Way back when I was a Scout, you could tell the new guys, as they had loads of stuff they didn't need and wouldn't use that mom and dad made them take.

That carried over into my time in the Infantry. The new guys would pack the kitchen sink. The guys with sense would pack as little as possible for a lighter load, but enough to be as comfortable as weight/season allowed.

Not calling anyone out, but some of y'all carry more to go on a hike than I used to carry for a week in the woods - minus weapon, gas mask and ammo. Wait, make that minus the weapon and ammo - I swear someone out there is carrying a gas mask.

I carry in my pockets a lot less than most of you and I still am able to fix stuff, see in the dark, wipe my nose, take notes, start a fire and cut stuff.

As to backpacking, I consider anything over 35 pounds to be too much. That includes food, but does not include water, as some places I carry extra water.

What upper weight limit do you try to impose? And on that note, what are some of the things you "must have"?

Anything over 40lbs is getting excessive (including water) and begins to slow me down. 30lbs is much better and 25lbs is even better, but I would have ditch the full sized down pillow and the in 2 man tent stereo entertainment system, the full sized 8x42 Barksa Binos (great for star gazing during the evening), the umbrella solar powered fan cooling system, the fishing rod and reel, the solar shower and the collapsible kitchen sink etc.

I like 35lb better than 40 but it's hard to be comfortable at altitude for the night with much less. (35lb each for 2 guys sharing gear)
Have considered poncho-as-tent on many occasions but on just as many occasions the hail or thick mosquito clouds caused me to un-consider.

For solo dayhikes off trail my just-in-case is about 25lb.
Hiking back to the car in a snowstorm confirmed that was about the right amount of just-in-case.

My hiking kit packing is like a heart beat, contracting down to fanny pack sized and expanding up to a full pack. The full pack is currently around 25 pounds, with 4 quarts of water, (dropped 10 pounds this week with your help. Thanks!) The fanny pack is about 4 pounds without water. I switch between them depending on the route, the company and the probability of an impromptu overnight. I'll also add more clothing outside of summer.

I haven't used a list until now and find myself constantly adding things. I'm trying to be more disiplined and realistic about what I carry but I'm prone to getting sucked into adding more, thinking something is light or small and it won't add much. One thing leads to two, leads to three...

Oddly, I find packing for camp much easier to limit to the necessities. By simply adding a few things to my hiking gear I'm ready to go for a few days to a week. Tent, thermarest, sleeping bag, pillow case, campfire blanket, kettle, cook pot, mess kit, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodarant, change of clothes, socks, unders, a book and food, and I'm off. (Maybe my tiny stool or regular camp chair depending on the type of camping.) More clothes and an axe get added outside these few warm summer months.

I once went on a portaging trip with a guy that carried 2 rods and reels, a full mutli-tray tackle box and one of those big 'ol metal coleman coolers, stocked with 2 bottles of Screetch (Newfie whisky) and 2 cases of rootbeer. Of course he also had a kids-sized tent with a napkin-sized fly, an old army wool blanket for a sleeping bag, and the only extra clothes he brought were a rain jacket, and 1 change of socks and underwear.

The funniest part was that before the trip, he told all the girls going on the trip that he was going to go through our packs to make sure we didn't bring anything we didn't need.

EDIT: A week lugging all that suff through Algonquin Park, and all he caught were grass bass and a cold.

How much weight is too much?

It really depends on person to person and their comfort levels. Back in the day, I really liked to rough it but nowadays, I don't mind carrying a little extra gear if it means that my outing be a bit more comfortable.

Also along the same lines; the factors of anticipated weather, distance, terrain, physical conditioning at the time of the trip also contribute to the weight algorithm. I have carried as little as 10-12 lbs which basically consisted of a minimal PSK, siltarp, light sleeping bag, bit of food and water on a warm weather overnight hike. Conversely, I have carried over 50 lbs of winter durable tent, much more clothing, gear, water, food, on a cold winter hike in different terrain but of the same distance warm weather hike.

I've got three different bags, depending on what I'm doing.

The first is a Camelbak Hydrobak:



It holds the following:

• ~1.5L of water
• two energy bars with a packet of peanut-butter
• a fox 40 micro whistle and BSA Hotspark on a quick-link
• A leatherman Freestyle
• A princeton tec Scout headlamp (with spare set batteries)
• A rain poncho
• moleskin
• a packet of tissues
• coffee filters
• katadyn mp1 tablets
• a large bandanna
• A mini roll of electrical tape

I use that for typical short hikes (~5 miles or less). I'm not sure what it weighs exactly, because it's too heavy for my postage scale and too light for my floor scale, but if I had to guess I would say it weighs around 5lbs. It's pretty effortless to hike with.


My next bag is a Camelbak Cloud Walker:



That's what I use on longer day hikes and light overnight trips. What I carry in it varies, but at it's heaviest it comes in right at 20lbs (and that's with 2.5L of water).

My last pack is an old Jansport internal frame pack. I'm not sure what the model is, and it's no longer made; but it's built a lot tougher than their modern stuff and it has served me well for a long time. I use that on longer hiking/camping trips.

With that said, the bag itself is heavy compared to more modern packs and it's starting to show its age. I'm probably going to start looking for a replacement soon.

That one the weight varies way too much for me to even ball park it. I know that, for one trip, where I was carrying a lot of weight in food, water, winter clothing, ammunition, ect it got to be well over 40lbs. Then I had a rifle strapped to the outside for another ~8lbs or so. At that point I was seriously thinking about hiring a pack mule or something.

I like the idea that form follows function.

Short hikes out and back in less than a day: I am wearing my EDC augmented with a larger PFAK and PSK. I am carrying a small dayback holding a could litres of water, snacks, lunch, folding knife, cord, fire-starter and artifical tinder, and if weather threatens, lightweight rainsuit. I almost always use a hiking staff. I guess this load is more than 5 but less than 10 pounds.

1 - 2 overnights of just hiking and sightseeing: I am wearing my EDC augmented with a larger PFAK and PSK. I am carrying my BOB, plus hiking staff. Probably 25 pounds plus another 8 pounds [1 gallon] of water.

More than 2 overnights: I am wearing my EDC augmented with a larger PFAK and PSK. I am carrying my BOB, including one gallon of water, more food, one more change of clothes, laundry supplies, some sports and comfort gear. Up to 40 pounds on day one, diminishing as food and water are consumed.

Too much? Not so far for my purposes. Every test of my BOB helps my morale, preparedness, physical readiness, and confidence. I tend to hike to "base camps" and then both dayhike from camp and spend "idle" days enjoying the immediate area of "base camp." I do not through-hike just to cover the territory and sightsee, because I am fishing, tracking animals, identifying / foraging useful and edible plants / fungi, or doingother outdoor foraging type stuff.

I like to keep my core items - sleeping bag, shelter, survival items as light as possible. I use either a 2 pound tent or a lighter tarp, along with a 2 pound sleeping bag. Realistically, the biggest determinant of weight is water. I can go much lighter in the mountains compared to the desert.

Then there is the question of "mission critical" items. If I am doing archaeology, there is an almost guaranteed ten extra pounds; the same weight penalty is present if technical climbing is involved. If both are involved, the pack starts to get fairly heavy.

I am always looking for lighter weight equivalents for my gear, bearing in mind that performance is always a concern. I avoid redundancy with the exception of fire starting equipment. Fire is critical.

Dayhiking? ~8#

Weekend backpacking 30-35#