Am I Taking Too Much Stuff? My Pack Seems Heavy

[sargent]

I'll be heading to an Idaho wilderness area on a drop camp rifle elk/mule deer/bear hunt in about five weeks (Sept. 15-21). I loaded my pack and it feels heavy. I've never been to Idaho, but I've heard the mountains are steep and since it's September, I'm expecting some fairly warm weather. Here's a list of what I plan on taking. Pack -- Slumberjack Bounty 4500 -- It weighs about five pounds empty. Trekking poles. A first aid/emergency kit that fits in a quart plastic bag. A kill kit with game bags, a couple of trash bags, one folding knife and sharpener, a Gerber Vital and spare blades, and a roll of electric tape. A hard shell rain coat that weighs one pound. A puffy coat. A fleece pullover. Spare socks. Aqua-Mira water purification drops. Two headlamps. Map and compass. Three liters of water (one in a bottle on my hip belt, two in another bottle stored in the hydration sleeve of my pack.) About 1.5 pounds of food per day. Altogether, this stuff weighs in around 25 pounds. This does not include my bino/rangefinder harness where I store my windchecker and GPS or my rifle and spare ammunition. Any ideas on what I should leave behind/add or how I could lighten my load? P.S. I've been hiking hills with a pack loaded with 40-50 pounds, but still like a lighter pack better.

 

[Jpugs]

25lbs for 7 days... your doing good on weight in my opinion. Also if your doing a drop camp and will be staying in a wall tent and packing in on horses I wouldn't be overly concerned with weight on the pack in. I would take full advantages of the horses and bring up to whatever weight limit your allowed, once you get to camp just take the needed essential and leave the rest at behind.

 

[Owenst7]

I'll be heading to an Idaho wilderness area on a drop camp rifle elk/mule deer/bear hunt in about five weeks (Sept. 15-21). I loaded my pack and it feels heavy. I've never been to Idaho, but I've heard the mountains are steep and since it's September, I'm expecting some fairly warm weather. Here's a list of what I plan on taking. Pack -- Slumberjack Bounty 4500 -- It weighs about five pounds empty. Trekking poles. A first aid/emergency kit that fits in a quart plastic bag. A kill kit with game bags, a couple of trash bags, one folding knife and sharpener, a Gerber Vital and spare blades, and a roll of electric tape. A hard shell rain coat that weighs one pound. A puffy coat. A fleece pullover. Spare socks. Aqua-Mira water purification drops. Two headlamps. Map and compass. Three liters of water (one in a bottle on my hip belt, two in another bottle stored in the hydration sleeve of my pack.) About 1.5 pounds of food per day. Altogether, this stuff weighs in around 25 pounds. This does not include my bino/rangefinder harness where I store my windchecker and GPS or my rifle and spare ammunition. Any ideas on what I should leave behind/add or how I could lighten my load? P.S. I've been hiking hills with a pack loaded with 40-50 pounds, but still like a lighter pack better.

I've been trying to work out my gear list for October in the Jarbidge area and am around 50 lbs with 3qts of water, 5 days of food (1.8 lbs/day). This includes rifle (7.7 lbs), optics (6.27 lbs, spotter, tripod, binos, rangefinder)...basically everything but the clothes I'll be wearing continuously. I'm planning to carry my 5 degree Western Mountaineering bag that is right at 3 lbs, but I'll bring a couple lighter bags with me and switch them when I leave my truck if the weather outlook is warm.

I don't see need for a fleece insulation layer and a puffy. The fleece shirt I used predator hunting when I lived in Alaska is 8 ounces. I wore that with a base layer under a refrigiwear jacket. I only switched to a down jacket if it were colder than -10F, and even then I got too hot. My North Face down vest and jacket are 19 and 31 ounces, respectively. I've always felt fleece is pretty hard to beat for versatility. It's still warm when compressed (your back when sleeping, under your backpack straps, etc), it's dirt cheap, it warms to your skin temperature quickly, and it's more durable than most comparable insulative materials. In all the time I spent in pouring rain in Alaska, I never found anything that dried as fast either.

I noticed my Hydrapak bladder and hose/bite valve assembly is around 16 ounces for 3L of storage. The SmartWater bottles I carry to supplement that and use with my Sawyer (desert climate ) are 1.5 oz/ea. That's 11.5 ounces I can save at $0, and increase redundancy in my equipment.

How much do your headlamps weigh? There's a lot of good headlamps that will run on fewer batteries and come in around an ounce. I usually carry two, but I only ever use my main one. A keychain light or single diode headlamp with the strap removed would be a decent backup and not weigh much.

What's your cooking/stove setup? I'm probably going to carry my Trangia set that comes in at 12 ounces without fuel. I know I could save some weight there.

 

[IdahoElk]

If you're going in on horses I would bring more food.What clothes are you bringing?

 

[mcseal2]

The 25lbs is what your loaded daypack weighs correct, not what you are taking for the whole trip?

That isn't to bad. My total load for an average day hunt with readily available water (I only carry 40oz this way) is 31.35lbs. That includes everything except the clothes I wear walking in, pack, gun, binos, spotter, tripod, etc. It includes what is in my pockets. I did a lot of writing down what I actually used after hunts and trimming to get it to there. The pack and contents are at 19.53lbs. It can vary for sure depending on weather and water mainly. That weight includes only a 9oz poncho/tarp for rain gear for example. I like having a minimum list I can add to depending on the conditions to help me keep the weight to a minimum. PM me with your email if you want to see the list, it's on an Excel sheet.

With a puffy and hard shell you could maybe skip the fleece pull over. Not seeing a whole lot to take out of that list without knowing whats in the med/emergency kit. I'm guessing by the size you describe its not overboard anyway. I see you have 2 knives, but that isn't always a bad idea.

You could maybe go to either one good knife and sharpener, or only an Outdoor Edge replaceable blade knife to drop some weight but it won't be much. I'm not personally a fan of only a Havalon or Vital type knife without a sturdier option. I love them for caping but I'm to hard on blades to use them on everything. I recently got an old 80's model Gerber bolt action blade exchange blade folding knife that I have 3 blades for so I can avoid carrying a sharpener and still have plenty of sharp, sturdy blades to get through an elk. It weighs 4.8oz with the knife and the two extra blades in protective sleeves. It lets me go with only one knife instead of wanting two, I have a hard time not taking a fixed blade and Havalon or Outdoor Edge with me. This was my compromise. It's only a little weight, but when trimming a pack weight down every little bit adds up.

 

[idahohikker]

Looks pretty good to me. Take advantage of the pack in. Bring along plenty of clothes to keep you warm--it got down to 30 for me in the Idaho wilderness on Sept 20 last year.

 

[sargent]

This is a drop camp where we will be taken in on horses and meat (which we need to process and get hanging in game bags) will be packed out for us. The items listed are for the daypack I plan on carrying from camp. My total food weight will be around 4.5 pounds per day, but some will be eaten at camp in the morning and at night. My cooking (AKA boiling water) will also be done at camp on a propane stove. Also, I forgot to mention that I'll be taking a bugle tube and a couple of elk calls. Thanks for the input.

 

[sargent]

We are going in on horses and staying at a base camp where additional food and clothing will be stored. Other than what's in the pack, I plan on bringing two sets of hunting clothes which include: synthetic pants, merino long and short sleeve tops, a ball cap, a beanie, a light pair of gloves, kenetrek mountain extremes, 6 pairs of socks and underwear, and one set of long merino bottoms, as well as a lightweight set of "camp clothes."

 

[Swede]

You are not too heavy. The way to make it feel lighter is to strap two ten pound weights to your pack and carry it around until you go on your hunt. At that time remove the dead weight and your pack will feel much lighter.

 

[xziang]

Sorry but when I read "drop camp" I wouldn't worry about weight (within reason) as long as you are within their weight limit for the ride in. Just my .02 You can always leave the luxury items at camp when you are actually out hunting.

Disclaimer: I haven't been on a drop camp before though.

 

[Gorp2007]

Sorry but when I read "drop camp" I wouldn't worry about weight (within reason) as long as you are within their weight limit for the ride in. Just my .02 You can always leave the luxury items at camp when you are actually out hunting.

I'll second this sentiment. Figure out what the outfitters limits are and don't lose any sleep until you reach the point where they're going to charge you for a second horse. I'm going on my first elk hunt this year in Colorado and we're doing a drop hunt as well. My philosophy is that I don't really know what I'm doing, so I'm going to bring everything I think I might need and then use this a great opportunity to see what works. To that end, I'm bringing two (maybe three) pairs of boots, more clothes than I need, and probably a few other "luxury" items that will help keep me comfortable.

 

[MtnHunter]

I'll second this sentiment. Figure out what the outfitters limits are and don't lose any sleep until you reach the point where they're going to charge you for a second horse. I'm going on my first elk hunt this year in Colorado and we're doing a drop hunt as well. My philosophy is that I don't really know what I'm doing, so I'm going to bring everything I think I might need and then use this a great opportunity to see what works. To that end, I'm bringing two (maybe three) pairs of boots, more clothes than I need, and probably a few other "luxury" items that will help keep me comfortable.

I second the idea about possibly bringing a second pair of boots, plus even some camp shoes if going in on horses. Your feet will get torn up pretty quickly if you're stuck wearing wet boots all day every day.