How much are women able to carry?

[santaman2000]

Perhaps I was too subtle Santaman - I’ll try again!

In the BCUK playground, the OP asked a rather pointless question a bit like “how much longer is a piece of blue string compared to a piece of pink string?”

Birchwood replied a bit crossly saying that pink string was at least as long as blue string.

Apparently having had his masculinity threatened by the length of Birchwood’s pink string Santaman went off on a bizarre rant saying that his green string was much thicker than Birchwood’s pink string and had been used to tie up lots of big heavy things that no woman could manage. Unfortunately Santaman didn’t have any pictures of the green string as it rotted away years ago but he did have a nice picture of a logging truck instead!

Another glorious day forecast for the UK and most of Northern Europe and I’m guessing that Birchwood’s pink string (whatever length it is) will be out enjoying the sunshine, the OP will be indoors hard at work on his masterpiece “The Definitive Guide to Random Outdoors Kit Trivia” meanwhile over in Florida, Santaman will be typing away furiously to prove that he really is (or at least was when he was a teenager), more of a man than than any woman could ever be, while reminiscing fondly about his green string and those happy days spent watching GIs training!

Actually perhaps you didn’t read my whole post. I did say that I was less athletic as a child and thus a bit less “manly” than most other teenage boys. That said, at least I did have the asthma as an excuse; what’s yours?

That men are inherently stronger physically than women is a reality of nature. If you believe nature or reality has changed in the last decades or the it’s different on different continents, you simply deluded yourself with political correctness.

 

[santaman2000]

The less you carry ( be it man, woman) the more enjoyable the trekking is.

Learn to function with less equipment. Learn techniques that need less equipment.

Partly true. But this is a bushcrafting forum. Sometimes we carry equipment we really don’t need but want to play with.

 

[Janne]

True, true!


On a long trek you can not carry any ‘play equipment’ though, so you have to use something from your neccessary equipment.
Play with your knife! Carve!

 

[Erbswurst]

Go in a pinewood an play forest mikado!

 

[woodspirits]

Actually perhaps you didn’t read my whole post. I did say that I was less athletic as a child and thus a bit less “manly” than most other teenage boys. That said, at least I did have the asthma as an excuse; what’s yours?

That men are inherently stronger physically than women is a reality of nature. If you believe nature or reality has changed in the last decades or the it’s different on different continents, you simply deluded yourself with political correctness.

Oh dear, this has dragged on for 4 pages now, have you heard the expression 'my dads bigger than your dad'? It's getting personal now, time to put it to bed I think.

 

[Mr Wolf]

Oh dear, this has dragged on for 4 pages now, have you heard the expression 'my dads bigger than your dad'? It's getting personal now, time to put it to bed I think.

Thought it was more my mums bigger than your dad

 

[GuestD]

Thought it was more my mums bigger than your dad

 

[Janne]

Stop bickering like a bunch of old ladies ( real or transgender - your choice . ). and try to give Erbswurst some sound advice!

We want him and his lady friend to have a nice trip, do we not?

Erbswurst, you need to minimize her pack.
I recommend only one knife for her.
I think you should gift her a Mora Classic 611.
It has a red handle, she will like that. Then it has a useful finger guard, so she is safe.

 

[Erbswurst]

The lady who should carry that is the lady of my brother!!!
(I currently let the women where I see them, like I tread the flowers. ;0).

Because she knows well the 911, she probably would like the 611 too.
;0)

No, seriously I think the Opinel Carbone No7 is the best choice for women, because the handle is made for the smaller hands of women and it is outstanding light:

Blade 7,7 cm
Handle 10 cm
Weight 35g only!

It fits well in the pocket of women.

I get it razor sharp with a small Laguiole water stone.

And it is in my opinion the best folding kitchen knife in the world.


No, it's seriously very good.
My brother uses it for farming and trekking.

 

[Janne]

She must not batton with it though!

 

[Wander]

Stop bickering like a bunch of old ladies...

And you also see women (or 'old ladies') as an pejorative as well.
Why am I not surprised.

 

[Woody girl]

And you also see women (or 'old ladies') as an pejorative as well.
Why am I not surprised.

They are not bikering like old ladies. Most old ladies I know are polite as that was how they were brought up. I'd say bikering like a bunch of teenagers not that all teens are like that either.
So let's all go have a beer and agree that women and men have different abilities. How much difference depends on fitness and strength of the individual and what kind of activity they are doing so there realy are no hard and fast rules, only rough guidelines.

 

[Mr Wolf]

So let's all go have a beer and agree that women and men have different abilities

Insert men can drink more than women joke here.

Yep everyone is different, the ones that try to carry too much to prove a point are the annoying ones that put themselves and others at risk

 

[Woody girl]

Yes as an illustration, not a thread hijack I will tell a little tale of my youth. When I first started riding a moped and wanted a bigger faster machine than a puch moped it was considered a bsa bantam would be plenty for me to handle. I knew it was still too small so I finaly got an mz 250. After I passed my test on it I wanted bigger again and a Honda 250 was promoted as the ideal machine which made no sense to me at all. I finaly settled on a susuki 380 but realy wanted a triumph 750 trident. After a year I got one much to everyones horror as it was thought it was much too big for me. I proved them all wrong. Even now there is a lot of shock when I tell someone who doesn't know me that I have a susuki intruder 800. Now I'll admit I do struggle a wee bit with it nowadays so I'm having a 750 yamaha virago sorted for this summer. A much smaller and lighter bike. What I'm trying to say is we have different limits at different times in our lives so there is no way you can make even a recommendation as only the person themselves knows what their limits are. Maybe that wasn't the best illustration but I'm sure you get the idea.

 

[Janne]

And you also see women (or 'old ladies') as an pejorative as well.
Why am I not surprised.

Except it is a ‘saying’ .
Not my opinion.
If it was my opinion though, I am still fully in my right to have it,and express it.

Maybe the PC way to say is that you are bickering like an unknown quantity of possible people of undetermined age?



OP asked an interesting, legit question. Strange how few people here could help him.
The comment that he was obscessed with certain aspects of equipment is nasty.

 

[Janne]

I was taught decades ago that you should not have a bike heavier than you could righten if it fell on the side.
I did not listen, and bought a Harley which I restored.
Yes, I managed to lay it down, a nice, Swedish gravel road in the middle of nowhere came up and met it.
Had to improvise a contraption to righten it. Took me over a day. Slept rough.
Went home, repaired it, sold it.
Bought a -69 Triumph.

 

[GuestD]

Ha ha.

 

[Janne]

I used a tripod made of thinnish logs, and levers.
If you do not have one skill, it is good to have another!

 

[Nomad64]

First of all the question asked is not pointless, and bears no resemblance to coloured string, the question is valid, read this link

https://jmvh.org/article/load-carriage-and-the-female-soldier/

If it is important for the British Army to investigate then it must be an important subject, If you think it is a stupid question, why bother getting involved , and trying to answer it with your coloured string analogy, and why refer to the BCUK playground, this is a forum, and a forum is a vehicle for discussion to take place, there is no such thing as a pointless question, because the person posting that question is either wanting advice, or wants reassurances to his own point of view on that matter.
When people express their view on a matter, and occasionally bring to light their experiences, why should they be belittled?
Better to say something rather than nothing at all., unless what you are about to say has little relevance, and is just a gripe.
I enjoy this forum, I enjoy reading the points of view of others, but each discussion, there is always someone who comes in and starts to drag the discussion down and those who have contributed to it, Why?, if you don't like what's being said move on, Don't spoil it for the rest, if you don't agree on what's being said, then relate your point of view on the matter in a factual way.
Just don't make it personal.

The OP has on a number of occasions posted rather odd, open ended questions on this forum giving no clue as to whether there is a genuine purpose behind the query or it is posted out of idle curiousity or (given the entirely predictable results), it is just a form of Teutonic mischief making. Eventually we get some more information but generally not before the thread has gone off in all kind of random tangents.

If the OP had perhaps phrased his question along the lines of;

“My brother an his female partner are planning to do some, long distance walking [include details of terrain, distances etc. and are trying to work out what kit to take and how to carry it. She is X years old, is Y cm tall, weighs Z kg has no health problems, is an experienced walker and has a Q litre, V model rucksack, what as a rough %ge of body weight would be the maximum she should carry comfortably on the trip?”

then just possibly he might have got some responses that generated more light than heat but just asking the question as he did without narrowing down some of the variables is a bit like (dare I say it!) asking “how long is a piece of string?”.

I’m sorry if you feel that my post belittled anyone but it might be worth re-reading post #13 to get the context

Research on female army recruits or indeed Nepalese porters (who carry 70% plus of bodyweight, at altitude! ),

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7530-nepalese-porters-hit-the-peak-of-efficiency/

is all fine and dandy but of limited relevance unless the lucky lady is similar age and fitness.

I enjoy discussions on this forum but I’d far rather read a report with pictures of the OPs recent 400km hiking trip although I fear that he is more interested in taking his kit for a walk rather than kit being a means to experience the outdoors.

Not a completely useless thread - I’ve been accused of being politically correct, which is a first!

 

[Nomad64]

And you also see women (or 'old ladies') as an pejorative as well.
Why am I not surprised.

My dear old mum will be 83 in a couple of months - she probably identifies as an old lady.

She also hikes 20-25 miles every week, 30 miles plus most weeks and frequently 50 miles plus. When she is away frittering away my inheritance on overseas walking trips she will do 70 plus miles in a week. She is slowing down a bit, her days of trekking in the Himalayas now appear to be over.

I doubt whether she gives much thought to the weight of her rucksack, just puts what she needs in it and gets on with it.

It is highly unlikely that she would ever find her way onto BCUK but if she did, she would inevitably be given lots if helpful advice from keyboard experts on how she had been doing it all wrong for decades and probably get challenged to a log carrying contest.

Those that can, do.........