what type of load-bearing packs are used in Nepal?

C

Conajohara

Joined
Dec 15, 2000
Messages
89
I'm very interested in trekking in Nepal one day and I was curious:
what type of pack or load-bearing frame was used before modern hiking gear arrived?
Today I was fooling around with an US Army pack frame, the old WWII plywood type you tie the load to. It worked out ok but I think my old Army medium ALICE pack is more comfortable. I got a lot of strange looks carrying a pack and khukuri down a country road since no-one hikes around here!
I was also wondering about how much weight trekkers carry in Nepal?
While I was in the Army we did forced marches with really heavy packs
that would just about kill a mule! A lot of the weight was a waste of equipment because we rarely used much of it.
When I was a kid camping I would carry only a hunting knife, matches and a rolled-up blanket along with an old army canteen and cup. It always seemed to be plenty. I would imagine that the Nepalis probably only carry a khukuri, a rolled-up blanket and maybe a cooking pot also. I have the distinct feeling a lot of the modern camping gear might be like the Army gear - a lot of excess weight for nothing!
 
Con:

This site has many trek-record photos, and in some the equipment is visible, but not described. You can be sure that it will be similar to skiing in Switzerland - the latest Euro packs and frames, etc. There could be some links to sites with a few answers, but a lot of the ones from when I first found this one have gone dead. The scenery is still there :D

http://www.nepalhomepage.com/dir/pictures/
 
Apparently the packs carried by the sherpas are usually purchased, pre-filled and then shipped into Nepal. After a climb, it is traditional for the expedition to give the packs to the sherpas who carried them. Of course all I know is what I read. Others who have been in country will stop into the cantina later, and elucidate ( and possibly set me straight ).
 
The traditional gear is the woven packbasket with tumpline. I believe it is called a doka. The Nepalese carry heavy loads. Anything that would be transported by truck is often carried by people over trails in the roadless areas. I have memories of my porters with large loads in their baskets leaving me in the dust on steep mountain trails, while I carried my internal frame pack with modern suspension system.

If it's just a person traveling from one place to another they may travel light.

I was last there over 20 years ago, so things may have changed.
 
A couple of years ago the Nepali porters were still using old faithful, the doka. Westerners usually opt for the latest high tech backpacks and I don't blame them. They are easier to handle and carry than the doka.
 
It seems the indigenous people all over the world use a similar system. The Athabascan Indians in Alaska carry very heavy loads in a packsack with a tumpline also.
Thanks again guys!
 
There are a lot of pix around of trekkers and climbers in Nepal. All the Sherpas and porters will be seen carrying their loads in the doka.

Doka is also the Nepali word for door.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top