Packing..more or less?

DH1

DH1

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Nov 8, 2006
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Which do you tend to do while packing for a camping trip, overpack a bunch of stuff you "might" need...or underpack? I think people who "underpack" for the most part don't underpack at all...they know what exactly they need after so many times of humping extra pounds of crap they never use.

I'm finally getting it through my head that "crap I don't use" has got to stay behind.

EDIT:
This came to mind after watching the latest nutnfancy vid where he's humping an (estimated by him) 80 lb pack up a mountain. He looked like Patsy from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
 
I always try to overpack just for the extra workout. But then again, I push mow six acres for the extra workout, so there must be something wrong with me.
 
I overpack by a longshot, usually. I have been on many a 15k+ ruck march and I am really used to having a lot of weight on my back.
 
I am about in the midpoint of my journey from overpacker to underpacker. I try to hike about 4 weekends a year and tend to (car) camp a week and hike a "real" hike one week every year or other year. I used to bring a 45 lbs. pack on a weekend hike, I have that down to around 30 lbs. This is still a gross overpacking, but when I own the tent, stove, filter, etc., I tend to want to carry them instead of a friend. Ironically, my week pack is only about 10 lbs. heavier than my weekend pack. I guess that alludes to the amount of things I bring on a weekend.
 
I backpack throughout the Canadian Rockies most weekends, and have been forced to learn to pack light in order to continue this hobby. I've done all the "easy" hikes in the area, where a pack heavier than 30lbs is acceptable. Nowadays, I'm moving on to more technical hikes and scrambles up unmarked sections of mountain. I pack as minimal as possible in order to do this successfully.

Typically my pack will contain a change of clothes, my food / water, a small LPG stove nested in a cook pot, a sleeping bag, and a tarp. Occasionally I will also pack a small tent, mainly for snowy conditions.

On my person I also have the bare essentials. Some water purification tabs, a bandanna, firesteel, tinder, matches, and of course a knife.

Minimalism is the way to go when camping. It forces you to use your skills and your surroundings more than your gear, which in turn makes the experience that much more enjoyable. Yes, I know saying that is hypocritical considering I carry a stove, but the fact of the matter is I'm hiking more than camping, and on the trail I usually want hot food. It takes too long to get a fire going every time I'm hungry or want some hot chocolate.

Oh, there's another benefit to packing so light. You can afford to carry some "luxury" items. In my case, I pack something you'll never see another ultra-light hiker with. A 20" pack axe. Yeah, its big, heavy, and a pain in the ass to climb up a mountain with, but it'll be worth it. Once you arrive at that gorgeous unnamed sub alpine lake at the top of a mountain, you'll want a big fire that's going to last. Collecting sticks just doesn't do it. The axe has also saved my ass when I've been caught in mountain snow and hail storms. Fire wouldn't have been possible without it.

Soo... uh, that got long. Moral of the story? Just pack the stuff you really need, and use it to its full potential.
 
I overpack for car camping, still working on learning how not to overpack for backpacking.
 
I used to play traveling lacrosse and hockey and I was notorious for under packing
the best one was we went to new york, I thought we were going to virginia so all I packed was shorts, my gear with back up sticks and wife beaters. in january. I HAVE gotten better
 
I'm with texastony's method, although recently I'm just trying to bring less stuff overall.. You know us gearheads...always overprepared all the time ! :)
I make a list each trip of what to bring next time , and what to leave at home.
When I pack now , I scrutinized everything carefully to make sure I'll only bring what I really need. But some things always come along: Esee's , Water , first aid kit, survival kit , tarp , paracord , and firestarters.
 
I'll admit that I overpack by quite a bit. But that comes from a couple of different things. One is that I have been camping many times and said "I wish I had brought _____." Whether it is a tarp I should have brought because it rained, or a shovel I should have brought to dig a drainage ditch because it rained, or something else that would have made me more comfortable.

The second thing is that I tend to camp for fun and enjoyment, not so much for survival training, so I bring what will help me *enjoy* my trip and relax, not just endure it. I've been on too many trips when I was young where it rained and I was wet and miserable, or I was hungry and didn't have enough food or a way to prepare it, and conversely, I've had some great trips even though it rained all day if I had adequate ways to keep my sleeping gear dry and could get under a tarp/protection when I needed to for cooking, etc. Having a poncho or other gear to be able to keep on fishing even though it's raining, or a pad sufficient to sleep on the sharp rocks (especially as I get older and fatter and don't sleep as well) makes all the difference for me.

When I'm camping by kayak on the river, I do have to pack lighter so I don't *sink* of course :D.

Seems I usually take twice the amount of food I need, but it beats going hungry, and trips I've taken my teenage nephew with me, there is no such thing as too much food :).
 
I think that I definitely overpack, however, I still pack nowhere near what nutnfancy did in this recent "Glacier Call" video! :eek:

I'm not sure how long they were going for but there was no doubt he had a lot of "capabilities" with a pack that size. :D
 
texastonydobbs said:
Car Camping , I over pack.... if I am going by way of backpack I under pack lol
Click to expand...

TTD sums it up for me quite nicely.

One of the things I take (that you won't find in most people's gear) when truck-camping, especially on trips of a week or more, is a mil-surplus parachute canopy. It can be had fairly cheap without the riser cords ($30-100, depending on style, country-of-origin, and age), and they're SO versatile in terms of uses, from shelter, to warmth, to trash bag, to rain fly. All kinds of uses come to mind. American-made ones (C-9, for example) stretch all the way out flat, once the risers are fully removed. British canopies are built differently and are more "mushroom shaped," so they won't flatten out as well, but make fine shelters and are relatively cheap here in the states. I bought each of mine for under $75 apiece. 'Couple hundred feet of 550 cord and I can lash it to just about anything. Makes a good conversation starter as well. Lots of folks come visit under our canopy each time we go somewhere!
 
many years ago i went in a 3-day backpacking trip at summer camp. all most all the gear was the camps and very low budget.

lucky me. i was chosen to haul the 16" cast iron skillet for the whole group!

and halfway down the trail, one of the girls twisted her ankle so i was hauling her pack on top of mine. #60+ for mine and #50+ for hers. (guestimate)

since that time, i've tried to pare things down, but my kitchen box for truck camping if fairly large, and i tend to have spares of some stuff "just in case".

and not much of my gear is super ultralight or minimalist. but some of that is because i don't want to turn my wallet into a smoking hole just to go camping.
 
Overpacked when i was new to hiking, now im slightly underpacking. Invested in a whole lot of lightweight gear too.
 
For long marches 30mile+ a day the ideal is no more than 10-15% of body weight. And it contains food and water too. way too underpack.

In case of backpacking with much less daily distance, overpacking is OK.
 
I reduced my wilderness gear pack from 35 to 25 pounds by replacing metal for titanium, and making an excell sheet to keep track of what i plan to bring, the weight in gram of ALL items to see an exact overall pack weight as i add stuff.. and to take notes when i get back of what i didn't use at all to remember to not bring it the next trip.. the gear list is always a work in progress with me and enjoy tweeking my gear list a lot.

I shaved many pounds of non necessary gear to be able to carry a few luxury items and my 923 gram Junglas with me :)
 
NothingCoherent said:
I backpack throughout the Canadian Rockies most weekends, and have been forced to learn to pack light in order to continue this hobby. I've done all the "easy" hikes in the area, where a pack heavier than 30lbs is acceptable. Nowadays, I'm moving on to more technical hikes and scrambles up unmarked sections of mountain. I pack as minimal as possible in order to do this successfully.

Typically my pack will contain a change of clothes, my food / water, a small LPG stove nested in a cook pot, a sleeping bag, and a tarp. Occasionally I will also pack a small tent, mainly for snowy conditions.

On my person I also have the bare essentials. Some water purification tabs, a bandanna, firesteel, tinder, matches, and of course a knife.

Minimalism is the way to go when camping. It forces you to use your skills and your surroundings more than your gear, which in turn makes the experience that much more enjoyable. Yes, I know saying that is hypocritical considering I carry a stove, but the fact of the matter is I'm hiking more than camping, and on the trail I usually want hot food. It takes too long to get a fire going every time I'm hungry or want some hot chocolate.

Oh, there's another benefit to packing so light. You can afford to carry some "luxury" items. In my case, I pack something you'll never see another ultra-light hiker with. A 20" pack axe. Yeah, its big, heavy, and a pain in the ass to climb up a mountain with, but it'll be worth it. Once you arrive at that gorgeous unnamed sub alpine lake at the top of a mountain, you'll want a big fire that's going to last. Collecting sticks just doesn't do it. The axe has also saved my ass when I've been caught in mountain snow and hail storms. Fire wouldn't have been possible without it.

Soo... uh, that got long. Moral of the story? Just pack the stuff you really need, and use it to its full potential.
Click to expand...

This sounds like good advice. I just went backpacking for the first time in years and I overpacked. I need to get down to the essentials and this post has some great suggestions. Now car campng, heck bring whatever so you have it. But backpacking, is different. I think experience makes a difference and I made some rookie mistakes by taking too much. But you live an learn and I have my list of essentials which should be much better. That will make the hikes much more fun.
 
I definitely overpack when car camping. Part of that has to do with the fact that I have my wife and two kids most of the time, plus I want to try out a few different knives while I have the chance, since I don't have to carry all that steel.

I still overpack the backpack, too, but I'm very conscious of it, and try (as some other guys mentioned) to make note of it so I don't waste the effort the next time.
 
Most of my pack weight comes from water and food. The other bulk of weight is from cutting tools. Usually have an axe, bowsaw, and large knife. I'm getting better at not taking too many knives.

I usually don't bring a tent, or stove. Most cooking is done by foil or cans over a fire. Every now and again I'll hike a pot in. Tarps are good shelters, and most of the north country trail by me has leantos built on it.

If I'm going light, it'd be water, food, sleeping bag, tarp, spare socks and underwear, a wool cap, SAK, bowsaw machete, and a small kit of firetools.
 
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