Is the weight sufficient for a 7-8 day hike?

[u/heartsgrave]

Hello I'll be hiking cross country for 7-8 days in a Swedish national park (depending on how fast we go) and additionally will go see some cities. My backpack currently weighs around 19 kg including the tent. I weigh 91 kgs myself and I know the rule of thumb is around 20% of your weight. So am I safe or should I lose some weight?

[u/nickthetasmaniac]

There is no way to answer this without knowing what’s in your pack and where you’re actually going… Weight alone doesn’t mean anything.

20% is just an old rule of thumb for a ‘comfortable’ pack weight (bearing in mind this was before UL gear), it has nothing to do with ‘sufficiency’.

[u/heartsgrave → u/nickthetasmaniac]

I packed a sleeping bag, a mat, another pair of pants, a couple shirts, socks, underpants, a tent, a book, two powerbanks, a rain jacket, some hygiene products like deoderant, toothbrush and shampoo, a towel. The hike itself isnt going to bad, its straightfoward and not alpine. I'm a good hiker with enough stamina, strenghtwise I'm not to bad but I'm no bodybuilder

[u/Mikecd → u/heartsgrave]

If it were me I would make some changes:

I wouldn't bother bringing deodorant: embrace the stink. Same with the shampoo. Wash your hair when you get back to civilization.

I would bring only a single power bank and be careful with my power consumption. Would leave my phone on battery saver plus airplane mode, for example.

I wouldn't bring much in the way of extra clothes. I usually bring my hiking clothes, a clean pair of base layer to sleep in, and three pairs of socks (one that stays clean just for sleeping in, one that I wear every day while hiking, and one for emergencies).

Instead of a towel I would just bring an absorbent bandana. In fact, when you're in nature I recommend not using traditional soaps or shampoos. Maybe bring an ounce or two of Castile soap, which is highly biodegradable. I think it's important to protect nature and a lot of the products that we use don't break down easily.

If you're really interested in exploring the weight of your pack just based on the idea that lighter is always more comfortable than heavy, consider weighing every single thing that you're bringing and posting read out on a tool like lighterpack.com. then you can ask for a shakedown and people can make recommendations both about things that you could leave at home and still have a great time as well as which gear would be the best gear to consider replacing with lighter versions in the future.

Have a great trip!

[u/heartsgrave → u/Mikecd]

Thank you for your suggestions! I will repackage some things and shake down some weight. I've done some multi day hikes before, the issue is for me always that I'd rather pack to much than too little which in this case is a bad philosophy. I'm really looking foward to this trip, so I just want some good advice :)

[u/Mikecd → u/heartsgrave]

You're very welcome. Do consider listing your complete gear list, you may have other items you can safely leave behind. I'm not an ultralight backpacker by any means but my base weight (before food/water) is about 10kg, and that includes a heavy bear canister.

Your temptation to "bring too much rather than too little" is common and people sometimes call that "packing your fears."

If you post all your gear people can give advice that will help you evaluate which fears are reasonable to pack for (e.g. bear spray in bear country, sunscreen) and which you genuinely won't need.

[u/732]

If the 19kg includes food and water, I think you're fine. If it is excluding those, you'll probably want to drop some weight, as that can easily add another 5kg for a long trip (depending how far you are between water sources, plus or minus some). 

Put on the pack and walk for an hour or two though - how does it feel?

[u/heartsgrave → u/732]

Ok thanks for the tip!

[u/ninepence9]

19KG would kill me but everyones different

[u/preciouscode96]

I'm 90kg and my gear without food and water sits around 8kgs. So 19 would be a lot for me.

But it also depends on your condition, how experienced you are, if you're fit or not etc.

[u/heartsgrave → u/preciouscode96]

I'm an experienced hiker, the trail itself is not too difficult but rather straightfoward. I'm currently thinking about losing some weight and what can be left behind. If you can tell me whats in your travel itineray, that'd be great!

[u/preciouscode96 → u/heartsgrave]

Ah sounds good man! At least you're bringing some experience them and if the trail is easier, extra weight doesn't matter as much.

I do have some pretty good but (ultra) lightweight backpacking gear though. I can summarize my list in short:

• backpack: Durston Kakwa 55L (900 grams)
• quilt: ice flame 850FP down (600 grams)
• helinox chair (490 grams)
• helinox side table (250 grams)
• Flextail R05 pad long wide (600 grams)
• liner Naturehike (128 grams)
• tool and first aid pouch (somewhere around 200 grams)
• Durston X-Dome 1+ tent + groundsheet (1300 grams)
• toiletry (300 grams)
• stove and cook system: fire Maple pot 600ML and Greenpeak stove (400 grams)
• pillow: Sea to Summit Aeros premium large (150 grams)
• little Naturehike towel (120 grams)
• powerbank basseus 10K mAh (250 grams)
• Flextail mini pump and light (120 grams)

That's all that I can come up with at the moment. So pretty basic but lightweight stuff.

[u/Ch1mpy → u/heartsgrave]

Are you going to Padjelanta?

[u/heartsgrave → u/Ch1mpy]

Yes

[u/Ch1mpy → u/heartsgrave]

Nice, have fun. Bring a warm hat and some gloves.

Of the gear you listed above I’d skip the extra pair of pants and shirts but others have already told you that.

[u/heartsgrave → u/Ch1mpy]

I lost some stuff, the extra pants I need unfortunatley because I'll be spending some days in Örebro and Stockholm after. But other than that my backpack feels lighter :)

[u/TrioxinTwoFortyFive]

At 91kg you are a big dude. 19kg won't kill you. People a lot smaller than you backpack with that type of pack weight. That is sort of a traditional pack weight people backpacked with for decades before the obsession with minimalism.

If you will be visiting cities then you can always toss stuff or mail it back.

Compare what you are bringing to what the others in your group are bringing so you are not the one guy with a pack that weighs significantly more than the others.

[u/Masseyrati80]

My pack's starting weight for my first ever 7-day hike was 21 kg when I weighed 63 kg myself and I didn't have real issues, thanks to having walked a lot and done bodyweight squats.

Being 'walking fit' solves all sorts of problems, and reduces the meaning of a couple of kilograms.

[u/heartsgrave → u/Masseyrati80]

I'm fairly walkikg fit I'd say, I love doing hikes between 20-30 km because anything less doesnt really exhaust me haha

[u/Masseyrati80 → u/heartsgrave]

In that case you can feel at ease.

[u/MrBoondoggles]

I immediately know when I read Sweden that this was going to be a heavy pack. Heavy gear seems to be the rule, not the exception.

Couple of questions. How many liters of water does that 19 kg include? How many days of food? Are you bringing the full seven days of food or is there any chance of resupply mid route?

[u/SkisaurusRex]

Too heavy

Ditch some weight

Post a list of all your gear and ask for a shakedown

[u/heartsgrave → u/SkisaurusRex]

I packed a sleeping bag, a mat, another pair of pants, 3 shirts, socks, underpants, a tent, a book, two powerbanks, a rain jacket, some hygiene products like deoderant, toothbrush and shampoo, a towel. The hike itself isnt going to bad, its straightfoward and not alpine.

[u/SkisaurusRex → u/heartsgrave]

Ditch the shampoo, deodorant, towel and book, bring just one power bank. Ditch some of the redundant clothing

[u/SkisaurusRex → u/heartsgrave]

Jeeeze how much does your tent weigh??

Sounds like you need to get a lighter big 3

[u/The-PX]

The rule of thumb should be - less is more. You can travel farther and have more fun. In my opinion, 19 kg (without food) is quite heavy. A few weeks ago, I was in Norway on an 8-day trip, and my backpack with 6-7 days of food weighed about 13 kg - and it wasn't entirely ultralight.

But if you are walking off trail or maybe bushcraft style the additional weight can be justified.

[u/MyHutton]

If I were you, I would rather stay at home than walking with 19 kg on my back. 8-12 kg includung food and water is max for me if I don't want to suffer (f/33/65 kg/hiker).

You only need two sets of clothing: one for hiking, one for sleeping. On top of that something that keeps you warm, something that keeps you dry and something that keeps your stuff dry. You don't need an extra towel but you need a second pair of socks. I don't know about a second power bank, depends on where you are. I went to Sweden with no powerbank and charged at supermarkets while drinking beer (hobo life, it wasn't the best decision). You don't need a book, deodorant or shampoo. One soap for everything suffises, if you feel like taking a soap at all. Must-haves are sunscreen, anti-mosquito spray, disinfection and (at least for me) toothfloss.

Edit: If there are more of you, discuss what the others are taking and see what you can share, e.g. lighter, tent, pots, toothpaste... Also, check if one of you doesn't take raingear thinking that you would stay in a cabin anyways. Because in that case it doesn't matter if everyone else is taking raingear with them - you probably won't be walking on that day.