Winter hammocking pack weight

[Mustardman]

Since I just packed up for this weekend, and went through and revised my gear list, I wanted to have another discussion of winter pack weights for hammocking.

After adding all my gear, spare clothing, heavy cheap REI 15 degree sleeping bag, underquilt, DL 1.1 blackbird hammock, OES 12x10 tarp, bear canister with food for two people, two full water bottles, knives, and various other stuff to my AARN Featherlite Freedom, my total pack weight is 28.6 pounds. Not exactly ultralight, but I'm pretty comfortable with it.

I could very easily shave several pounds quickly - I'm carrying a 1.3 pound large knife for fire building, another belt knife for bushcraft type tasks, the bear vault weighs over 2 pounds, etc... but I feel I've struck a pretty good balance for what I've included and what I've left off. I could also definitely carry less water, as it's plentiful where we'll be hiking, but the roughly four pounds of water I'm carrying helps nicely to balance the AARN bodypack

What are ya'lls typical pack weights for a winter excursion, hopefully including the weight of food and water supplies?

[Hulk]

Yea..i agree i 1.3 lb knife it over kill. Loose the Samari sword, get a small light weight pruning saw. My opinion is a saw is vastly superior for fire making than a knife, sans shaving tinder. It does not take much of a knife to shave tinder.
As for other bush craft...why build a lean-to with flimsy green brush with a knife, when you can build a log cabin with a saw.

[animalcontrol]

I went for a 3 day 2 night trip last winter...
My fully loaded pack (including food and water) was 25.5lb and that set up was good down to 0*f
I also was carrying a large knife (RC 6) and others extras that probably would equal 2 lbs.
I think you're doing just fine

[Mustardman]

I don't agree that a large knife is overkill at all. I've used folding saws, and they have their place, but I can process wood for a fire very quickly using a large knife. I've built fires in serious rain, when all the wood was absolutely drenched, and the only way to get to anything dry was to split. You need a decent axe, hatchet, or large knife to accomplish that task - splitting wood with a saw is a pain in the neck and wastes too much energy (I have a few tricks for doing it, and they are nifty to practice, but I'd rather baton a big Busse through a log any day.)

That said, I do have other large knives that are lighter, but the one I'm bringing is one of my favorites, so I deal with the weight. If I was trying to cover more distance, and less likely to be building campfires, I would leave the big knife behind.

[Just Jeff]

I'm with you on the knife, MustardMan. There's a reason survival schools ALWAYS teach that a knife is essential...but I've never seen a saw on a 10 essential list.

Do we need a bear cannister where we're going? Cause I don't have one...but I do have a nifty new hanging-upside-down-food-sack I made! If it's not required, you might leave that behind for 2 lbs.

My pack will probably be somewhere around 25 lbs and good to 0F. Considering bringing a frozen steak to cook on the fire Saturday night.

[bwtruitt]

I could also definitely carry less water, as it's plentiful where we'll be hiking, but the roughly four pounds of water I'm carrying helps nicely to balance the AARN bodypack

I weep a little on the inside when I hear these sorts of things. A lot of places I hike you could easily not see any water at all for 2 full days (but then I walk slow too, so that has something to do with it). 15lbs of water being carried for me. Woooo!

[Mustardman]

Do we need a bear cannister where we're going? Cause I don't have one...but I do have a nifty new hanging-upside-down-food-sack I made! If it's not required, you might leave that behind for 2 lbs.

My pack will probably be somewhere around 25 lbs and good to 0F. Considering bringing a frozen steak to cook on the fire Saturday night.

Canisters are not required in the pike national forest as far as I know, but we are planning some RMNP trips in the coming months, so I figured we might as well get used to carrying and packing it since it IS required there

I have been reading up on the goose creek trail, and there have definitely been bear encounters there, so hanging food would probably be a good idea


We're also considering the steak idea - probably gonna do corn on the cob in foil too. Maybe a sweet potato or two if I remember to bring it.

[mbiraman]

I weep a little on the inside when I hear these sorts of things. A lot of places I hike you could easily not see any water at all for 2 full days (but then I walk slow too, so that has something to do with it). 15lbs of water being carried for me. Woooo!

I definitely feel lucky about the water thing . Living in the mnts where i am there's water everywhere and allot of it drinkable . Having said that we don't have any of those beautiful red rock canyons, cliff dwellings and months of sunshine.

[SGT Rock]

I thought bears hibernated in winter, so why would you need a bear canister.

[Mustardman]

For one because they are flat out required, regardless of season, in some parks, and for two, because "winter" weather can be found almost any time of year here in Colorado.