How much does your pack weigh for a winter tramp and camp ?

[Kiwi Tim]

Hopefully going tramping up Ruapehu this weekend. Plan to do a bit of bush bashing up to a waterfall that doesn't have any tracks to it and camp the night in a tent. Will be cold . By the time I packed all the warm gear the pack felt really heavy and thats without any food.
What does your typical pack weigh for a winter camp ?

 

[Tristar777]

Hi.
I have to keep my weight down to a minimum due to dodgy knees and feet!
I stealth camp a lot so no fires just a small stove.
Weight of my pack is never more than 30lbs and 3/4 of that is probably sleep system. Everything else is either cut to the minimal or left out of the pack.
I hope that helps to get a few more replies for you!

 

[Harvestman]

16kg on my recent trip, though I was only anticipating a short walk and a single night.

 

[widu13]

10-11.7kg (all in wet weight) depending on weather. It used to run 16-18kg!

 

[widu13]

Hopefully going tramping up Ruapehu this weekend. Plan to do a bit of bush bashing up to a waterfall that doesn't have any tracks to it and camp the night in a tent. Will be cold . By the time I packed all the warm gear the pack felt really heavy and thats without any food.
What does your typical pack weigh for a winter camp ?

Don't carry too much- when you're walking you will be warm and won't need lots and lots of clothes, I often walk in a baselayer and windshirt. When you stop for the night you'll be in your doss bag,

 

[bushcraftkid2001]

About 10kg (including clothing)

 

[Clouston98]

Roughly 13kg or sometime more but I very rarely take anything over 15kg and I use all traditional materials like wool and canvas so it's not bad. I'm young and fit so even on longer trips I've never had any problems carrying it and more importantly I don't get cold!

 

[russb]

Magic number 10kg then think about anything over this.

 

[petrochemicals]

about 17 kg all in.

this includes
1kg fuel
5kg food
2kg water
1.5kg bag
1kg clothes

that's for 5 days so there's not that much room for manoeuvre.

if it was just for one night, you can virtually go without a framed rucksack. bivvy, sleepingbag sleep mat little bit of food small pot meths cooker and a dribble of meths no clothes and if your following the river less water. a bag and a few other things shouldn't come to anything over 6kg

 

[Filterhoose]

Hi.
I have to keep my weight down to a minimum due to dodgy knees and feet!
I stealth camp a lot so no fires just a small stove.
Weight of my pack is never more than 30lbs and 3/4 of that is probably sleep system. Everything else is either cut to the minimal or left out of the pack.
I hope that helps to get a few more replies for you!

Tristar. I've dodgy knees. Found that using two poles really takes the weight off and you get more stability on rough ground. Especially going down hill which really is hard on them knobblies.

Windy

 

[rik_uk3]

10kg for winter camping is impressive.

 

[cbr6fs]

10kg for winter camping is impressive.

Quick search and it looks like he is using a 3.5kg rucksack (lowe alpine sting)
1kg for water, 1kg for food and that's 5.5kg and over 1/2 the target weight without, shelter, bedding, clothes, pots, stove etc

It's possible to have a comfortable winter night out with under 10kg, but it's pricey and needs a fair bit of experience in kit choice.

 

[lannyman8]

well I normally look at about 20 kg if im just having a bit of a mooch then camp in the woods. if im going further that means more food and water. if i want to play with some kit then maybe even more...

last weekend my pack was 24 kg with lots of warm clothes and food, i also had 3 stoves because i wanted to have a play with them...

the weight does not bother me much, but as other posts say above spend a fortune on kit and it will be much lighter...

 

[copper_head]

Around the 15kg mark for me, probably a bit more if I go in the hammock.

 

[BigX]

last weekend my pack was 24 kg with lots of warm clothes and food, i also had 3 stoves because i wanted to have a play with them)

24kg - Wow! Well, I suppose the Romans marched with 30kg in sandals.

Personally I don't think it's that hard - or expensive - to go out in winter, not if you're only going for 1-2 days.

My standard pack weight is 8kg including water and food. I carry another 1.5kg on my waist (water, crusader, stove and gas)
None of this is ultralight and none of it that expensive. Pack £30, tent £80, mat £70, stove a tenner.

My experience is that if you carry less, you tend to go more, just because it doesn't feel like such a big deal to throw half a dozen things in a day sack and head off.

Although it does sound more fun to take three stoves. And an axe. And a Dutch oven...

 

[Philster]

My pack usually weighs between 15 and 20 kilos at this time of year. Went on an overnighter on the weekend and tried to cut back a little so ended up about 15kg including clothing, sleep system, tarp, cook set, food and drink. And a few more beers

 

[Harvestman]

13.5Kg for my recent trip, but I was packing lighter than usual and didn't take enough water.

 

[lannyman8]

24kg - Wow! Well, I suppose the Romans marched with 30kg in sandals.

Personally I don't think it's that hard - or expensive - to go out in winter, not if you're only going for 1-2 days.

My standard pack weight is 8kg including water and food. I carry another 1.5kg on my waist (water, crusader, stove and gas)
None of this is ultralight and none of it that expensive. Pack £30, tent £80, mat £70, stove a tenner.

My experience is that if you carry less, you tend to go more, just because it doesn't feel like such a big deal to throw half a dozen things in a day sack and head off.

Although it does sound more fun to take three stoves. And an axe. And a Dutch oven...

Its ok for me, I am used to it as i train allot, so 20kg is nothing out of the ordinary, and in fact my standard weight for training, the 24 kg was due to wanting to play with new stoves under cold conditions to see how they performed, and worked very well, so well i will from now on use a multi fuel stove every winter, which i hated the idea of before, and as it turns out is also quite fuel efficient, even when melting snow....

 

[Phaestos]

My pack used to weigh in at 23kg on a good day but I've gotten it down to around 13 to 14 with food

 

[BigX]

Went to a talk by Ranulph Fiennes the other week. He showed a picture of the tent he took on his first polar expedition (which had been designed by Captain Scott) - it weighed 160lb. The tent he took on his last jaunt? 8lb.