How much weight did you actually carry?

Hi, Zzottte

Tell me about your experiences about your Arc Blast. It looks ok and is really light. Is it easy to use, pack and repack?
How many km you have walked with it in one day? Did you use it on your caminos?
How was your shoulders and waist? Measures when packed? Tell everything.
(Don´t answer if you own the company zPacks or work for it

I had my old backpack (1,2 kg) with aluminium frame last April-May on del Norte from Irun to Santiago.
It has served me, I don´t know how many years, on my trips in Lapland Northern Finland.
It worked fine as I walked shorter distances up there.

Last year on del Norte I felt it uncomfortable. 25-30 km days were too much. I had pain in my shoulders and waist.
It looks impossible to change the belts.

One good thing was that I had many nice talk with other people about the backpack.

I think it´s time to say` rest in peace`.

OK. So it has been a while since I contributed to this thread when I said that for last summer's Camino I had got down to 4K plus food/water. The September one was with 3K. Never even knew it was there. On more than one occasion I sat down at a bar before remembering to take it off! I confess that except the rare occasions I don't carry food as I can happily wait (thanks to my weight) until the next cantina.
PS 100K/3K =3%

partyartie said:

Tell me about your experiences about your Arc Blast. It looks ok and is really light. Is it easy to use, pack and repack?

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partyartie, hi

I think Zzottte was quoting from my post immediately above hers.

I have no connection with zPacks except as a customer. They are in the US (Florida) and I live half a world away.

I find it easy to use. At least easier than packs where everything is inside.
I use the three outside pockets strategically.

• right side pocket: water bottle and SmarTube with mouth piece
• left side pocket: change of socks & underwear in shopping bag, sunscreen and washing liquid in see through 100 ml bottles in a semi-rigid clear pouch (for check-ins)
• back pocket: poncho/groundsheet, kite, merino gloves & beanie, hearing aid loop, rolled oats
• * shoulder pouches: headlamp, compeed, pain relief, nail clippers, pen
• * belt pouches: phone in one, camera in the other

The (*) pouches are optional extras, and light weight.
For me this arrangement minimizes the need to open the main bag during the walk.

The main bag opens from the top. That which I will need least is at the bottom. This is a tent, not for the Frances but for two other trips I hope to do later in 2016. Then I squeeze in a reserve set of socks and underwear (in a shopping bag), longyi/towel, 1 long & 1 short sleeve top, spare memory cards and charger etc in a bag, tablet in a dry bag, scuffs, three collapsible containers for porridge, drinks & teeth. Finally the sleeping bag & silk liner in a dry bag. So for the most part the bag can be packed the night before and sleep in (most of) the clothes to be worn the next day.

partyartie said:

How many km you have walked with it in one day? Did you use it on your caminos?
How was your shoulders and waist? Measures when packed? Tell everything.

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The saga continues:

I have used this pack since May 2015 and walked nearly 900 km in training in that time. The average day over this period is about 25 km. Remember this is training. I do not have many different routes. So, if the weather changes or I see something more interesting to do I have no hesitation in stopping.

My longest walk, just earlier this month, was just over 40 km with ascents totaling around 800 metres. This was spread over 12 hours with 8 hours walking. Some of the 4 hours "rest" was waiting until free transport became available to get me home from my stopping point. The last segment of one hour was done at more than 5 km per hour on a near flat section. My pack was not a problem on the last segment or at any other time during the day. Weight when I started, with 1.5 L of water and food for breakfast and lunch was 6.1 kg, if I recall correctly. This did not include the tent bag. As the top of the pack is above my shoulders and the shoulder straps are attached near the top, the only pressure is on the front. And I pull the sternum strap quite tight to keep everything high my shoulders are not a worry. I also keep the waist band quite tight. I cannot really remember a time last year when I had other than a fleeting soreness, usually caused by being tired.

I have done a four day shakedown trip between Christmas and New Year and it worked well.

While it is marked as a 52 L pack, that includes the three outside pockets. The main bag is 40 litres. While my tent, poles, pegs and air mattress are light (0.8 kg in total) it is bulky. And I have used a larger dry bag for the sleeping bag so as to to compress it. So, for me, these two items do take a largish part of the main bag. But I still have space to spare. So no worries.

If you, or anyone else, want more please add a post.

roblsch said:

Currently, for 3 season mountain travel, I'm very happy in the 1/6 range

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Rob, hi and if anything I say seems critical please understand that is not my intention. Just let me know and I will see how to rephrase/rewrite/delete.

I have passed through Banff once about 7 years ago en route from Vancouver to Calgary by train. I took a view we did not get into the mountains until we entered Kicking Horse after lunch on day two. But a countrywoman of yours (from Toronto and Edmonton) held that we in the mountains on leaving Vancouver. It is a matter of perspective. I am surrounded by hills within 1 km from the sea and have other hills ranging from 400 metres close by to 1600 metres (5000 feet) a little further away. And I understand what I need to carry when doing the longer trips.

The contrast between that and a camino, whether done as a pilgrimage or otherwise, is marked. In my hills (and your mountains), if you don't bring it you wont get to use it. And if you don't bring many essentials you can put your health at risk. For example an EPIRB is now essential equipment in remote parts of my country and I suspect yours also.

While one can do a camino as though it were a mountain trip, self contained, the vast majority will not. Not with the, even basic, hostels to stay in, cafe and restaurants to eat at, stores to buy breakfast and lunch, farmacia to go to for any ailments or advice and shops to replace essential equipment or clothing.

For more than 50% of those finishing at Santiago the purpose of a camino is religious. And for a very significant proportion of the remainder a camino is a spiritual exercise. Part of the ethos of the vast majority is to keep everything as simple as possible with the sure and certain hope the country and those that have walked before and returned as hospitaleri will provide.

And so a focus on keeping pack weight down. The less in the pack the simpler it is. So an EPIRB, for example, is superfluous equipment on nearly all camino.