Pack Volumes and Number of Trail Days

“number on the pack equals days on the trail”

Never heard that. Makes no sense. Winter? Summer? Retail fluff indeed.

That’s BS.  There are people that have their kit small enough to use that for an overnighter, but not many.  Everything takes up the same amount of room on an overnighter to a week long trip other than the food.

“number on the pack equals days on the trail”

That’s the way it works for me.  ‘Course, I do like a separate change of clothes for each day, a separate tent for each day, a fresh sleeping bag for each night, and seriously, you can’t expect me to use the same stove over and over.

“Is it just plain retail fluff or do people actually get their gear into 22 liter daypacks?”

If you hike in fair weather – no rain gear, no puffy, no extra anything – it can be done.  Cowboy camp and leave the tent/tarp at home. Or take a 16 oz Cuben shaped tarp.  A 14 oz quilt will suffice. (I take a 12oz air matt.)   For two or three nights bars, gorp, and chips will work for no-cook “food”.  It all fits in my Golite Rush 20. Works great for something like the bottom of Grand Canyon. With luck I could pull it off here in Colorado in the summer below 9,000′.  I’m sure there are other “fair weather” locales amenable to a minimal rig.

But If I’m heading out for 2 nights in early September to hike at altitude I take a full-on kit that consumes the better part of an Ohm or a KS50 – 40 to 50 liters.  Same goes for the JMT and the Winds.

Fifteen pounds (not including your pack) sounds heavy. But if you are going out safe and comfortable, and not “packing your fears” then what you’ve got is what you’ve got. Don’t worry about some storybook scenario.

I would probably not rely on this salesperson’s advice for anything important.  The numbers you are talking about refer to volume in liters of the pack and imply nothing else.  Never heard that linkage to nights on the trail.  I personally know only 2 people who could use a 22-liter pack as an overnite pack in Colorado in the Rockies, not sure where you are hiking. It takes a lot of work to get your kit down to that size, and probably a lot of MYOG involved.

Most mortals are probably carrying packs closer to the range you noted, 35-40l.  My 60 liter Granite Gear Crown2 only weighs 2 lbs, and I can use that for everything from overnite to 5 days plus.  And I carry the kitchen sink.

. MY FIRST SUB 5 LB TRIP! from member Jamie Shortt with photos to give you an idea what people carry for smaller packs

Gringo carried  THIS pack on the CT(Colorado Trail) earlier this year So I thru-hiked the CT in a kids Batman backpack….

Thank you all. Sometimes the implausible sounds plausible to me when stated with conviction by someone I expect to be knowledgable. I’m in NY and it’s getting chilly, so the sleeping thermals are heavier than I’d pack in the summer and I have some stuff in my 10-Essesntials kit (emergency blanket, paracord, bottle of Purell, wipes, espresso machine {kidding!} that can either be eliminated or downsized) but  can’t see how that tent would fit in the daypack with the other items due to the struts built into the ends which makes it relatively unstuffable.

15 lbs with food and water isn’t a bad first attempt and I’m glad to hear I can stop trying to cram it into the Osprey!

If your 15# includes food I retract my “sounds heavy” comment.

I incorrectly assumed “food bag” meant bag for food, not bag of food.

my 10-Essesntials kit (emergency blanket, paracord, bottle of Purell, wipes, espresso machine {kidding!}
With all due respect, NONE of those items are needed. NONE of them.
Ask yourself: how often have you ever really needed any of them?
The emergency blanket is a left-over from the survivalists. Replace it with a bit of skill – or your shelter.
The bottle of Purell and the wipes are left-overs from quite UNhealthy pack-your-fears thinking. Try water and a tiny motel-sized bar of soap.
You almost get away with the expresso machine, but the extension cord is a bit too much.

Genuine exception: if you are traveling in rocky or cliffy country, a length of light haulage cord might be of some value. We have safely slithered down a wet mossy cliff face on a doubled bit of 2.5 mm nylon cord more than once.

On the other hand, do not attempt to fit a tent inside your pack. That is the wrong place for it. Put it on top of your pack (securely). That way you will not need to open your pack to get the tent out in pouring rain, thereby getting the rest of your gear wet. OK, you might need to ferret around just inside the top of your pack for the stakes.
And when packing up in the morning in pouring rain, you can seal your pack while under the protection of the tent (again, keeping the rest of your gear dry), plus you don’t want a wet tent inside your pack dripping water on the rest of your dry gear.

My 2c
Cheers

Greg,

I threw an assortment of Good-to-Go pouches and some cookies into a Zpacks bear bag just to add some shape and weight to the bag for the packing exercise. I don’t intend to rely on the commercial pouches very much due to cost and it’s easier to make something at home and put it in a baggie.

😂😂

<p style=”text-align: left;”>I think you are all approaching this from the wrong end.  Is it possible to go for an overnight with this pack?  Maybe, in ideal conditions.  But let’s explore the salesman’s equation:</p>
Baseweight + food for 2 days = 22 liters

Baseweight + food for 4 days = 40 liters

Baseweight+ food for 8 days = 80 liters

From this failed equation we can suppose that food for the extra 2 days on a four day trip takes 20 liters…and for the six extra days for and 8 day trip needs 60 liters, or ten liters of foid per day…

We can also conclude that a thruhiker hiking two weeks between refuels is carrying s 140 liter pack.

Despite approaching it from the wrong end, you have reached the same conclusion: the salesman is an idiot.

The gear you need for an overnighter is essentially the same gear you need for any length of trip, assuming same conditions. You don’t need changes of clothes, and you don’t need anything on the 2nd or 7th or whatever night that you didn’t need on the 1st night. Consumables are the only significant variable.

“Despite approaching it from the wrong end, you have reached the same conclusion: the salesman is an idiot.”

Thank you Paul.  I needed a good laugh.  Great post.

As your gear is not going to change on the walk then the equation is:

volume of gear + volume of food per day x number of days + any additional supplies (eg gas canister)

I find that food fills about 1.5 litres per day (for one). Your food volume may vary.  230g gas canister is 1 litre. For me with as base weight around 10 lbs, 40 litres is good for up to a week.

Mark, good equation…