[pct-l] Pack Recommendations

[BWIL5272@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Brad Wilson)]

I'm not sure if I've posted this, but here's my trick to cutting pack
weight. You say your pack isn't as light as you want it to be... We can fix
that.

The first step is to decide how light you want your pack to be. Choose a dry
weight you will be happy with and stick to it. If you don't do this you will
drive yourself nuts seeing that newer, lighter gear is always making itself
available.

When you have your goal weight, you need to divide your gear into three
piles.

The first pile is gear you cannot live without. This is your survival gear
and if you're honest with yourself, this pile should be very small.

The second pile is gear you could live without but really wouldn't want to.
This is your sleeping pad, shelter and things like that.

The third pile is the fluff, it's the book, camp shoes... Things you like to
carry but really don't need. I even consider my Camera part of this pile
(and now that I've switched to an Olympus, it's easier to justify than my
older, heavy camera).

Once you have your three piles, you need to weight each individual piece of
gear. Post office scales are great for this (though they make look at you
like you're a nut).

Add up all of the weight of the items in pile one. Add the gear in pile two
and then add what you can from pile three while still staying under your
goal weight. You'll be surprised how much you can get away with while still
keeping your weight down.

Once you have the weight of the items you can see items that can either be
modified or replaced. If you drill holes in your tooth brush you'll save 1/8
of an ounce. If you replace your tent you could save three pounds, so keep
that in mind.

The five easiest places to cut weight are your sleeping pad, sleeping bag,
shelter, pack and stove.

>From what you say, you want to cut weight with a new pack. I used a GoLite
breeze on the AT and will probably use it again this summer on the PCT. For
the size you want, I would recommend the GoLite Gust, Trek or Team packs.
You can see the whole line of their packs at

 <http://www.golitestore.com/store/products.asp?dept=1003>

And, compared to Gregory or Dana packs they're dirt cheap ;)

Hope this helps,

Brad


On 2/25/03 12:40 PM, "Heidi Clark" <clarkh@ohsu.edu> wrote:

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> I'm looking for a good lightweight pack to carry.  Any recommendations?
>
> I have a pack that's too small- a Kelty Redwing.
>
> And a pack that's too big- a Lowe Alpine Scirocco (5000+ cu in. & weighs about
> ten pounds by itself!)
>
> I'm not an ultralighter (yet), but trying hard to be a lightweighter.  I found
> that, even after cutting a lot of gear weight, my pack is still heavier than I
> want it, because of... my pack.  The problem is, I'm having a hard time
> justifying the extra money spent on a pack when I already have one, so I'm
> looking for a bargain.
>
> I'm thinking about 4000 cu in is a good size, to leave some room for Sierra
> extras.
>
> Also, I don't think I could use a G4 because I tend to throw my pack around a
> lot and beat it up in general.
>
> Any recommendations on size, brands, prices, structure, etc very appreciated.
>
> Heidi
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