[at-l] RE: at-l Pack Suggestions

[TRich at FDIC.gov (Rich, Timothy D.)]

Greetings,

Congratulations on your sectioning to date.  My hiking partner and I started
the same way in 1989, and we've sectioned north to Gorham, NH to date.  

I too have a Peak 1 bag (I forget the name, but it's about 4000 ci and
weighs about 3 to 3 1/2 lbs) that I have used for the past four years.
Other than a seam rip on the top lid from overstuffing (easily fixed), it
has been fine and the suspension is very comfortable.  Personally, it's
worth a pound or so to carry more comfortably.

There are noteable (and expensive) exceptions, but if you want to drop a a
significant amount of pack weight, you typically have to drop pack volume.
I looked to do that before my last section when I went hut to hut in the
Whites.  I decided that the money wasn't worth the lack of weight and I
bought a Kelty Redwing Large (2900 ci, 3 lbs) that I now use for shorter
trips and the boys use it as well.  If I had to do it again, I'd go with the
Kelty Moraine, a slighly larger toploader with the same Redwing suspension,
just for the extra capacity.  It's a good pack that allows me to comfortably
carry whatever I put in or hang on it. 

I've gone the same route in dropping weight and volume with my bag and
shelter (Eureka Timberline to OR Personal Bivy Shelter) over the years.
Most recently, my weight and volume loss has come from dropping extra
clothing.  I don't need the changes of clothing that I once thought I did.
Cell phones have gotten a lot lighter, too. :)

As a cheap alternative to drop from your 4.4 pound pack to a 3 pound pack,
the most recent Coleman backpack, the Lunar, is shown at:
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=8504-450&cat
egoryid=25510&submittingpage=subcategory.asp It says that it's 4500 ci and 3
pounds.  At $89.99, it's a cheap way to go.  If you live near one of the
Camp Coleman outlet stores (there's one at Myrtle Beach, Commerce (GA) and
Smithfield (NC)) you can usually find a 10% off coupon and pick it up for
about $80.

Good luck on your sections.  At three or four sections per year, you're
behind on trip reports...

Take Care,

Tim 

-----Original Message-----
Tripp Clark said:

I so wish that I could join the ranks of many of you as a thru hiker or
future thru hiker, but alas, family, job, and volunteer obligations have
conspired to make this not in the cards.  Instead, my hiking partner and I
chose in October 2000 to start section hiking the trail, beginning at
Amicalola.  Typically we get in 3 - 4 weekend outings each year.  Our
longest outing thus far has been 5 days, and our shortest has been 2.  Now
almost 3 years later, we have reached mile 338 at the Nolichucky River.  As
we push ever northward, and get further from our South Carolina homes, it
appears logical that travel time will dictate that the frequency of our
trips gets fewer, but hopefully each will be longer. Still, I do not forsee
any outings longer than 5 or 6 days in the forseeable future.

What this brings me to, is gear and weight.  Typically, my pack is 31 - 34
pounds in warm weather and 35 - 36 pounds in cooler weather.  This includes
5-8 lbs of food and 2.5 quarts of water.  This is down from my pack weight
of about 46 pounds when we started in 2000.  I'll not list everything, but
focusing on the major items here, I have reduced to a 2 lb 1 oz REI Sub Kilo
bag from a synthetic Slumberjack that was at least twice the weight and
bulk.  I now usually use a 2 lb Hennessy Hammock instead of my 4 lb
backpacking tent.  My heavy thermarest was long ago ditched for a Z-rest,
and now, with the Hennessy, I carry an even lighter car windshield reflector
that weighs almost nothing.  I most often carry no stove at all, but in
cold weather, when a warm meal is oh so nice, I carry a homemade alcohol
stove or a lightweight cannister stove.

One major piece of equipment that I have not attacked is my pack itself. I
have three different packs that I have bought over the course of the past 10
years.  All are by Peak 1 or Exponent (Coleman companies), and all have
served me well, and I like them in spite of the bad rap that Coleman always
gets among "serious" outdoor folks.  One is an external with the Kevlar
flexible frames that they used a lot in the 80's and 90's.  Two are internal
frame packs.  The newest one, and the one that I use most often now is the
Exponent Rush.  It weighs 4.4 pounds, has a very good hip belt, and holds a
capacious load of 5,000 c.i.  When I guage this weight against similarly
sized conventional packs from some of the prestige companies, I find that
4.4 pounds is comparable and even on the low end.  I am intrigued, however,
by some of the 2 lb packs and sub-2 lb packs offered by GoLite and others.
The idea of shaving another 2-3 pounds is very appealing!  However, I have
never used one of these in the field or had a lengthy discussion with anyone
who has. I am worried that some of these will not have the suspension to
comfortably carry 29 - 30 lbs (the upper rated limit of many of these) for
15 miles a day.

Given the type of backpacking I am doing (3 - 5 days trips) and the loads I
am carrying (27 - 32 pounds excluding the weight of the back itself), I'd be
curious of any thoughts some of y'all might have related to a lighter weight
pack.  Any suggestions?

Oh, some personal stats might be helpful . . . male, height 5'8",
weight 140 lbs, age 37 (and probably 57 by the time I reach Katahdin at
present rate!).

Tripp