What has everybody been using for their gear list organization? I came across the one from Eric the Black and it seems good. Any other easy options out there that allow you to enter your gear closet, then select items for specific trips?
Topic
Gear List calcuator
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Any choices that don’t rely on an Internet connection?
Off line: Excel spreadsheet! It’s what I personally use. You can make all those pretty pie graphs too. And for phone addicts, you can put it there once you make it.
Make your own Excel spreadsheet?
Edit: oops – I wasn’t nearly quick enough
“Any other easy options out there that allow you to enter your gear closet, then select items for specific trips?”
I very much like “packingpro” for this. It does not need an internet connection.
I’ve reviewed it briefly here:
Believe or not I have never used excel or made a spreadsheet. Guess it’s why it written in a three ring binder still.
Ken, you might can still download those spreadsheets from that time there was the competition, 10 plus years ago.
I actually had issues with all of those then. Thanks.
Any other good gear cataloging ideas or templates out there since I started this thread 4 years back?
There was a time when I weighed every little thing. Categorized and written it down in a spiral notebook. Even used to do different combos. Come around full circle and learned in the end, I pretty much use the same gear over and over. Food and clothes is different depending on season and duration. I was beating my self up over a pound or two either way. And to that, the sum didn’t equal the parts. My gear is now organized in stuff sacks. The spiral notebook went into the recycle bin. Just some thoughts. ~RL
I agree with @RL, I don’t see a need to catalog or track total weight. I know I need gear that serves certain functions, so I may break out a scale if I’m comparing two water purification systems, or cooking systems, or sleeping systems. But I don’t get the point of tracking beyond that. I just bring the lightest gear that will serve my necessary functions, and it weighs what it weighs.
But I’m obviously weird, because I also don’t care about tracking my mileage, my speed, my vertical, or how long it takes me to boil water. :-)
Yes to all ^^that and particularly ^that.
I bust out the scale when comparing two items or when packing food for a trip but don’t rigorously maintain a spreadsheet these days.
I do use a luggage scale to gauge my total pack weight because somehow that is interesting to me and I know more or less where that needs to be in order for me to be very comfortable on a trip.
I have zero interest in thinking about the worn weight of my clothing or the phone in my pocket. The only thing I care about is being comfortable while hiking.
I should note that rigorous spreadsheeting got my weight down to the range it is in now so it definitely had a purpose and use for me at one point.
I just have Google drive documents, checklists for different kinds of trips. I did use Lighterpack for making sure I stayed under my max weight, but now I just use my checklists. I have one for a cabin trip, one for solo backpacking, one for if I’m sharing gear, etc. All built off the original, with variations. For example, we don’t need any kind of lights in summertime here, but in fall I’ll need a headlamp at the top of my pack, if I’m still hiking in somewhere in the evening. I have a list for marathons, for kayak trips, all different gear needed.
So I just choose the list I need, and can grab all the gear and be ready in less than an hour for whatever I’m doing.
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