High base weight – What am I doing wrong?

[Tim P]

My base weight seems high.  Here is my gear list:

https://lighterpack.com/r/g3rkr3

[Bruce Tolley]

the pack- your pack weighs over 5 lbs. You resupply every 4 days at Philmont so you do not need an enormous pack.

sleep baselayer. This is for Philmont so you have to have dedicated sleep gear but you should be able to go to silkweight base layer with the EE quilt

headlamp. There is lots of daylight and moon light at Philmont you should be able to find a lighter option either re-chargeable or one that uses watch batteries like the Petzl e+lite

extra battery at 5 oz. Is this for the phone or someone else’s electronics? You probably need it if using a GPS app on the phone but otherwise I would think not

Multitool. I have never needed one backpacking. All you might need is a small blade like the small SwissArmy Knife penknife or the smallest Gerber (here: https://www.hikelight.com/gerber-ultralight.html)

Plate and cup. You just need bowl or largish cup in my opinion. I went through and weighed all my gear I found that a plastic bowl I bought 10 years earlier at the army surplus store was lighter than the fancy titanium bowl from REI

toothcare kit at 8 oz. 1/2 lb seems heavy but I am not sure what you are bringing. Some folks use baking soda or soap or salt. I took small bag of old fashioned Colgate tooth powder.

Crew gear. Presumably your shelter is in the crew gear?

Footnote: A scale is your most important piece of gear at this point.

[JCH]

The thing about shedding weight is it will cost money…not necessarily a lot, but some items are simply going to cost you.  So…starting at the top of your list:

• A 5 lb 6 oz backpack is something most of us abandoned long ago.  You should easily be able to carry 35 lbs in a pack weighing less than 3 lb…likely closer to 2.5.  My Arc Haul is 29 oz including all the extras I added.
• 6 oz knit hat seems very heavy…my fleece beanie is more like 1.5 oz
• 24 oz of rain gear is heavy. 6-8 oz rain jackets are common.  Consider a 2 oz rain skirt instead of pants.
• If you have convertible pants, why do you also need shorts?
• Eliminate (at least) one pair of hiking socks…you can get away with 2 total (keep your sleep pair which you will keep clean).  Each evening wash the pair you wore that day and hang on your pack to dry as you hike the next day.  Repeat.
• 10.8 oz for plate/spoon/cup is heavy. 2 oz (or less) examples of each exist and are not expensive.
• 8 oz for toothcare…a small toothbrush and a little container of baking soda is all you need easily cutting that to 4oz.
• 3 oz headlamps are not only common but considered overkill by many…examples weighing as little as 1.5 oz are common.

And the best part is, if you make all those changes to what is INSIDE your pack, you can buy an even lighter pack than I suggested.

 

Edit: Looks like Bruce and I think alike :)

[Bruce Tolley]

@ JCH. yes I think so with perhaps one exception.  If I were leading another crew this year I am not sure I would take my Zpacks kilt to Philmont because 1) of how much in rains in the monsoon season (up to 2 to 3 inches between 100pm and sunset) and 2) adult leaders are supposed to set an example for the Scouts, and if I recall correctly, Philmont recommends if not requires that the scouts bring rain shell and rain pants.

For my trek, I took a Goretex Paclite shell and a pair of circa 4 oz Frogg Toggs pants with the seams reinforced with duct tape.

4 oz of alcohol.  For an alcohol stove? as a fire starter??

[robert G]

OK.. someone shoot me know,.. I know this the BPL Forum and yes I agree you can shave off a few ounces here and there…BUT.. When you show up at Philmont and they hand you an entire sleeve of bagels AND ritz crackers AND saltines you are going to lose your mind. Shave off what you can but…..

I think the previous comments are spot on… look at everything and save weight without spending a fortune. Then remember the entire box of stove top stuffing rule( aka the food is huge and heavy)…. leave behind a sock so you can carry a sleeve of bagels (JK) :) ( aka take the sock if it is raining like crazy you might need / LOVE a pair of moist socks)

Dont stop trying to cut weight out..but you are down to the last few ounces and each ounce is going to be expensive at this point.

 

[JCH]

To the OP…I have no experience with Philmont so best to take the advice of others who do over mine :)

Also…take a look at AT Grimaldi’s pack list…nice!

[Tim P]

Thank you for all the feedback.  I know that many on this and other forum boards talk about packing for what you need and not packing for your fears.

I admit that I’m packing for my fears.  That’s step 1 in the 12-step BPL program.

I have the gear hauler, in case I need to take on a lot from someone else.  I like my GG Crown, but I don’t like it above 35 lbs.  The Baltoro is good to 50 lbs on my back.

I’m afraid of cold nights, but I see the point that I don’t need the base layer mid and the long sleeved shirt.  I can go with a lighter hat, although it will not be a Packers hat anymore.

Thank you to everyone for the help.

[Bruce Tolley]

@ JCP In preparing for Philmont,  the principles of pack weight reduction are the same as for any other backpacker starting down the path towards a lighter pack.  I was carrying 40 to 50 lbs packs before getting into the lightweight mentality and at Philmont my base weight was under 16 lbs with a conventional 3.5 lb 40 liter Osprey pack. I had been using the original frameless GoLite Jam but switched to the Osprey because we had at least one dry camp and the expectation was that we might have to camel 4 to 6 liters of water one day.

 

[Bruce Tolley]

If you have some of the high camps, for example Mt Phillips, it can get down to the mid or low 30s.  I took a down sweater to augment my sleep system.  You can also IMO use your rainshell jacket if needed on the coldest nights. But most nights I was just using my 30 degree down bag as a quilt and many nights started by sleeping on top of it.

There have been at least three if not more articles about going lighter at Philmont on BPL over the years. have you seen this one by SM Doug Prosser

https://backpackinglight.com/philmont/

[Author]

Posts