Hello! I`m new to this forum

Hello!

I`m new to this forum and want to greet the community!
My name is Alex, I have 10 yrs hiking experience in Eastern Europe and Kaukaz mountains. I`ve formed a group of 40+ followers with whom I hike up to 10 times every year.
Hopefully, one day we will hike in US too:)

As I organize our hikes by myself, I want to ask if anyone has found desktop, online or mobile apps that facilitate and help during the hike preparation process.

The top issues I`d like to tackle are :
Proven and manageable gear lists for different types of hikes, which are used as checklists while packing the bag
Solutions that help distribute general (not personal) gear among the hiking group (e.g. tents, axe, kitchen gear)
Apps that help distribute food among the group basing on weight, meals and even backpack total weight decrease

I personally use Excel for all the planning and managing.

Can anyone suggest apps they are using?

Welcome!

There was someone on here a couple years back with an app for gear listing. I checked it out and set up an account, but can't find any info right now. I just use an excel spreadsheet. There are a lot of gear lists floating around on the internet (including the front page of this website). I haven't found any of them particularly useful because they are not set up for where I hike, the duration of my hike, my skill level, and my risk tolerance. You can check out a few to get ideas, but it sounds like you have a pretty good idea of what you are doing.

Interestingly enough many people (on lightweight backpacking forums!) recommend not having group gear. The idea is each person in the group should be autonomous in case someone gets separated they are not missing key gear. I hike in small groups (my family or close friends) so I tend to ascribe to group gear to varying degrees.

What I have found is that tents seem to get heavier per person if you go over 2 people in a tent. The one exception to that is the Tarptent Hogback which is 1 pound per person if you stick 4 people in it or 1.4 pounds/person for 3 people.

I don't backpack with an axe and I am surprised that anyone would choose to. If I can have a fire I collect downed dry branches and break them up with my feet.

Kitchen gear is another thing that doesn't seem to scale well with big groups. In the end of the day big pots and stoves are heavier per person than individual gear (or small groups: 2-3 people).

I have found you can save significant weight in food for groups if you do centralized planning. If food is a community item people will pack less "what-if" items. If you do this you want to make sure you pack enough food for everyone but you don't need to pack as much extra because you are all in it together.

If I was to organize large groups like you are doing, I would break it up into small groups of 2-4 people that would be autonomous. I would provide guidance on what to bring and what not to bring. People new to backpacking will pack their fears and end up with a pack too heavy to get up the hill.

My wife and I always hike together, and we share equipment. I carry the food and the tent, she carries the "kitchen" (stove and dishes) and the FAK.

We've got a gear list on our website, if it would help you. I agree that we would only take an ax if one of us were planning to murder the other one. So far, I haven't carried one....

BZH,
I suppose the app you mentioned is GearGrams, I also used it.

I think about creating an app for those like us to facilitate the preparation process and communication with the group.
I've some ideas basing on my experience, but want to create something helpful for wider audience

Imagine, you have an app instead of your Excel sheet. What would it do?

Balzaccom

Women have lots of experience with kitchen stuff, they may not need ab axe

Thanks for your gear list!

Welcome! We'd love to have trip reports from your part of the world!

There are lots of apps out there--seems like everyone has one--except me. I have a dumb phone which I generally leave in the car because I lose reception before I get to the trailhead. I go out to get away from electronics! Of course, as we often say, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).

I too use an Excel spreadsheet. I prefer to tailor my gear list to my own needs. There are lots of gear lists floating around; there are some on the home page of this site, left hand column. Phat's gear lists (he lives in Alberta, Canada) for summer and winter are in his "sticky" post in the Backcountry Beginners section. I'll look for some others. I know there is gear list
software out there, but I haven't tried to use any.

Do note that if you come to the US, most wilderness areas have a party size limit much smaller than the size of your group. The limit is usually 12 to 15 "heartbeats" (which often includes dogs and other animals). It varies by individual wilderness area--sometimes less and sometimes more. Probably not all the group will be able to come to the US at one time, though (we are not an inexpensive country).

An axe is something you probably don't need. In many parts of the US, especially in the western states where summers are very dry, campfires are discouraged or prohibited. In the wetter east, you should be able to find enough small wood without having to use an axe.

OregonMouse, thank you!

I totally agree about an axe, it is not needed usually. We take it when we go to wet areas with bogs, where all downed wood is either wet or rotten, but dry stems remain standing. It is allowed to cut those down here.

there is my youtube channel with 4-5 videos based on our hiking footage - search "hikermix" in case you are interested. This year`s videos will be ready by New Year, I plan

I was posting on another site on a thread that asked if people brought an axe when hiking. It was rather funny to hear the replies, because it was on a survival forum but in their hiking group.

I think the funniest one I read on the other forum is where the poster said that I wouldn't be able to build a cabin without an axe. That's why we pack a tent, so we don't have to build a cabin every night, and we can leave no trace. (Okay, I didn't make that reply, but I wanted to, lol).

There could be circumstances where an axe may be necessary, but I would think that's on a more specialized hike where one would know in advance. It's not really something that is a necessity. For hiking purposes, a good knife can be large enough to split wood with. It all really depends on the environment you're hiking into. Winter hiking, boreal forest... I can see an axe being very useful. When all the deadwood laying around is underneath 6' or more of snow, an axe would be worth the weight to carry. In the summertime, same area, probably not needed.

Guys,

Can anyone share some experience in organising long term (2-3 weeks) trips for large groups of about 15 people?