Do you count your waistpack in your pack weight?

[sotirod]

I think that I've got my total weight (carrying - not including what I'm wearing) down to a hair over 7 kg (including what's in the backpack and what's in the waistpack). I'd like to shave off another 500 grams, but I'm really not sure where yet! I'm basing myself on a lot of the packing lists that I see on here, but I can't seem to make my pack weigh 6.5 kg (which is a number that I often see referenced here). For those of you who list pack weight...do you include your waistpack and contents? Or is it just the backpack?

I know it doesn't really matter, since either way I'll be carrying it...this question is more for curiosity than anything else.

 

[Peregrina 2013]

Hi Sotirod,
Usually it's what goes inside the backpack only. I have a spreadsheet that separates all my weights into categories and can add the content of my pack, and the items that I am wearing and can give me a total weight distribution chart to see where I have the most weight. I love this system because once you have all your regular hiking gear typed in, whenever you take a backpacking trip all you have to do is check the items that you'll take and the totals appear instantly. This way there are no surprises If you would like more information on the spreadsheet please PM me.

Ultreia,

Mary

 

[julie]

I have weighed the clothes I would expect to be wearing but don't include them in my pack weight. Everything else (backpack, bumbag and all their contents) goes into the calculation.

 

[Al the optimist]

The 10% rule is only a guidance. Other guidance is the 14% (I think that's the figure - someone else please correct me if I am wrong) for "skin out", ie. evreything you wear/carry. Hope this helps.

 

[sotirod]

Thanks for the replies! Like I said...I'm just curious. Shifting the numbers around won't change what I'm carrying.

I'm going in the winter, and I'm trying to keep my FSO weight at about 15% of a 25 BMI for my height (which is about 15 pounds less than I currently weigh - ha! I have a year to get there!). I'm about 750 grams over that right now, which is why I'd like to shave at least 500 grams off the total. I'm looking at my luxury items now and thinking "Oh, but I really NEED that sarong, don't I? And am I really going to go to Europe without a camera? And that 250 gram synthetic-fill jacket will be so nice to sleep in or to wear on cold mornings. And that small bottle of conditioner is only 50 grams...it's worth it to not have hair that feels like straw." Haha! This is the fun part, right? :roll:

Thanks again!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I like to know what my feet are carrying, so I "count" everything except my shoes and trekking poles; body weight, pack, and waistpack. Then I try to keep the backpack to 20# or less before water and food, and I would count the waistpack in that amount, since it does not fit my waist when I carry a packpack, so must be attached to it. That pack weight is what my waist muscles will need to balance, and also represents the potential strain on my shoulders and neck (which won't occur, if I keep my pack adjusted properly). It also represents what I can have a baggage service carry!

 

[dougfitz]

My view is that using a From the Skin Out (FSO) measure is generally more relevant, whether it is for a camino or walking in the wilderness. It gives a more honest comparison of the choices and where to make weight savings than just looking at what is in the pack alone. Further, there are a lot more traceable sources for guidance than there are for a 10% pack weight limit.

I also believe any FSO measure should count everything. Unlike Falcon269, I count shoes, trekking poles, everything that I am going to have to carry.

The US classic, The Complete Plain Walker (I have the fourth edition) recommends an FSO limit of 30%, with 20% recommended for comfortable walking. I have previously shown that this gets to very similar outcomes to the CSJ recommendation of limiting pack weight to 15% of body mass. I have not seen an authoritative FSO recommendation for the Camino.

If you are overweight, I believe you should use the weight you would be for a BMI of 25 as the basis for these calculations.

Finally, irrespective of what weight target you use, the lighter you can make your load, the better off you will be.

Regards,

 

[Al the optimist]

Thanks Doug. I new I had it wrong. I thought you had been an authoritative source that I had read somewhere, but I couldn't remember for sure so I didn't refer to you. I should have taken a punt and suggested you anyway!

 

[dougfitz]

Thanks Doug. I new I had it wrong. I thought you had been an authoritative source that I had read somewhere, but I couldn't remember for sure so I didn't refer to you. I should have taken a punt and suggested you anyway!

Allan,
I don't suggest that 14% is necessarily wrong, its just not traceable to an external, perhaps independent, source. Neither is the '10% rule' so far as I have been able to determine. And it is a target, as most people realise, not an iron-bound rule. Nor do I suggest that I am an authority here, just that I can point to something that might be.

What is not evident to me is that people understand what increased risks they might be taking, or what expense they might be facing to buy the high tech gear that gets the weight down to such a very tight target.

In another thread (http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/frequently-asked-questions/topic12014-100.html#p129253 backpacker45 has provided a link to her current packing list. In the blog entry she links to, she has made what I think are some very perceptive comments about both the 10% target and effects such as the season one is walking in. Her gear list clearly shows that she has put a lot of thought, and possibly expense, into a selection of really lightweight gear.
For example, her rain jacket and rain pants combined weigh less than the rain-jacket that I used in Spain and Norway, and will continue to use. She also uses a very light pack, the Granite Gear Vapour Trail. It's marketed as an ultralight weekender for

the type of backpacker that cuts off zipper pulls and saws down your toothbrush handle to save weight.

She also walks with someone, which allows some load sharing that a solo walker cannot easily do.

I think her list would allow her to be survive a wide range of weather conditions and emergency situations, which is more than I would say for many other lightweight loads. Sojourner47 posted a packing list a couple of years ago that I thought was pretty good, although I seem to recall he tried an even lighter list recently that I thought cut too much safety margin away.

This safety margin is, of course, another personal choice. It is possible, for example, to walk with a couple of bandaids and little else in a first aid kit if one feels confident that they will be able to get to a farmacia or medical centre relatively quickly should they need to. I prefer to walk with a bit more than that, and have to accept that this will add to the weight that I carry.

 

[sotirod]

Such an interesting conversation! Thanks for posting that link.

 

[Peronel]

You've probably already figured this out, but make sure you can wear both your waistpack and your rucksack waistbelt on your hips where it needs to be. Mine took a bit of fiddling (and a change of belt) before it worked. One more thing you don't want to find out on day one on the trail...