Just got back from hiking with our local scout troop and did a little research. We had lots of boys with HEAVY packs. I swear some of them were bigger than the boys carrying them. I got to look in some of the packs and the NUMBER one offendeder? (drum roll please)

THE PACK ITSELF! I couldn't believe some of these monsters. Big, heavy external frames, many extra compartments here and there. Straps and straps everywhere. Several boys had the Kelty Yukon 3000. Perhaps not the heaviest there but it was the most common. I looked it up this morning: 4 pounds 9 ounces. Besides the huge metal frame it has a "hold open bar". A few of the adult leaders had the large size version of the pack. When you look the pack up on Kelty's website it says "popular with scouts". I think that is a warning sign.

Secondary offenders (in order of seriousness)

Heavy sleeping bags (doesn't bother me as much since my main concern on these trips is that the boys don't get cold at night and the price differential between a warm-but-light bag and a warm-but-heavy bag can be very steep)

Extra clothes (this was an overnight hike but the moms packed for several days, needless to say no scout changed so this was all "along for the ride")

Nalgene bottles (very nearly universal)

BIG knives