Make My Pack More Efficient

[FrankAbagnale]

I wouldn’t get too wound up about the rifle weight. Yes, the veil is on the heavy side, but it’s also awesome...so there you go.

Haha true! I love this gun.

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Your list looks pretty dialed. You could save about 9.5 ounces by carrying a one liter seltzer water bottle and aquatabs instead of nalgene and steripen and getting a lighter pot. Also, 5.64 ounces seems like a lot of toilet paper. Hope this helps. Have fun.

Oh for sure. And yeah I just weighed a full roll of TP but I’m not gonna end up bringing that much. I’ll look into lighter pots but this is a pretty dang small and light titanium pot!

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Looks great, but you can save many pounds pretty safely with some compromise.

- 1 liter water = 35.3 oz, not 32.2
- Smart Water bottle saves 3 oz over Nalgene
- Sub Sawyer Squeeze for Steripen. Saves 2 oz plus can put right on top of Smart bottle or bladder.
- Do you need the spotting scope?
- 2"-3" rain for entire month of May. O.R. Helium rain shell is 6 oz. Sub it for the Cloudburst?
- Do you need puffies in May? Depends on altitude I guess.
- Make sure your Bro also brings a lighter! Personally I'm never without 3 sources of fire. 3 mini Bics are great for the weight. Stored loose, a Bic can completely drain if button accidentally pressed. Ask me how I know.
- Lose the gun cover? It's a Tikka. Electrician tape barrel tip.

Sub fats for some of those sweets and gain calories while losing weight.

* Why no warm gloves? 40 degree nights and possible cold days.

All great advice! I do have extra lighter and matches in my random med kit. I do have a sawyer squeeze (not the mini) and it was like .02 ounces more than the steripen.

I most definitely won’t need the puffy pants during the day. The reason I was thinking of bringing them is I’m packing my WM Caribou over my Antelope. That saves me a ton of weight but is pushing it for comfort if it gets too cold. As I get closer and have a better idea of weather, I’ll make the final call.

I’m going to do a change up on my menu for sure. The biggest reasons I bring the sweets is because I’m a Type 1 diabetic. With all the hiking it’s hard to keep my blood sugar up so the candy bars help with that.

*Thanks for pointing out the gloves! I was just gonna bring my lightweight Sitka gloves but forgot to add them to my list.

 

[FrankAbagnale]

looks dialed to me. Food would be different for me. Like someone else said maybe ease up on the sugar. I usually pack a peak Refuel or mtn house ( prefer the peak) then the rest of the day is a MTN OPS bar or pro bar, double serving of almonds, double serving of Fritos, a couple nature valley coconut butter biscuits, jerky, cheese, a couple honey stingers, a couple Justin PB or almond butter packets, instant coffee, and a MTN OPS ignite packet. Fat is 9 cal per gram protein and carbs are 4 cal per gram. So I lean on fat. I’m down to about 1.25lbs of food per day for 2700 calories.

Yeah for sure. Definitely a good point. I get scared of not having some of the sugar just because my blood sugar tanks when I’m hiking and as a type 1 diabetic, low blood sugar out in the wilderness is no bueno.

 

[Marbles]

Consider putting an arca rail on your rifle. Dump the bipod and use you tripod for longer shots or trekking poles for closer in.

A Snow Peak GS-100 is about 1 ounce lighter (it is also more fuel efficient than the Pocket Rocket). There ar some sub 2 ounce stoves, but I have not used any, so hesitate to recommend them.

Rain fly could be replaced with a contractor trashbag. Though if the material of your pack absorbs water (all nylon) it could end up heavier in the end. Droping the pack lid, as already stated.

Switching to an SO pack in Spectra would save a pound or so, but there is more than wieght to consider with such a change.

I like my x-therm and have no intention of going with a lighter pad personally, but you could drop up to a half pound there.

That is a good FSO wieght, hard to improve on it in any meaningful way as it is down to shaving grams or switching to a UL mentally (something I'm not on board with).

 

[huntfishtrap]

One quick tip for weight savings is instead of taking a pillow use a drybag that you carry to stuff with clothes your not wearing at night. I always use dry bags for clothes so its nice to cut one item when possible.

 

[FrankAbagnale]

So I updated my food list and I think I'm on the right track. I weighed everything out and split up each day individually because my dinners are all a bit different. I'm still a little scared to drop the candy bars in case my blood sugar drops, which it most likely will.

Breakfast: Greenbelly Bar x 2 = 5.47 oz (660 Calories)
Lunch: Tortilla with peanut butter x 2 = 4.5 oz (600 Calories)
Dinner: Mountain House or Heathers Choices = 4.9 oz AVG (558 Calories AVG)
Snack: Honey Stinger x 2 = 2.4 oz (300 Calories)
Snack: Snickers = 2.07 oz (250 Calories)
Snack: Milky Way = 1.84 oz (264 Calories)
Snack: Dried Banana & Mango = 3oz (380 Calories)

That brings me to 1.5 lbs per day and an average of 3,012 calories a day. Total of 9.1 lbs for 6 days.

I've slightly adjusted my gear and that gets me to 26.22 oz. Full pack weight with gear, food, and weapon is 46.16 lbs.

I was planning on trash compacter bag for inside my pack. Has anyone used the Metcalf in heavy rain? It is made with 500D Cordura (Nylon). I could definitely save almost 4 oz with dropping the rain fly.

 

[Dos Perros]

I notice you have 6" tortillas specified. You might consider going to a leaner, more streamlined "street taco" tortilla at 5" diameter.

Think about it, you could reduce 1" in diameter (a 17% reduction in diameter) and get a 30% reduction in weight.

 

[FrankAbagnale]

I notice you have 6" tortillas specified. You might consider going to a leaner, more streamlined "street taco" tortilla at 5" diameter.

Think about it, you could reduce 1" in diameter (a 17% reduction in diameter) and get a 30% reduction in weight.

I love it! Great idea.

 

[Hoythews71]

Recommend Leuko tape in case you start getting blisters. I bring 2x Bic lighters, and wrap them with Leuko that I can take off as needed (kind of like your pen wrapped with electrical tape).

Food, I'm not really a breakfast guy, but I made high calorie protein shakes packaged individually for mid morning, put them in the little half sized ziploc bags, and carried them in to the tent site in my Nalgene bottle.
1 scoop vanilla protein
1 tablespoon milk powder
1 tablespoon crushed chia seeds
10x crushed macadamia nuts
1 pouch Fat Bomb MCT oil
Mix it all with water, and its a meal in itself. I was close to 500 calories each, but depends on the protein.

Check out the Fat Bomb MCT and nut butter packets. I think they're way better than Justin's.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Why are you bringing bear spray on a rifle hunt? And ditch the gun cover. It's a Tikka. Other than that, you look dialed.

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Why are you bringing bear spray on a rifle hunt? And ditch the gun cover. It's a Tikka. Other than that, you look dialed.

Man yeah there are supposed to be grizz in the area. You definitely make a good point though. I'm not sure how quickly I could get my gun off my pack, a bullet loaded, and fire if a grizz was coming at me.

If I ditch the bear spray, gun cover, and pack cover that would save 19.58 oz. So that is a pretty big deal.

 

[Marbles]

Man yeah there are supposed to be grizz in the area. You definitely make a good point though. I'm not sure how quickly I could get my gun off my pack, a bullet loaded, and fire if a grizz was coming at me.

If I ditch the bear spray, gun cover, and pack cover that would save 19.58 oz. So that is a pretty big deal.

A Kifaru Gun Bearer could give you quick enough access to justify dropping the bear spray. Personally I am trying an across chest sling carry as I found with a short barrel the Gun Bearer resulted in my muzzle being uncomfortably close to my head when moving through really thick brush and if moving up hill the Gun Bearer results in the person in front of me being swept with the muzzle. It provides fast access though and is a comfortable way to carry a gun and put the weight on your pack.

The real issue is will you keep your rifle close enough while dressing a kill? This is probably the time when your risk is highest, plus you are not focused on your environment. A rifle three steps away can be useless; just ask Gene Moe.

If you do not separate from your partner, and as a team you can be disciplined enough that one of you always has a rifle within arms reach, go ahead a drop it.

One could argue that bear attacks are rare and concern about them are a waste of effort. Most people with this attitude will survive just fine. Personally, even with the low odds of an attack, I don't want my daughters saying "yea my dad died because he did not want to carry 12 ounces with him."

You could get more weight savings by splitting a rifle, a handgun, and one can of bear spray between you and your partner and be safer from a bear perspective. Most people on here would not even consider sharing a rifle to save weight, just shows that we all have things we consider worth the effort to carry.

 

[j33]

A Kifaru Gun Bearer could give you quick enough access to justify dropping the bear spray. Personally I am trying an across chest sling carry as I found with a short barrel the Gun Bearer resulted in my muzzle being uncomfortably close to my head when moving through really thick brush and if moving up hill the Gun Bearer results in the person in front of me being swept with the muzzle. It provides fast access though and is a comfortable way to carry a gun and put the weight on your pack.

The real issue is will you keep your rifle close enough while dressing a kill? This is probably the time when your risk is highest, plus you are not focused on your environment. A rifle three steps away can be useless; just ask Gene Moe.

If you do not separate from your partner, and as a team you can be disciplined enough that one of you always has a rifle within arms reach, go ahead a drop it.

One could argue that bear attacks are rare and concern about them are a waste of effort. Most people with this attitude will survive just fine. Personally, even with the low odds of an attack, I don't want my daughters saying "yea my dad died because he did not want to carry 12 ounces with him."

You could get more weight savings by splitting a rifle, a handgun, and one can of bear spray between you and your partner and be safer from a bear perspective. Most people on here would not even consider sharing a rifle to save weight, just shows that we all have things we consider worth the effort to carry.

My bear spray and holder is 8oz in case you wanna look at other cans. Not sure what design mine is.

My scope cover is 1oz vs guns cover 9oz so rarely take that.

 

[Metzger]

place the Leopold with KOWA 553 15-45 @ 29OZ saves almost 14oz

Leupold 12-40x60 with Adapter

44.23

 

[archp625]

place the Leopold with KOWA 553 15-45 @ 29OZ saves almost 14oz

Leupold 12-40x60 with Adapter

44.23

And an extra $1000. Seems a little extreme unless he just wanted something better.

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Agreed. The actual savings wouldn't be 14oz. I would need to add an adapter to the Kowa and I use a case on my Leupold which I would use on the Kowa as well.

Definitely appreciate the advice, but I'm pretty set on the Gold Ring at the moment.

 

[blacktail sniper]

I don't know man, that system seems pretty dialed to me. Your weapon is the absolute most critical piece of gear you have with you in regards to being successful, I say suck it up and carry the weight. You could spend hundreds of dollars to get a lighter bipod (spartan) and if you have the budget for it I say go for it...if you don't have the budget for that I would just go with what you got.

I don't bear hunt in May without a thermocell with me.

Agree looks dam good and what's more impressive to me as a someone who is technologically challenged th way you laid it all out impressive!! good luck on the hunt

 

[FrankAbagnale]

Agree looks dam good and what's more impressive to me as a someone who is technologically challenged th way you laid it all out impressive!! good luck on the hunt

Thank you! Much appreciated!

 

[Bushfire]

What app or format did you use to make this list?