[pct-l] For those that missed Gossamer's Black Friday...

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good afternoon, Lindsey,

I won’t presume to speak for the manufacturers of packs, but it’s very
likely the maximum weight recommendations shown are guidelines for the
user’s comfort rather than something that necessarily reflects the strength
of the pack itself.  The heavier the proposed load the more attention that
must be paid to the size and shape of the hip belt and shoulder straps and,
in particular, the strength and stiffness of the pack’s back
structure.  Without
a good stiff pack structure the load weight can’t be transferred to the
belt so more/much of the load must be taken by the shoulder straps.

I suppose a pack can literally be ripped apart if the load is heavy enough
but I’ve never seen that happen.  Most of the pack failures I’ve seen were
the result of people carelessly throwing loaded packs onto the ground.

My little 13 ounce beltless packs are “rated” for about 20 pounds but I’ve
left Mojave with over 40 pounds including water and resupply food.  That’s
not a real comfortable load on my shoulders, but the water is steadily
consumed during that first climb above the road, and the food is used at a
rate of about 2 pounds per day.

I prefer to be uncomfortable with a light pack for a day or so rather than
carry several extra pounds of a heaver pack for the whole way.

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/


It was a bit interesting with the water situation (we had to pack it all
in, since the water levels are really low in parts of the national park we
were in). It makes me really curious how people deal with that in the
desert sections of the pct, since this pack has, according to the website,
a max load of 35lb.

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