What is your baseweight?

[Highbinder]

Curious to see what everyone is lugging. The emphasis on these forums seems to be more towards reliablity and less to the lightweight, with a lot of surplus gear being used.

So assuming you're going away for 1-2 nights what is your base weight - pack and everything carried within, barring food, water and fuel (and the clothes on your back)

Myself I'm at ~8.5kg, going up to ~10kg for winter.

 

[sapper1]

I'm pretty much the same but including food and water.

 

[jackcbr]

Blimey, I'm a serious heavy weight. Did a trip up to the west coast of Scotland back in November and I think I was close to the 15Kg mark, what with tent, fuel, food and spare kit.

 

[sapper1]

It's the water and food that makes up the weight,that's why I've got the lightest kit I can get.

 

[bigandy]

it would of course depend on what i was intending to do whilst away and what the conditions were likely to be cold/warm ect.also what type of camp i was doing i.e light(bivi/tarp) or exsesively comfortable as i can.

 

[Highbinder]

I'm pretty much the same but including food and water.

Wowee thats' light. What rucksack do you use? For me that's the biggest hitter next to my sleeping bag at over 2kg.

 

[sapper1]

Golite Jam2 Very tough ,lots of room ,very light and inexpensive.My sleeping bag comes in at a hefty 1050 g for summer (down to -5) and my winter bag comes in at 1750g (down to -24).
I did a thread on this recently ,I'll put up a link.

 

[Highbinder]

Golite Jam2 Very tough ,lots of room ,very light and inexpensive.

Not a bad looking pack. Have you seen these? 220 grams for a 53 litre pack is crazy - thats a 10th of the weight of my pack!

 

[sapper1]

Cant find the thread here so I've copied it from elsewhere.
My kit list.
I've just finished sorting my kit,it's now lighter than it's ever been.What I've tried to do is get it as light as possible without losing comfort and without compromising on strength and durability.Another main concern was cost,I don't see the sense in saving a few hundred grammes if it's going to cost a fortune.
Her's what I consider the absolute minimum kit that I would need to carry for an extended trip not including food ,water or fuel which I'll go into later.

Pack golite JAM2 879
Groundsheet half an IPK 270
Kip mat karrimor ultralite 600
Sleeping bag Blacks Technicals (-18) 1150
Bivibag Highlander Hawk 770
Tarp and fittings DD tarp Titanium pegs
Para cord ridge line and lightweight guys 960
1L water bottle nalgene 180
1L water bottle Source 28
Cook kit
MSR titan kettle
Lifeventure cup
Vargo Decagon stove
Tibetian spork
Total weight 250
First Aid Kit 146
Repair Kit 108
Bog paper 24
Had wash antibacterial 200
Towel 100
Sponge 8
Water purifying kit 7
Torch+batteries 61
Headlight petzl e+lite 45
space blanket +waterproof poncho 100
Waterproof jacket 350
Water proof trousers 90

Total (if my addition is correct) 6327 grammes
6.3 kilogrammes
13.9 lbs

This is an easy weight to carry all day but does consist of the minimum I would consider for an extended trip.
If I was out for more than a weekend then I would add:

Complete change of clothes (wear one ,wash and dry the other) 1000g

This would take the base weight of the full pack to 16lbs
Still an easy load to carry.

Now lets look at food ,water and fuel.

I will be taking for each day:
1 dehydrated main meal 150
2 oat so simple and 10g of sultanas 70
2 high energy fruit and nut bars 60
1 bar of chocolate 40
6 instant coffee sachet (nescafe 3 in 1 ) 30

total weight of food per day 350grammes

It's not the most imaginative of menus ,but it tastes good and is nutritious.
Each day I will need a minimumof 2 litres of water,preferably 3 each litre weighs 1 kilogramme so 3 is 3 kilogrammes or roughly 6 lbs.
I wouldn't be able to carry 6 lbs of water per day for a week ,I'd resupply as neccesary hoping to only carry 1 litre and use water where I found it.Most trips would be planned around the ability to be near water.

So now my pack has had added to it per day:


350g of food and 1000g of water,
Which brings my pack weight to 7677g
7.6 Kg
16.9 lbs

Fuel.

I have measured my fuel use to include 1 main meal,1 breakfast and 6 cups of coffee per day and with the stove I use can safely get by on 500ml of meths for 1 week,this weighs 500g 0r 1lb

To travel for a week carrying everything I need to be warm,well fed and comfortable all I need to carry is



17.9lbs call it 18lbs

This is an easy weight to carry and still allows for extras I would be happy carrying 25-30 lbs on a long hike so There is plenty of room for extra weight.
Now the big question ........Does it all fit into my pack?

Yes it does and there is still room for a lot more,I haven't even used the outside pocket yet or used the straps on the outside.Everything is packed inside.

If you can see a way to save more weight without spending a fortune tell me.
I will be replacing the nalgene bottle with another source bottle or two that will save over 100g ant little extra cost.

Since writing this I've managed to shave some weight off here and there but I have added 400g by using an exped down mat.

 

[woof]

Blimey, I'm a serious heavy weight. Did a trip up to the west coast of Scotland back in November and I think I was close to the 15Kg mark, what with tent, fuel, food and spare kit.

Sounds about the same weight as my pack.

Rob

 

[durulz]

I have absolutely no idea what weight I carry.
The only scales I use to weigh my kit are my shoulders - if I put it on and think 'sod that' then it's too heavy.
I don't really understand this obsession with weight.

 

[sapper1]

The obsession with me Is the fact that I want to be able to carry my pack any distance I want without causing strain.I also found that If my pack was heavy ,then I'd tend to stay in just one spot.

 

[Highbinder]

I have absolutely no idea what weight I carry.
The only scales I use to weigh my kit are my shoulders - if I put it on and think 'sod that' then it's too heavy.
I don't really understand this obsession with weight.

Well, if I have a lighter pack I enjoy myself more. Less effort to carry and not as sore by the end of the day. That's what it comes down to to me. Lightweight is good as long as it doesn't sacrifice comfort.

 

[Trunks]

Mine fluctuates anywhere between 10kg & 15kg, depending on distance to walk, camp duration or simply, the amount of toys to bring along

 

[Man of Tanith]

whilst i havent yet started weighing my pack i have manged to trim kit down from a 120ltr webtex bergen and side pockets to a 50ltr karrimor predator and two sidepockets making a total of 70ltrs which i am quite pleased with. this was this winter when we had the really nasty weather and i was warm and content whilst out so well proud of myself.

 

[sapper1]

The main thing to remember about pack weight is ,if your happy with it then great that's all that counts,after all it's only you who's got to carry it.

 

[Man of Tanith]

thats what i thought
mind the bottle of port i carried home las time cause it was too cold for booze probably was alittle too heavy

 

[Paul_B]

Weight and pack size IMHO is an important consideration if you are moving around each day or even if you have a long walk in to a base. Most of my walking is overnighters or walks of about a week to two weeks. I started at 28kg for an overnighter and am now on about 9kg with food for say a week. Water is not really an issue where I do most of my stuff the Lakes. So I will never carry more than 2 litres more likely 1 litre which is 1kg. My base weight without food and water is probably about 5-6kg.

Winter weight is mostly static insulation such as down or primaloft top, extra gloves/mitts. Also I take a sleeping bag and a quilt (golite backpacking one). That is a heavy option with a total weight of about 1600g. That is compared to 600g in summer for the quilt. The quilt is a comfort rating of -7C and the bag is -11C IIRC. In winter I will carry my usual full length TAR 3 season one with a CCF weighing 130g. I haven't done much in winter. TBH I doubt I have done much below 0C which my 600g quilt would cope with. Especially since it would allow me to wear my down smock in without compressing it. I have a heavy winter sleep solution because I need XL bag and quilt. They weigh more.

As far as weight being concerned it IS you that carried it. Until you have carried a truly light load you can't really know how different it is. I know of people who make my 9kg load with food seem heavy. Some friends of friends actually have a base load of sub-4kg!!! The real benefits is not comfort IMHO it is how you walk. A light sack (anything less than 10kg) is supposed to feel no different in carry to a typical daysack. So if you regularly walk 20 miles on a day walk then imagine doing a backpack of that difference day after day. What sights would you see? If someone with a bag twice that weight can only do 10 miles you can see the difference.

That is also not it completely. A light sack allows you to move better across the ground. You have better balance you are obviously faster than you would be with a heavy sack. Of course backpacking IMHO is about seeing things, stopping to enjoy the experience. With a light load you move between viewspots so you can sit for a while sucking up the view, the conditions for longer without making you have to walk longer at the end of the day to keep up. You get where you want to sooner perhaps so you have more time at the pitch spot or you move further along your trail.

I really can't see why people don't reduce weight. Is it comfort? Well no offence I have friends who carry wine in 750ml water bottles on overnighters and further. Lighter than glass bottles. They have their comfort extras. I carry books, candle lanterns for ambience, MP3 players and speakers sometimes for entertainment, cards, etc. I have warm but light clothes including spare clothes too. I have food that I like but it is dehydrated. I carry high calorific content for their wieghts food too. I enjoy the food, the extras and the low weight. What is wrong with that?? Of course if I was doing other styles of camping out perhaps weight is not important. For camping from cars in the wilds I carry a heavier tent not a Ul tent or a tarp. I don't have to worry about weight. Even if I only camped a couple of miles from the car I would still go light but would perhaps take a few extras than usual. At thee end of the day it is up to you, but as someone who has carried heavy and light I know what I like.

 

[wentworth]

I just got back from an overnighter with a baseweight of 5.5kg.
Didn't feel that light, as I still had to lug 6.5L of water... this is why I go light

 

[andybysea]

Around 20 to 30 kg on average