Examples of “Stupid Heavy”

[Eugene Smith]

Incredible piece of meat there.

Has anyone batoned a piece of summer sausage?

Ryan J. hasn't covered it in his video tutorials.

[Randall Spratt]

This was my son on the trip where I thought my backpacking days were over. I found BPL and saw the "light" after this trip. My pack was not this bad but topped 70lbs. This was a 3 day trip… I keep this around as a reminder whenever I am deciding on whether that extra ounce is worth it.

[Justin Baker]

I love the huge bowie knife.

[Justin McCabe]

I could make a sausage joke but, it just wouldn't compete.

Stupid heavy? Thinking all the scouts backpacking by Deep Creek off the PCT in Arrowhead hadt he heaviest mot miserable packs I'd seen….until we passed one poor scout rolling a DUFFLE BAG up the trail!

[Justin Baker]

Eugene,
I have batoned my knife to cut through frozen salami. Does that count?

[Brendan Swihart]

only if you were able to light it in the rain…

edit: and have video

[Eugene Smith]

@Justin B.

Absolutely- count it! I respect your determination tremendously. I would have lost a finger.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

If you made that a little smaller, it looks like it could slide into a bear cannister.

[Five Star]

Thread delivers.

Was unaware that sausage bombs could rain down from above. Will now require a sturdier hat.

[Paul Mason]

I often hike the start of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia's Amicalola State Park. You can see the large packs people take at the beginning. Now you should start in March/April if you are doing the trial all at one go.

One time I met two guys from Florida in June with huge packs, huge sleeping bags hanging down from the bottom – we stopped and talked – they were beginning to do the whole trial. They were huffing, puffing, and sweating from all the weight. They asked where the next stream was. This being summer there weren't many running. They were only carrying 1 16 oz water bottle and no water filter. They said they didn't need any more in Florida.

I was on my way back so I gave them most of my remaining water and recommended they get a water filter and water bladder. They looked at me as if I was nuts.

[Max Dilthey]

Being reckless young adults, my friend Jim and I saw the weather report for the northeast just prior to Hurricane Sandy. Jim says "Let's go camping."

Stage 1 of this was to think up a way to rig rope spiderman nets above our hammocks to catch falling branches. Stage 1 was unsuccessful. Jim's girlfriend is a tropical storm.

Stage 2 is to think "Let's just go above the trees! Summit camping!" so we plan on climbing Mt. Greylock. meanwhile, Sandy builds to a superstorm and Jim's girlfriend builds to a Category 5.

Stage 3, we remember there's a shelter on top of Mt. Greylock for emergencies. We know a few maintainers on the mountain, so we make it the plan and start deciding how to treat shattered glass wounds. Sandy hits the coast, and Jim's girlfriend hits Jim.

Stupid Heavy: we bring full winter survival gear, 3 days worth of water since we didn't have our filters, 5 days worth of food, emergency blankets, enough band-aids to coat the windows to keep them from shattering, and Jim carries the enormously heavy guilt of a panicked girlfriend.

Stage 4, we hike up the Thunderbolt trail on Mt. Greylock. We pass a stock broker who is braving the increasing wind with a water bottle and a Marmot Precip. While we're talking to him, a 30 foot tree falls down next to the trail. We turn in tandem to watch it crash.

We survived the night. Not plural. The shelter had bulletproof windows since vandals kept breaking them, and the storm never hits North Adams bad enough to matter- we were spared. We take an awesome video of the wind at the summit, sleep comfortably, eat a ton, dump a lot of water, and walk 8 miles down the road the next day cleaning up as we go. The Greylock staff loved us, and we felt like heroes. I estimate carrying about 30lbs of stuff we didn't need.

Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBUNfoVG_Qo

[Cesar Valdez]

A combination of both stupid heavy and stupid light, but I have to admit a lot of times it was stupid fun.

Backpack – US army ALICE pack, sans metal frame (this thing was hell on my shoulders and lower back, but got it for free from my army dad)

Sleeping bag – Gigantic synthetic 80's rectangle, bought at 2nd hand store, strapped to top of backpack. I continued to use this damn thing even after a big hole was melted into the bottom of it when a log rolled off a campfire and onto me while I was asleep. I wake up and my two drunk friends were laughing at me as I look down and I am on fire.

Sleeping mat – none

Ground cover – none

Shelter – none (50%) or hardware store plastic tarp on top of a debris hut or stick lean-to, and on occasion wake up from pouring rain while cowboy sleeping and just pack up everything and hike back to car in misery, then sleep in car.

Bottle of cheap bourbon/rum, multi use gear–also FAK when combined with toilet paper

Full roll of toilet paper

3 cans of pork and beans, bag of beef jerky, 3 candy bars

Fleece hoody

Cotton long underwear as sleep clothing

Lumberjack type wool socks

Clothing worn – Punk t-shirt, wool beanie, leather motorcycle jacket (hand-me-down from big brother), jeans, combat boots (paratrooper "Jump" boots were my fav). I still have the leather jacket (never wear it anymore, just a relic of youth), actually, and had to get up and weight it for the fun of it–LOL 2250g!

Multi-tool – helpful as can grabber after warming up cans of beans next to campfire.

Stainless steel ice tea spoon, which I still have as my "lucky spoon" in my urban backpack to eat lunch at university

Swiss army knife AND Cheapo fixed blade I bought at a truck stop

Hand axe, also bought at truck stop together with fixed blade as a package deal (20 bucks total I think)

One full gallon of spring water (50%), even when camping RIGHT NEXT TO LAKES, or 3 cans of soda. I would always force other people to carry beer and then trade swigs of my hard spirits for a few beers.

If it rained, I got wet. Cuz screw rain gear and umbrellas, Native Americans never needed them, so neither do I, dude.

[Ike Jutkowitz]

I was backpacking the NPT in the early 90s. At the Silver Lake lean to, I ran into a couple who had hauled in an large inflatable raft, sledgehammer, axe, grill, 2 cases of beer, and bottle of whiskey. Stupid heavy? I thought so.

I prepared to move on, but then my dog started to play with theirs and they asked me not to leave on their account. That night, I enjoyed their free-spirited company as I feasted on a couple burgers, washed down with cold beer, and topped off with Jameson's. Stupid heavy? Not if it makes you happy.

Here's another one- Two cheap polyester princess sleeping bags each weighing a couple pounds. Practically took up my whole pack. Stupid heavy? Not on that trip.

[Stephen M]

If good food and booze is involved its worth the weight :-)

[Jim H]

As someone who just started really trying to lighten up, this is a not-so-distant memory:

Good friend of mine from college is getting married last summer, so naturally we decide to do a backpacking trip for his bachelor party. We choose a very easy 2-night loop of only 10 miles since there were some first time backpackers joining. We sent out a list of gear for each person to bring, included everything – tent sharing, meals, beer, and booze. We planned on turning the 10-mile loop into a 2-night trip to leave plenty of time to toast the groom.

The big mistake we made was believing everyone when we casually asked at the trailhead if they followed our instructions. Even though we sent out very specific lists, every single person brought double the alcohol they were assigned, a few more than that. One guy had a 30 beer cans in the bottom of his pack. Another had 4 bottles of wine (ignored the bag wine instruction completely). A third had TWO half gallons of jack daniels. Plus all the other people who only brought a little extra. By the time we setup camp on the first night, we had a dedicated bar in the backcountry. Multiple spirits, four a five beer choices, and quite a variety of mixers. This was for 9 people.

The worst part of this story is that not one person remembered to take a picture.

[Angus A.]

The only time I pack heavy…when the little girl is with me :) Stupid heavy? Yeah, but well worth it! Pack weight was around 40 lbs.

[HkNewman]

Think carrying a small child's gear or having a heavy pack in the military or alpine climbing,etc…,unavoidable due to commitment, is different from carry stupid heavy items. I remember my first civilian backpack scaling a mountain in an old external frame with a high school buddy while he was on the 6-year plan in college.

Family-sized cans of chili, ravioli, and … green beans. A 12-pack of cheap beer, among other intoxicants. Rained all night and the old teepee style single wall flooded at 4. Ran back to the truck after hastily packing and went in town to the first McDonald's we could find. Have to say the day-hike after was pretty good tho.

Ed: stupid addition

[Five Star]

Well, my family has come a long ways….when my wife and I were first married and lived in WA, we hiked the Cascades and Olympics with stupid heavy packs. Coleman stove, full change of clothes, etc. We got older, had 4 kids, and learned the virtues of the gospel on BPL, which has kept us active on the trails.

But when we get the urge to go "stupid heavy" again (read: steaks, likker, etc.) we do kayak float trips instead. Certain gear is now designated "kayak trip only."

Interestingly, the kids like the kayak trips better. Whatever it takes to get 'em outdoors.

For my hiking trips with my wife or trail partner, we consider adult beverages multiuse items that are relatively lightweight :)

[Erik Basil]

This is an awesome thread, particularly the posts from hikers willing to 'fess up with a sense of humor. I particularly love the photo of the Dad at Pt. Reyes and the one of those Raichle's. I have a lot of miles in boots like that and I still wear them to presentations every once in a while for the look and the odd, pendulum sensation from striding in boots that weigh 3lb each.

My stupid heavies:
–I have one of those expandable candle lanterns from the early '80s that's been all over California trails with me. It's brass. That one lives in the supply box, now…

–My awesome, reliable, been everywhere MSR XGK. The stovehead, alone, weights more than my Crux, fuel and pot kit, combined. XGK is now a table-top display/stove use clinic queen.

–My brother had pre-teen, on-trail meltdown, a mile out of Merced camp on the way to Yosemite Valley. I popped the sides off my Kelty, extended the load bar up, put it all back together and strapped his backpack onto the top of mine, resulting in an 8' tall backpacker carrying almost half his body weight. The only way I made it to the Valley was that I was so angry at him that I just powered down the trail. Judging from tourists' glances, I apparently looked pretty gnar in the giant pack and clonky Raichles… their last trip, actually.

–My girlfriend didn't like backpacking, so we got into MTB. Years later, she'd upgraded me to spouse and figured we should take our son to the High Sierra. I didn't think we'd fit the 3 of us in the Bibler, so I packed the Big Agnes Big House 4, with footprint, bear canister, Keens, stove, water filter, fuel and fishing gear, all in my Kelty because a) it didn't weigh "that much" and b) the Kelty "can". This kept my wife and son's packs nice and light, and resulted in definitely Stupid Heavy. I bought hiking poles right after that trip. There was a hilarity to seeing the giant, orange dome up at Thousand Island Lake.

Using the theory of Backpacking Relativity, I'm way ultralight now.

[Dena Kelley]

I went out on a "Meetup" all-ladies overnighter last year and one of the gals that showed up was an example of both "stupid light" and "stupid heavy". She lacked backpacking experience, she had only done car camping in the desert before, and so for an overnighter in Alaska where the night time lows were going to drop to about 30 degrees she shows up with 3 gallons of water (in the 1 gallon containers from the store- the ones that look like milk jugs with the flimsy cap), a pup tent, a bag full of cotton clothes, and a poncho liner for a blanket. No sleeping bag. she had some canned food, but I can't recall what she had for a stove. I just remember being flabbergasted. I explained we would be following a creek all the way in and camping next to a lake, and she should ditch the water except for 1 liter and she agreed to ditch 1 gallon and keep 2 gallons. She assured me she was fine with her poncho liner and tent and the cotton clothes for warmth. Her pack was unbelievably heavy. I wasn't the group leader so I couldn't refuse to let her go but I tried to help her go through her gear and re-pack but I had serious concerns about her ability to stay warm that night. Fortunately her pack was killing her less than a mile into the hike and she opted to turn around on her own. I think that's fortunate. This isn't a knock on her, she just didn't know any better and I give her points for pluck but I think that would have been a disaster.

[Jake D]

The kid i did most of the LT with earned the trailname Inspector Gadget for being stupid heavy. in the 60lb packweight range

He decided to start out the trail aiming for a 10 day stretch until his first resupply despite the fact there is a very easy resupply 4 days in. so he had 1 gallon of trail mix, a whole pile of mtn house meals including a few of them being eggs for his only breakfast food. He found out the first morning that eggs don't cook very well with no butter over a Pocket Rocket in a 1.5L aluminum pot with no spatula. He ended up trading some Mtn house meals with some AT Sobo's for snack type food.

He started with 3 knives.. including a giant hunting fixed blade rambo would be proud to own. he also had bear spray (black bears in VT not a big issue).

He was from VT and his mom was helping with other resupply spots so at the LT Inn we tore his pack apart and sent 20+lbs home and took him shopping for better food. So i passed on much lightweight info and in exchange I had a damn easy time resupplying the whole way.

[Tony Wong]

Going to REI in the Summer time to pay full price for outfitting a family of three with the all the gear needed to take a 1st backpacking trip. Dropping a couple of thousand on the best and lightest that they had to offer.

Weighing 135 lbs and carrying 80-90 lbs of the lightest gear that REI had to offer for 7 miles around Hetch Hetchy Resevior at a pace of 0.5 miles per hour.

I think that my spine compressed from the load and made me 1 inch shorter….and I am 5'6".

Live and learn….anyone want to buy some traditional gear?

I havea a 7 lb Gregory pack that hold 5500 CU IN, but does not hold all the gear that I bought inside of it.

-Tony

[Chris S]

On one week long trip I brought an MSR Dragonfly stove in addition to a canister stove just to make pancakes one morning. I might not consider it stupid if the pancakes ended up being halfway decent, but that was not the case.

I also used to fill up my 3 liter water bladder at the start of every trip even when water was abundant.

[Raymond Estrella]

We met these guys as they were on the second day of a three-day trip. They were lost so I gave them directions to where they needed to go and a map. (No, there was no room for that I guess.) I asked their permission to take the picture for posterity's sake.

With all the gear packed on the outside we figured they had a heck of a lot of booze on the inside. I just we would had met them the first morning before they used half of it. ;-)

[Stephen M]

Once met two guys on a mountain in Wales who has deck chairs and about about 20 1litre bottles of water with them.

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