Measuring backpack contents

How can we go light weight?

It is essential when backpacking to determine the best pack weight you should be carrying comfortably on your back. Pack weight will vary from season to season. Again I emphasize that you should strive to obtain the lightest pack weight possible and to maintain as much comfort as you can while hiking. I am older and I need to keep any extra weight off of my knees to keep from injuring them. Many people feel comfortable with 50 to 60 pound packs. But for the most part I have seen an abundance of extra hiking gear left in shelters to lighten distance hikers packs. I have determined that you should weigh every item that goes into the pack and on your body to get the lightest load possible. In this blog you will see the measuring scales I use and the units of measure that I believe are most accurate.

In order to get an accurate measure of the weight that you are carrying in your pack and on your body you must be able to accurately measure all gear.

I measure heavy gear on a larger scale purchased from Bass Pro Shop that measures gear from 0 to 44 pounds or 0 to 20 kilograms.

To weigh the lighter smaller items I use the Weight Watchers scale. With just a push of the button on the top you can toggle from ounces/pounds to grams/kilograms.

Weight Watchers scale

You must first decide which type of measurement you are going to use to measure your gear. Do you want to use tenths of an ounce, ounces and pounds or do you want to use grams and kilograms. I prefer to use grams and kilograms. The metric system is based on a scale of ten and it contains units (decigram, centigram, milligram) that are units of measure smaller than an ounce. Many pieces of gear may weigh less than a tenth of an ounce but combined with other like items can have a significant cumulative weight.

Weights and Measures

Kilogram 1,000 grams kg

Hectogram 100 grams hg

Decagram 10 grams dag

Gram 1 gram g

Decigram 0.1 grams 1/10 gram dg

Centigram 0.01 grams 1/100 cg

Milligram 0.001 gram 1/1000 mg

1 gram is equal to 0.035 ounce

1 pound is equal to 0.454 kg

1 ounce is equal to 28.35 grams

Everything in your pack and on your body adds weight. The less weight you carry the longer and faster you can backpack. The smaller the measuring unit the more accurately you can determine your carrying weight.

Lets look at some examples:

If you use the metric units of measure and you want to set you pack weight at 30 pounds you do the following:

Convert your base weight to kilograms.

30 pounds X 0.454 (kg/pound) = 13.62 kg

Convert to grams.

13.62 kg X 1,000 grams/kg = 13,620 grams

Now all you have to do is weigh all of your gear in grams until you get to 13,620 grams.

A 25 pound pack will weigh 11,350 grams and a 20 pound pack will weigh 9,080 grams.

On my next blog I will weigh some of the backpacking gear I carry on an extended backpacking trip.

Tennessee hike

In order to put some joy back into hiking after my freezing experience on Roan Mountain in Tennessee I decided to do some day hikes. I hiked a 15 mile section of the AT south of Damascus Virginia and a 6 mile section farther south of that. It was a real joy to hike with a 15 pound backpack compared to the 30 ponder I usually carry. I seemed to fly down the trail passing other backpackers for a change. Hiking in the sunshine was a treat. It had rained just days before my hike and rain was expected again after my hike. Every hiker I met had that "I am soaked" look about them. I recorded a few videos as I hiked along for your enjoyment.

Moving the AT

Going through cow pastures

Spittle bugs are insects that go through a nymph stage where the bug attaches to a stem of a plant and with their bodies produce a frothy mucus for protection, temperature control and to keep from drying out.

One of the scariest times to hike is during a thunderstorm. Just recently a female hiker was killed hiking on the AT near Hot Springs NC. I was hiking in a thunderstorm one time and I got off the trail in a hurry when I felt my hair beginning to stand straight up on my head before each lightening strike.

Remember

He who walks with integrity walks securely. Proverbs 10:9

Bicyle trip on the C&O Canal

A group of 7 men from Grove Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond Virginia got together to go on a 35 mile bicycle ride of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O) towpath. The ride started in Washington DC just below the Key Bridge to about 17.5 miles north toward Harpers Ferry West VA.

The trail paralleled the C&O canal and consisted mostly of compacted gravel and was relately flat.

Much of the canal is not in service but there are parts that are restored to original condition.

Our group ranged from the fairly young to some of the more mature.

One member of the group carried a cooler full of water, he converted a child carrier trailer into a camping, hiking and biking equipment trailer.

The trail passes Great Falls a very popular waterfalls in the area.

Many of the restored locks have taken on other multiple uses. In this picture a group of kayaks practice going over the falls of the locks backwards.

In another area a river boat reenacts how goods and materials were transported up and down the river through the lock system.

Great fellowship was had by all:

Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

Solo hiking

I have been solo hiking for about 5 years. Not that I necessarily want to hike solo but because most people that will hike my pace are either still working or not in shape to hike. My last hike has taught me to always keep some dry clothes to sleep in. Always have a means of communication for times of emergency. I carry a cell phone and a SAT phone. Keep close tabs on the weather. Gloves even if they get wet can keep you from getting frost bite. The chill factor from high winds can drop temperatures well below the freezing point. Force yourself to eat and drink lots of water. Pack as light as possible and then lighten up even more. Keep sun tan lotion on at all times. Smart wool socks are well worth the price. A hat for night time can help keep you warm. A down jacket will save your life at night in extreme conditins. Always keep your hammock dry, the tarp can stay wet but keep the hammock dry. Keep your synthetic clothes away from flames and high heat, they melt. Water proof shoes are great in snow and slush. Be sure to keep God close to your heart. And remember Phil 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Survival on the rail

When hiking long distances a hiker must be prepared for all types of weather. Recently I experienced such an ocassion while I was backpacking from Erwin Tenn to Damascus VA, an eight day hike. The second day I would cross over Roan Mountain over 6500 feet in elevation. I started on Monday with heavy rain which turned to heavy rain and high winds. The second day I put on dry clothes and hours later I was soaked again. As I began to near the top of Roan Mountain it began to hail, sleet and snow. It snowed 3 inches and the trail was a swimming pool of frozen ice and slush. My hands were completely numb and it seemed like hours since I felt my toes. It was snowing so much I missed the shelter on top and had to pitch my hammock half way down the other side. I had nothing dry except my Eddie Bauer down jacket, my down quilt, polar tech hat, and hammock. I hardly slept the night, nude except for my jacket, and I never did gain circulation of my toes and fingers. The next morning the temperature was in the lower teens. Everything I had except what I was wearing was frozen solid. My pants, socks, shoes, and shirt were so frozen I couldn't put them on. I got out my alcohol and esbit stoves. I tried thawing out my clothers by suspending them above the alcohol stove. I managed to get most of the clother thawed out except my boots. Because most of my clothes were synthetic I managed to burn a few holes in them before they were wearable. For my boots I placed the esbit stove inside the boot and melted the ice. But along with melting the ice I managed to melt part of the boot also. I had a hard time untieing the hammock lines and repacking. I hiked to the main road and took a zero day at a hostel in Hampton, Tenn. I continued my hike but I saw very few of the through hikers that I had been hiking with the previous day. They either quit or took several zero days to recoup. When we hike we must always be able to make a decission when enough is enough and with me it ended 3 days early because that night took so much energy from me that I could never regain enough to complete my hike.

Burned holes in my socks.

Burned boots with melted tops.

Esbit stove

Stove inside my shoe

Life saving down quilt by Speer.

Hat for night time wear.

Eddie Bauer Down jacket.

Circuit or section hiking/backpacking can be very rewarding. You usually do not have any time restraint and aren't forced to cover large amountd of milage. It is exiting to be able to take some of the side trails. I recently hiked a few circuit hikes just off the Skyline and Blue Ridge Drives in Virginia. I observed an abandoned copper mine, a male turkey courting his mate, a bird house in a tree in the middle of nowhere, white tail deer and a monuement to Audie Murphy.

Copper mine

Bird house just off the trail on top of Brush Mountain.

White Tailed Deer

Audie Murphy monuement (Actor and most decorated soldier in WWII)

Male turkey doing his mating dance

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they walk, and not faint.

Sleeping styles

I have hiked and backpacked all my life but since I early retired in 2000 that is about all I have wanted to do. Besides remodeling a few houses. But I have tried my darnedest to sleep in a tent with no success. I must have about 6 super ultralight tents and about as many tarps. It is no go for any of them, I end up tossing and turning all night and they don't make a pad light enough or thick enough for me to be comfortable. About 2 years ago I decided to try a hammock. It sounded perfect to me. The benefits out weigh any faults they might have. I first tried the Bear Mountain hammock by Jacks-R-Better. It is a bridge hammock and uses spreader bars to keep the head and foot area wide like a bed. The hammock worked out really well, many times I would over step the days hike and have to camp along the trail and I could set it up just about anywhere. The slope or the roughness of the ground was never a factor. I have found out that it tends to sway more than the other hammocks. But I am always looking for the ultra lightest hammock I can find. I talked with lots of people who convinced me into trying a Speer hammock. It seems to be lighter and a little more stable. It is really easy to put up and the mosquito netting works fine. I bought the inner liner and peapod under quilt for the winter backpacking. I have camped in sub 20 degree weather and have been real toasty. When it is not too cold I use a truck windshield protector, one of those folding thing you put inside to reflect the heat out and it worked great. I have slept in it with a tarp cover in a heavy down pour all night and never got wet. Next I began looking for something better in the winter and bought the Clark's Jungle hammock and it was super in the winter. It has storage pockets inside and outside to store gear out of the weather. I bought the North American and it is a little heavier but Clark makes an ultra light I would like to try. All of these hammocks are side entry and that is why I would like to try the Hennessy because it is a bottom entry hammock, hikers swear by it but I am skeptical. We shall see, I have a 125 mile hike planned from Erwin to Damascus and that will be a real test for it. I usually hike solo because I can't find many people who are not retired or don't want to take their vacation to hike. The picture is a Clark Jungle hammock.

Genesis 31:40 - Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.