pack weight

[bmrfish]

When I'm packing for a 14-day remote moose hunt in the middle of nowhere, I often lose my focus on highly specific details of items, and I have to repeatedly remind myself of the big picture. So, zooming back out for a moment (i.e., big picture), specific details aside...

Taking a moment here to anchor what all of us already know...what we need/decide to bring on a remote moose hunt starts with clearly knowing AND remembering a few big picture factors, and then using those factors to determine some specific choices for gear:

1. Truly accurate information about the landscape of the specific area where we are going. Alaska is huge, and the landscape of a specific moose hunt location can vary dramatically across our individual moose hunting experiences....it might be low-land, flat and 90% wet or higher elevation without marshes and wet country, etc. Moose can be found and hunted in many different topographies up here. There are places where you will truly live in your waders every day and places that you will never need them. The helpful responses in this thread illustrate that there can be vast differences in the landscape of each of our moose hunts, which dictated various gear choices that we made...but what worked for you might not work for me. A personal example, I moose hunt in a predominantly flat and wet GMU the size of a small state...my only gear choices for footwear are chest waders with comfortable wading boots & knee-high insulated rubber boots...and yet I still bring rain-pants to wear with my boots in the event I'm luckily dropped on a lake that has some significant dry area so that I don't have to live in my waders first thing every morning and all day!
2. Know and understand your specific means of transportation to get to your hunting location. Back-packing there is one thing, boat access another, and air transport another. If you're flying-in, then also know the type of aircraft for transport, Super-Cub, C-180, Maule, Beaver, etc. How I pack for a tundra landing on wheels in a PA-18 is different from a Beaver on floats...not only in weight limit but also size of bags and what I bring. We saw the transportation variable factor in this thread with the helpful initial responses of others when the very well-intended OP (and a good guy) worded the thread title "pack weight" when he meant "packED weight".
3. If you are being transported, then very clearly know from your transporter your maximum weight limit and their preferences for how to pack within that limit, e.g., a variety of bag sizes, max size of dry bags, etc. Once you clearly know that, then work backwards from there. I liked KD's example of your transporter looking at the scale for your total weight and then back at you with "that look"...and now you're frantically deciding in the hangar how you can cut twenty-pounds in the next fifteen minutes.
4. Last and most important, I've got to be adequately packed for Alaska's extreme wx. I never know what that is going to be, and it often can vary from year to year at the same location. If Alaska wx is just hammering us (and it has MANY times...for days), then I have to be truly ready for that because help is not on the way. Our clothing choices can vary between us to address the Alaskan wx factor, but our choices must absolutely do the job...failure is not an option. It's one of those specific packing decisions where it is better for me to have and not need, as opposed to need and not have...and yet all my packing decisions can't be made with that mind-set or I'd end-up requiring a military aircraft to transport my gear! I also have to pack for the possibility of being delayed in the field due to wx.

Sorry I went long, and I know that you guys already know what I noted above. My purpose is to share my own process of truly knowing and repeatedly reminding myself of that big picture as I prepare and pack for a remote hunt...I don't want to get easily lost in the infinite details and miss the big picture.

Really great comment


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[Patriot2]

I just weighed everything I need for a 3 day trip. Additional days are another 20 oz per day for food. I came to 33 lbs with the pack. I will be buying a higher loft sleeping bag and that will shave 2 lbs putting me at about 31#. The weight of my bow is not included - it is a 3-1/2# (bare) Bowtech Carbon Icon. This is an early season list with limited extra clothing. I could shave another pound or two off my tent as well but I have not committed to doing so at this point. Here is my itemized list with weights. I consider myself a minimalist. Trying to decide if I need a 0 F bag or a 20 F bag (or in between). Temps can dip below freezing at high altitude in September.

 

[Wyobohunter]

@Patriot2
-I’d ditch the compression bag (just stuff it all in your pack)
-I’d also ditch the rain cover if your in the Rockies. Maybe keep it if you are going to southeast AK. Or the PNW.
-1/2 pound seems like a lot of weight for some extra rope & stuff. Do you already have some paracord in your emergency kit and/or kill kit?
-what’s the army poncho for? A whole pound is pretty heavy if it’s just to be used for a tarp. It makes sense if it’s also your rain gear though.
-where and when are you hunting specifically? I use a 30° bag into the upper teens in WY. I sleep warm though. If your only looking at 30° at the lowest the 15° bag should be more than adequate. Unless you are a cold sleeper.

 

[Patriot2]

@Patriot2
-I’d ditch the compression bag (just stuff it all in your pack)
-I’d also ditch the rain cover if your in the Rockies. Maybe keep it if you are going to southeast AK. Or the PNW.
-1/2 pound seems like a lot of weight for some extra rope & stuff. Do you already have some paracord in your emergency kit and/or kill kit?
-what’s the army poncho for? A whole pound is pretty heavy if it’s just to be used for a tarp. It makes sense if it’s also your rain gear though.
-where and when are you hunting specifically? I use a 30° bag into the upper teens in WY. I sleep warm though. If your only looking at 30° at the lowest the 15° bag should be more than adequate. Unless you are a cold sleeper.

Great ideas. I am usually in Colorado and hunt at 10,000-12,000 ft. Yes the rain poncho is my rain gear. I have more spare rope than I need, i should probably swap our some rope for extra batteries so weight is still close. Thanks!

 

[Wyobohunter]

Great ideas. I am usually in Colorado and hunt at 10,000-12,000 ft. Yes the rain poncho is my rain gear. I have more spare rope than I need, i should probably swap our some rope for extra batteries so weight is still close. Thanks!

I’d just put fresh batteries in your headlamp for a 3 day trip. Assuming you have an LED headlamp.

 

[Adventurfreak]

For a 20 day moose hunt last season w/ food and all my gear my pack was 95lbs and 42 of that was food.

That is remarkable! Very impressive sir. Where were you hunting, what time of year and did that include your rifle and pistol with ammo? I aspire to be the minimalistic

 

[diamond10x]

That is remarkable! Very impressive sir. Where were you hunting, what time of year and did that include your rifle and pistol with ammo? I aspire to be the minimalistic

Alaska in September. I don’t include rifle and binos in that weight as to me it’s the same as the clothes on my back and the boots on my feet. It did include a box of extra ammo though. It’s honestly not that hard to go light and minimally w/ comfort items. The biggest problem I see and I had it at one time, is packing for all the possible variables and taking too many clothes.

 

[Kevin Dill]

I agree with the premise of guys taking too many clothes. I did it myself many years ago. We all have our systems. The hard part is figuring out what you really need (I mean REALLY need at a basic level) and then go on to identify what you'd like to bring. Be wary of redundancy. You may not need a vest and you definitely don't need two of them. Dispense with the luxury clothing items. I think a lot of first-timers experience the mystery of the unknown and have no solid basis for what is sufficient. This is absolutely normal and they just need a bit of guidance.

 

[Ranger2co]

Keep it around 50 if you can.

 

[Patriot2]

I just got back from a 6 day Boundary Waters Canoe Area trip and tried out two items that worked super and will become part of my regular backpacking gear. First item is the Sea-to-Summit Aero Premium Pillow in regular size. It weighs 2.8 oz, packs to 1/2 the size of a 12oz soda can, and has non slip surfaces. Hands down the most comfortable pillow I ever slept on in a tent. It inflates to 4.3" high so it was perfect for this side-sleeper. Second item is using the Big Agnes inflator bag that came with my Big Agnes Q-Core sleeping pad. I was not convinced they would be worth it, but yes it is slightly faster than blowing up by mouth and much easier. It weighs only a few ounces, has no appreciable pack volume. Perhaps more importantly it keeps moisture out of the sleeping pad. I consider myself a minimalist but these items are clearly making the cut for all future backpacking adventures.

 

[PA Hunter]

how much does your pack weigh going into a 10 day hunt if you're bringing everything you'll need? This last drop hunt I did my buddy and I weighed our packs the night before and we were both around 140 pounds, that included bino harness, rifle, pistol. I have read and heard people saying that they're going into the field with 80-100 pounds with everything. I'd love to know what they're taking! I have a light weight sawtooth for camp and don't feel like I bring any luxuries aside from a light wt cot. I have another hunt coming up in a couple years and would love to get some ideas on how to cut back on my pack weight.

I did 55 lbs last year 10 nights in Alaska moose hunting dropped diy by super cub. But that didn’t include my rifle, binos or pistol or anything stuffed in my pockets.

 

[SliverShooter]

Last year on a 14 day solo hunt, Including my inflatable kayak (14#), Sawtooth tent, stove, cott, 6# sleeping bag, camp chair, ect, my gear was at 75-80#’s. My pilot doesn’t count what I’m wearing or have in my pockets so neither do I. You could add another 20#’s for that. I take a lot of things to make me comfortable and could easily cut 25#’s if I want to rough it.

 

[PA Hunter]

Last year on a 14 day solo hunt, Including my inflatable kayak (14#), Sawtooth tent, stove, cott, 6# sleeping bag, camp chair, ect, my gear was at 75-80#’s. My pilot doesn’t count what I’m wearing or have in my pockets so neither do I. You could add another 20#’s for that. I take a lot of things to make me comfortable and could easily cut 25#’s if I want to rough it.

I had so much crap in my pockets pilot had to push me into the seat like a sausage tube and bend my boots around cables I couldn’t see. Even had a Wyoming saw around waist with multiple knives and Katadyn locker water filter stuffed with camp hatchet in my gaiters.