What type of backpacker are you?

[marty]

Over the years, I have noticed that people have a different approach toward how much gear they carry and how much weight they have on their back. Figured I should put it to a poll.

So, what type of backpacker are you??

 

[dr_wu002]

Indifferent!

I wish you had a middle category: indifferent: don't really care that much about weight but don't care about conveniences either.

-Dr. Wu

 

[Pete_Hickey]

I run the full range.

If I am alone, I'll tend to go very lightweight, eating dried tofu and rice for days on end. I plan my clothes/sleeping to minimize weight.

On the other hand, if I'm not alone, I may go for a gourmet food hike, carrying beer, fresh vegetables, etc. I've even been known to carry a 8 pound cast iron tortilla press. Fresh cooked tortillas taste SO much better than store-bought ones.

Although I'll fit at the ends of the poll, I rarely fit in the middle.

 

[dr_wu002]

I run the full range.

If I am alone, I'll tend to go very lightweight, eating dried tofu and rice for days on end. I plan my clothes/sleeping to minimize weight.

On the other hand, if I'm not alone, I may go for a gourmet food hike, carrying beer, fresh vegetables, etc. I've even been known to carry a 8 pound cast iron tortilla press. Fresh cooked tortillas taste SO much better than store-bought ones.

Although I'll fit at the ends of the poll, I rarely fit in the middle.

I said indifferent because I'll take just a liner sleeping bag, go light on food etc. But if I don't care all that much about weight. I sort of try to pack light but I'll just throw in whatever's around.

-Dr. Wu

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Lightweight pack

Here's a picture of me going lightweight. You wouldn't think that pack would hold enough to spend a night, would you?

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/petepack1.jpg

Gotta look for a picture of me with a big pack now.

 

[Rick]

I vary, depending on how you define backpacking. For some backpacking is an overnight; others, a 5-month odyssey. As for me, my trips are either quick weekends or 7-10 days.
For the former, I am a middleweight but with all lightweight gear - the additional weight comes from the conveniences and comfort - Blackberry/cellphone, additional cookware, sunglasses, extra pocketknife, wallet, heavier, (fresh) food, maybe a saw for campfires (when allowed).

For the latter, I tend to be very lightweight, but not quite a gram weeny. just the essentials and not much more (except my thermarest lounger chair thingy.)

 

[Rick]

Here's a picture of me going lightweight. You wouldn't think that pack would hold enough to spend a night, would you?

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/petepack1.jpg

Gott look for a picture of me with a big pack now.

Y'know Pete, I hate to be critical, but if I need to point out a flaw, I will.

If you cut the end off that long dangling strap in the picture, I bet you could cut that load by close to another ounce. ....Just trying to save you some weight, buddy....

 

[danno]

Here's a picture of me going lightweight. You wouldn't think that pack would hold enough to spend a night, would you?

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/petepack1.jpg

Pete, where did you find a washer/dryer/generator and a kitchen sink that would fit into your day pack?

For me, I need to watch my pack weight more these days, and feel I should get a scale and start counting ounces, but I haven’t done that yet. I do enjoy fresh food and a heavy camera. So, I guess pack weight for me depends on how long I am out, what season it is, how far I am going, and what menu I come up with.

 

[Clown]

I have been on the lightweight side but me and my father are trying to go ultra-light this summer. I have noticed that some people's version of light/heavy are different than others? How much weight would you consider ultra-light? I would say for a weekend trip, ultra-light to me is somewhere around 15lbs or less. I would also say that to me, a heavy winter weekend would be no more than 35 lbs.

 

[onestep]

Backpacking - hiking vs camping

When my purpose is hiking, my 3 season base pack weight (everything but food/fuel/water) is 8.8 lb's.
When my purpose is camping, things get heavy quick!

Onestep

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I replied ultralighter, but it can run the gamut. I really don't give a fig about counting ounces. I take whatever I need for the backpack, I just don't need much for most of my warm weather overnight bivouacs when I am confident of the weather forecast. And yes I have suffered through a few (though rare) miserable nights.

 

[Lawn Sale]

My name is Lawn Sale and I am a Gram weenie. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm an ultralight guy, just lightweight. I happen to have a really good scale at my lab and find it interesting how two of the same items can have different weights. For instance, I have four regular length Termarests, and while they look the same, they vary in weights from 29.5 to 38.4 ounces. The same goes for pots and pans, among other gear. The program I have allows me to enter what I want to bring out of the 280 items on my list (the gear I own) and gives me a tally of the base pack weight, minus food.

Last year my total pack weight for a week was 38 pounds, including food. This year I'm hoping to get it down below 28 pounds.

 

[rhihn]

We've been trying to cut back on weight this year, in part because of an upcoming trip to the Grand Canyon, for which water weight will factor in significantly. But we're going to continue these weight savings beyond that trip, I hope. Not "ultralight" but considerably less than the 45-50 lb. I have carried in the past. Heavy tent went to light tent, then to tarptent, synthetic bag went to 1 lb down bag, pack went from 5 lb. to 2 lb, and so forth.

 

[Artex]

If I'm just dayhiking, I don't pay much attention to weight since my pack is light anyway. If I'm doing a true backpack, then I become more mindful, but my pack still ends up weighing a ton more than the people I go with. I suck at narrowing it down to the basics.

 

[Stan]

I pack as lightweight as possible except for an iron pan, a bottle or two of wine and good food. This probably adds up to midweight. This can be satisfying for a few days, or more depending upon the numbers sharing the load, but if I'm planning a longer excursion, identifying cache spots is part of the trip.

 

[WalksWithBlackflies]

I'm built like a pack mule. 20lbs, 40lbs, 50lbs... it all feels the same to me.

 

[cbcbd]

I voted Lightweight. I have an excel spreadsheet where I keep the weight of every single item I own and can quickly see what is a weight hog and what effect leaving something has on the overall weight.
I can get my summer backpacking bag to 20lbs and am still shaving down on things I don't need or could get lighter.

But... it's much easier to go lightweight alone then with a partner. Usually the partner cares more about certain luxuries.

And... it's usually dependent on what I'm trying to accomplish - if it's an overnight with not too many miles I have no problem carrying some extra luxuries, if it's a long distance solo then I'll go very light.

 

[pilgrim]

Heavy. I don't even want to know what my pack weighs. I want my stuff, and I don't want to be discouraged by an ugly number on the scale.

 

[sapblatt]

mid weight - but getting lighter every year...it takes time to learn what you can live without in the woods...

 

[una_dogger]

I try to aim for a fourty five pound five to six day pack.
I do try to purchase lighter gear when upgrading.
There are some things I will never give up (coffee).
I'd rather use an external frame for a long distance backpack,
affording myself greater organization potential, then use a
lightwieight internal frame backpack.
I try to maximize pounds carried (in terms of food) by shooting
for one hundred calorie per ounce or greater foodstuffs.

I'd rather have full wieght, heavy duty boots then lightwieght boots for backpacking, because I'm expecting my five foot frame to carry a ton of weight.