This morning I stripped all my gear from all my packs and weighed nearly every kit and every item I have which I could possibly put into a BOB/Ready Pack/Survival Kit/ETC. I haven't gotten into weighing clothing yet...but I plan to.

Why did I do this? My damn backpack weighs a ton! I don't have the money to just grab something and say, "Wow this feels heavy. I think I'll go buy another one of these only made from the latest ultralightium for only hundreds of dollars!". Also, I'm 30 years old and I'd like my knees to last another 30 as even through I drive I carry this stuff around a lot...not all of it all the time...but a lot of it a lot of the time. I'm hoping that by looking at what everything weighs, I can find the worst offenders and either modify the load, get rid of it, or *shudder* replace it with something else. And to think I usually shake my head when I read about ounce counting ultralighters.

Why am I posting about it? Well! I'm going to put all my findings and analysis into a Google documents spreadsheet and make it public so you can all benefit from my obsessive compulsiveness. It's going to be a living document (that is continually updated) which any of you fine people can reference for weights on things...or to use as a ballpark for similar items you'd like to buy but don't know the weight of.

What do I want in return?...just your love...er...I mean advice. The collective brain which is the ETS forum should be able to help me shed some pounds...from my pack that is...

I'll post the link later today once I've done all the data entry. Let the opinions begin! I normally get defensive with the 'you don't need that!' comments but this time I think I could use some of that. I think I can hear ironraven typing already!

Speaking of removing weight.....

Just today I went out to my truck and cleaned out the back. Took out all the cleaning stuff I don't need in the winter (that would probably freeze and make a mess anyway), as well as some other stuff I could do without. When all was said and done I removed about a duffel bag full of stuff I either don't need entirely or just don't need in winter.

Not only do I now have more room for other stuff I may need to carry, but I probably improved my gas mileage and overall performance. It's pretty much win-win.


Usually twice a year I make a habit of going through all my gear, checking the expiration dates on everything, as well as removing stuff that is overly redundant or just never used. I can't think of any time when I really wished I had something I decided to take out. Usually, it works out for the better.

I only have a few things to weigh (tricksy stuff like packs and clothes)and everything else is put into the following Google spreadsheet published for all to view. I even did it in lbs and ounces to spare you all the agony of kilograms. All items were weighed on the same digital kitchen scale. If the weights on the sheet don't match what a manufacturer says, I don't care...what they claim isn't what I have to carry.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pNqWMHytWaM92d-srG6iBeQ

I'm going to hyperlink the names to their product pages online because even I forget what the hell some of that stuff is sometimes.

I've filled in some weight sub totals for my EDC stuff but not for anything else yet (Sar Ready Pack, BOB, etc)...working on it. That's the part where the thought comes in...what to include and what to not include.

There will also be a breakdown of the kits eventually because looking at the numbers I think some of them are the part of the problem.

I'm impressed that the total so far is under 70 lbs for EVERYTHING (and I would never carry EVERYTHING) including food and quite a bit of water...I guessed much higher.

*laughs*

That's becuase this my area of interest. Skills are great, even better than gear, but gear makes it easier.

How much does it weight now? I am doubtful of the 1000kg claim. :P

Hacksaw,

Very useful! Thank you for doing this.

-Blast

Hacksaw,

I'd love to see more details about your kit because it looks pretty good. Maybe some pics??

Weighing a ton was a figure of speech of course (leave it to ironraven to find the chink in my choice of words )

I vary the contents to the situation but the last time I packed it with a full load (minus food and water) it was almost 40 lbs. Plenty of space left in the 60L pack but just too heavy to be practical...especially once you add water! AND this is with no tent or bivy either.

The spreadsheet is turning out better than I planned...there are more features than the last time I used this particular Google nugget...really becoming more of a planning tool than just a record of weights.

Only a few more things to weigh. The packs are tricky to weigh on a kitchen scale but if I have to I'll borrow a digital fish scale to do it...a few pieces of clothing are in the wash. I'll weigh them once they're spring fresh.

I'll try to take pictures as I put everything back. It's a big pile on the kitchen table right now.

Nice spreadsheet!

As for weighing the packs, step on the bathroom scale and weigh yourself. Next don the pack and re-weigh again, you can now figure out the weight of the pack.

When I do this, I only count the lb weight not the ounces of the pack overall. The way I look at it, a few ounces out on the pack weight is not going to break me...I'll just have to eat a few less Timbits !

32 years ago at age 25, I walked across Europe with an 80lb pack - 1800 miles or so from Oostende Belgium to Palermo Sicily. Since I was there for a year, I had to cover all contingencies, weather, clothing and camping wise. Today I have one bad hip and two bad knees. Of course some of that may have come from high school football or jumping out of airplanes. But I recommend a lighter load unless you're in really really good shape. Gimping around at my current age is doable, but sometimes it's not much fun.

That's precisely what I'm trying to avoid saniterra. Less weight means less physical stress and less exertion required. It's hard for me to part with all my toys though so careful planning is the only way I can get the proverbial kitchen sink out of my packs.

80lbs must have left you beat at the end of the day! So far my theoretical numbers put the pack at just over 60lbs if I were to put everything in I wanted to without care for weight. I know I could carry this much weight if I had to...but I wouldn't be happy!

OK, I've looked it over.

This is the sum total of all the stuff you might put in your packs? Let's break out some of the other configuration, becuase I don't think you'll turtle all this and call it a home- the largest load you'd logically assemble from this is going to be maybe 50-55 pounds, plus pack. So far your EDC lists look ok.

BTW, you list several sub-kits: any chance of those getting broken out?

You hit the nail on the head. It's a list of all my 'survival stuff'...then quantities per scenario (BOB, Commuting to work, etc). It's formula driven so I can change the quantities and check the total weights.

I do plan to break out the kits on other worksheets within the document...but that's tedious work so I'm putting it off to another day...might start tomorrow.

You're right about the weight too. There's no way I want to be running around with a pack over 60lbs. I don't even want it to be over 40 at the top end if I can help it. Fortunately when it comes for a bug out situation or a search and rescue scenario, I'll very likely be with vehicle and can leave many of the items in the car, shedding weight in the pack without having to leave them at home. The sheet doesn't address this yet but I may figure out a way to factor that in.

I updated the page again with another sheet that has breakouts of several of the kits. No weight breakdowns yet for those. Should have more kits and more info put into it throughout the day.

The quantities listed in the planning tab are not final...I'm playing around with them right now so if they look strange, bear with me.

Google ultralight backpacking.

Been there, done that. Overall there is some good information but not all that helpful unless you're into carrying a razor blade instead of a knife.

Well it would seem that time was the real enemy. My DW kaiboshed my work by insisting I clear off the kitchen table so now my gear is in a couple of bins...good thing I weighed almost everything first.

Tonight I'm going to take the advice some of you gave me when I started a thread about first aid kits. I'm going to ditch the Pelican case and go to a MEC first aid bag. It's larger, lighter, water resistant, and has hide away straps so it can be worn as a fanny pack. Should lighten things up a little while giving me room to grow the kit in the future (the Pelican case is jammed tight!). I tested while I was at the MEC and it will fit nicely insice a #2 Outdoor Research drybag so if I ever need full waterproofiness, I'm good to go with a small additional investment.