Jump to content
LegacyGT.com

So what's your backpacking style?


SBT

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 362
  • Created
  • Last Reply

This is a good thread! I used to pack a fair amount when I was younger....but have not been in about 5 years due to injury and then kids. I plan on going again though at some point with the whole family in tow. :)

 

I have hiked mostly in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, but a good amount in the Los Padres National Forrest as well. Been to the top of Mt. Whitney via the back country, Yosemite a bunch of times and even did a little trip in Alaska. Those mosquito's up there are no joke!! :eek:

 

As for what type of philosophy I have, I would like to be "lightweight", but my gear is so old that I am definitely in the "heavyweight" category. On my last trip, my pack was 55 freaking pounds!! I packed that weight a bunch before and when you are 25 and in shape it's not that bad, but now I am 37 and there is just no way that is happening again. I would like to get down to the 30-35 pound range for my typical 6-8 day trip.

 

What pack weight are you guys running?

:icon_twis Slide It Sideways :icon_twis

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i havent been camping in 4-5 years.. But this thread makes me wanna go!

 

This thread also makes me realize that i was never into camping with the same ferocity as you guys! :)

 

Never backpack-camped... Always wanted to, but never really did. I have however camping in the Adirondack State Park on several occasions... On an island in the middle of a large lake. Used to rent a small aluminum boat, and make the 1 hour boat ride out to the island, just large enough for a camp site (or two). The island was nice, because the water between us and the shore was a bit of a bear deterent! Camping this way never really forced me to pack with weight/space in mind however. The sounds of loons and coyotes at night/dusk was amazing. Never saw as many stars as i did from that island! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spent three weeks canoeing and portaging in Algonquin Provincial Park. I was 17 and stout and prepared as a Pennsylvania farm boy who was in the final stages of completing his Eagle Scout project should be. We parked the cars at the western end of the park and started canoeing to the East.

 

We would get up in the morning, canoe-out, fish, and cook/store food for the day, then break camp, canoe/portage to our next site and continue until we had made it the entire way across the park. We spent four days on Big Trout Lake, and each day, after we'd caught our food for the day, we would swim the length of the lake, which was about 1.5-2.0 miles distance, IIRC.

 

For camping gear, I had a lightweight (for that period), rucksack, my mess kit, pocket knife, hatchet, ground tarp and sleeping bag, couple changes of underwear, sweatshirt, jeans, shorts, a lightweight summer sleeping bag and enough DEET bug repellent to flood the bottom of the canoe if it spilled. We carried a separate "kit" for our food supplies, and we rotated carrying that on the portages. At night, we'd bank the fire, lay down our ground tarp, spread out our bag to lay on, and pull the canoe over the top of us in case it rained.

 

I'd like to repeat that trip today, but with my kayak. Not sure I'd swim the lake every day, but I'd do it at least once... :).

- Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum -
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That trip was a lot of fun. There was seven in the group and we separated from the four family members that were with us and went from APP to the National Hikers and Campers Association "camp-in" in Sudbury, Ontario. Spent a week there, in my own pup-tent, going to the nickel-ore factory, and the rest of the time making out with a girl I met at the camp-in. Good times.
- Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum -
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Me and two friends did ten days in Italy and Spain with nothing more than a normal backpack each. Like ten pairs of socks and undies, two pairs of jeans some shirts a jacket and something to hit nightlife with. That was a hell of a fun trip
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Because it's light enough to through open the bag and keep warm with, and it's warm enough, that when you're "cocooned" inside it, in your bag, it adds a warmth boundary layer and reduces/eliminates cold spots. You can actually sleep on top of your bag in your silk sack in the slightly-cooler months. Cotton doesn't provide that much warmth, thickness-for-thickness.

 

But the biggest reason is that silk fiber "breathes" (think poly-p). Cotton doesn't breathe as well and it absorbs moisture, which is never good. Pound-for-pound, the silk sack is lighter, stronger, more durable, and a better insulator/thermal barrier than cotton. Plus it doesn't hold odors like cotton does. You can wash it out with Woolite, air-dry it and you're ready to go again. Cotton is more involved to clean, and it shrinks.

- Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum -
Link to comment
Share on other sites

going on a big trip in august - 5 days packing through glacier national park with some good friends. and since my gear is pretty worn out, decided to treat with some new stuff - got an osprey aether 70 pack coming (have heard nothing but rave reviews on the comfort/fit), a single man bivvy and a couple other odds and ends i've lost along they way. oh and i gotta find a very, very compact rod/reel so if you have any suggestions i'm all ears...
i can put anything i want down here?!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 weeks until my hiking trip in the Rockies. Got my backpack, stove, hammock, and all the gear we'll need. Now I just need to walk around with 30lbs on my back every night so it's not such a shock to my body when we're hiking
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I was asking you.....wow that's freaking LIGHT for a 5 day trip. :eek:

I would be happy with 35-40lbs. :lol:

 

well my pack, bag, tent and pad only come out to 10 lbs., so i'm shooting for maybe 15 more for clothes and food and misc. gear. i'm not planning on carrying a ton of water because we're supposed to be near streams, lakes, and runoff just about the whole way, so that part is huge. i'm sure i'll be a little over 30 if i fill the bladder all the way. and this is all in theory, we'll see how it adds up when it's all said and done... :lol:

i can put anything i want down here?!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

well my pack, bag, tent and pad only come out to 10 lbs., so i'm shooting for maybe 15 more for clothes and food and misc. gear. i'm not planning on carrying a ton of water because we're supposed to be near streams, lakes, and runoff just about the whole way, so that part is huge. i'm sure i'll be a little over 30 if i fill the bladder all the way. and this is all in theory, we'll see how it adds up when it's all said and done... :lol:

 

Will you carry a water filter then?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is such a relaxing picture...could spend a month there and never miss the day-to-day stuff. Get up, fix breakfast, go for a hike, fish, and cook said caught fish. Bank the fire, go to sleep and get up and do it all over again. Love it.
- Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum -
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.




×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use