Nomal backpack weight loaded?

[wakingside]

I'm heading out backpacking for the first time where I'm not canoeing, I head out in a week and am finalizing what I'm packing and seeing how much everything weighs packed. I'm going for two months in central america, starting in Guatemala. Today I weighed my pack and I'm sitting at about 27 pounds, with a few small things left to add and a few that I could go without.

I'm just curious if I'm in a decent range weight-wise or if I'm too heavy and going to wear myself out. What would your ideal pack weigh for a two months trip?, only electronic item I'll have is my digital camera and I am bringing a tent which accounts for 6 pounds.

[pinknic38]

That's pretty good. I went to Europe for 2 weeks and was around that much and added much more weight once I got on the road and bought stuff. Ended up tearing a shoulder muscle from carrying all that weight and it took 2 months to heal, so remember that when packing all that stuff, but I am an overpacker by nature. What size of backpack do you have? I took a 55L on my trip which is kind of big but was pretty comfortable.

[wakingside]

REI Saturn Pack, it's 70l but it straps down very well for a smaller load, it had pretty good reviews, I liked the color, and the price was decent, here is a link

rei .com/outlet/product/768909

there is a space after rei, wouldn't let me post a url with under 15 total posts

[pinknic38]

nice. sounds like a good pack. I think it's your judgment call. Carry it around fully packed for awhile, go for a walk. I knew mine was too heavy when I got to the airport terminal.

[raoulduke]

That's pretty light.

At that weight you shouldn't have any troubles with excess baggage fees on discount airlines.

But like Nic said, wear it around for a while and see what's comfortable for you.

[Kevin-L]

That sound like a good weight. You shouldn't have any problems with picking things up along the way. Weight also depends on the weather your going to be traveling in.
I did two months in winter and came in at 40 on the way out, and way to much by the time i got home. Less IS Better!

[wakingside]

I would take it for a walk as was suggested but it isn't really possible, it's -20+ at the moment here, basically it's cold at fuck

[jengt]

I'm sure you have a local mall nearby. You live in the midwest after all & there are malls everywhere. Fill 'er up, go to the mall & just wander around. If it's a multi-level mall, take the stairs instead of the escalator a couple times. You mainly just want to see how it handles. As Nic said, she knew by the time she got to the airport. 1/2 hour to an hour at the mall will tell you right off if it's way too heavy or unbalanced for you.

[wakingside]

thanks for the advice!

[skankthenightaway]

i didn´t weigh my bag so i´m not sure how much it weighs but i am curious!
i think my bag is 50 or 55L. it´s easy for me to carry around and i still have a bit more room for other stuff.
i´m in el salvador right now and it´s super hot! i don´t think you´re going to need a lot of warm clothes.

[freespiritz]

Lighter is always better! 27 sounds decent, I was at about 24 pounds for my last trip, and could still have ditched a couple of things. It also depends on you and what you're comfortable carrying though; enough people said my pack looked big on me (being only 5'3")...it probably would have been less trouble for a 6-footer dude to tote around.

[LostFarmboy]

27 pounds is light dude, you'll be fine. I'm 5'6" and weigh 135 pounds and the lightest my backpack has ever been while travelling is 33 pounds and it's never been a problem. In fact, I've just finished 4 months worth of backpacking around Canada and the States with two full size backpacks and another smaller one, all of which weighed a total of 90 pounds! (See pic) Now, it wasn't exactly a pleasure to carry all that stuff, but I managed to survive. The fact is that you don't carry the bulk of your belongings around all that often, they stay back at the hostel most of the time. The question you should be aking yourself is 'am I going to use every item that I've packed?'. If there is something in your pack that you don't think you'll use, then don't take it.

[double.exposed]

Originally Posted by LostFarmboy

27 pounds is light dude, you'll be fine. I'm 5'6" and weigh 135 pounds and the lightest my backpack has ever been while travelling is 33 pounds and it's never been a problem. In fact, I've just finished 4 months worth of backpacking around Canada and the States with two full size backpacks and another smaller one, all of which weighed a total of 90 pounds! (See pic) Now, it wasn't exactly a pleasure to carry all that stuff, but I managed to survive. The fact is that you don't carry the bulk of your belongings around all that often, they stay back at the hostel most of the time. The question you should be aking yourself is 'am I going to use every item that I've packed?'. If there is something in your pack that you don't think you'll use, then don't take it.

Ack, now at least I have a good reference of what is light and what is heavy as all hell - 90lbs?! :P

I think my pack will probably come in at around 30-35lbs, so that seems like a good intermediate weight.. still, I keep getting paranoid of looking like total overkill with some big pack, but I guess it's just part of the coolguy backpacker image, eh?

[Elizabeth]

^^^ all I can say is whyyy???? I'd die w 90 lbs!

I will tolerate dragging a heavy bag thru the airport...what gets me is having to repack the mofo when its time to leave the hostel. When I'm cursing at it trying to make everything fit...thats when its too much.

[buzzingtalk]

I've backpacked with a 100l backpack before (to be fair, i was moving lots of stuff from my dads house in asia back to the uk), which was too much even with just my stuff in it. on the way back to london, it was fully loaded full of curtains,linen of my stepmums. ialso had 2 other bags that were heavy and a day sack, i got home OK but never again. ive also travelled to asia with just adaypack pretty much, weighing in around 10lb for 2-3 months. its all relative, and the more you travel the less crap you feel you need to buy/more you reaise what clothing comes in handy/that a towel doubles as a blanket!/etc etc.

30-35 sounds good though, like everyones said take it for a long walk, climb some stairs (youll climb bare in hostels!) to check the balance. remember to pack the heavier stuf at the top of the pack

[LostFarmboy]

Originally Posted by lizz

^^^ all I can say is whyyy???? I'd die w 90 lbs!

One pack full of clothes and camping gear and the other full of climbing gear. Like I said, it wasn't fun, in fact it was a right pain in the arse, but it's possible.

[c0urt]

my last big trip was 25-26 pounds including a very light weight tent,
you don't need underwear
we start talking 90+ i better have a bicycle with me.

[Manders]

Now I'm curious, and have to go weigh my pack . We're still going to buy a few more items but it shouldn't get too much heavier. I completely agree about going for a walk with your pack. Rusty and I did three miles the other day fully loaded. I realized I need to adjust a few straps, reorganize to shift some weight, and maybe consider different shoes. All things I would hate to be worrying about the first day in a new country after a 20 hour flight. Also, especially since this is our first trip, we really just aren't used to tromping around all day with 30 ish pounds on our back. We're planning on taking the packs out at least once a week before we go to get accustomed. I'll post the weight of our packs once I weigh them.

[ScarlotteDorian]

i've heard that you should pack 20% of your body weight. for me that is no more than 30 lbs. so take what you weight and multiply by .2 and you'll get about what your pack should weigh.

[c0urt]

Originally Posted by ScarlotteDorian

i've heard that you should pack 20% of your body weight. for me that is no more than 30 lbs. so take what you weight and multiply by .2 and you'll get about what your pack should weigh.

this is the way to do it.