Packed and out the door time?

[S.Clancy]

I’m going to time breaking down camp and packing up in the field this weekend and see what it looks like, but my guess is that most everyone takes longer than they think: fetching hanging food, breaking down a tent, compressing bag and puffy, getting it all in the pack how you like it, cinching pack straps down, readjusting trekking pole heights etc.

Also, keep in mind that I have a highly dependable gut and almost never have to take a shit at an inconvenient moment in any given situation. You might be the first one packed up but if you have to take a shit right about the time everyone else is ready to go, it’s all for nothing

Shits happen withing 15 min of waking for me.

 

[5MilesBack]

Shits happen withing 15 min of waking for me.

I have never taken a crap past 9pm.......ever......at least as an adult (can't remember when I was a kid). And I can't remember ever taking one before 8am.....regardless what time I got up. So mornings and evenings are pretty easy for me.

 

[SWOHTR]

Shits happen withing 15 min of waking for me.

Shits happen withing 15 min of waking for me.

Sounds like you have your ducks in a row!

 

[*zap*]

Pen and paper is your friend. Make a list, pack what is on it and take the list and a pen. Write down what you forgot and what you did not use, note temps. Soon its easier too pack.

 

[justinspicher]

I pack up wherever I decide to go to. Usually after a trip I clean everything up and it’s all put in my travel bin. This bin is loaded into the taco right before I leave the house. I’ll pack up my goods wherever I decide to start hiking from.

I’ve also been using a core of the same gear regardless of season for the past few years now so that helps.

 

[Poser]

This is gonna sound harsh, but you sound like my gf. She just takes, at minimum, 2x as long to do anything packing related. Your operation, for me, is 10-20 min. I generally can pack up camp in the backcountry and have some hot drink while waiting for everyone else.

I timed a camp breakdown into the pack and ready to hike. I didn’t particularly hurry, just normal pace:

11 min, 15 seconds. That’s not bad.

 

[hammerguy]

To be clear:

I compressed my quilt and puffy into sacks, loaded them in the bottom of my pack.

Put my tarp in a stuff sack double checking that I have stakes. Put in pack.

Folded my pad In Half, placed in pack.

Stove and pot, placed in pack.

Went up stairs, rounded up some dental floss, melatonin, dehydrated meals, oatmeal, couple of Vias, snacks, pot brownies (its Colorado) ... put them in a stuff sack and placed them in the pack.

Optics, tripod, glassing pad, all put in their correct places.

Filled up a reservoir of water, loaded it in the pack

Checked my TP supply, loaded rain gear, baselayer bottoms, gloves, insulated hat etc in the pack.

Began cinching the pack down as tight as possible.... boom: 45 minutes have gone by.

What’s the deal?

You have a good list of tasks, so why not follow it and run splits on a stop watch? See where your time goes.
My guess is you have extra tasks that are unaccounted for and/or you get off track.

That "run up stairs" trip looks like a time pit. Get floss? Really, pack a roll at the start of the season. Sure you aren't having a cup of coffee while packing the Vias?
When packing optics, do you look through them to see if the glass is clear? "Oh look, I can see a cobweb on the ceiling way over there. Man this is good glass. Woah, that spider is going to eat that fly......."

I did a time-in-motion study on my girlfriend because I can pack to move out in the time it takes her to overnight pack.
"Babe, whattya doing?"
"Looking for my other chapstick."
"Don't you have chapstick in your bag already?"
"Yeah, but I need some now, my lips feel dry."
3 minutes, gone!

"Babe, why are you bringing those shoes?"
"I'm not."
"Why are you trying them on then?"
"I sorta forgot I had them and wanted to see how they fit. Aren't they cute?"
7 minutes, gone!

Obviously my reply is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but 45m is a blink of an eye when unaccounted for. At my job I billed in 6m increments so i started to appreciate task timing.

I also sort my task list, say packing, in an efficient order.....office closet, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, hall closet, laundry room, garage. Never back-track, overlap, or forget stuff.

 

[wind gypsy]

I'm freaking terrible at this.. Combination of being a gear nut (having too much shit to choose from), being unorganized, not very "neat", and having limited space in my house/garage, makes for a disaster in packing/unpacking.

Definitely different when you mostly hunt out west but live in the midwest. The gear doesn't stay ready. For example my gear list was vastly different packing to fly to AK for a sheep hunt vs driving to MT for archery elk truck and backpack camping with a nephew who needed to be supplied with some of the gear. Things getting wet and muddy really throws a wrench in unpacking too.

Also LOL at Ms Stephensville, TX!