davesenesac
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Post by davesenesac on Jul 26, 2018 18:31:07 GMT -8
 Just finished packing gear for an upcoming 9 day backpack with 2 others into Humphreys Basin in the John Muir Wilderness. A year ago bought an Amir 3000 gram digital scale so had fun weighing all items I will be carrying including food. Total carrying weight is at 59.8 pounds with food at 12.2 pounds and that includes all the food packaging and Ziploc bags but not bear canister. Not carrying as many freeze dried meals as usual because we will be doing some fishing and am confident will have a few big trout meals. Above is a screen capture of my Excel spreadsheet food page.
Recall a thread on this board years ago where we found a majority of members don't always eat well out in the backcountry though some certainly do and others do after a day or three. One thing those I backpack with do is bring lots of food including a lot of snack foods and foods we normally don't eat. The below list does not represent the kind of food I eat at home haha as I eat a lot of vegetables, beans, fruits, nuts, dairy, breads. Not much meat or greasy foods. And indeed a lot of sugar and salt but not as much as in this food list. Most of the meal items are 2 servings but I eat it all as strenuous outdoor activity makes me hungrier than sitting around at home. |
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Post by tallgrass on Jul 26, 2018 18:35:57 GMT -8
Waaaay more organized than me...
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Post by johntpenca on Jul 26, 2018 19:47:00 GMT -8
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davesenesac
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Post by davesenesac on Jul 26, 2018 20:13:42 GMT -8
Well that depends on what is defined as "camera gear". When I am off on day hikes from a base camp, that gear needs to go in a day pack. And that day pack needs some items that are more about support on day hikes versus pure photo oriented. For instance mosquito repellent, headlamp, sunscreen, knife, compass, etc. A bunch of small stuff but that does not include any extra clothes like rain gear or food or water. My tripod is 5 pounds and the rest of the photo day hiking gear is about 10 or 11 so 16#. On this trip will carry 22 NP-FW50 batteries most of which are 1950 ma-hr and that weighs 34 ounces. Will have 4 lenses. In any case the 61 pounds carrying weight is about 10 pounds less than was usual a decade ago carrying 4x5 view camera gear as a dozen plus film holders is a lot more weight. On this group trip will also have 2 pounds of fishing gear I normally don't bring. Minus that, photo, and food, weight is near 30 pounds. Note this retired senior is 5'6" 137# so about 45% body weight.
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Post by johntpenca on Jul 26, 2018 20:17:12 GMT -8
In any case the 60 pounds carrying weight is about 10 pounds less than was usual a decade ago Yeah, remember those days when I was young and gear was heavy. |
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Jul 26, 2018 20:18:28 GMT -8
Especially for someone his size. I marvel at his continued willingness to lug the gear. I'll go that heavy once in a while, but the trip has to be worth the extra effort. My food for nine days might be another couple pounds, but it's not a lot different. |
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jul 26, 2018 20:40:09 GMT -8
We just did food for 2 for 9 nights at 33 lbs. It could have been under 30--there were things we didn't need, but I was hedging my bets as we haven't done such a long trip before. I remembered a month hiking and camping in Canada in 2013, when appetites got inflated. We've been working hard to prepare. But as it happened, the usual amounts would have been fine.
One thing I did because it was a long trip was actually measure out the mixed nuts each morning, so that we'd not eat them all in the 1st 5 days. In the end, we came out a day early, and had a lot left over, but that's a different story.
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davesenesac
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Post by davesenesac on Jul 27, 2018 8:25:33 GMT -8
Per above, have likewise portioned out granola, trail mix, rice (for trout dinners), and candy mix into a few Ziploc bags so I consume them evenly. Those first two items are most likely to be in my pocket during day hiking. Also divided up listed items into larger gallon sized Ziplocs. Divided in half all similar foods like the Mountain House/Knorr meals, soup, candies, etc so one could stay at the bottom of the bear canister and the other at the top easy to get at. Also another large Ziploc with unique items like the salami, cheese, Necco's. And then a fourth Ziploc with items I expect to eat the first day while moving up the trail that don't need to be in the canister that could include perishables I buy just before getting on the trail. On last trip that was a couple Yoplaits and in the past have been fast food stuff.
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Post by tipiwalter on Jul 27, 2018 9:29:50 GMT -8
I think my biggest food load was for 24 days during a winter trip. My pack was obscenely heavy but it kept me out for the duration.
I always start with two main food bags---Cookables and Snackables.
The cookable bag contains all 24 cooked meals I'll eat for dinner (home dried)---but not counting a couple lbs of quick oats for whenever I may want a breakfast---rarely---or when I want oatmeal for dinner. Olive oil etc. Home dried eggs, tempeh etc. Dried brown rice, beans etc.
My snackable bag is everything else---granola bars (try to eat two a day), nuts, dried fruit, bread, rice cakes, plastic containers of nut butters and honey (burnable when empty), crushed corn chips, granola, goat cheese, whatever I feel like packaging and carrying.
Every long trip is different. Some choices are based on whim when I walk thru a grocery store and eyeball potential food ideas. And it gets crazy when I end up taking 3 red apples and a bag of white grapes and an avocado---but these will be eaten in the first 5 days so they're worth the weight.
WEIGHT
A huge food load is heavy---mine routinely come to 50 lbs per trip. It's the price of freedom to be away from cities and civilians and folding money and roads and syphilization for the duration.
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mk
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Post by mk on Jul 27, 2018 12:48:31 GMT -8
Do you crush them on purpose? Easier to eat? Another question: do you basically just dehydrate whatever regular meals you're eating during your at-home time? I know you've posted photos and talked about this before, but I don't remember ... I was thinking about nut butter and backpacking, and remembered that it is a staple for you. |
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jul 27, 2018 14:54:12 GMT -8
I always start with two main food bags---Cookables and Snackables. I usually do 3, one for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It sounds like you skip breakfast and just snack all morning/day? I'm afraid I'm kind of hooked on breakfast, but that bag of oatmeal each day is not a trivial weight or bulk (but if we didn't eat that, there'd have to be more of something else, because we certainly need all the calories). |
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davesenesac
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Post by davesenesac on Jul 27, 2018 16:22:21 GMT -8
Well took care of a few loose ends with final version of my update checklist form, so its almost all loaded in the Aether 70. The below is just a small jpg snippingtool crop from the Excel spreadsheet. The yellow column is in pounds derived from column 4 (ounces) that derived from column 3 (grams) At the bottom is the total carrying weight at 60.0 pounds while the 53.7 is items in the pack. Difference is clothing I will wear on the trail plus boots plus pocket and wear items like eyeglasses. My spreadsheet has 221 row item types.
Can't get over how I seemed to reduce the weight 4 or 5 pounds from similar trips since 2014 when I first went to a digital system. Also just hoisted it up and then weighed it on my digital bathroom scale and the result was accurate to a few ounces, verifying the process. After that I went up and down my stairs 7 times per my other stair climbing thread and though the beast is ugly heavy, didn't sweat a drop. The sleeping item includes tent.
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Post by johntpenca on Jul 27, 2018 19:24:33 GMT -8
Do you crush them on purpose? Reduced bulk. By crushing them a big bag of chips/cheetos will fit in a quart ziplock. |
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Post by johntpenca on Jul 27, 2018 19:45:08 GMT -8
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Post by tipiwalter on Jul 28, 2018 9:18:47 GMT -8
Do you crush them on purpose? Easier to eat? Another question: do you basically just dehydrate whatever regular meals you're eating during your at-home time? I know you've posted photos and talked about this before, but I don't remember ... I was thinking about nut butter and backpacking, and remembered that it is a staple for you. As Johntp says, crushing reduces bulk of corn chips . . . and cookies and potato chips etc. I dehydrate staples which I also eat at home---brown rice, beans, vegetarian chili and refried beans etc. Nut butters go a long way and on a typical trip I usually take a couple 3 or 4 lbs of natural peanut butter and almond butter. If I'm lucky I'll have some raw cashew butter too. And beaucoup honey for my morning tea and for my pb/honey sandwiches either on bread or rice cakes. |
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