Critique My Pack List

The items that you have identified as being non-negotiable are the ones that are either luxuries or unnecessary ( both?)

Going light means leaving these behind.

But I won't judge you, since I carry about the same weight, and have a Neo Air and Croc camp shoes to blame for it.

Yes, the pistol for one would save weight. The bigger knife I'm not willing to give up from a past experience when hunting when I was attacked by a deer and it was the knife that I killed it with and that saved my life, not the rifle.

Thanks for the input.

Only read of one other person who was actually attacked by a deer. We'uns 'd love to hear them details.

As fer yer list, I'd recommend a light groundcloth, not yer poncho. You'll get holes in the poncho using it fer a ground cloth. Most ULers use ponchos over them fer a tarp, not under.

I've got a friend here in Alaska who shot a caribou, put down his rifle, gathered his stuff, walked over and was about to start skinning it when it stood up and starting pawing him. His gun was 200 yards away and he just had his knife. But, in the end, it was a funny story and a lot of caribou burger – no humans were harmed.

I too, would lose the little gun and the big knife. Even for Alaskan trips.

Yes, it was 2 or 3 years ago. It was dark so I'd got out of the deer stand and I was going through a thick section. For some reason I'd set my gun down to do something and it jumped me(my headlamp was on even). It did all kinds of kicking and made me fall and for some reason my instinct was to grab it as I fell. It wasn't all that big of a deer so my weight actually pulled it down with me. It was still kicking like crazy while I held on with one arm and got my knife out with the other. Stabbed it in the neck and pulled it out in a slicing movement. Then I just held on until it quit gurgling(sorry if that's too graphic).

I had lots of huge bruises and scratches but nothing was broken or any internal damage. As for the deer once I caught my breathe I loaded it on the four-wheeler with destination deep freeze.

On weight savings, there are some redundant items – 2 pairs of long underwear (unless one is for winter, the other 3 season, gym shorts, etc… I bet you could shave quite a few ozs by simply perusing the multiple use gear section.

Beyond that, you could also see about investing in lighter versions of stuff you own, like get a lighter knife that is the same size if you want a big kinfe… that gets pricy though…
For winter, you could invest in a marmot helium bag (suggesting the marmot because you already own one of that brand) – 15 degrees and almost a pound lighter. There are a lot of nice winter bags that could shave weight though…

Finally, on the gun: I carried a gun when backpacking for years. Not for bear, dogs, or cats, or for deer, but for humans. That's because I was smart enough to realize my odds of getting attacked by a human were about 1000 (100000?) times more likely than the odds of getting attacked by a bear, cat, etc…. After a while though, I realized a couple things… One is that I realy don't feel like killing anybody, and two was that the backpacking crowd is one of the most reasonable/safest sets out there. Unfortunatly, in the past couple months I've seen some pretty bizarre stuff written on here that is making me reconsider reason number two… I've seen people write that they should be allowed to kill family pets because said pet barked at them, and another guy tell someone that he would "kick their ass" if they cut a stick in "his" national forest… So, in light of this type of stuff, I can see how you might want to bring a gun, simply to protect yourself and your family from rampaging BPLers, I know I am considering adding it back to my kit*

OTOH, you could also just replace the gun with bear or standard pepper spray and shave some oz there. Both work great for self defense, and the spray is much lighter…

*for people without senses of humor, most of the gun bit is satire. However, as with most satire, it's grounded in truth.

The knife is actually the lightest I could find for the size at the time of purchase. I actually collect knives so dropping $300 on a knife doesn't bother me at all but I've yet to bring myself to that point with a sleeping bag. Eventually I will I'm sure.

While what happened with the deer was scary, it's an incredibly unusual event and the odds of it happening again, and to you, are astronomical, something on the order of successfully navigating an asteroid field.

Danepacker, do you have a recommendation for a groundcloth and raingear combination that will weigh less than the poncho alone? The poncho is around 6 bucks so its easy to replace if it gets holey. I have a tyvek tarp I've used and an all weather blanket(thing works better than my sleeping pad but its heavy) before that. I ditched the tyvek though since I'm already carrying the poncho and it weighs more than the poncho itself.

I suspect the odds of this poster being attacked by a crazed deer again are significantly lower than 3720 to 1. (Never tell me the odds.)

To the OP: you have done a remarkable job trimming your gear list in six short months. Future gains will come from replacing some of your major items, eliminating duplicate items, and, finally, deciding to leave the heavy weaponry at home.

Big three: high quality down bags and tarptents or cuben tarps will cut a big chunk from your base weight, but that can be an expensive proposition.

Duplicate items: this will happen with experience. You'll figure out what you really need and leave the rest at home.

Weapons: What can I say that hasn't been said a million times? This one really is entirely up to you.

Bought some new items and a postal scale for some more precise measuring.

Base Pack Weight(3 season): 11.8lbs

Total Pack Weight for 3 Day Hike(3 Season): 19.8lbs(drop of over 2lbs, finally broke 20lbs and even still have the gun and both phones)

Base Pack Weight(winter): 12.4lbs

Total Pack Weight for 3 Day Hike(winter): 20.5lbs(drop of over 6lbs)

Thanks guys, next stop 15lbs for 3 days.