Originally Posted By wandering_daisy
You need to find the "sweet point" balancing weight and daily mileage. If you carry 100 pounds you may slow down so much that your total miles for the trip is no more than if you were to carry 50 pounds and go faster (or hike longer every day). The biggest problem with 100 pounds is that few people can carry this load for a 10-hour day. All the long distance hikers I hear of go the other way - go very light and go long distances every day.

When I planned courses at NOLS we never went out for more than 15 days without a resupply. This was a single re-supply by horses for a 30-day course. If you do not want to walk out to resupply, you should consider a commercial outfitter resupply.

Now if you want to carry the load into a "base camp" and then hike from that base, this is a different story. In this case, hire a porter for a few days.

Also, if you are carrying 100 pounds, I would just find the best suspension you can regardless of weight. What is a 3 pound difference out of 100? I do not see the point of trying to go really light with a pack if you plan to carry 100 pounds. You can make this up by slighty reducing your food for each day and hardly notice it.


What is a 10 ounce difference out of 20 lbs? I don't see the point of trying to lighten further if you are already down to 20 lbs. . . and that line of reasoning prevents innovation.

The sweet point is a key. . . classic optimization problem. I think an easy way to gauge that is some test hikes with 50lbs and 100lbs and see just what the mileage difference turns out to be.
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