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Pack weight

PostPosted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 4:35 am
by WyomingSummits
Last fall I started a topic on my ungodly heavy 3 day alpine trad pack weight. I now have it down to 35lbs. Bought a much lighter tent, sleeping back, and stove. Pared down some unnecessary stuff I was hauling around, and went with OP Lava biners on my rack along with lighter ropes. My 3 day weekend pack for non technical trips I got down to 12 pounds....free as a bird! ;)

Re: Pack weight

PostPosted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 5:31 am
by splattski
Congratulations.
I think your success deserves some explanation: list of new items and weight savings.

And if you really want to go overboard, my friend Bob did a similar project before we went to Gannett and provided a calculation of cost per gram to reduce the load!

Re: Pack weight

PostPosted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 5:28 pm
by ExcitableBoy
35 lbs for a 3 day big mixed alpine route is right in the ball park.

Hikers speak of 'The Big Four' (pack, tent, bag/pad, and stove) which for me is down to 5 3/4 pounds for multiday alpine trips in the summer. When I did Lib Ridge again last summer, we did it in a leisurely 3 days and my pack weighed 36 lbs, fully loaded with food and water. That means the rope, rack, clothes, technical gear, water (2 liters) food, and misc crap weighed 30 lbs. That is with wire gate biners, spectra slings, minimal screws and pickets, 50 meter 1/2 rope. That technical gear like steel crampons, ice tools, is hard to cut down on weight. They just weigh what they weigh.

Re: Pack weight

PostPosted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:58 pm
by Kai

Re: Pack weight

PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 12:02 am
by ChrisJahn
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outd ... f-back.htm

The boot weight is also a factor here. I brought down my alpine pack with clothing to 30lbs (and I'm 6'2) but the boots I'm using now make a huge difference at 6000 meters (batura 2.0) and I feel like I could easily carry an extra 5 pounds but don't have to!

Re: Pack weight

PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:31 pm
by WyomingSummits
splattski wrote:Congratulations.
I think your success deserves some explanation: list of new items and weight savings.

And if you really want to go overboard, my friend Bob did a similar project before we went to Gannett and provided a calculation of cost per gram to reduce the load!


I run really hot and sleep really hot. I pared down to the Marmot Nanowave 50. Very compact.....packs down to 5.5". Tent I got the footprint for my North Face tent and am fast packing it. For my bag, pad, tent combo, I'm running at 5lbs. Most people are not going to be able to get away with a bag that light, but I sweat in a 35 degree bag on a 20 degree night. I found that the Nanowave worked well when I sleep in an insulated layer like a mid weight fleece. I overhauled most of the Biners on my rack and went with a 9.2mm Rope. Optimus Crux stove packs stupid small. The packing size is something many people overlook. It really helps to keep everything center and packed solid. For my trips that are non technical scrambling/4th class, I can fit my whole setup in the TNF Verto 32 summit pack which weighs only 21oz. This is obviously my summer mountain setup. :) Winter is a different story and that's my next project as my 10 degree bag weighs 3lbs 12oz by itself.

Re: Pack weight

PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 2:11 pm
by reboyles
Here's a list of my old and new. I could shed more weight with some of my gear but I prefer a full length pad and bag as well as a pack that has enough heft to handle skis, snowshoes, poles, etc. The same goes for my crampons and ice ax. I won't use aluminum crampons and I prefer a slightly heavier ax for whacking hard snow and ice. I saved another pound or so by using half gaiters and lighter gloves. On our Gannett trip we carried a 3 lb Megamid (for 3 of us) and combined every piece of gear down to a single item where possible. We had 1 small tube of toothpaste and sunscreen, 1 stove, 1 water filter, etc. My fully loaded 5-6 day pack topped out at around 35 lbs at the beginning of the trip and I was carrying the food. On our previous trip to the Winds my pack was around 55-60 lbs and carrying that much weight just sucked the energy out of me from the start.

Old (lbs)- New
Crampons 2.60 - 2.0
Cook kit, stove, gas 1.85 - .93
Bag and pad 6.20 - 2.84
Pack 5.20 - 3.70
Jacket 2.10 - .80

Total 19.05 - 11.20