I Tried Backpacking with a 60 lbs Pack...
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- Опубликовано: 9 сен 2024
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Your gloves are not in the list 🫤 Which model is that?
Hey Justin! I also would like to know which gloves these are and if they would be good for 3 season usage.
I'm gonna try the beer
Wow I'm most definitely going to buy some of that Non Alcoholic Beer. How did you know I have never drunk alcohol in my life? Justin are you psychic 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I cant find the Trecking Pole from the Video. Honestly quite unique look and id love to get my hands on those
Welcome to the infantry
True now do it with full kit and weapon
Just needs that mortar baseplate and a couple spare rounds and your living a full life!
Tripod and 4 belts
Semper fi. 0311 here USMC. Average day as a grunt. Lol
@@CalvertE98try it with full kit, weapon and parts for your motar section and 2 extra motar rounds 😢
I'm older so I'll give my thoughts.
This was common back in the day, our gear was heavy! The camp stove I had was a Coleman dual fuel single burner and wow was it heavy. A pot came from the kitchen, didn't have a water filter so boiling, bleach or iodine was your choices, I just boiled it.
Food choices were pasta, canned or bring in fresh.... nothing better than eggs and bacon over a camp fire.
Had a egg crate and heavy sleeping bag.
Wasn't many comfort items, everything was just heavy as military surplus was what you could get your hands on that wouldn't require a second mortgage.
Here's one that will make you laugh, my brother always brought a camp toilet because he enjoyed a good morning poop watching the sun rise.
I can relate to that great morning #2.
Same here.
Same here everything that was a priority was heavy in the 70's, yet we carried it. Now at 62 years old, I have all the top gear, yet still in winter carry between 50 to 60 lbs! Because now I like my luxuries and hate the idea that because I'm older I am weaker. I refuse to accept that. Although I admit I am fatter, and am running every other day now at 5.30 am for miles before work. This will increase my stamina and strength for winter mountain snow camps in Scotland ............. fingers crossed lol
i felt that one 😂😂
Three days broken down MREs, 5 gallon water bladder in ruck, double MG belts, 27lb MG with thermal scope, two 60mm mortar rounds, IBAS with plates -
Then add your normal load out.
Absolutely had, “the most fun on a backpacking trip”.
+1 for "Welcome to the infantry!" Well done, Justin. Your 60 lb experiment is often the daily minimum in the infantry. Operation requirements can quickly drive that weight up. While army gear is never light, it's overall weight can be quite reasonable... however, the additional weight of personal weapon(s) and ammo add it very FAST, followed by the insane weight of rations per day. Somalia, we carried 6-8 litres.
Love your content.
Be thankful that you didn't grow up backpacking in the 70's and 80's, when a 60 lb. pack was pretty standard for a week-long hike. I think that Erik Ryback said in his book about being the first person to backpack the then--only partly-built PCT that his pack was 85 lbs after each resupply!
Grandma Gatewood hiked 14,000 miles, including several thru hikes of the AT, with about 12 lbs of gear in the 1950s.
Hi Justin, welcome to mountaineering! By the time you put ropes, pickets, ice axe, climbing hardware, etc. in your back, it's super easy to get up 55+ lbs. If you are worried about being able to carry that much weight, don't! I'm 5'5" and weigh 135lbs. If I can do it, pretty sure anyone can. The trick is to gradually work your way up to carrying that weight consistently. Start at 25lbs or whatever weight you are comfortable with, and add 3-5 lbs to your pack every week until you hit the target weight. You'll be coming around with that BABY GEAR in no time!
Just a quick tip for the gravity filter. Pressure is a function of water column height so you will actually get a much better flowrate if you put the filter part near the bottom and raise up the bag as high as you can. It makes a notable difference in how fast gravity filter systems will flow.
Congratulations to both of you! Experienced dad here: Babies need so little, it’s unbelievable! First time parents are the ultimate overpackers. If a baby has a parent and the outdoors, that’s literally all the toys they could possibly need. Also, they already use your body for temperature regulation so their separate clothing needs are minimal. Make sure your clothing has space to tuck a baby into and you’re good for warmth. Sunburn is a genuine threat so they do need enough clothing to be covered, but as you know, that can be very light. Sling carrying is excellent and lightweight. I used a big keffiyeh tied at the corners. Cheap easy fast light washable multi purpose.
Assuming breastfeeding is the food source, you need to carry practically nothing extra BUT from the mom’s perspective, being a food source is profoundly exhausting. This is when the meanings of “husbandry” come into play. Your job is to create a space for them to be a succulent fuzzy ball of nurturing and naps. The bodily resource expenditure to produce milk is already intense, so what y’all are accustomed to accomplishing in terms of mileage and weight and time on trail becomes a whole different thing for a year or two. It doesn’t have to come to a complete halt, it just has to slow down while new things get built in.
The biggest thing with a baby is sanitation. This is where you can be a gear head and find the best, most efficient stuff. Also, crucially, American culture extends the diaper time for years past when other cultures need them. If you’re in physical contact with the baby enough, and outside enough, you can learn when the baby is about to go and swing them out to drop that deuce on the ground. This can happen within a few months, that the baby will signal you that it’s time. Obviously then you need to do a pooper scooper routine, but you can cut waaaaay back on needing to carry diapers if you invest the training time up front.
Worst case scenario, you’ll need two years to get back up to speed. If it takes longer than that, you’re making a choice to go in a different direction, and that’s okay too.
I just did a 12 day backpacking trip in New Mexico at BSA's Philmont Scout ranch. My backpack weighted around 46lbs, but with crew gear probably weighted between 50-55 lbs. We carried crew gear split to hold gear for 9 people and hold food for 3 meals a day often for 3 days between food pick ups. With the boy scout / Philmont experience I am not sure if you can get around not having at least a 40 lbs backpack. A coupld of our kids towards the end of the trek carried extra water and extra crew gear and were probably carrying 75lb packs to carry extra weight to carry the load for the crew. (To make up for a couple of scouts that were struggling) That was really the only backpacking experience that I have ever had so it is hard to me to envision what 'normal' backpacking should look like and what weight I should expect to carry. With family I hope to take a 2-4 day trip, big difference from 12 days!
Looks like the pack I carried for my first handful of trips. As time went on I started to leave behind things I didn't use, didn't really need, and just learned to live without. I think a forth reason packs get heavy is financial. Heavier gear is typically less expensive. Not every one can afford the UL gear.
I’ve been an Athletic Brewing drinker for well over a year. I have really been enjoying their radlers this summer season.
I get migraines and as I’ve gotten older a day/night of drinking now almost guarantees a migraine the next day. Not so when I’m drinking Athletic.
For a hunter, add a 7Lb rife, binocular/spotting scope, a scalpel style blade plus a ammo and thats an easy 50lb base weight without meat. We average a 100lb on a successful pack out.
Now you know how backpack hunters feel
Bingo.
Yup, no comfort gear, but add in a rifle, binoculars, spotting scope, meat harvesting kit, etc...easy 45-50lb base weight without food/water.
@@euphonek Not to mention more & heavier clothes for winter conditions
Great demonstration of a typical heavy loadout. For years I've overpacked on trips, for a variety of reasons. I'm 6'5" tall and my gear is necessarily larger/longer. I like bringing fishing gear and a camp chair. I bring a folding saw if I'm in a place that allows camp fires. It adds up. Sometimes it's a struggle to keep my pack under 50# but I manage the weight okay, even though I'm pushing 60 yrs old. I just pace myself.
oh no. I can literally feel and hear your knees and back creaking. PTSD from the 90's and early 2000's when we hauled around army fatigues and army sleeping bags, with C battery headlamps and coleman stoves, canned beans and potatoes and all our caving gear lol.
We just got back from 10 days at Philmont scout ranch. 60 lbs for 10 days. Your body adjusts, you'll be fine. I'm 53.
there are joints and cartilage that you wear by carrying more than 20% your bodyweight. You will feel the consequences down the line, old timer.
I learned to backpack when my 3 daughters were 6, 4, and 1. I always had them with me when I backpacked and my pack was always in that 60-65lb range. And I’m a 125lb woman, so it wasn’t easy but I was doing my best just to make the trips happen. I was far more concerned with fitting the volume of stuff I needed into my pack than I was about weight. I sourced my gear based on affordability, durability, and comfort, as I had children with me, and so their comfort and enjoyment was of utmost importance to me. As they got older, they could carry a bit more weight, but that just meant that we went on bigger, longer trips with a lot more food. My pack weight stayed the same. Any money I spent on gear was dedicated to keeping up with the changing sizes of my children. That was challenge enough. It was only after completing a 10 day route-finding trip in the Yukon wilderness of Kluane national park with a 75lb pack that I realized I had to make changes and get lighter gear if I wanted to continue to expand our adventures. Your videos have helped with that! My daughter and I just completed a couple of sections of the GDT and my pack was 37 pounds with food. What an amazing difference!
I love to hear this! That must be really satisfying to see that lifelong plan bear fruit.
When we started hiking with our two children, my wife and I had a 16 pound 4 person tent. We soon found a MEC camper 4 that only weighed in at less than 8 pounds, and that alone made so much difference. Hiking with kids will up your pack weight, but remember the lifestyle you are trying to teach and instill in them.😊
Oh, and I certainly did carry stupid heavy packs too. No that I am in my 60's and my kids are grown, I'm working towards UL gear. And you have inspired me to try the GDT with my youngest son.
I've been purchasing Athletic Brewing for awhile now and am a regular customer! I love to see them sponsoring you! I remember first hearing about them and really not getting it. But I've found that I do really enjoy a beer for its own sake, and it's even better when I'm not hung over. Athletic Brewing makes the best NA beer that I've come across! I think you can take a heavier pack... but probably for much shorter mileage!!! I take a heavier pack (but only heavy for me... I don't think I would ever attempt 60#), I make sure it's for shorter hikes (less than 10 miles/16k). I did recently do a shakedown on my pack and pulled out some stuff I rarely use., that stuff that was heavy or just was never used... and promptly replaced it with other stuff. I take a water coloring kit, a chair, a bug repellent device, I packed in canned wine, heavier (but tastier) food items, etc. Some trips are about having fun in camp and some trips are about putting in as many miles without breaking the body. It's all good!
Our Scouting crew had an average of 45-55lbs packs to backpack 2 weeks in the Philmont Scout Ranch wilderness. Water and food brought some of us to 60-70lbs. 45-55lbs was the minimum weight of the required gear Philmont recommended. Would of loved to figure out how to cut that weight but we all still had the best adventure carrying all of the weight.
Had a couple of friends who also did Philmont. It's also very helpful that emergency scenarios are accounted for at Philmont and it's many scouts (and scoutmasters) first experience of backpacking. Which is awesome! But yeah, being prepared is better than being unprepared. Their weight requirements might be a decade old in terms of how much a pack or a sleeping bag weighs nowadays but it's pretty reasonable
Those were the days. I did Philmont in '87 with an external frame Academy at that 45-55#. All I remember in truth is how much fun I had!
@AtomicCitizen there were two of us that used external frames. My external frame pack, the Mystery Ranch Teraframe made carrying loads very comfortable.
In winter I often have a 50 to 60lb pack. You pace yourself and get used to it. I'm old School and at 62 years old used to heavy weight hiking.
I started training with my winter pack today, 39lb and I don’t think I’ll be adding much more weight. Spikes, 1l insulated bottle, snowshoes depending on when & where I go. Mostly I’m wearing the snowshoes. I’m always solo so I don’t get to share the load, my biggest problem was finding a pack that would carry my FF -25F sleeping bag (I bought 2 used packs to try, an Osprey Argon 85 and Lowe Alpine Contour IV 90+15.) Now to custom fit the Lowe Alpine stays to my back!
lol that’s a average back packing camping trip for me, now of course over the years I’ve learned more and got the weight down to 40lbs-50lbs lol for multiple days, winter time with wool blankets is like 70lbs-80lbs, I use military surplus gear and old school stuff, over night pack is light weight but still heavy for a “ ultra light” person lol, which I am not
Food, extra clothes, my helinox chair, and an overly large first aid kit are my comfort items. I usually run 35-45 pounds for a three day trip.
I occasionally use 60-75lb bag while training for mountaineering. Its never fun but its good to stay in good shape
It's cool to see someone other than Eric Hanson carrying a serious load hauler.
Could be a tough choice: Baby or case of beer? Decisions, decisions.
How does the baby see out of that pack? You know that the view will shape her life.
Maybe an external frame? Seek Outside might be an alternative.
My knees and back are screaming watching this 😂😂.
My first backpacking trip used an army surplus canvas pack, my grandma's canvas tent, and canned food; over 56 pounds!! We only hiked 2 1/2 miles before I quit.
The Sawyer squeeze can be easily used as a gravity filter. I use mine with a cnoc and smart water bottle at camp. Just use a little attachment to make it a gravity system (weighs maybe half an ounce).
Yep, it’s almost annoying that ppl even talk about “benefits” of a gravity system over a Sawyer or equivalent. I’ve been using my Sawyer squeeze as a gravity system for years. It’s super convenient
I don’t have expensive gear, and am north of 40. Went on a backpacking trip with a few guys around the same age. One of them craves the creature comforts and had a 60+lbs pack. They are a former Army guy who’s current a resident Dr., and still over packed. He almost collapsed cause of all the weight. He’s in better shape (relative) than I am. This reaffirmed my belief of balancing “having it all” and “minimal/lightweight”. Ended up offloading gear from his pack and distributing it to the group, with regular breaks.
Give it to the bush monster. A grunts life. Lol
As a military vet, he should know what the rule is when it comes to comfort/luxury items:
“If *you* can’t hack it😭…don’t pack it!!”
It was both an understood and explicit rule that only organizational gear (radios, crew-served weapons, ammo, batteries, etc.) is passed around among the unit/team to share the burden; personal items were/are exactly that…the _personal_ responsibility of the one that decided to bring it, not everybody else’s.
@@BushidoDevilDog semper fi bro. 0311 here. Bravo co. 1st bat. Fifth marines. Only my A gunner would help me ruck my extra SAW rounds. We would help the new boots coming in. But only once. Then they better know better. Lol
@@BushidoDevilDog Exactly, I was flabbergasted
I haven't been backpacking long, but I can already feel the draw that getting ultralight things just means I can pack in more _other_ stuff for comfort!
As for that friend of yours...Army doesn't _necessarily_ mean experience rucking. But even if he did, it could _also_ mean he still packed like he would have back when he still had nice young knees!
I love Athletic beers! Definitely the best tasting NA beers out there IMO.
Also, I'm a landscape photographer, so I feel all of the pain you're feeling with heavy pack weights.
My partner and I did the Sawback trail last year, so we also crossed Pulsatilla pass - was very cool to see that in your video! Fun fact: soon after we crossed it (we did the trail in the opposite direction to you), we came across 3 grizzly bears.
Here in turkey we dont have the choice to pack lighter. İ didint bring anything than only the essentials. And no extra clothes. And i specifically choose the lightest gear i could buy. İ say not afford i say i couldnt buy. Even when a person can afford light gear they cant simply buy it from here. Fore example i tried to buy some light gear from Europe online shops and when i enter my country none of them sent items to Turkey… why… why are these shops like this… they send to none Europe countries but not to turkey… so only my tent which is the naturehike one person tent, and my sleep system was 12 kg with the backpack that i bought from decatlon. Because even decatlon don’t sell any ultralight or any lightweight gear in Turkey. The only way to buy ultralight gear is to go to germany or france or italy. İ tried this but my visa application was denied. So my only option was to go with the equipment i had. Also i had a dream to hike the camino solo… but ended up with the only option to hike the lycian way in our country with a pack that is 15 kg without food and water. İ didint put any sitpad or any chair, any camping shoes any flece hoodie. And i hiked only with mostly 2 days of food. İ had to carry 3 lt pf water and in some streches this wasnt enough i borrowed water from other hikers. And i could only hike for 5 days because i was was badly injured. İ had a pain in my ankle. And the last day i couldnt even walk 2 km from the camp to the highway. İ ditced all my toiletery and some essansials and sent them home but it wasnt enough . when i went to the doctor he sait that i had fractures in my achilies and other tendons were inflamed. İ have still the dream of one day my visa is going to ve approved and i will be shopping the big tree from france and walk the camino…. Actually when i was hiking i met people from my country that had no choice but carry 30 kg backpacks. With only the essantials….. we can never cut unless we travel to the countries that these gear are sold… also amazon doesnt sell it in turkey… i tried to buy the durston exmid but couldn’t. İ really tried so much couldn’t find any online shop…. İ feel really sorry. İ couldn’t even buy a light waterfilter… you are so lucky to have that chance. Be happy and enjoy the outdoors. Much love from a 48 year old solo female hiker…
I wish you good luck in your adventures
I'm glad to see you didn't lose your sense of humor.
There is something to be said for hiking with extra weight. "Train hard fight easy". Pack your normal pack and add a lot of extra water; weighs a lot and can be easily dumped when it becomes too much.
I hike with wildlife camera equipment and my hiking gear. I definitely feel alll the pain in this video haha
When hiking with family your distance and elevation change will be significantly different. You’re all set 😎
I’ve never gotten to 60lbs but have been over 50, especially with my kids. Thankfully they’re older now lol
Heavy packs are what happens to you with age, I'm over 50 been wandering the hills for decades and I've never had so much stuff, which I now need for a comfy night on the ground. Our local climbing group has an 80 year old lady who wanders about with a 50lb sack for training - she is a total unit! Gear gets better as you get older, but never the less - it feels heavy.
Pack weights like that or higher are common if you are going into the bush for a long period of time, or a hunter packing out. It is crucial you have a pack designed to carry that kind of weight properly, and a good set of boots that come up over the ankle if you are off trail or on rough ground/trail. One suggestion use the top straps on your pack shoulder straps to pull the pack as close to you as possible, so that the weight goes to your hips via the hip belt. You should not have a gap like that between the top of your shoulders/spine and the pack at 1:40.
Thumbs up 👍🏻 regarding the huge gap Justin had, because it looks like he didn’t cinch down the load-lifter straps as tight as he could have. I was practically screaming at the screen, “They’re called ‘Load-Lifters’ for a reason, Bro!” 😅
Even as a non-grunt, one of the first and most important things I learned from the humps I went on back in the day is that the higher up and closer to your spine you can get heavier items/tour pack, the happier you’ll be both during and after the hike.
Hahaha it’s wild to see George is still terrorizing Baker Lake (we named the porcupine George)
poor mr nutty!! i have an 11lb base weight and regularly carry a small jar of peanut butter on 5-6 day trips. it’s the perfect ultralight condiment for everything! bread, crackers, oreos, ramen, anything! and i almost always finish the jar :)
Some ridiculous gear I brought on a multi-day hike included an electric shaver. I actually weighed it before, and it wasn’t much more weight than a plastic razor and shaving cream combined, plus water would be scarce. And I wanted to not grow a beard on that trip, so it went in the pack 😂 On another trip when I tried to break in brand new heavy mountaineering boots with crampons, I brought a second pair of trail running shoes for approach and descent, and being able to switch actually came in very handy though I hated the additional weight.
a full roll of toilet paper is not crazy, its paper, its one of the lightest things in my pack. its kinda nasty to be rationing toilet paper in the woods when you cant clean yourself as easily as at home
A full roll of toilet paper is not necessary in most situations.
It's bulky and takes up a lot of pack space.
Taking toilet paper at all is crazy. So many better and cleaner and easier options, that also don’t involve “secretly burying the tp since no one’s looking” type stuff most of tp carriers do
People still use toilet paper? It's been proven time and time again it doesn't even work to clean you. 😫
One advantage to being old is if your kids want to come backpacking they carry their own stuff.
I usually have 66 lbs when I go hiking for two days I have, 6 cans of beer, some whiskey or rum, 1 gallon of water, real food like burgers, sauce and potatoes for making fries.
Then a real bed (foldable) sleeping bag, tent, axe & saw, cooking set, gas and stow. Some extra clothing if it get chilly. All is put in a 24 gallon (90 L) backpack.
The best thing is it getting lighter and lighter every day...
We have a platypus gravity system that filters 4 liters at once. We're a family of 4 and so this makes getting water and cooking so much easier, especially since we set up and leave. I recently got a sawyer squeeze and 2 liter cnoc bag for a longer trip to cut the weight. It was only two of us. The added work to get water and having to do it several times a day was annoying but the flexibility of being able to easily filter while on trail while taking a break was nice. I didn't feel the need to carry as much water and saved on weight. I will definitely use the sawyer squeeze on solo or 2 people trips but stick to the gravity system when it's the 4 of us. I will also start bringing the sawyer on day hikes as well. It's nice to have both options.
My pack varies from about 30 lbs for solo weekends to 50-55 lbs for weekends with my kids. I keep their packs to about 10-15 lbs and carry the rest for them.
The concept of a heavy pack is one that everyone that hunts out in the backwoods is accustom to. I hunt Elk in Colorado and my pack is 60-70 lbs depending on the length of time I will be out. Typical season is 9 days. I will usually split that in half and resupply mid way through the season. That weight usually does not include my rifle and chest harness. But when I go out at the time of year, it could be 50 during the day at below zero at night or like last year. Werent calling for snow for the week BUT when I got up to the hunting location, things changed and a blizzard came in overnight. You have to pack to be ready for that, so it adds up. I have over the years found ways to cut weight and have upgraded a lot of my gear but, it will never be a 30 lbs pack! When you are successful and harvest an elk, your pack can weigh upwards of 100 lbs. The meat isnt gonna walk back to the freezer on its own! I am in Pa 550 Ft above sea level. Where I hunt starts at 8k and goes up to 12k. Getting out to CO well in advance and getting acclimated prior to going in and then taking your time is the only way to do it with out stressing the hell out of your body. It sucks but it wont stop me! SO MUCH FUN!
Really enjoyed the drama of your personal vendetta against Mr. Nutty 😄
We with buddy did 200km in 7 days with 22kg backpack this summer in north Sweden. We took essentials and my camera with with tripod. For first 2 days i had pain after 15km on my ankle even with painkiller we made extra 10km, the pain was staying for 2 days and with in 3rd day i guess our body adjust with weight and pain magically disappeared, but we continued in mountains with heavy backpacks and we made 5km incline with all the weight. pretty crazy :D In The last day we hiked up to 1425m mountain up and down (10 hour entire up and down hike ) and after week hiking with some rough terrain and all that weight on our shoulders we were just jumping from rock to rock like mountain goats :)
Hey, it was cool to meet you on that trip, we were wondering up from Packers Pass why you were walking so slow!
I take my 3 boys backpacking. My pack has been as heavy as 50lbs and it was rough. Brought tarps and tarp poles for shade because it was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. As I get more experience I’ve lightened the load. Food is usually the culprit but I’ve been getting better at bringing just enough. I’ve learned that candy/ sugar is very heavy so I usually repack just enough candy and not bring whole bags. If there’s fishing that usually adds a few pounds. My pack is usually 35-40lbs now when taking the family out. I bring the Big Anges Copper Spur 5p which fits 4 wide pads. Thats about 8lbs alone.
This is what we carried as scouts in the 90s. I was at 55 when I did Mt Whitney 15 years ago.
My wife and I had a small amount of money for our honeymoon, and we ended up using it to buy cheap backpacking gear from academy. We loved backpacking so much, we were able to use that gear to take cheap, really fun vacations twice a year from then on even when we were totally broke in college.
15 years later, we have the cheap heavy gear as well as the best ultralight stuff. I've found it's just as easy to end up going too light and being unnecessarily uncomfortable. Depending on what you're doing on your trip, it's a balancing act, a skill that you constantly develop, which is part of what makes the activity so much fun.
This is kinda how I grew up backpacking. We didn’t have all the lightweight gear we have now. I’m grateful for the advances in technology! As far as hiking with that much weight with a baby - you’ll probably find that shorter, flatter hikes are more enjoyable. You don’t want to be completely exhausted when you get to camp. Many kiddos don’t want to be in the pack for that long. And camp chores/baby care take a lot of time, leaving less for hiking. But I’m sure you’ll figure out what works best for your family!
Yesterday I finished a 5 day solo canoe trip, 35lb pack including a canoe repair kit and a 45lb canoe plus paddles and PDF. All told about 90lbs for the 17 carries on the trip. It was painful. My backpacking base weight is 8lbs
I know this is a late comment, but... I think a much better test would have been to pack just like you would when you are taking the wife and new baby hiking: 3 person tent, two bags, two pads, extra food, baby food, diapers, etc. Doing so, would have allowed you to test the space in your pack, the total weight, setting up camp, etc. much better than just assuming the new pack would weigh 60 lbs. Of course you wouldn't have been able to carry those good snacks!
In another vein, the platypus gravity system is not much heavier than the Sawyer system if you are using the CNOC bag. I have used a Platypus gravity system for year sand much prefer the ease of use over the squeeze system. I find it much preferable to let gravity do the work for me. Especially when you are filtering water for a group. Usually when I get to camp, I filter both my water bottles full and fill the gravity bag. I use the two bottles to prepare food and drink, use the bidet, drink at night, and prepare food the next morning. When I get up the next morning, I still have the gravity bag to fill my bottles and take off. I can't imagine why it took Sawyer so long to start selling a gravity system
My bag is regularly 60-88lbs after all food and water. But I am 6’4 and 260lbs so it is relative to me. Also 2 big dogs that I need to carry some of their stuff that they can’t.
Not breaking any records but 12-15 km in the woods a day is good enough for me.
Rookie move not eating the whole jar of peanut butter so it was off your back and in your belly. Counterbalance.
In the Army, when one of the squad leaders would get angry at us young privates, they would make us carry a 5-gallon container of water in our ruck sacks in addition to all of our gear. It was a butt kicker after a few kilometers.
Crocs at the camp are absolutely amazing! 😄
I did a trip with my 8 year old this year in Jotunheimen Norway with a +80 lbs pack, and it was heavy. But carrying all the gear, clothing, food, sleeping system both of us needed for a week long trip it ended up being a lot. But we didn't walk that far each day (4-5 miles a day), but it was a lot of very rocky alpine parts and many miles of just large boulders in a lot of the areas. And doing 25 degrees + inclinations were very hard both up- and downhill. Having a good set of trekking poles were my savior tbh.
Those elastics on the sternum strap sliders are to secure your hydration hose so you don't have to wrap it around like that
Here in New Zealand we do have some great multiday hikes like this on manicured tracks and set out campsites, but we also have plenty of opportunities to get more into the "wilderness" where you may not see others for days. I have done many solo trips for two weeks or more where there is no possibility for resupply. These need pack weights similar to this 25kg+, much of which is food and fuel. I meticulously weigh out food and each meal is in a ziplock bag so I know exactly how much food I have. I dehydrate my own dinners, so I'm eating good meals rather than sugar and additive-rich stuff available commercially. I'm horrified by the crap food many RUclips hikers subsist off. Ultra-processed food-like substances that ain't healthy, to my mind.
The terrain is more broken, mostly over massed tree roots or rocks so measuring days is via hours rather than kilometres. We never have switchbacks so you just go straight up a slope when you cross valleys, usually with a 1000 m climb and descent involved. I tend to do 5 or 6 hours of actual walking a day, unless it's particularly easy walking. Once I've been going for a week, the weight has gone down considerably and it gets easier as you go on. The weight means I wear boots as you are always crossing streams and smashing over rough stuff. Need good traction and foot protection. I don't understand this cutting your toothbrush attitude of some so they can complete their trip on fast-forward, 2.0 speed. I prefer to spend time noticing where I am, rather than running through at pace.
But I carry stuff I know I will need, like a folding Japanese saw, so I can have a fire if required or do some trackwork. And two 20k battery packs to power my electronics. No Crocs, but I carry flip-flops/jandals, which are useful when camping, even in the snow, because you are always going to have wet boots. We don't need to carry water filters, and I seldom carry any water as it is plentiful.
Each to their own. But carrying weight in my circumstances allows me to stay out for many days, my record is 20 nights, where I didn't see anyone else for 16 of them. And no Internet reception for that time either.
Probably that same porcupine chewed up my poles and my friends’ camp shoes at baker lake three years ago! Impressive to see he’s still at it
Sounds like my old military ruck and my hunting ruck for a self supported week
Back in the day , a group of friend and I decided to go camping, we were pretty broke ,our gears consisted of military surplus, walmart, and whatever random things we thought could be useful. My load out was 85 pound (we all had to weight our gears , because the car use for the trip would break down if it was to heavy) I use a rolling suitcase backpack ,duct tape all the holes, had to use a carabiner to hold it shut cuz the zipper was broken. Our water was walmart water jugs. We brought a tent but ended up just useing a shelter on the trail, thank god for my father I originally planned just to bring a sleeping bag didn’t know anything about a sleep system. Some of us had a hundred or more pound pack, with that in mind we somehow decided that a steep uphill hike with scrambled was a good idea.
I have since learned better and upgraded my gears. 😂
At one time I took pride in carrying a heavy pack where I could also offload weight from other people’s packs. Cool video.
When it comes to gas, if you have a BRS300T stove and wind and you're using it 4-5 times a day for hot food and drinks you can go through that large gas canister in a few days easily.
Training for Grand Canyon Rim to Rim next year in Texas Hill Country, and I have to take all the water I need for the hike. However, when I do Grand Canyon, I will have a much lighter pack, and that will feel much lighter, but the altitude will still be super hard.
I'm currently hiking through Japan and my pack can vary between 16 to 22kg including food and water.
It's because I am bringing my work supplies, I work in IT so I can work remotely, so I have about 3kg of work supplies (laptop, batteries, internet, phones) so I can work from anywhere I walk.
It's heavy, but money is the fear that I ended up packing. Does come with the nice benefit that I still make money while on the trail, so I can go to nice restaurants or hotels if I need some rest.
the jar of peanut butter is just smart meal planning tbh that's literally the most ultralight friendly thing you brought
Quite the experiment, @JustinOutdoors. I'm just off a 3-day trail, solo, Rockwall Pass. I used the HMG Waypoint 35 and carried 28 lbs, base weight was 18.3 lbs. So comfortable.
While on trail, I saw so many Osprey & Gregory packs of 65+ litres. One guy had a 75L and his wife a 60L.
While I make no judgment about them, I do judge this... rarely did anyone have a smile. So much weight.
I get it. I was there. I hiked the WCT 20 years ago with 80 lbs in an Osprey 85L pack sold to me by Coast Mountain Sports in Calgary (Now "Atmosphere" for those who don't know). While I carried 80lbs, my wife carried 20 lbs - she was 3 mths pregnant. Had she not been, she was prepared to carry 40, me 60lbs. 20 years ago we thought we were "ultralight"... we also carried our fears due to the pregnancy. Me bing former infantry, "It's just weight!" LOL.
Anyway, great experiment. I always enjoy and always learn from your content.
I have a Mystery Ranch 80 backpack that is certainly capable of carrying this much weight, but I find 35-40 lbs. including a gallon of water is plenty for me. Granted, at 63-years-old, I'm not planning on a baby anytime soon, that would make a difference.
Washable, cloth diapers might be an option to explore to help lighten the load a bit. Carrying soiled disposable diapers is going to add a lot of weight you're not going to be able to off-load easily. Once washed, you could dry them on the outside of your pack as you hike.
Great work and quality editing! Lots of great information . Keep up the great work good sir, cheers from Vancouver.
Just last week I was on a hike with my university club and one of the guys had a 45kg backpack. Eventually, everyone demanded to know what he had in there and turns out he just brought literal huge stones and sand to make it more challenging 😭😭
It wasn't a short or easy hike either, 7 days, 16+ km a day and lots of elevation variation.
Other people had 20 to 30kg backpacks, I was the only one packing somewhat light with 13 kilos. I don't know how the others even did it. And yeah, they had full peanut butter jars too 😅
🤣😳 Backpacking with my wife, our Eureka Alpine Meadows (10lbs? ) our Bluet propane lantern!! the SVEA and 1L of white gas. ++ all in my Serratus Summit with two accessory pockets. Flat three nighter. I remember straining under that one. I was 35yrs younger, to boot, and I think I had just recovered from a hernia repair a half year earlier. OH yeah! I acquired a Gregory Massif, @100L. I"ve had that full too.
For western backpack hunting, a 60+ pound base weight is not uncommon, because you have the weight of your rifle/bow, and depending on what kind of optics you want to bring, you also have binoculars, tripod, spotting scope, plus a knife and meat bags. But 25km in a day would be quite a lot. Even 15km would be a pretty big day for me.
for me, rucking with a heavy loaded pack is more about like, the struggle, and slow pace, like man. i brought all this out here lol 😂.. transporting a large mass on your back, it's rewarding. and taking frequent breaks makes is so fun. but the big payoff is the satisfaction of hauling all that stuff, then relaxing and being able to indulge and enjoy having some niche items or comforts
The axe made me lol 😂
for me i was backpacking like 40ish lbs. Mostly because its budget heavy gear as I was starting out and because I packed what I knew from the military. Ive learned what i need and what I dont and have upgraded much of my gear and am down to around 28lbs now for my full load.
Great test. Assuming family trips would be shorter in distance hiked, at least for the first little bit, it's good to know you can cut some stuff out yet still bring all you need to keep your family safe and comfortable and still make it all the way to camp. I'm a fan of Athletic, glad to see you're working with them.
I'm glad you did this video! It would be awesome to do a winter hike with maybe 45lbs (of more bush craft items) maybe using a nice titanium wood stove, a silky handsaw, carbon steel pans, etc.!!
The first backpacking trip I did was to Great Sand Dunes, and my pack wound up being 65lbs. We did shorter days, only about 5 or 6 miles, but having to carry all our water with us meant a ton of extra weight. I also found that having too much tent is a bad choice. The one we took was 19lbs for 3 people. It made for a great learning experience though!
I started backpacking in the late 60s -it never occurred to us to weigh our gear but I reckon I routinely carried 60lb on multidays of 25 miles each. I had a premium tent (Blacks of Glasgow) made of canvass, possibly 6lb. I used an interesting backpack -no load lifters but it did have a strap that went around your forehead; I don't have that pack anymore but the light one that I subsequently bought and still have comes in at 7lb. I hate to think how much my sleeping pad weighed but I had no sleeping pad (would use bracken or whatever came to hand, if needed). The Trangia kit must have weighed a ton! Loads of maps. So much for 20% of body weight.
That's me 😂😂😂 4:31
Sounds like my first time hiking lol. Now I use a Toyota pickup and built that out for camping . Manage to get to some wild areas and can bring a bit more with me . Still love a good backpacking adventure though
Me on my fishing trips with my packraft 😂. Gotta have that luxury glamping
Yea, I do this all the time when hunting. Except, I'm not on trails a lot of the time, and let me tell that that 1 mile off trail can be VERY different than on trail.
We did this hike backwards (actually started in Banff city and exited out Baker Lake) about 10 years ago with out elementary schoolers. We went 60 hours without seeing another person until we rolled into Baker Lake. Looks much busier and well worn now- the path south of Pulsatilla Pass was hard to find at times and we just ended up going straight up the slope rather than trying to find the trail. So so so many bears and cubs!
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Most lightweight backpacking happens on trails in decent seasons. And I agree it's stupid to have 60 pounds for a week in those conditions. But sometimes it's a question of how complex/remote the trip is. Let's consider a self sustained 3 week trip in pathless wilderness in late autumn in the subarctic. Temperature might drop to 0⁰f, evacuation might take days... That's 30-40pounds of consumables plus 25-40 pounds of equipment. Some areas even require a firearm...
Having carried that much on several occasions for weeks I have to say it mostly boils down to training and fitness. Do your amount of strength & conditioning and you will be fine if you are not too old or sick.
I have had Athletic Brew and do buy them from time to time. They really are a great product… and in response to your challenge … I will try mixing them into my evening “beer” more this next month. Happy to support a great product and your channel.
My wife packed a watermelon, 6 pack of beer and cans of wine on a backpacking trip a few years ago. It was only 4-5 miles in but it sucked nonetheless.
My backpack was approx. 35kg when I went hiking recently. I went hiking in a very remote area and expected to be out for about 10-12 days, maybe more if the going was slow. The backpack alone is 4,5kg and the majority of the rest was food, cooking equipment and a fire kit that was perhaps excessive, but I wanted to be safe and know that I had multiple ways of making a fire if I needed one. Minimal clothing, didn't even bring a jacket, but drybags and a couple aluminium boxes + gopro adds up quickly. The only real issue with a heavy backpack is that it is a fucking drag to take it on and off
I wish I could see external frame like back in the 70s. ❤
Yea with that weight the distance per day will be much less then with a light pack. But, if thats your liking, go ahead. On the plus side, you will be comfortable and safe.
Some light hikers get in trouble because they dont have enough warm clothes, good shelter or gear that can endure really bad weather
Im not sure if there is enough material to make a video, but I would be interested a video on how to set a pack up to comfortably wear. I just got back from a hiking vacation where I was carrying more weight than usual due to local conditions, and I noticed that I had more shoulder soreness than I would normally have with this pack. I left wondering if I was just wearing the pack wrong or if it was normal and to just deal with it. Seeing you carry 60lbs for such a long distance made me think pack fitment and adjustment would be a good topic.
Baker Lake. I knew there would be some porcupine encounter. But such a beautiful site is well worth it
I love Athletic Brewing non-alcoholic beers. I've been drinking them since 2021.
Rucking is deffo a skill that you build up to, cheers!