Pack weight / light gear

12 Apr 2010 19:36 #1135 by anthony
:dry: HI all
I am always trying to shed weight on my pack so i was wondering what is the average weight other people are carrying into the berg for a three night stay with a tent?Mine is around 17kg with 2litres of water.

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12 Apr 2010 21:47 #1137 by Stijn
Replied by Stijn on topic Pack weight / light gear
That's pretty good going! I used to resort to pasta and sugar for dinner to keep my pack weight that low but have since seen the light (no pun intented). I'm a 20-25kg gourmet dinners hiker now B)

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13 Apr 2010 12:47 #1144 by Frosty Ice
Replied by Frosty Ice on topic Pack weight / light gear
I think you guys are going in a bit heavey.

For summer I go at about 10kg + 1kg water
For Winter about 14kg + 1kg water

This is when i go with a a friend.
We split tent verse food.

If you interested I will give you a detailed break down.

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13 Apr 2010 13:46 #1146 by tiska
Replied by tiska on topic Pack weight / light gear
One of the best things I ever did was lighten my bag in the Berg. This came about through necessity when climbing in winter. The additional weight of climbing gear + water meant that you couldn't have more than 12kg of other (non climbing) gear and still enjoy things - climbing gear came in around 10kg with climbing boots, harness, rack, ropes etc.

The essential change to mountain gear in the last 10 years has been a significant reduction in weight. I find that climbers with heavy bags tend to take too much clothing. I just take 2 long sleeve shirts (one of which I wear), two pairs of running shorts (one of which I wear) and a pair of lightweight running longs. A single fleece and lightweight raincoat are good for summer. Its never really too cold when you're hiking and if you're cold when you stop, then the sleeping bag should do the trick. The Berg is blessed with caves in 2 types of rock which is hugely unusual in the world. So I very, very seldom pack a tent. Bivvy bag yes.

After this, the most critical factor is fitness - so that if things go wrong, all or one can get out quickly. Anyone find any of this stuff on sale anywhere - give me a shout!

There are a few tricks with food as well. One I use regularly now is to take a minimal load of sugar and use those awful tasting diet sugar pills. These add the sweet taste and just a little sugar disguises the taste of the pills.

If you think you carry too much stuff, check out what is in your bag when you've finished a trip that you either didn't use or didn't really need. Not all of this can be left behind next time - but at least some can.

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13 Apr 2010 15:20 #1147 by ClimbyKel
Replied by ClimbyKel on topic Pack weight / light gear
I guess this is all relative to body weight. I'm no Ox (only 57 kg body weight), but I still think I'm packing a bit too heavy (at least for shorter summer trips). Although, I cannot think of a way to reduce this weight without buying some new lighter weight gear. I've been carrying about 16-17 kg per trip, but my husband helps me by keeping my weight down. I carry about 2 kg of water, since I treat it with a Mioxx (it's a bit too risky for my little Canadian body to attempt untreated water).

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13 Apr 2010 16:30 #1148 by tiska
Replied by tiska on topic Pack weight / light gear
Slightly off topic I know, I've never treated the water on Berg hikes and have never, never had a problem - even with pretty green looking pools on the escarpment before the rains in Spring.

I've had frequent problems elsewhere - including the water in the tourist camps in the Berg like Injesuthi and all of the rest of the continent to the north.....

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13 Apr 2010 16:33 #1149 by intrepid
Replied by intrepid on topic Pack weight / light gear
@Stijn: now that you did the GT record, it seems things have gone a bit downhill? ;)

One of the best items of gear I own is a scale! I've received compliments on my "fancy kitchen scale", to which I have to reply "Umm, its for my gear..". Its very eye opening to start weighing individual items! I also have a fish scale to weigh total pack weight - this usually makes its appearance just as everyone is putting their packs on, and is then left in the car.

I'm also around 16-17 for that kind of a walk, which includes tent and some other items which I don't readily part with (trowel, good first aid, large pepper spray, webbed trail shoes for those slish-sloshy joys of the wet months, and a barrage of batteries for a GPS which is always on). I find that my body's thermostat runs a little lower than average, so I need a little more insulation at night than most guys. But I'm not satisfied with that weight either and am trying to scale it down more. This quest has been spurred on by GearGuy, whose dedication and interest in lightweight gear has been an inspiration to keep getting the weight down. @GearGuy: care to share some thoughts here?

I find one of the silent killers is the pack itself - some fancy packs around but they are far too heavy. I love the Deuter ACT Lite series...have used the 45+10 litre, which weighs about 1.6 kg, even for multi-day winter hikes.

@mnt_tiska: I love caves and the idea of combining them with bivies and leaving the tent behind (even though I've been pelted with wind, rain or snow right inside caves before.) Problem is this only works best for a small team who have the right gear (ie good bivies that dont leak), and who like that kind of thing. My group varies and not all are thrilled with caves.

Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.

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13 Apr 2010 17:47 #1150 by tiska
Replied by tiska on topic Pack weight / light gear
Intrepid has reminded me of a crucial issue - I have a really small bag (an old Karrimor Hot Ice I think it is) - max about 50L. I've used it for a long time, including all the climbing trips in the Berg where space was more of an issue. Starting with a small bag helps enormously with the discipline of keeping things light.

An area where I also skimp a lot (and will prob receive a lot of flac for) is with first aid. I generally take a few 'good' plasters that actually stick and the most potent pain killers I can get at the time. Where we have had a problem (like when I got clocked on the face by a boulder on route in Rockeries) we've just made do - a sock round the face that time. Medics said afterwards that the key thing was to wrap it up and leave it wrapped up - which we did. The scar from that episode would still be useful to Interpol.

Intrepid, interested in exactly what other people don't like about caves. I can understand that Rat Hole might take some getting used to, but the rest allow such space and such connection with the mountains. Being in a tent --- it might as well be pitched in the bathroom.

Also, when the weather is lousy, being in a cave is just great. That said, we've had some rough nights. Memorably so in Cowl Cave where a winter wind was sooo strong and soooo loud it was genuinely funny. We only got to sleep at about three. And suffering through a blizzard in Mbundini Cave where bivvy bags saved us. But I reckon a tent blown on our face all night under these conditions would actually have been worse - if the thing survived.

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13 Apr 2010 18:39 #1151 by anthony
Replied by anthony on topic Pack weight / light gear
B) Frosty ice that is really good, please give us a short break down,i have spent a lot of money and not even close.I work on about 750g of food per day.

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13 Apr 2010 19:08 #1152 by JonWells
Replied by JonWells on topic Pack weight / light gear
On my last hike my pack was 19kg, and when I got home the first thing I did was make notes to pack lighter next time after suffering with aching shoulders! I guess its all about finding the right balance between essentials and comfort items, but one things for sure, the whiskey bottle stays! :laugh:

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