Have a Laugh?

[Kenneth Gurney]

At the end of the summer, 2004, my wife and I decided to do some overnighters starting in the spring of 2005. Like I usually do, I dove into the thought of packing and started searching the web and frequenting REI asking a ton of questions. Knowing that I would have several months to prepare I have taken my time before buying gear. I thought that I was going to have a light pack, but to my surprise my total weight was just over 29lbs… I’m thinking thats light compared to my Marine Corps Pack…44-48Lbs(roughly). While surfing I started seeing light and ultralight packing sites that had gear lists of 10Lbs and under… So for the past couple of months and a few charges on my credit card I have knocked 12Lbs off and am sitting at just above 17Lbs…
As the “New Guy” I hope to pick-up some more advice and I’m sure that after I get some trips under my belt I will toss a few more pounds… I did remember that on an Eco-Challange one of the teams cut excess straps and tags from their gear, soooooo I started cutting. I was amazed that all those little pieces of plastic and fabric weighed so much, @15 5/8oz.
Anyway, I thought some one would get a Laugh at what I thought was Lightweight a couple of months ago,LOL!

[Ken Helwig]

good sense of humour there. enjoy going lite and you will enjoy the outdoors even more.

[David Reid]

I was in the exact situation a few years ago.
I just look back at my gear list and chuckle a little.
Thankfully I found great sites like this to show me the lite.

[Sandra Warner]

Hello,I think most of us starting out backpacking do start with a lot of weight on our backs but soon realize there is a better way. I have been hiking for seven years now and my begining base pack weight was 35lbs. ouch!. I have my base weight down to 15lbs.now. I enjoy hiking a lot more with a lighter load. Even to this day I’am constantly looking at ways to lighten up!

[Kenneth Gurney]

In my starting thread I had stated that the 17lbs included food and water… Thats wrong… Sorry! That is my Base weight. And this weight does not include my “Bear Safety Eguipment” (For Yosemite), which is another 3.51Lbs.
I’M using a Backpacking Gear Weight Program in my lap top and will post my gear list as soon as I get everything weighed. (I found that some of the reported weights by manufactures were a little off)

[Author]

Posts