Heh, and i was sort of doing the math on what my base might have been with late 70's early 80's era gear, keeping a very lightweight mindset, and I was arriving at a number of about 20 pounds - so this pretty much confirms my suspicion. So with a reasonable food load I could have been 25 pounds for a weekender pretty easy (God knows I never was then...)

Sure, it's not my current 9-12 pound base weight. but it's also far from unmanageable - and in that old pack probably even still quite comfortable to carry... and so then I'm thinking "why the heck didn't I do that". and remembering, no money, cheap gear, cheap food. frozen mooseburger and taco mix. stubby beer bottles, hand axes, etc etc etc....