Hello ladies and gentlemen,

I've been lurking almost weekly since the 2003 blackout and I find the information on this site indispensable!
My library is filled with book recommendations, I took WFA & Wild Edibles classes, I have 4 of Doug's knives, a SAME receiver, per Blast, 2 canister stoves, per Hiking Jim, and own tons of other toys...I mean useful gear.

My questions are:
What do you leave behind when injured?
Did you leave behind anything you realized you needed?

Recently I was hurt before a long day hike and I needed to lighten the load.

From my pack I removed my Steripen. I switched out my Jetboil Flash for my Gigapower & small GSI Minimalist. Pulled out my fleece, U.dig.it, cookware,
utensils, sandals and lightened my food load to JUST enough.

I also left my secondary PSK which includes: Terralux converted minim,ag, ChargeTTI & bits, spacepen, mini bic, spare batts, duct tape, ferro rod, Mg strip, braid of paracord & spare car key. All items are stored in a belt pouch.

In total I saved over 12lbs.

Lessons learned:
My 3L Camelbak started full but I realized my chlorine dioxide tablets were in the Jetboil which was relaxing with the Steripen on my couch. This meant that my choices were the two ClO2 tablets I always keep in my wallet or boiling 0.5L at a time. I left myself without easy safe water...I conserved H2O and returned with less than 1L.

I was hungry, I had no food left. This was ok for a day hike but if the trip would have turned bad I would've had to have cooked one of my companions ;-)

No spare key. Luckily I didn't need it.

Welcome to the forum.

Your questions will recieve many differing opinions on this subject.

For me, the carrying of any kit, injured or not always comes down to:

Expected distance, expected terrain, expected weather, experience of person(s) involved.

In your particular scneario, it also depends on the type of injury. Even a minor foot/leg/back injury etc may prevent a person from carrying a full load of gear or none at all wheras other lesser injuries may not hinder your gear carrying ability as much.

Thank you for the welcome & response

Your question to my question makes lots of sense.
Mine was a leg injury. Nothing major but enough that a full load was too much.
Warm day, medium terrain, 9-10 hrs outdoors.

In the past I've pulled my back or twisted an ankle and had to lighten the load as well so I wanted to see what the knowledgeable men & women at ETS had to say.

A lot of variables involved here. I don't think you can formulate a general rule that fits all situations. On many trips, I and my companions have redistributed the material, but we have typically not lightened our loads. If we needed our gear before the injury, we are likely to need it even more afterwards.

What I do most often is adopt a slower, more deliberate pace. On one multiday trip, that meant I had to get on the trail earlier than my companions and finish a little later in the day i was usually hiking slowly by myself, consequently I saw more wildlife on that trip than normal, by a wide margin.

It seems that you are packing fairly heavy - I usually carry an ultralight alcohol stove or esbit tabs on a day hike, rather than a cartridge stove. I also tend to swap out my bit kit and heavy L-tool for something lighter if I am hiking into the wilderness, where there are fewer hardware items.

The other option is to change plans, or in extremis, call for assistance. That isn't being a wimp, that is just plain smart.

Thank you hikermor, I do pack HEAVY
...Plan for the worst and hope for the best...
Whittling the load is a work in progress.

Lots of good insight. Your input is appreciated.

Hi Quietly_Learning, I'm glad you're Vocally_Learning now !

Its a difficult question with many answers.
It sounds like you would really need to re-evaluate everything in your “heavy kit” and prioritize, depending on circumstances.

What items are essential to life ?
Which will defiantly be used (given what you “know” of the situation) ?
Which “might” be used if circumstance X occurred and how likely is that ?
Which are unlikely to be useful ?

If you are out and about, (or at home), you can cache equipment and retrieve it later;
if you have expensive or dangerous items which you are going to cache, you may wish to take special precautions when leaving them.

Basically yoiu need to re-evaluate and prioritize

Hello Aussie, thank you, I don't know how to use the quotes yet but "vocally_learning" had me laughing!

Good info to think about.
I am always trying to lighten the load and your breakdown makes sense. I tried to strip everything I could on this trip and found I accidently removed an essential item -water purification. I will use everyone's suggestions to better prioritize when I pack for my next trip.

Unfortunately caching gear is not possible on my backpacking or climbing trips but hikermor's suggestion of splitting gear will work well for an accident.

I'm working through physical therapy after my second shoulder surgery. In my commuter kit, I've dumped:

• all snacks
• umbrella
• dropped from a 1L Nalgene to a 500ml bottle of water
• a few infrequently-used tools
• downsized my primary laptop bag flashlight
• paper notepad in exchange for iPad
• spare mouse

In all it's about 3-4 pounds down from where it was. For all that my bag is really heavy compared to most. Much of that weight is in tools that I really can't part with. The things I carry strictly for emergencies make up only about one pound of the load.

Some time back on a group backpacking/kayaking trip I took several jolts to my knee and sprained the lateral collateral ligament on the route down. It was about an hour back to the vehicle so others picked up my pack and humped it back down while I gingerly walked with the assistance of my walking stick. After some RICE I was able to continue for the rest of the 3-week trip but I had to be careful about putting weight or pressure on that knee and could only use a small day pack. Lucky for me that the heaviest work was out of the way and I was able to continue. Unfortunately I didn't have access to a brace or elastic bandage which could have helped.

My point is - the original question has too many variables in it. Distance to be traveled, terrain, # of companions, and type of injury were the biggest factors for me. A broken arm or a deep laceration or concussion are all very different scenarios.

What did you do with all the gear you removed? Did your friends pack all or some of it for you as 12 lbs is not a lot for any able bodied person in decent condition to shoulder/pack considering the underlying circumstances.