Pack Weight

This pile of gear is what I will be taking with me on my hike. Somewhere in this pile is my tent, sleeping gear, camp kitchen, clothing, toilet supplies, first aid, personal items and tech items. Not everything is in this picture, I still want to find some lightweight shirts, and my bathroom items (soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, contact supplies and glasses, medications and vitamins are all absent), and some of these things will be cut out or minimized. In my first aid kit I have a whole tube of anti-bacterial ointment, I will be transferring a small amount to another container, and my camera case is not coming, it is just representing the camera I used to take the picture.

And obviously the scale is not coming. However, I did use the scale to weigh each item, or collection of items, (I counted my tent, footprint, rain fly, poles and stakes as one item) and then entered these numbers into a chart to see what my current estimated pack weight is. (Estimated because my water containers are not filled and I don't have my food prepared.)

Right now, without a couple items I've forgotten and without those few items minimized, I am at 42.5 pounds. It is a little on the heavy side, but since I am essentially hauling my entire life on my back for two months, I'm proud that I've kept it where it is.

Some items, like my purple fleece or my awesome new bright blue hat that I got at the Hiker Box in Eagle River, also where I got my backpack, (go see them, they know what they are talking about when it comes to backpacking) don't really need to be counted in the weight since anything you will wear daily doesn't add to pack weight, but I put these in there because I don't think I will be wearing them every day. I didn't count my pants, shoes, or trekking poles.

Item	Weight pounds	Ounces
Backpack	3	15.6
Tent (footprint, fly, stakes, poles)	2	13.2
Sleeping bag (compression strap)	3	3.8
Sleeping pad (bag)	1
Water bladder (empty)		9.7
water bottle (empty		1.3
Water filter		15.1
Kitchen (fuel, stove, pot, spoon, bag)	1	10.2
extra fuel canisters (each)		13
poncho		11.4
Bear Bag rope		7.3
Food bag		2.4
first aid		4.9
Pocket knife		2.7
Additional first aid		2.5
Bandana (2)		2.2
Towel		2.5
Head Lamp		3.3
Carabiners and clips		3.3
Bag		1
Cup		5.1
Toilet paper (w/ shovel, bags)		8.6

I have seen more organized charts, but I simply listed items as they came out of my pack or as I thought of them. No rhyme or reason to the order.

There are some items I know people will be looking at going why is she taking that? One such item is what appears to be a box of screws in the bottom right corner. That good critics is my art box, I plan on doing some painting while out hiking and so I will be taking a pencil, drawing pen, watercolors and brush(es) with. I also have my sketchbook and journal there. That little stack of items weighs 1 pound 5.4 ounces, but I couldn't get rid of it even if I was trying to reduce pack weight. I am not taking anything else to keep my mind occupied or to relax at the end of the day and I wish to record my hike by writing, drawing and painting. And I seriously doubt my ability to go two months without doing anything creative or artful. That little box contains everything I need to create mini watercolor paintings, including water.

Today I also went through the whole hike again to work out some shorter distances for resupply boxes. I had been at about a week between, but I think I have found enough places to cut that back to 5 days at most which means I have less food, and weight, to carry between resupplies.

So over the last few weeks of my planning time, I will be working on cutting back my weight by shaving a few ounces off items where I can, finding lighter alternatives or maybe (but not likely) removing items completely.