What's Your Beginning Pack Weight?

[charvey9]

When I left the trailhead for 9 days this year I was at 39lbs. Thats with 2 liters of water in my bladder, just enough to get me up to spike camp without having to stop.

 

[fngTony]

35 pounds 12 ounces doesn't include food or water but includes the pack, all extra clothes, bow, side arm and bear spray, and binos, no spotting scope.

 

[4ester]

A scale and an excel spreadsheet will make you realize which items are bumping up your weight. I built a huge spreadsheet on this if anyone is interested.

 

[gmajor]

Right around 37lbs for 8 day elk in CO, minus rifle and binoculars. Less weight on my other trips.

 

[Beastmode]

Whatever the scale would say leaving the trailhead. I don't weight my pack because it doesn't matter to me. I bring what I know I need. I try to buy the lightest quality items I can afford. For one hunting trip leaving the trailhead I can be 35 lbs, a trip with the family I can be in the 75 ball park.

 

[PathFinder]

Ditto on the spreadsheet. Post it up, I am working on one too. I finally got myself to switch from the LR rig and go to a lighter gun. Cut 3.5 lbs, plus what I save in ammo, in one go.

 

[oldgrowth]

For a 7 day trip, water, food, gear, and gun comes in at 52 lbs. or so. This is a far cry from what I started out at. I used to go above 70 lbs for a weekend!

 

[BRWNBR]

8 day hunt with client about 85lbs....
client about 55lbs
i take what i want and just be in good enough shape to carry it. easier to be in better shape than it is to buy lighter gear these days...

 

[marc]

I am learning a lot about dropping weight right now preparing for an AT thru hike this year. That pack base weight without food, fuel or water is 11 lbs 2 ounces. I am hoping I can apply a lot of that to my hunting pack this fall, except my EXO weights double what my ULA does!

 

[CrzyTrekker]

Holy chit some of you are carrying a crap load of weight.

If I am going in heavy for an October/November rifle hunt, then I'll be at 40lbs max. That's everything including tipi, stove, gear, food and water. If hunting in September, 30 pounds max all in.

I'm retooling this year so I can bivy hunt in September at 20 pounds for 2-3 nights at a time. I'm keeping the tipi and stove for "Plan B" hunts in October/November.

 

[BRWNBR]

I have to carry a lot of "what if" stuff as a guide. If it was just me doing a solo trip I'd have my weight cut wayyy down. I bring a lot of food. I can always dump that if I have too. But when your hungry....

 

[luke moffat]

Holy chit some of you are carrying a crap load of weight.

If I am going in heavy for an October/November rifle hunt, then I'll be at 40lbs max. That's everything including tipi, stove, gear, food and water. If hunting in September, 30 pounds max all in.

I'm retooling this year so I can bivy hunt in September at 20 pounds for 2-3 nights at a time. I'm keeping the tipi and stove for "Plan B" hunts in October/November.

Dang dude, just my rfile, spotting scope, tripod, 3 liters of water, and my backpack have me north of 20 pounds.....

 

[CrzyTrekker]

Dang dude, just my rfile, spotting scope, tripod, 3 liters of water, and my backpack have me north of 20 pounds.....

Luke, I have seen the pics where you've got a kitchen sink strapped to your ruck.

I am a meat hunter, and typically have no problem finding elk in Colorado without the tripod and scope. I often backpack with only 1 or 2 liters of water, sometimes less, but hunt in areas with lots of springs, seeps, and creeks. I down a lot of water at water sources. The exception is when I have to fill everything up for a dry camp.

Also, I don't count my weapon as part of total pack weight, because I am usually carrying it in my hands.

We all approach it differently. It's a deliberate choice with tradeoffs.

 

[luke moffat]

HAHA....I hear ya. I was loaded for a 8 day grizzly hunt a couple summers ago with 37 pounds for the 8 days. Take the rifle and spotter out of the equation I guess we aren't too far apart considering I was going for 8 days.

Just giving you a hard time.

But my rifle is usually strapped to my pack and trekking poles are in my hands so it gets counted...well heck the trekking poles go into my pack weight as well.

Lighter is better for sure, however I've come to realize that I live out of a backpack enough during a year the past several years that I will gladly toss in 5-10 pounds (depending on the trip) of comfort items to make the hunt or trip more enjoyable vacation than the true spartan style backpacking trips I have done in the past. In the end it might mean an extra couple hours of hiking or several more breaks over the course of the week, but it is far from making or breaking a hunt for me. We all have different style certainly and needs, fun to see how everyone else packs.

 

[PathFinder]

I've been going in the opposite direction. I keep getting up on the mountain and thinking "Why the heck do I have this?" I went from stuffing my Mountain Rambler so full it was bursting at the seams, to having it nowhere near full for a 3-5 day hunt. I found an 11oz tripod + head too that I'm going to try my 15s out on.

 

[CrzyTrekker]

Dang, 37 pounds for an 8 day hunt. Factoring in food weight, that's as light as I've ever gone on a hunt.

I get you where comfort is concerned. I drove home from the San Juan Mountains last year during a cold spell in September, spent a night at home, and went out again with a warmer sleep system and some comfort food.

Reading about trends and gear here has definitely helped my game overall.

 

[pontoon]

It looks like I'm at 32 pounds for three days right now including food, water, fuel, some clothes I might actually be wearing (might not), rifle, optics, tripod+head, pack, bino harness, etc... That weight does exclude trekking poles and the minimum clothing I will wear. I'm still working on the gear list and have some room to improve.

It's a little under 25 pounds if I exclude food, fuel, and water. It's 11.9 pounds if I exclude the hunting-specific stuff (in other words, just to go backpacking). If it was summer weather the weight would be 10.16 pounds! I could then drop it below 10 by using a different stove, just to say that I'm below 10

 

[robie]

I'm at 25.7 pounds before food/water/bow. But I'm bringing my canon 6d and a lens to go with it which is an additional 3 pounds.

I used the spreadsheet on from Sole Adventure Great start to help with the planning phase.

 

[4ester]

Everyone has a differing opinion of the contents of a beginning pack weight. The question is very vague, and will be impossible to compare apples to apples. To many variables. Really depends on target animal, scouting or hunting trip, weather and time of year, multiple day, over night or day trip, water source available, weapon, etc.

 

[Brightwhite]

This thread got me thinking, so I just figured my pack weight, which includes everything I would take on a 3 day trip, including food and 3L of water, a full tent setup w/footprint, and a sidearm with 1 loaded magazine. I came in at 33.5 pounds.

I was shocked to see that the base weight of my pack was by far the culprit of the most weight. My last gen Kifaru duplex frame with aluminum stays comes out to be to 4.8 pounds + high camp bag + guide lid + 2 pouches and a water bottle holder comes up to 8.13 pounds. I did the math on going to the ultra light frame and it would save me 2.07 pounds....pretty big savings.

Now I can't stop thinking about just biting the bullet and ordering the ultralight frame!