How much weight will I shed if I start trimming the straps on my pack (Lowe Alpine Zepton 50?)

[Rafi Harzahav]

Hi,

I have a Lowe Alpine Zepton which I like very much. It weighs 2lbs 9oz with the brain. There are many straps that I could trim down a few inches on this pack. I could also remove the material which forms the pocket for a hydration bladder. I kind of hate the idea of modifying it and having the find a hot knife, etc, but I'm intrigued by how much weight I could possibly shave off this pack.

Anybody have similar concerns? How much weight have others been able to drop as a result of trimming straps?

Thanks,

rhz

[Andrew F]

I've weighed the stuff I cut off several packs. It generally saves an ounce or less unless there are big pieces to be cut off like major pockets. It's still worth doing from a philosophical standpoint in my opinion even though the weight savings aren't that big.

[Roger Caffin]

3/8 of 2/10ths of stuff all. It really is not worth while. And bother the philosophy!

Fwiiw: I cut off 2.5" from my wife's hip belt strap once. That was in the middle of nowhere, on a very long trip, and I used the webbing for a crucial repair on something else. Saved the trip.

Cheers

[Justin Baker]

Keep in mind you are harming the resale value of your pack if you ever decide to sell it.

[Rafi Harzahav]

Yeah, I thought about the impact on re-sale as well. I'm probably not going to do it. I unfastened the brain–it only weighs a bit more than four ounces. The pack has tons of room so I wouldn't miss the storage space at least for short trips. That brings me to another question. The pack closes with a draw string–not a roll top. That leaves a small hole at the top through which water could enter during rain. In the past I've used a trash compactor bag as a full pack liner, but I was thinking about ditching that and using my exped shnozzel bag as a smaller liner/sack to protect my down bag and down clothes.

@Andrew–do you have this pack? If so, do you use it without the brain?

[John S.]

1-2 oz at most probably.

[Marko Botsaris]

" I cut off 2.5" from my wife's hip belt strap once. That was in the middle of nowhere, on a very long trip, and I used the webbing for a crucial repair on something else. Saved the trip."

Perfect! Just put everything you cut off you pack into your repair kit – a perfect match. Then put the repair kit in you pocket and you can claim it as "carried weight". ;-)

FWIW I actually measured the weight I got out of cutting out the hydration pocket (on a Kalais) and it was 1.5 oz. If you are not doing major surgery you can usually get a few oz.

[Andrew F]

Yes Rafi I have a Zepton. It's the pack I use when I will be carrying >35 lbs. I have used it without the lid and it works well, though I know what you mean about the hole in the top. The extension collar on that pack is about 6" too short in my opinion, if it were longer you could close the hole completely. The material isn't waterproof so it doesn't matter that much at the end of the day.

[Art …]

I thought cutting off ALL excess weight regardless of weight savings was a mandatory requirement to be part of the BPL community …

[Mark Ries]

You are confusing BPL community with Grand Gram Weenie status

[Mark Ries]

Which is not to be confused with Grand Super Milligram weenie status and there has been talks about all this in the forums before and I can't believe I'm having to repeat this very common knowledge you might want to do a forum search before making stupid statements in the future

[Dale Wambaugh]

"Fwiiw: I cut off 2.5" from my wife's hip belt strap once. That was in the middle of nowhere, on a very long trip, and I used the webbing for a crucial repair on something else. Saved the trip."

Adam's rib to Eve's hip belt, eh? :)

There isn't much to be saved and it will hurt the resale. That and you may need the feature in the future. I did major surgery on a pack once and decided it was better Ti buy what I wanted and sell the offender. That rewards and supports the manufacturer that does it right, insuring future UL products.

Cut the handle off your toothbrush and bask in the warm light of symbolic weight reduction. I have my titanuim potty trowel, so I know I'm ultralight :)

[Mark Ries]

I'll bet you don't know our secret handshake and can't even do a PROPER pinkyhold cause your not even a gram weenie yet. Go back to white blaze or backpacker and LEAVE US ALONE TROLL!

[. Kirby]

I trimmed the straps on my REI Flash because they were super long and annoyingly dangled all over the place while hiking. Dangly waist belt straps are especially troublesome since they can swing into the line of fire while trying to relieve oneself … if you catch my drift … pee

Trimming them down eliminates the dangle factor and shaves some weight. Two birds.

[Art …]

Mark – did you drink too much coffee again this morning ?

[Mark Ries]

……………………………………………………………..YES!!!

[J-L]

If you are certain you like this pack and want to use it for a long while AND you don't need the extra length, then I say go ahead and trim the straps. Waist belt and shoulder straps are often ridiculously long for me, so I trim them. I would leave the compression straps long though.

You will only save 0.5 – 2 oz by trimming the straps, but if you can save that much weight by trimming unnecessary features on multiple items, the savings could add up to a half pound or so. For example, you said your pack has a drawcord? Could you replace the drawcord and cord lock with lighter versions that work equally well?

[hwc 1954]

I put the extra length on the hip belts to use. Have little S-biners on the ends, which I clip to the wrist lanyards of my camera on one side and GPS on the other. These are long enough for me to use them without unclipping, keeps the extra strap out of the way when the camera and GPS are in the hip belt pockets, and I don't have to worry about them falling out of the pack and getting lost. I've learned with cell phones that, if you don't want to lose something from a pack, clip it to something.

[. Kirby]

That is a great idea.

[Max Dilthey]

Careful; I now compulsively rip tags off of things I would never take camping to save weight.

[Dena Kelley]

What is a brain when referred to as part of a backpack? I have no idea what that is.

Thanks.

[Mark Ries]

That depends if its a male or female pack if female that would definitely be the hood with top pocket if male look to the bottom of the pack. Duh!

[Will Webster]

Brain and brain! What is brain?

[John S.]

The brain is a top pocket that often covers the top opening of a backpack.

http://bit.ly/1oOPoQQ

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

I like cutting off straps. It's partly because of weight savings, but also because it's much nicer to use a pack that doesn't have straps dangling everywhere. You need to be smart about it and save enough strap for your needs (ie. don't cut the hipbelt so short you can't do it up with winter layers on), but everything you can cut off from there simplifies things.

[Author]

Posts