Pack size for UL thru-hiking – 40L too small?

[John G]

50 liters is the smallest size pack most ultra lighters will take on a through hike. 40 is too small for everyone except UL experts with a 5 lb base weight. 60-70 is needed if you are using some combination of an "ultra light" traditional tent, synthetic sleeping bag, or bringing a fleece jacket – none of which are recommended by most through hikers :).

In the spring and fall, you'll have winter-ish gear and 50 will seem too small, and you'll have to strap lots of stuff to the outside.

In the summer, 50 liters is a little big, but compresses to 40 with the side straps easily. Also, you'll want more room for food then since your metabolism goes up a lot after 6 weeks of constant walking. Plus, you'll want to be buy things like bagels, tortilla shells, jars of peanut butter, and bags of Fritos – which need extra room to carry :)

Most of the weight in a pack is in the padding and (to a lesser extent) the frame. The extra material to go from 40 to 60 liters is only about a 1/2 a yard. Look up material weights for 210 denier ripstop with dyneema grid. You'll be suprised.

Personally, I also find that having to carefully fold/roll and pack everything like I'm playing a game of Tetris gets old fast. I like a pack where everything fits in easily, but the pack has enough side/bottom/top compression to make it into a solid bundle.

Also, there is a reason the packs like the ULA circuit (etc, etc) are so popular for through hikers. I'd think long and hard before straying from that volume, amount of padding and frame/support.

[Troy Ammons]

Probably too small but Loner2012AT on youtube or snakesession over on WB made it with a used Terra Nova 20L pack he bought off ebay and budget hammock setup and that is a seriously small pack.

Just goes to show you dont have to spend a fortune on gear to go SUL.

His Nano hammock failed at about 2/3's and he bought an GT ultralight amd finished with that.

After watching every video of his trip I never could figure out how he carried his water since the side pockets are too small to hold a 1L bottle in that pack.

I asked and he answered that "On the water bottles, I always carry them in my pockets on my hiking shorts. Sometimes in the back but mostly in the front. Know that sounds strange and lots of other hikers asked about it but worked for me. Did not want all the weight on my back plus it's really hard to reach them back there. "

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