Saving weight in the pack

[mvrk28]

I made changes in this area this year as well.

Went from two person tent with poles, bathtub floor and rain fly to a Kuiu Summit Refuge 3p, cut about 3 lbs.

Ditched the Jetboil flash for a Toaks 550 and a BRS3000T, cut close to 10 oz.

Swapped out the Therm-a-Rest Prolite Plus for a Neo Air X lite and saved about 12 oz.

And the other big change was my 20* mummy bag for a EE Enigma 20 and saved like 20-25 oz I think.

I’ve done a couple hikes already and it’s definitely noticeable. I think subconsciously you start carrying less once you focus your attention on reducing pack weight.

 

[ChrisAU]

Put EVERYTHING in a lighter pack list (lighterpack.com), weighed on the same scale. Then start with the heaviest things and see if you can justify going lighter. Has really helped me shave down weight. I'm down from 79 lbs to 65 lbs, skin out. Only way to do it, EVERYTHING goes on the list. I have items marked as "worn" that won't be in, a part of, or attached to my pack, to help me separate my pack weight and clothes/bino harness/crap in my pants pockets. It allowed me to identify areas where I'm ok being a bit heavy (my weapon) and where I'm not.

65 lbs may sound heavy, but I'm working with ~9lbs of rifle/scope/ammo, 5.25lbs of water, 6.25 lbs of food, etc. This is for a 6 day spike camp rifle hunt where returning to the truck for resupply will not be an option.

 

[5 shot group]

65 lbs may sound heavy, but I'm working with ~9lbs of rifle/scope/ammo, 5.25lbs of water, 6.25 lbs of food, etc. This is for a 6 day spike camp rifle hunt where returning to the truck for resupply will not be an option.

6.25 pounds for 6 days of food !?!

I need about 3000 kcal a day to operate, and that's not enough to keep up with calories lost, just what I need to keep going. And at 100 kcal an ounce, that's 30 ounces a day or 11.25 pounds for 6 days.

I would love to see your food list. Is everything dehydrated/freeze dried?

 

[ChrisAU]

6.25 pounds for 6 days of food !?!

I need about 3000 kcal a day to operate, and that's not enough to keep up with calories lost, just what I need to keep going. And at 100 kcal an ounce, that's 30 ounces a day or 11.25 pounds for 6 days.

I would love to see your food list. Is everything dehydrated/freeze dried?

Dehydrated dinners that have the highest calorie/ounce ratio I can find. The rest is snack stuff with the same mindset. I’m at around 2100 cal/day, it probably helps that I still have extra stored calories on my belly and ass lol. But we all agreed we brought to much food last year and that was around 2800 cal/day. I’m hoping at some point during the trip to have some wild game meat as wel

 

[renagde]

Dehydrated dinners that have the highest calorie/ounce ratio I can find. The rest is snack stuff with the same mindset. I’m at around 2100 cal/day, it probably helps that I still have extra stored calories on my belly and ass lol. But we all agreed we brought to much food last year and that was around 2800 cal/day. I’m hoping at some point during the trip to have some wild game meat as wel

I wish I could operate on 2100 cal/day. I can barely do that sitting behind a desk, much less on the mountain

 

[josh10]

following

 

[ChrisAU]

Went nuclear on my list this week, down to 54 lbs skin out for 5-6 day rifle hunt. Completely dropped bladder system and nalgene for disposable bottles (going with smart water or Dasani or a combo), trying lighter boots that Elknut talked me into, trying a lighter pack too with Kuius new suspension. Cut 6.1 oz off my rain gear by getting a Sitka Vapor jacket. Lot of small cuts here and there, but if I do like the new Kuiu suspension with an Ultra 5000 bag I’ll be around 3.5 lbs lighter just on my bag. Also swapping a Sherman pocket for a Seek talon regardless of if I keep my Kifaru Reckoning or go with the Kuiu, it’s bigger and saves 7 oz.

 

[Grover]

My biggest weight savings was cutting out my beer gut. I bought new clothes...Some Kuiu, Sitka and Skre. Bought all of it a size too small. I felt dumb paying top dollar to save a few ounces while I was 30lbs overweight. Problem solved and back in the game.

 

[Huntingbob]

Last couple of years I’ve been trying to reduce bulk so I can reduce my bag size. Started with a xcurve frame and a talus 6900&lid. That was about six pounds including some pockets. Took a gamble going to the krux evo but it’s more comfortable while being ten ounces lighter. Replaced the bag and lid with a 3000ci bag from Pods8. Between the bag and frame I’m down about two pounds. For longer trips I’m strapping stuff to the outside but once camp is dropped I don’t need more than 3000ci. Also put kuiu pockets on my stone glacier frame, a hair over an ounce saved each.

I scrutinized my clothes. Two kuiu peloton 97 shirts is a total of 9.5oz vs my old zip up fleece and merino totaling 18.9oz. Puffy is 18oz but I need the 4oz of down fill, can’t get past summer with the 2oz fill stuff. There’s around 4oz to save with buying a lighter but similar fill jacket. Another loss around 3oz would be switching out my 200 bottoms with the peloton 97 bottoms, just not worth the cash right now. Rain gear is very climate dependent but I’m at 17oz combined top and bottom for Colorado.

No more stuff sacks for clothes, just roll em up. Ziplocks for the little stuff. Rain fly was 4.5oz and kuiu makes a nice clip feature for high winds but like the other member said I rarely need it so I’m looking at a simple cuben fiber option.

Bought a tiny stove so I can nest it with fuel in my pot, cut 6oz and the bulk of a fuel canister.

Tried the ryo bino strap thing, won’t go back to a bino pack that weighs 7-13oz unless the weather is consistently crappy enough to warrant it.

Looked through my first aid, possibles and kill kit. Had a lot of redundancy. This stuff is way too personal for me to elaborate on, but I don’t carry what I don’t know how to use for first aid and last year I was more concerned with burning in a forest fire than being able to start one.

I’m just not a replaceable scalpel blade knife guy. I’m happy with my 5oz combined weight of a pocket sharpener, mora companion and sheath. Pretty light for a fixed blade set up.

 

[Huntingbob]

I am going through my cook kit and water container right now for savings. A 33 oz Smart Water bottle weighs about 1.4 oz empty. A Nalgene weighs about 7 oz. I am switching to a Smart Water bottle this year and loosing about 5.6 ounces. I am also adding a sports cap to it which will attach to my water filter to back flush if it gets clogged. I don't need to bring a syringe for that now. This also frees me up to take the Nalgene bottle holder off my pack(haven't weighed it yet). A nice weight savings without any loss of comfort.

I too am using the Smart water bottles!

 

[IdahoSmitty]

Thanks to all for some really good info/advice!

 

[bmf0713]

Ive been shaving weight in quite a few places this year. I Got a SO lanner and got rid of my Eberlestock Dragonfly and shaved about 7lbs!, im gonna ditch the nalgene bottles and go with smart water bottles, Im ditching rain gear and taking a poncho thats gonna double as a ground cover for sleeping unless there is a bad rain forcast. I ditched the contactor bags and a couple game bags (taking 4 instead of 6) out of my kill kit, ill use the poncho to help keep; meat clean. I got a fenix recharble headlamp and an inreach so i can ditch the extra batteries too, the batter pack i have for recharging also has a light on it. Depending on weather I'm probably gonna ditch the softshell jacket and just bring the puffy. I should be under 50lbs skin out weight with food for 3-5 days and 2 liters of water. I also am bringing a partner this year to split weight so hopefully i can be under 40lbs after we split up gear. Oh, and i got rid of a bunch of gear pouches, they add up.

 

[Conway200]

kuiu

 

[Conway200]

What is the most common lightweight and affordable knife that many are using?

 

[Brewski]

Gerber vital. I use the small size fixed and it worked well to gut skin debone a big buck with 4 blades last year.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[5 shot group]

Havalon piranta

 

[xcutter]

Havalon

 

[longbarrel]

65 lbs may sound heavy, but I'm working with ~9lbs of rifle/scope/ammo,

A NULA rifle with ammo could save you about 2.5 pounds.
my Cold Steel Pendleton Hunter CPM-3v weighs 6.8 oz with sheath, no sharpener. I don't know how that compares to the replaceable scalpel style knives.

 

[ChrisAU]

A NULA rifle with ammo could save you about 2.5 pounds.
my Cold Steel Pendleton Hunter CPM-3v weighs 6.8 oz with sheath, no sharpener. I don't know how that compares to the replaceable scalpel style knives.

I have a Cooper 92, honestly my rifle is one thing I don't want much lighter. I'm at 8 lbs on the nose rifle + scope + bases + rings + loaded mag + bipod adapter. Add another 5 oz for KDC bipod and 5.5 oz for 6 rounds of extra ammo.

And I'm actually down to 52.8 lbs skin out, with everything, food, water, weapon, boots, clothes I'll be wearing, everything. I went on a bit of a frenzy cutting weight.

 

[renagde]

I have a Cooper 92, honestly my rifle is one thing I don't want much lighter. I'm at 8 lbs on the nose rifle + scope + bases + rings + loaded mag + bipod adapter. Add another 5 oz for KDC bipod and 5.5 oz for 6 rounds of extra ammo.

And I'm actually down to 52.8 lbs skin out, with everything, food, water, weapon, boots, clothes I'll be wearing, everything. I went on a bit of a frenzy cutting weight.

You have a lighterpack link? I wouldn't mind seeing your gear list.