Large rock specimens, another reason for a large pack or pack frame.
base weight only counts if you are going on a trip where you will only carry exactly whats on the list. Of course as OM says, the camera, steaks, smores, camp chair, etc etc still add up and another way of looking at it is "TRAILHEAD WEIGHT". HOW MUCH ARE YOU CARRYING PAST THE TRAIL HEAD INCLUDING A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF WATER? We assume the pack will get lighter than that as you eat food and consume items, and then you may also accumulate some items, like garbage, so that there is a "LEAVING WEIGHT". THEN THERE IS THE AVERAGE OF THE GOING IN WEIGHT AND THE COMING OUT WEIGHT. That is a much more telling number than "living room spread sheet base weight. Hey do you add the weight of a wet tent? Probably not. To me whats important is the change in the actual weight carried over the trip and whether I am going uphill with the least weight, which generally means hiking down into a canyon from a ridge. Jim
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
Often I weigh myself with the pack on as I am about to leave home . Than I subtract my weight (plus clothing worned) to get what I have on my shoulders. At the trailhead I add water (usually 1 to 2L) . On my last 6 day trip I had just under 12kg ,( 26.4 lbs) , that would take me down to around 30f comfortably (food and gear) I find it a bit peculiar when people rave on about how light their "..." is but in reality they HAVE to have a book or two, a bottle of whisky or other stuff never included in the original weight. Again what matters to me is the total weight on my shoulders not on a spreadsheet. Franco
I agree with some of the above posters. It's hard to pin a number on base weight without an exact definition. If it is the weight of your pack minus consumables, what about clothing worn, hiking poles, and the contents of your pockets? That can add up to quite a bit. "Skin out" weight is the term I like to use. It includes all of the above and I feel that it paints a much more realistic picture.
My base weight is all over the board depending on the time of year, daily mileage, presence/absence of snow, group size (shared equipment) expected temps, duration of the trip and, most importantly, the level of comfort/convenience I desire. I can safely say that it has never been the same from trip to trip.
_________________________ If you only travel on sunny days you will never reach your destination.*
* May not apply at certain latitudes in Canada and elsewhere.
Registered: 11/23/03
Posts: 430
Loc: Kitsap Peninsula, WA
Thanks everyone for the data. And I know there are variables, but it is still interesting what can be extrapolated. I'm still trying to figure out how to add a Jpeg pic to a message here.
What catagory does the "wag bag" contents fall into? If you climb Mt Whitney you must carry out the end product of your "consumables". Guess that is "base weight".
I have a friend who always comes out with nearly as much as he has going in. He considers himself a professional salvager and just cannot resist hauling out a great "find".
Your picture has to be hosted on another site like Flickr. Once you have the picture's URL, hit the fourth icon from the left in the reply box to add an image.
_________________________ If you only travel on sunny days you will never reach your destination.*
* May not apply at certain latitudes in Canada and elsewhere.
WD I was being polite when I said "accumulate some things"... The point being - I didn't notice any fecal matter on anybodies UL list ha ha. Nor large plastic bags nor pee bottles, nor watches or key chains.
I met two guys with huge completely empty frame packs, except for their fishing gear, along a salmon stream in coastal California. They said "ever try to carry out two 40 pound salmon in your arms?" So thats maybe 5 pounds going in and 85 pounds going out. If we said it was an average weight of 42 pounds, would that convey any real information?
I guess all I can add is that lately for summer overnights at 7,000' in the Cascades with a tent due to the winds/changeable weather, my pack has been running around 22-24 pounds including water and everything except the clothes I wear at the trailhead. Jim
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
My base weight is whatever I need to be comfortable in the destination and expected conditions. Somewhere between 10 - 20 lbs.
SAR pack I try to keep to bare minimum. 25 lbs in winter. 15 in summer. (I have to add weight to manage the physical fitness test, they want us to be able to carry 20 before water).
Fishing trips I have about 25 total. Long distance trips I am lean and mean because the food and bear canister will put me up to 30 lbs before I know it.
I just got back from an overnight where we intended to spend the night on a peak (a whole 3,000 feet, woo) and slogged up there with 8 lbs of extra water, on a stupidly steep trail with 1,400+ feet of gain for the day. The pack was 23 lbs with water and food. Until I added the extra water....
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"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few." Shunryu Suzuki
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Originally Posted By lori
I just got back from an overnight where we intended to spend the night on a peak (a whole 3,000 feet, woo) and slogged up there with 8 lbs of extra water, on a stupidly steep trail with 1,400+ feet of gain for the day. The pack was 23 lbs with water and food. Until I added the extra water....
Well, that's taller than anything we have around here, but a "stupidly steep trail with 1,400+ feet of gain for the day" is about the only kind we have
Hi Jim M Not sure about Shutterfly but generally there are different codes connected to each picture. The one that works here from Photobucket is the "direct link" code not the img code. Anyway, when you want to insert the picture , you click on the fourth icon above the text window. (the first is the smiley one) When you click on that, a separate window will open and you insert the code there deleting first the "http// "prompt highlighted in blue. Depending on your Internet settings, when you click on that " Insert Image here" box , you may need to allow the image to be inserted by clicking on the "temporarily allow...." bar that will appear above this forum page . Franco
Registered: 11/23/03
Posts: 430
Loc: Kitsap Peninsula, WA
Thanks again to all who took the time to respond. My conclusions are as follows. Not everyone was enamored with the idea of coming up with a "Base Weight" to begin with. Some found it a nebulous term that lacked clear definition. Others seemed to have a range of base weights depending on circumstances. Still others seemed indifferent about the idea of coming up with an exact number. In any case here is what I came up with when including my own "Base Weight" to the list.
Range: 12 to 20 pounds Average: 15.53 Standard Deviation: 2.82
I wondered what the average BW was as a percentage of body weight. The average American male is now 191 pounds. I took off 10% because backpackers are more fit than the average person. So: 15.53 pounds divided by 171.9 = 9.0% of body weight. Not bad considering people used to say you can carry 20% of body weight in comfort. Probably not a scientific poll, but something to think about and more importantly, something to do when it is raining and I can't get out hiking. BTW the curve attached looks like the numbers are normally distributed. I don't know whether this should give me more confidence in the numbers or not.
I think the stats are meaningless. You do not have a "representative sample" to begin with. Simply the title of your post scared off anyone who carries a heavier pack. You never adjusted for conditions. Believe me, I would pack differently for a trip to the High Sierra vs a trip in Alabama. And your "average weight" backpacker with the "assumption" that we are under the national average is also bogus. Throw out my pack weight- I am so far under your average body weight that I skew everything! Also, because I think we are on the older side in this forum, I would guess quite a few are NOT 10% under the average weight. I suggest that if you are serious about this kind of "study" then get some real training in statistics. Man, it really must be raining where you are from! Too much time on your hands!
Registered: 11/23/03
Posts: 430
Loc: Kitsap Peninsula, WA
Wow. That was quite a reaction! It was all done in jest. Sorry you didn't get it. I apologize if I made you angry. Maybe you should get some help with that hostility. (I'm joking, please don't write me another diatribe.)
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Quote:
I suggest that if you are serious about this kind of "study" then get some real training in statistics. Man, it really must be raining where you are from! Too much time on your hands!
Well, yeah, to get anything that was truly statistically accurate you'd have to get a lot more data and it'd have to be detailed, but it was just for amusement, not science, so I don't think we need to send him back to school
I was in No Illinois one Spring when it rained for 483 days in a row. It really does get to you. At least it did me
I don't know how you upper west coasters live in that rainforest.
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