[pct-l] Gear Weights

[Amanda Luff]

" And a sleeping bag compartment is a "must" to me.
I hate the idea of digging through my entire pack every night to get to
my sleeping gear. It just sounds like too much work at the end of a long
day.  "

Any decent weight pack will have done away with that feature for 2 reasons - 
1) it is unnecessary weight  2) it leaves random pockets of air that don't 
let you pack as efficiently.

I too thought this was a 'must'.  But think about it.  You are hiking.  You 
will not have that much stuff to did through.  Your tent will be up before 
you need your bag.  Your food with have to come out wether to eat it or hang 
it.  Same for toiletries.  If it's cold you will be wearing your clothes, if 
not they will probably be your pillow.  As a thru hiker you won't have all 
that much left in your pack when you go to pull out your bag.  I never 
missed that feature I thought I HAD to have.

My original Osprey Ariel 75 with super suspension and sleeping bag 
compartment now sits sadly alone in its corner.  Where once I thought "how 
am I going to fit it all in", now I think "how am I ever going to fill that 
thing up" (and want to carry all that weight)  My Granite Gear Vapor Ki is 
my pack of choice - for a bad back try the next level up of theirs

Its not wrong to want that extra feature, but when you have to carry it for 
many days your perspective changes.   I'm with you on the sleeping cold 
thing.  If you can just shell out the big bucks for a Western 
Mountaineering.  The more you look at gear the lighter you will think of as 
being the normal weight for an item.

Bubble Toes

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