Looking to shed some pack weight in a hurry

copy and paste the link. that is before food and water. i'd probably be around 21-22lb with 1 liter of water and 4 days of food. I never went over 25lbs total on my Long Trail thru hike (usually 4 days between resupply) and i've lightened things since then

i just started going back to school.. i will not have money to spend on much for the next 2 years. i live in RI so i'm guessing the flights from here would be even more than out west

but why carry a full day of water at once.. i rarely carry more than 1 liter.

My plan on water is to fill up 1-2 liters in the morning and I will probably drink that all by lunch then pump another 1-2 liters for the remainder of the day. Depends on how I feel on carrying the load.

I wasn't poo pooing the 6 ounces in any way. I was just saying I don't know if I can justify spending $140 on a new pad when I just purchased the other one in January for $80.

Have a great trip. You'll figure out on your own what works and what doesn't. Please let us know when you come back.
Other people's weight doesn't really matter if you do fine with yours. I am with you on not wanting to rough it, whatever that means to you. Sometimes those that live a lush life need to push it a little more on weekends.

Jennifer made a great point about the first aid kit:

This is what finally changed my approach on my FAK. My one concession to major wounds is to carry a Quikclot sponge for major bleeds but with the intent that it would be to control bleeding prior to an evac. I no longer carry things to splint or stitch or anything like that. An injury that bad means evacuation. So my kit is based on common things that are treatable where you will keep going. Blisters, allergies, diarrhea, headache, muscle ache, small cuts or scratches. 99% of the time, my kit is used to treat blisters.

Like the OP, I prefer a headlamp. I do carry a photon which I use in my tent (clipped up on the ceiling it makes a great little tent light) but for walking and camp chores I like a real headlamp.

I am a convert to using trashbag pack liners. I use lawn bags rather than a trash compactor bag but it's the same idea- a tough resilient plastic. I put all the items in it that must stay dry and then roll the top down dry-bag style and clip it with binder clips. It would handle long term full submersion I don't think, but a quick dunk or hard rain, yes. And I use the same bag repeatedly on my trips.

"I wasn't poo pooing the 6 ounces in any way. I was just saying I don't know if I can justify spending $140 on a new pad when I just purchased the other one in January for $80."

This is where the Gear Swap comes in :) And REI exchanges of course. You are right, that is one damned expensive pad. I used my entire REI dividend last year to buy mine. Previously I had a Prolite. Just to cut oz I bought the NeoAir and gave the Prolite to my dog (lucky if he sleeps on it). Then I end up returning the NeoAir because it is too narrow for my liking. It is part of the "must be lighter, must be better", vicious cycle of UL addiction!

Sorry if my "poo pooing" comment came off as condescending; I didn't mean it that way at all. I was simply pointing out that if you still want to cut some weight you should really pay attention to the little stuff.

Your base kit is actually not that bad (but check out the fast fly pitch of the fly creek…it's a great way to have a good cross between a tent and a tarp without sacrificing anything and without spending any money).

So now what you can do is really take a look at those little ounces – the ones in your ditty bag, your first aid kit, your toiletries…that's where you shouldn't poo poo a few ounces here and there…wow can it add up!

Good luck and enjoy the journey!!

This sounds like a great shake down hike for you and your gear. Right now you are adding weight to your pack to compensate for your fears. I mean no disrespect as I was there not too long ago.

As mentioned before, lay out your gear when you get home and take a mental note of the items you didn't use or need.

Plenty of people on here use a tent and the BA Fly Creek 1 is certainly one of the lighter ones out there. When you return, buy a blue tarp from Walmart for $5. Pitch it in your yard and then take it on a shortish backpacking trip. This is one area where you can save a lot of weight.

Sounds like you are partial to traditional backpacks. I have two ULA Ohm 2.0s in my house and can't recommend them enough. It's very spacious and an nice pack to transition to UL with.

Have fun and anchors aweigh!

I've returned to civilization and here are my observations after 26.5 miles and 5,000 + ft in elevation change. My first aid kit was definitely too big I should cut it down some more but I definitely used a few things in it. I should have brought mole skin or athletic tape, luckily my friends had it so yea no blisters! It was much colder than forecast by about 14 degrees so I wish I had brought my fleece. I ended up buying the Neo Air Xlite and it took some getting used to but by the second night I was fine. I need to find a deeper cook pot and a long spoon/fork combo. The snowpeak titanium one I have is pretty much a 2 cup bowl and it didn't work well to rehydrate meals in. Also the only toiletries I ended up using were toothpaste, toothbrush and sunscreen. I could shed 2/3 of what I brought. I used the rest of what I brought with the exception of some duct tape and a fire steel so I would like to shed some weight in the pack and tent over the next 6 months so I will be looking at the lightweight ones you all suggested.

On another note the first day we hiked 10.1 miles with the 5,000 ft (2,500 ft up and 2,500ft down) in elevation change and when we made it to our camp I set up my tent and felt more exhaustion than I have ever felt in my life (more than running a full marathon) and had horrible chills. I attempted to eat and vomited instead, I wasn't dehydrated as my urine was almost clear. I then put on every layer I had and crawled into my tent for 12 hours with some electrolytes in one nalgene and a hot nalgene to keep me warm. My whole family had the flu before I left and I came down with it that day as well in addition I think I may have had altitude sickness. I live in Phoenix and I think all the altitude change did me in. I felt better the remainder of the trip but I was a bit weak but overall fine, that first night had me horribly worried about my safety. I've done plenty of long hikes, run marathons and what not and work out regularly but never at altitude. Thanks for all the advice, I greatly appreciate it.

"I should have brought mole skin or athletic tape"

Here is another topic worth talking about. What shoes, socks and gaiters did you wear?

Glad things worked out for you (other than being sick).

I had on sock liners, smart wool socks and was wearing Asolo Backpacking boots. I have wide feet and they were the only boots I could find in a wide that didn't have a small toebox that crushed my midfoot. I have been nursing a plantar fascia/achilles injury for the last 8 months so I went with the Asolo. I tried every brand under the face of the sun and no others fit. My feet were fine. I just put the athletic tape on to prevent anything from happening I didn't feel any hotspots or blistering. It was purely a precautionary measure. Oh man I wish I would have brought gaiters though. There were some seriously muddy spots in the trails from the backcountry maintenance crews mule teams.

The boots may have been the problem. I looked up Asolo and none of them look lightweight, and most seem to use a lot of leather. Leather doesn't breathe well, and if your feet get moist inside it's the perfect condition for a blister to form.

A few years back I sprained an ankle badly – it took a year to heal- and determined that I needed the extra support of boots to prevent future ankle injuries. And I blistered every single time, despite having my boots fitted professionally and stretched to accommodate my wide feet and wearing a liner sock plus a thicker sock. I would come back from a hiking trip nearly crippled.

Last year, thanks to reading on BPL, I switched back to trail runners. I use trekking poles for support. I nearly never blister now. I also got away from using moleskin and duct tape for blister prevention/cover, and use New Skin. It's the heaviest item in my FAK, but it's perfect for me. If I feel a hot spot forming, I brush on the New Skin and it creates a nice slick surface for my sock to slide on. It's also good if I actually form a blister. But I haven't had that problem this year and only blistered once last year.

I know that we might be getting into the realm of quackery here, but some might say (Christopher McDougall ala Born to Run, which I'm sure you have read since you are a runner) that with plantar fasciitis you want to be going toward minimal footwear, meaning light weight trail runners. A lightweight shoes does not a runner/hiker make! :) Footcare, sock selection, shoe size, gaiter use, shoe weeping and venting, pole use and foot placement all contribute to foot comfort. All stuff I can elaborate on (and often do in other posts).

As I said previously I experienced no hotspots or blistering and my feet were plenty comfortable. The tape was purely a precautionary measure. My podiatrist who is an avid outdoor adventurer and runner said I needed boots not shoes, ankle support and a wide width and removable insoles so I could put orthotics in. She has told me numerous times that minimalist shoes are the worst possible thing you could do for your feet! She said she sees more severe injuries from people running/hiking in minimalist shoes and she strongly advises people do not buy or wear them. So while I appreciate the ideas I will take the advice of an experienced medical professional over anecdotal evidence every time. Even if I wanted to go that route no other manufacturers make wide shoes in boots or trail shoes that fit my feet. So it is what it is.

Many people here will tell you their switch to trail runners is the best change they have made. New Balance and maybe others come in wide sizes. My wife, who is not an avid outdoorsman, switched to them on our last trip and she was much happier. They greatly improved her enjoyment of our trip. You'll see more people finishing the AT in trail runners than anything else. If you hate them, you can always use them for general use. But most people will never go back to boots once they try trail runners.

Same with tarps. A tarp can be very comfortable. Last trip with my wife, we tarped. She loved how much space there was underneath to spread out during rains. In many ways, a tarp is more luxurious than a tent.

"the advice of an experienced medical professional over anecdotal evidence every time" is generally good practice. And if you have found a solution that works for you, great, stick with it, at least on long trips until you've found a better solution while closer to home.

But in defense of second opinions: Some medical issues (back- and foot problems high among them) are treated differently by different physicians. Because their training was different, because their professional experience with patients has been different, because their success rates differed, because they've read different journal articles, or just because. And I say that as someone who very much favors most western medicine (like my wife practices).

So (not to Heath who has a solution but) to others who may still be searching for a footwear solution: hiking boots generally don't provide ankle support. If they did, you could not move your ankle. Downhill ski boot provide ankle support, but you can't hike in them. At most, hiking boots provide some cushioning around the ankles and a bit of stiffness around the ankle joint, but those would be the logger-style boots that come to one's lower calf and who wants to hike in those? Like Dena, I injured my ankle and it was surprising and discouraging how long I had to not stress it to let it heal. Once healed, I didn't need "ankle support". I sprained it in the first place in heavy boots with mindless foot placement. Ever since, I've paid more attention to where I put my feet.

For me, (and YMMV), trail runners or low-cut trail hikers provide the stiffness in the sole that I need while minimizing the weight on my feet. "A pound on your feet is worth 7 pounds on your back" because you pick it up, accelerate it, de-accelerate it and lower it with every step. I like the minimalist trail shoes – "barefoot" models – for up to 10 miles a day for that reason – I'm lighter on my feet and have more energy. But for a full day of hiking, without any stiffness in the sole, my feet feel kind of beat up at the end of the day.

Aside: I use my "barefoot" very minimal shoes the most on business trips. They are so light and compact, I don't hesitate to throw them in the overnight bag and then I have something after I remove the business-dress loafers to walk 5 miles around town, go up and down the hotel fire-escape stairs, and use the exercise gear in the hotel gym.

Heath: Keen makes boots with a ridiculously wide toe box/forefoot. Even wider than Asolos, which I also wore for years because they were the widest boots that I could find. I really like my Keens. They felt strange at first though.

p.s. again with Groucho Marx: who are you going to believe on trail runners: the posts you read here or your own lyin' feet?

"She said she sees more severe injuries from people running/hiking in minimalist shoes and she strongly advises people do not buy or wear them."

This is the type of advice that Christopher McDougall said he would get before he converted to minimalism. Granted, I agree that since Born to Run there has been an uptick in minimalist related running injuries. But this is explained very easily. You have to slowly train your feet to adapt to this new style of locomotion. Granted, most of the press surrounding such injuries have focused on Five-Finger style minimalist shoes like Vibram 5-fingers, which naturally moves you onto your toes. Toes are extremely fragile and require a significant period of adaptation before running any distance in them. Moving from boots to trail runners requires a similar adaptation.

I have no idea what it feels like to run or hike with plantar fasciitis. I'm sure its painful. But I've studied enough about minimalism as it pertains to running and backpacking to know that you shouldn't always believe what the podiatrist tells you. It's a very heated topic no doubt!

If anyone hasn't read Born to Run pick it up. Whether you are a runner or not it is a fascinating read. One of my favorite non-fiction books of recent memory. 4 years ago I bought 12 copies for Christmas presents!

hehe I just watched an interview with a kenyan marathoner who grew up running barefoot and laughed at the idea that barefoot running makes you better.. he said he would take shoes any day (albeit light running shoes, probably with low heel drop). If you haven't grown up running barefoot i think it is an injury waiting to happen.. you don't "naturally" change your stride and style just because you wear other shoes. you may learn to run that way eventually, but many don't and get hurt. Also Kenyans weight like half as much as most Americans

The problem I have with boots is they transfer the motion that is supposed to be at your very flexible ankle joint up to very inflexible joints of the knee and hip. My knees are trashed after hiking in boots and feel perfectly fine with trail runners.

Ankle strength needs to be built up, like any other joint and muscle structure. same goes for your feet. if you are used to stiff boots then you need to gradually get into trail shoes with day hikes, shorter overnights… etc. you also need to hike differently.. you can't just crash into every rock, root or whatever.. treat it more like moguls or mtn biking where you avoid most of the bumps.

Heath, i don't think you need a new bowl.. just rehydrate your food in the freezer bag then transfer part of it to the bowl at a time?

It only gets better.. the more trips you do the more you learn what you use and don't use.

I tried the Keens and the toe box isn't big enough in the regular or wide widths. I've literally tried on close to 50 trail runners, hiking and backpacking boots and none of them fit my feet except Asolo.

For running shoes the only ones that fit are Brooks in a wide. I spent weeks finding new running shoes and tried on almost 100 pairs.

Running/Hiking with plantar fasciitis is manageable if you follow the doctors orders if not you're in severe pain. The bones in my feet and my heel have actually grown bigger and wider because of it.

It's gotten to the point now where I have to wear orthotics and shoes unless I'm in bed. The only casual/running shoe that fits is the New balance 574 and I wear Clark's desert boots to work because they are the only dress shoe my feet fit in. It's quite frustrating. So agai I appreciate the activity of this community but I'm following doctors orders on this one.

The meals I brought weren't in a bag that you could cook in and frankly they were disgusting so I won't be bringing those again. I'm going to have to shop around a bit more next time and test them at home before I get out in the field.

I'd definitely sleep with a tarp just not in bear country and not when the rangers specifically told me if its not in your tent the salt seeking animals will run off with it or eat it. We ran into a guy that had his shoulder strap nawed through by a squirrel and he had to hold it on his 6 mile hike out. Another guy was fighting deer to get his socks back because they were left outside his tent.

I also wasn't too pleased with my water filter on the fourth day the flow went to almost nil and the filter wasn't clogged. I was losing suction on the intake side. I need to contact MSR on that one.

I noticed a lot of these ultralight gear makers are mom and pop places and I'm somewhat leery of that even though I prefer to support that kind of business I worry about quality control issues and warranties. Osprey packs may be a bit heavier but a lifetime warranty is a beautiful thing.

Check out the Osprey Exos.. it and the Granite Gear V.C Crown are some of the most popular 50-60L packs that still have a frame and are still only 2lb. and warranties.

That said, many of the companies that people tend to list on here are pretty outstanding. I have a Lightheart Solo tarptent and an Enlightened Equipment quilt and couldn't be happier. What you will get from them is the person you talk to is likely the person making the gear (or used to in the cases they have some staff now like LH and EE). It is a small world so they will likely try to work something out if there is a defect.

what was the water like? I've heard that glacier water has a lot of silt in it that should be pre filtered some how.. that could have clogged things up. Another good tip for the Miniworks is to prime it before attaching a bottle.. pump water through until the "window" is filled at the top. or return it and get a Sawyer Squeeze and be thrilled about it. 1/3 the cost and 1/4 the weight.

Filter had no silt and was clean. Problem was pre filter. I've heard the sawyer squeeze fails quite regularly with the bags leaking. I was looking at the granite gear pack.

The new bags are apparently better. I had one of the old bags fail on me. I went and bought a 1.5L Evernew soft bottle and it is more durable. they also have an inline version that would work if you wanted to keep your hydration bladder. no bags needed.

on the MSR you can pull the foam prefilter out of the end and clean it too. best to adjust the floater so the end doesn't stick into the mud.

>"I've heard that glacier water has a lot of silt in it that should be pre filtered some how. that could have clogged things up."

True, glacial water has fine-grained sediment in it. Some of it is silt-sized (2 to 63 micrometers which overlaps on the low end with bacteria), but other glacial sediment is clay-sized – smaller than 2 micrometers and stays suspended, even in lakes, for many days. It will slip through any prefilter and clog up the main filter because it is in the size range as bacteria and viruses being filtered.

Allowing the water to settle overnight will greatly reduce the sediment load. Using a pinch of alum will greatly reduce the settling time to tens of minutes. I haven't confirmed this with testing, but strongly suspect that bacteria and viral cysts will also coagulate and settle out with the sediments so if you use alum furthers your primary goal and while also reducing filter clogging. The alum is edible and is found in the spice aisle in the grocery store.