[pct-l] Pack weight to body weight ratio...

[stevesgt at effable.com (Steve Sergeant)]

Mike Saenz typed:
> I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that if your body weight isn't
> ummm..."ideal", let's say, then the whole pack weight/ body weight
> formula falls apart.
>
> In other words, if you're 5'-10" tall and weight 300 pounds, then a 75
> pound pack is gonna kill you a couple miles into the trail...

Note that the Swiss study I described was specific about pack weight as a
percentage of "Lean Body Weight".

Lean body weight is the weight of your body, minus fat. Nobody has zero
percent body fat. A very fit male athlete might have 8% body fat, and a
similarly fit female might have 14% body fat. Much below that percentage
is considered dangerous by doctors.

You can find out your lean body weight by getting a "body composition
test."  Here's an article I found in a quick and superficial Google search
about measuring body composition:
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/body_comp/a/aa090200a.htm

When I finished my JMT through hike this summer, my lean body weight was
measured at 164 lbs. Since I weighed 182 lbs. at the time, I must have had
slightly less than 10% body fat. Referring to the Swiss study I mentioned
earlier, that would mean that the maximum pack weight I could carry
without degrading my balance significantly would be between 13.1 and 16.4
pounds.