my pack is on the heavy side, do you think it's too much?

[rodney482]

You will learn alot after your first trip

 

[BuckSnort]

You will learn alot after your first trip

+1

And I agree with what Rosinbag said about taking a small notepad and writing down what you didn't use and can do without... If you do this It's almost guaranteed that yer next trip will be an easy 5-10 lbs lighter..

 

[rhendrix]

I'd be interested in seeing a gear list when you get back. Good luck!

 

[bigeasygator]

I have a hard time figuring out what too heavy or too light is with all these threads. It seems like so many people calculate their weight differently. Some add food and water, some don't. Some add weapons, some don't. Some count the binos around their neck, some don't. These can make a big difference on the weight people quote. I started another thread on my gear list yesterday. No doubt I can shave a few lbs off here and there, but I don't see how I could knock 20 lbs off unless I didn't include my bow, my binoculars, or food and water. Here's how my list looks like (and based on people's comments, my impression was that people thought I was too heavy):

Items in my pack and including my pack: 42 lbs
Weapon: 6.5 lbs
Items I'm wearing (clothes and binos): 8 lbs
Water: 7 lbs
Food: 11 lbs

That adds up to 74.5 lbs total (including what's on my body). The actual "carry" weight of it all is 66.5 lbs. My "carry" weight not including food and water is 48.5 lbs. And if I take my weapon off it's down to 42. I know I can knock another 4 or 5 lbs off...but no way I see how I can get down to under 50 lbs with everything besides what I'm wearing. This is for a 7 day hunt.

 

[dreamingbig]

My 2 cents: Don't over think it. Obviously lighter is better but if you are packing into a spike camp and dropping most of the weight there then you don't have to worry too much about 55lbs vs 75lbs unless you can't carry it. My pack will be 75lbs for a 10 day hunt with 10 days of food but I am taking a few luxury pounds and I know it. Why? Well I only have to take it 7 miles, I can make a trek 3x that with that weight as I have trained and prepared to bring out 100 lbs of elk meat out 2x. If I was really worried about weight I wouldn't be taking my Kifaru stove, a separate day pack, both my kuiu guide coat and chugach (would drop the guide), but I want to and can so I will!

 

[fillthefreezer]

for me i try to go in as light as possible as i dont entirely now how much mountain i will be covering and id rather do that as light as possible, once ive got a buck in the pack its a set destination back to the truck and my mind and body can deal with the weight and fatigue better at this point

 

[broncoformudv]

All my experience is from Alaska where we are limited to our pack weight when flying into mountain areas. They normally limit you to a 50 lb ruck, you and whatever you are wearing and have shoved in your pockets, and a rifle or bow.

So when I am talking pack weight that is exactly what I am talking about my pack.

 

[fillthefreezer]

i will add all summer long i carry all kinds of crap just to make my pack heavy from a 12pack of tall cans to an axe to 1.5lb hamburger, can tomato paste, chilli mix, nalgene full of precut onions garlic and spices mmmmm

 

[tstowater]

ftf, you have a much better idea than I do. Somehow, I end up with barbell weights, water containers and boxes of shotgun shells to add weight. Seems like you might need someway to start a fire and cook those unnecessary items in so as you don't have to carry them home in your pack. I'm guessing that you may get help from others in reducing that weight problem.

 

[fillthefreezer]

wisperlite will brown meat suprisingly well and a jetboil cooks chilli in no time!

 

[sk1]

well i made it, unfortunately tag soup for me so far, however utah has the extended archery area til december where i always manage to get into them, so there is hope.....went into an area ive never been and saw elk every day so i cant complain.....saw 4 bulls and around 60 cows....had close encounters several times.

i absolutely am going to do everything i can to get my pack weight down to 60lbs for next year, however i made it where i wanted to go, i was just pretty beat up...my traps were hurting and my skinny ass had bruised hips from my pack....you can tell in the one photo with my trekking poles im on my way out 10lbs lighter easily with all the food i ate and darn happy about it lol.

i took so many things i didn't need, but this is what it looked like!

edit: i had a bag i stuffed crap in when i got camp setup, inside of the tent, at the end of the week i realized i never even looked in the bag, and it was full.....i couldnt even remember what was in it, too much stuff!!

 

[Jager]

You'll always end up with something sore, usually traps. I'm not real big with carrying the weight on my hips, causes more isues than using my shoulders, good luck if you get back in there.

 

[broncoformudv]

It is good to hear you had a good trip even if you were not able to connect with an elk. All of us are continually learning what to bring along on trips so don't sweat the fact you brought too much. Good luck on your next trip!

 

[fillthefreezer]

you look like youre going to tip over!

 

[sk1]

you look like youre going to tip over!

So I was doing a bit of a lean lol so what of it

 

[fillthefreezer]

im very familiar with it. i just try to limit that situation to summer backpacking when my pack continues to get lighter over the trip as opposed to hunting season when the opposite is the case

 

[fillthefreezer]

so now, what gear are you cutting out of your original "essentials"
im always curious to see what people decide they dont need as id like to cut some non-essentials as well

 

[sk1]

I need to go through my list but off the top of my head I took way too much food, definitely need to switch to lithium batteries I took tons of batteries, I took a bunch of hand warmers I never used...I set all my stuff aside I still need to dig through it. Oh I took 3 things of jetboil fuel and only used up almost 1, stupid stuff like that

 

[fillthefreezer]

funny how long those canisters actually last

 

[cmeier117]

My pack weight is just under 55lbs and that includes my bow, binos etc... everything except my clothes and boots I am wearing. For 7 days. I cut a lot of weight out of sleep system.