Loaded day pack weight

[guitarpreston]

What’s your loaded out day pack weigh? Gearing up for a high country mule deer hunt in sept and mines getting chunky for dark to dark day hunts.
Contents, mymedic myfak, puffy, kill kit (mostly), stove, fixed blade knife, silky saw, tp roll, grunt tube, thermacell, gaiters, tripod, spotter, and trekking poles. Current weight 32 pounds

Obviously I have some stuff I’m going to pull out of there like the grunt tube and thermacell, but need to add a few things as well such as water filtration, and food.

 

[TaperPin]

Somewhere around 30 lbs is normal for me, but I haven’t been packing a tripod, stove, saw, gaiters. Looks like you’re well geared up - September is by far my favorite time to chase mulies.

Many of my friends who go a lot lighter, have never had to spend the night somewhere with only what’s in your pack. At least for me, running out of food drops the comfort level dramatically and makes it noticeably harder to stay warm, so it makes sense to have 24 hours of food leaving camp. Same for water.

 

[guitarpreston]

Somewhere around 30 lbs is normal for me, but I haven’t been packing a tripod, stove, saw, gaiters. Looks like you’re well geared up - September is by far my favorite time to chase mulies.

Many of my friends who go a lot lighter, have never had to spend the night somewhere with only what’s in your pack. At least for me, running out of food drops the comfort level dramatically and makes it noticeably harder to stay warm, so it makes sense to have 24 hours of food leaving camp. Same for water.

I know the gaiters will either be on or in the truck, the thermacell and likely the saw but in reality that’s likely less than 5 lbs of stuff I can trim out. Def want enough food and a tarp where I can spend an uncomfortable night out if absolutely necessary. But I’d really rather not.

 

[tann435]

That is about right, with water purification you can save by packing less water (if you have hydrology in your area to fill up)

 

[Marble]

"Contents, mymedic myfak, puffy, kill kit (mostly), stove, fixed blade knife, silky saw, tp roll, grunt tube, thermacell, gaiters, tripod, spotter, and trekking poles. Current weight 32"

My first guess when looking at your list, you have too much stuff.

I would remove the stove, fixed blade knife, saw, tp roll, grunt tube (you will never need this for mule deer)

Tripod-that thing looks like a tank.
Gaiters, I only carry if there is weather. Other guys wear them daily.

For newer people, they tend to subscribe to the "good idea fairy" meaning, they take a bunch of stuff that they might need. Don't pack your fears. 32 pounds is wear some guys are at for 4-5 days in the woods.

For reference, when I carry 3-4 liters of water, during rifle season, my pack weight will be around 22 pounds. That weight will also vary depending on what food I am eating.

I would break down the list further and post it. Individual items and weights and you can hear our opinions if you want.

Knowing if it is rifle or archery, early or late, can also help with gear list.



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[huntnful]

What’s your loaded out day pack weigh? Gearing up for a high country mule deer hunt in sept and mines getting chunky for dark to dark day hunts.
Contents, mymedic myfak, puffy, kill kit (mostly), stove, fixed blade knife, silky saw, tp roll, grunt tube, thermacell, gaiters, tripod, spotter, and trekking poles. Current weight 32 pounds

Obviously I have some stuff I’m going to pull out of there like the grunt tube and thermacell, but need to add a few things as well such as water filtration, and food.

I’d definitely ditch the stove (leave it at camp for dinners). No need for the saw, grunt tube or thermacell either. Don’t need a whole roll of toilet paper either. My tripod is 3lbs, if yours is heavier than that, there are much better, pretty cheap options to drop some weight there.

I just carry some bandaids and super glue. That would save you some good weight over a whole medic kit as well.

 

[sndmn11]

What’s your loaded out day pack weigh? Gearing up for a high country mule deer hunt in sept and mines getting chunky for dark to dark day hunts.
Contents, mymedic myfak, puffy, kill kit (mostly), stove, fixed blade knife, silky saw, tp roll, grunt tube, thermacell, gaiters, tripod, spotter, and trekking poles. Current weight 32 pounds

Obviously I have some stuff I’m going to pull out of there like the grunt tube and thermacell, but need to add a few things as well such as water filtration, and food.

Lay ALL your stuff out and take a picture. "Kill kit" is probably a dozen different things, of which half can be taken out. Same with the med kit probably.

32lbs is a lot.

 

[huntnful]

Lay ALL your stuff out and take a picture. "Kill kit" is probably a dozen different things, of which half can be taken out. Same with the med kit probably.

32lbs is a lot.

Good point. My “kill kit” is 3 game bags and a pair of gloves.

 

[guitarpreston]

it’s an archery hunt. Tripod and spotter together weigh 5 pounds. Forgot there is rain gear in there as well and a softshell vest

 

[rcb2000]

Not a weight thing, but what’s the grunt tube for? Never heard of anyone grunting in a mule deer,, especially before the rut.

 

[TaperPin]

I know the gaiters will either be on or in the truck, the thermacell and likely the saw but in reality that’s likely less than 5 lbs of stuff I can trim out. Def want enough food and a tarp where I can spend an uncomfortable night out if absolutely necessary. But I’d really rather not.

Way back, hunter’s safety instructors used to recommend all the kids get their recommended survival gear together and talk a parent into driving up to 9,000’ and spending a night in the woods with them, only using a daypack. For a kid it was an adventure and we learned a lot. As an adult it’s fun to take someone who’s interested in learning basic survival stuff out and doing the same thing. “What do you mean we’re going to be out all night!?!”

 

[Koda_]

The only reason you'd have to stay overnight unplanned is if a serious injury that immobilized you. Take all that medic and overnight/survival stuff and leave in the truck and get an SOS device like inreach. A lighter pack is a safer person because less fatigue at the end of the day you have more mental and physical energy to do whatever needs to be done.

 

[guitarpreston]

Not a weight thing, but what’s the grunt tube for? Never heard of anyone grunting in a mule deer,, especially before the rut.

Just haven’t taken it out yet lol

 

[TaperPin]

The only reason you'd have to stay overnight unplanned is if a serious injury that immobilized you. Take all that medic and overnight/survival stuff and leave in the truck and get an SOS device like inreach. A lighter pack is a safer person because less fatigue at the end of the day you have more mental and physical energy to do whatever needs to be done.

In areas with a lot of nearby brush filled avalanche chutes, steep rock slides, small cliff faces, or deceptively steep slopes if wet weather turns night into pure black and someone gets turned around it can be safer to stay put until morning. Every year many people fall down something they should never have attempted trying to bushwhack back to camp, at least in western WY. Nothing in this entire photo is passable.

 

[Koda_]

In areas with a lot of nearby brush filled avalanche chutes, steep rock slides, small cliff faces, or deceptively steep slopes if wet weather turns night into pure black and someone gets turned around it can be safer to stay put until morning. Every year many people fall down something they should never have attempted trying to bushwhack back to camp, at least in western WY. Nothing in this entire photo is passable.View attachment 722297

Wilderness navigation is a skill set of a whole different topic, nothing in ones pack will teach. Id say if someone is not familiar with wilderness navigation including night navigation then maybe its not a bad idea to bring some things to uncomfortably get thru a night but that doesn't eliminate they are getting in over their head. An unplanned bivy means an error was made.

 

[schmalzy]

What’s your loaded out day pack weigh? Gearing up for a high country mule deer hunt in sept and mines getting chunky for dark to dark day hunts.
Contents, mymedic myfak, puffy, kill kit (mostly), stove, fixed blade knife, silky saw, tp roll, grunt tube, thermacell, gaiters, tripod, spotter, and trekking poles. Current weight 32 pounds

Obviously I have some stuff I’m going to pull out of there like the grunt tube and thermacell, but need to add a few things as well such as water filtration, and food.

Do you have two lids? Looks like the RG lid is laying on top of another lid?

I’d consider dropping the middle lid/pouch and the Sherman pouch as well. I have you weighed your pack and frame and all pockets? Probably pushing 10 pounds right there.

Agreed with others on ditching the grunt tube and thermacell. Would also ditch the soft shell vest you mentioned.


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[guitarpreston]

Do you have two lids? Looks like the RG lid is laying on top of another lid?

I’d consider dropping the middle lid/pouch and the Sherman pouch as well. I have you weighed your pack and frame and all pockets? Probably pushing 10 pounds right there.

Agreed with others on ditching the grunt tube and thermacell. Would also ditch the soft shell vest you mentioned.


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That’s two small pockets I have my rain gear stuffed in to leave room for food in the main bag. Would 100% guess the bare pack is 10.

 

[mtwarden]

Are you driving in each day or packing in and hunting out of a spike camp?

It would be a lot easier for to make suggestions if you list everything and their weights in something like lighterpack.com
and it’s free

 

[guitarpreston]

Are you driving in each day or packing in and hunting out of a spike camp?

It would be a lot easier for to make suggestions if you list everything and their weights in something like lighterpack.com
and it’s free

Base camp out of truck and hiking in.

 

[mtwarden]

What’s the volume of your main pack alone?

Looks like several too many extra pockets for a day hunt unless it’s a very small volume pack.