On your hunts, was there just not a lot of time judging or was everything pretty apparent?

Thanks for the feedback.


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There were times judging was required, but that was all on the guide. The guide would make the determination and then have me look through the spotter so I could see what they were describing.

 

[schmalzy]

Here’s a few options to shave some wt.
Stove system.

Silex w/10 stakes and cordage.

.308 Kimber Adirondack w/Tally's and UL Leuopold

Kestrel mountain scalpel

Kowa TSN 553 w/Akto tripod

Kestrel S/S knife set.

10* EE down quilt.

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That Adirondack is a sweet set up. Definitely on my list for acquiring one day.


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