How to reduce your pack weight

Inspector Gadget strikes again!!!
I wonder if this is for real. My family often calls me Mr. Pcokets when we go traveling in Europe because I wear one of those Multi-pocket vests — but this is ridiculous!

I expect you'd expend signficantly less energy if you did put it in your pocket. That's roughly equivalent to wearing much heavier shoes, which uses significantly more energy stopping and starting with each step, than backpack mounted weight. Somewhere on here there is an interesting analysis on the effects of heavier hiking boots.
Still, interesting.

Well, that's ONE way to drop your base weight!

Tom

Not unlike gaining weight so you don't have to carry so much food in your pack.

Hilarious!

I suppose if you have to carry the stuff anyway, then distributing them in pockets does have the advantage of keeping them all close to your center of gravity — which may be better than concentrating them all in one big sack that hangs off your shoulders???

The guy is for real, there is a press page with articles, TV interviews, etc. He carries 7kg/15lbs with him. He does mention that since the weight is distributed he's used to the weight and doesn't really notice it.

Except for the items on his lower legs, it's actually probably an efficient way of carrying stuff, since it's close to the center of gravity and the weight is balanced.

If one could come up with some flat compression stuff sacks (like those vacuum bags maybe?) for bulky stuff like sleeping bags, it would be an interesting way of carrying a backpacking load. Imagine the look on other hikers you meet 3 days from the trailhead wearing nothing but a jacket. Much cooler than a tiny 1000 cubic inch pack!

I want to see this guy try to make it past airport security!

He carries stuff on his lower legs !?!
That sound irritating.

I hope to one day travel out of my pockets
which would include having extra pockets sewn into
a jacket. But on a trip to a warm country and I would
be using cheap hotels etc. Somewhere like Vietnam.

That guy probably jumps fences and steals livestock and eats them raw !

If you're in the right area at the right time of year, packless (aka survival camping) isn't hard to do.
Beyond a knife, you don't need a whole lot.

Hummm, maybe that's the strategy of the ankle carrier, get it all taken away by airport security, and go hiking / camping with the clothes on your back and a (sub 3") knife in your pocket.

That webpage isn't loading for me, so i'm flying blind here.

I agree lower leg is NOT a good idea. It is, as someone has already mentioned, somewhat like wearing a heavy boot or ankle weights while hiking.

The closer the items are to the hip joint, the smaller the distance they move with each step.

Cabelas used to sell (just checked, i don't see them there anymore) something similar to an idea that i tried as a youth. Picture a 500-600 in^3 pack on the outside of each thigh (sorta' like the old western gunslinger's two-gun holster in the movies). The packs strap to the lower thigh (just above the knee) and are both connected to a hipbelt which is worn, well…it's worn just like any hipbelt – around the waist, resting on the iliac crest.

Decades ago, I was laughed off of the trail by my friends at the time.

They do make for a "wide-load" though if the leg-packs are made too big.

One is still lifting a bit of the weight with each step though. Lighter gear could be placed there though.

This would be one component of a "Sumo-pack", together with waist belt bladders for water, a lower abdominal pack (maybe 400 in^3 in size) and a large lumbar pack.

I'm sure that there are downsides otherwise someone would have done this already. Obviously, one can't have anything sticking too far out in front, or vision to feet is obscured, body can't get close to a rock face one is scrambing up or climbing. Too wide to the sides makes squeezing through things difficult. Too much around the waist might make bending in any direction difficult.

CG would stay low. So, as much as i personally try to keep my CG low, there are limitations here as well. Perhaps some type of "balance" (no pun intended, well…ok…a pun was intended) could be acheived (even if one needed a 2-3L water bladder extension, to make waist area not as large, small like a trail-runner's hydration pack) of the Sumo-pack rising up between the shoulder blades – easy to get to and refill).

Another downside of the Sumo-pack, is NOT having a real large compartment; more smaller compartments. Perhaps 1000-1200 in^3 is the largest in the lumbar area. So, commitment to UL gear kit is in order (down bag, tarp/cape/ponchoTarp, UL bivy, etc).

Just something to think about (and maybe laugh about).

A mesh vest with lots of pockets in front/back. Then you could size up a rain jacket and it would probably fit over your gear.

I've tried "Turkey [Hunting] Vests" as a non-standard packing system. "Interesting" is the word i'll use to describe it. Not as good as i hoped for. Very easy to organize though. Again, better for a hardcore UL kit, due to the fact that only the game bag is large. Could use some means of compressing and stabilizing the game bag after bag and tarp are in it to prevent it from moving around (just a bit, but still to much movement). What's neat is that the vest itself and its fold-out sit pad function as a nice sleeping pad. Certainly this is not as light a solution as some UL conventional packs.

There's a reason why the conventional pack has not been supplanted by TurkeyVests, LegPacks, and SumoPacks, etc. That's not to say that there isn't some advantages in select situations to these unconventional packing systems, but that just overall they are probably inferior for a wide-range of situations.

My two shekels.