Winter Tent Camping Pack Weight

[KayakDan]

After reading the thread on "Total Daypack Weight",I'm a little surprised at how much some people carry for a dayhike. Since we almost never dayhike it's not something I'm really familiar with,but it got me to wondering...

For a winter overnight tent camping trip,what does your pack usually weigh?

For our winter overnights I normally carry 45lbs,50 with snowshoes. Mrs KD is usually carrying 30-35,a bit more with snowshoes. There is some weight economy in being able to divide up what we need to carry,and we have made an effort to cut pack weight with gear choices(Love that Titanium!). That said,we don't cut corners,we have a well equipt FA kit,plenty of warm clothes,good food and plenty of extra fuel,headlamps,folding saw,etc.

 

[sardog1]

"It depends on what your meaning of 'winter overnight tent camping trip' is."

If it's one night, below treeline, likely to be 0'F or above, then it is about 35 pounds. Food is spartan and requires very little cooking, I wear almost all my clothes while sleeping in a quality three-season bag, and tent is a 3 lb. MSR Missing Link that sets up with my collapsible ski/trekking poles. Dog takes his lumps on the tent floor (and usually manages to sneak on top of the sleeping bag at some point.)

If it's more than one night, or forecast below zero, or likely exposed to strong winds, then weight probably balloons to 45-50 lbs. or more, depending on number of days. Tent is now a three-person NF VE-24 (like VE-25 but without the vestibule), dog gets a sleeping mat, I get a heavier, winter sleeping bag, more fuel, more food for both of us, and one or the other of us drags this mass/mess on a sled as much as possible. When I had two dogs available for pulling I could really travel in comfort . . .

EDIt: Above figures assume that I wear the snowshoes, not carry them. If you can bareboot the route, I'm not interested -- likely to be too many of you "fellow travelers" in the neighborhood for my misanthropic tendencies.

 

[sleeping bear]

I always take a sled, although I'm not around mountains anymore. For the 10 day trip I went on a few weeks ago I had 38 pounds of food (it was issued to me and required). At then end of the trip I easily had enough food for another week. We also had ice climbing gear, but there was no ice . I had a smaller pack and a huge duffel on a sled. With the food and climbing gear I'd say I was pushing 80 pounds.

For a personal trip I'm probably closer to 40 or 50, but could likely go lighter. I like to take luxury items in winter because I can pull them on the sled.

 

[Lawn Sale]

If it's going to be nasty I bring my North Col Expedition tent, just over 10 pounds for 3 people. Otherwise I use a 3 season tent and it's a solo at about 4 pounds.

 

[expat]

Two night trip - 45 lbs

Over the past few years, I've found that my pack weight has dropped to about 45 lbs, due to using fleece instead of wool, lighter weight tent, sleeping bag, and equipment in genera. Also I've found that there's stuff I used to bring that I never used, like multiple extra mittens, multiple extra layers, etc. With the synthetics now, I can wear most of the same clothes both days, and can still bring some backup layers.

I also like to have more gourmet-style dinners than eating something like ramen noodles, so that can add a couple pounds to the trip.