#040: Evolution of a Lightweight Backpacker - Backpacks
Since you’ll be the one lugging the pack, you'll want to make a wise choice that fits your body, budget, and needs.
There are thousands of choices in backpacks. It pays to take your time, do the research, and try a few on with the help of knowledgeable friends or outfitter employees, or specialists, as they like to be called these days. Since you’ll be the one lugging the pack, you want to make a wise choice that fits your body, budget, and needs.
I was not wise early on. I started out with a giant pack that was heavy when it was empty, then added heavy gear, followed by too much food and water. Then I’d pile too many emergency and just-in-case item on top of that. My winter pack was usually thirty-five to thirty-eight lbs., depending on temperature and whether. That’s a lot of weight for a weekend trip.
When I started out on a nine-day hike in Maine in the spring of 2010 my total pack weight was forty-two lbs.
I began backpacking around fifteen years ago. A friend encouraged me to buy a big pack because, “You can always under-pack a big pack, but if you need a lot of gear, you’ll have the room for it”. That turned out to be bad advice.
My first pack was a North Face 65-liter pack weighed in at a whopping seven lbs. It never fit me properly, it was extremely bulky, and caused me to over pack with luxury items because there was empty space in it. Packing is a mind game, a game of discipline and knowledge; empty spaces beg to be filled, so we are often tempted comply.
Lesson learned.
A few years later I switched to a 50-liter Arc’teryx Axios 50 pack that weighs less than three lbs. That’s less than half the weight of my first pack.
The change was dramatic. The pack was much lighter, it fit much better, and it forced me to make packing choices. On the trail I was more agile, more sure-footed at creek crossings, didn’t hang up on overreaching limbs or rock outcroppings, and the weight difference was definitely noticeable, especially when climbing.
Over the next decade I slowly replaced heavy gear with lighter versions, resulting in a fully loaded twenty-five lb. pack for week-long trips.
Then came my 2021 A.T. hike epiphany while I was sitting on the porch of a hostel loading my pack with resupply items I had mailed to the hostel a couple days before the hike began. As I was loading and reorganizing the the pack, an awareness came over me that I didn’t really need everything I brought. Five days into a hike is plenty of time to escape your domestic comforts and become more utilitarian in your thinking. I starting throwing things back into my mailed box. When I got home and weighed the contents, I found almost three pounds unneeded stuff in there. Then I continued shaving weight by doing other things that came to me on that porch.
How I lightened my backpack: I removed the hood of the pack, which dropped 5.5 oz. I wouldn’t need since I would not be carrying as much gear as usual. I usually put my rain gear, water filter, and snacks in the hood, but I would move them to the large outer pouch on the back of the pack.
The next move was to remove the thick plastic brace that gives the pack a sturdy structure and helps the pack contour to your back, which dropped another 12 oz. With a lighter load I wouldn’t need the support of the back brace.
Those two small alterations dropped 17.5 ounces from my load before placing in a single piece of equipment inside.
Many packs are now made without the plastic sleeve or a lid. Those packs fall in the ultra-light (UL) category. As with most backpacking gear, the lighter it is, the more it’s likely to cost. I saw no need in discarding a perfectly good pack in an attempt to shave ounces. Always repurpose or restructure what you have to fit your needs.
When you do decide to purchase, spend time trying on packs in the store. High quality outfitters have experienced staff that will help you with fitting and will teach you how to work the straps for the best fit.
Join me next Wednesday as we talk about tents. You’ll spend a third of the day inside one and a third of the day traversing mountains with one on your back. Choose wisely.
*Base Weight - Weight of the pack before food and water
*Total Pack Weight - Weight of the pack fully loaded