I voted for 20-30, only because for a 5-7 day trip where and when I normally hike, in summer in the high Cascades of the Pacific Northwest, that range includes both my total pack weight and my skin-out weight. My base weight (pack without food, fuel and water) is 14.5 lbs.

You need to be more specific and use generally accepted terminology if you want the results of your "survey" to be at all meaningful. When you say "bag," we all think sleeping bag, which makes the whole survey very puzzling. A backpack is not a bag, although it is "baggage" if we're traveling with it on an airplane (possibly the source of your confusion?). The light-weight end of your range connotes "base weight" to most of us, because even the "super-ultra-light" folks carry 1.5 to 2 lbs. of food per day and a quart (2 lbs) of water even where water sources are plentiful. adding about 10 lbs. to base weight for a 5-day trip. They may go without quite a few comforts, but they don't go without food and water!

Conditions vary greatly, too. If you're in the desert where you have to carry several gallons of water, or if it's winter when you need heavier winter clothes and gear, your total pack weight will be much heavier than if you're hiking in midsummer in an area where there is lots of water. Even in midsummer with ample water sources, your base weight will vary considerably depending on whether you're hiking near or above timberline in the Rockies (where it can and does snow any month of the year) or in the hot and humid midwest. Even the amount of food carried varies considerably based on one's size, weight, tastes and appetite. Finally, as already pointed out, if you start the trip in cold and rainy conditions, some of what would normally be in your pack is going to be on your body.

In other words, you have to set a lot of specific conditions for such a survey, or you're comparing not just apples and oranges but apples and potatoes.


Edited by OregonMouse (01/12/08 02:42 PM)
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey