Shedding weight, what juice is worth the squeeze

[guitarpreston]

Tinkering around with my load out for September muzzle loader deer and toying with the idea of shedding a few lbs in the pack, it’s definitely doable but could/would involve spending a bit more money which I am very against. Currently I have a 27 oz chair, I can easily swap for a glassing pad, can drop my 8 oz silky pocketboy, and that’s got me 2 pounds down without spending anything. Then it get tricky, I could drop my active insulation piece or puffy for 13 or 20 oz respectively. I’ve looked at it quite a bit and if I dropped all that, and spent a few hundred bucks getting a lighter tripod (currently have Aziak front country) and a lighter stove, I could shave almost 5 pounds.

Now I’m just sitting here wondering if that juice is worth the squeeze or not. Pack weight 39 lbs without food/water. Assuming that will put me at 60ish.

The saw is an easy cut (not planning on building a fire and have a multi tool for an emergency) but the big free weight cut of the chair and active insulation jacket I’m not sure of. Comfort while glassing should yield more time behind the glass therefore better chances of finding a buck. Puffy, active layer, soft shell, and rain jacket and pants seems like overkill but all very useful tools.

https://lighterpack.com/r/ndh95x

 

[mlevimadden]

39# with no weapon, wearable items, water, or food is definitely a heavy pack that has plenty to trim. Especially for a September hunt.

Low hanging fruit

• 17 oz of TP and wipes seems like double of what's needed (-8 oz)
• Ditch the silky saw and tarp (-17 oz)
• 27 oz is a heavy stove unless you're packing a ton of fuel. A jetboil could cut that in half (-12 oz).
• 2# med kit is double what you need. (-16 oz)
• Why a rain jacket and a shell? Should only need a rain jacket (-23 oz)
• 25 oz power bank and 34 oz solar is a ton of weight. You can take a 20k mAH Anker for under a pound that will charge your phone 6 times. (-43 oz)
• Ditch the chair and take a stealthy hunter pad or 1/3 of a zlite cut up. (-23 oz)
• 9 oz pillow is heavy for backcountry. Could get a 3 oz Aeros from Sea to Summit.

That cuts out over 9#

Optional upgrades

• You could shed a couple pounds off the pack frame by going exo or stone glacier, but it's a high cost.
• 3# bag is heavy for September. You could save over 1.5# with a 20 degree quilt.
• 3# tent is heavy if you're solo. You could drop a pound by going floorless.

 

[WaWox]

I'd argue the higher the starting weight, the bigger the gains from cutting even a little bit.

Every pound compounds and makes every subsequent pound worse and worse.

+1 to all the suggestions above

 

[JohnB]

Levi nails it. There are also some other things I'd quibble over. 6 oz of sharpener seems like a lot. I've got a pocket stone that weighs an ounce. DMT makes some slick credit card sized diamond stones which would also be quite light. If Schrade is referring to a knife you could take a Victrinox paring knife or Havalon for about an ounce. They both seem stupidly small but have worked for me to cut up an elk and deer.

Some Argali or other techy game bags would be somewhere around 9 oz, add some rubber gloves and call that your kill kit and save a pound there.

Sheel, rain coat and FA jacket could likely be pared down to 1. Take an extra fleece to wear if concerned about cold and you'll still be lighter.

Most other items you have could be anywhere from a half to a pound or more lighter. No need to try to do that all at once but pick away at it for a few years and you'll be pumped how much lighter your pack is.

 

[CoastalOR]

Not sure what you're thinking about in terms of water but I wouldn't pack any in. I'll fill my nalgene at the beginning but everything after that is going through my water filter. I have the sawyer mini filter and it weighs almost nothing. Have drank some pretty questionable water and come out fine

 

[willfrye027]

Sept deer I don’t think you need a stove and hot tent. You’re not going to be spending a ton of time in your tent..Sept I am cooking dinner on a jetboil quickly to get in bed for more hours of sleep.

In general clothing is one of the biggest areas to cut weight easily and without spending hundreds to cut ounces. Personally if backpacking I plan to be dirty and bring very very few extra clothing items.

What part of the country are you hunting and what are the expected temps? That might help hone in on what “fears” you are packing,

 

[guitarpreston]

Central CO.
By stove I mean cook stove not wood stove, weight includes fuel canister.
Shell I could see cutting, the FA jacket (Sitka ambient equivalent) is a super comfortable piece that breathes/dries well.

I may try and pick up the fire maple petrel stove, that would cut 9 oz out for not too much money.
That’s technically 2 power banks and a solar (last year I just had a crappy solar one and it ran out of juice but my phone battery was also tanked and has been replaced. I can cut down to my 10mah anker and solar.
Will start pairing down a bit on some redundancies and see if I can get closer to 35.

 

[JohnB]

Here is my gear list for September/early October. https://lighterpack.com/r/xp2cz7 It's got a few areas where I could trim some weight but I don't like being cold. Take a look at some of the gear lists that @mtwarden has posted. He has posted some helpful threads that helped me over the last few years as I've slowly picked away at a lighter setup.