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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Good afternoon, Joel,</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">To understand my weight
perspective you might try this:</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Since your pack weighs about 7
lbs., put in it 3 lbs. of something.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>That would give you a “base weight” of 10 lbs, which is about where mine
is, including the bear ‘can.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Next add 10 lbs. for a food load,
i.e. 2.5 lb./day for an average of 4 days. Leaving resupply the food may
be closer to 18-20 lbs. but as you approach another resupply the food will be
near-zero, so use an average..</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Finally, add 2 lbs. for a liter
of water.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I usually didn’t carry
that much in the Sierras but I carried more than that in the desert.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The sum of the above is 22 lbs.
so put on the pack with the hip belt unfastened, walk around for a
while, and see how it feels.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It’s
interesting to note that the Gregory site shows the “comfort range” of the
Whitney to be between 25 and 65 lbs.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> <o:p></o:p></P>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">I
used two different packs: The one I preferred was a 13 oz. GoLite Breeze.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I also used a 15 oz. GVP-4 only because
the ‘can was a better fit in the bottom.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Steel-Eye</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">^^^^^^^^^^<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Serious hikers gather at:<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><A
href="http://www.aldhawest.org/"><SPAN
style="COLOR: purple">http://www.aldhawest.org/</SPAN></A>
^^^^^^^^^^</P></SPAN></DIV>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=joel.ramey@gmail.com href="mailto:joel.ramey@gmail.com">Joel
Ramey</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pct-l@backcountry.net
href="mailto:pct-l@backcountry.net">pct</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, January 29, 2008 10:13
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [pct-l] A backpack
conundrum</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Alright, so something that I've really been kicking around hard
lately is whether or not I should replace my pack with something
lighter.<BR><BR>Currently I have a Gregory Whitney, which I love in terms of
its suspension. The pack is fairly new, I bought it this summer before I
decided to slash weight and rethink my hiking strategy.<BR><BR>The weight of
my sleeping gear and shelter system is ~4 lbs (about 5 in the sierra's,
switching to a tarptent)<BR><BR>I'm trying not to bring much in the way of
luxury items. But I will most likely be using a bear cannister in the Sierra's
(my family and black bears have a long feuding history), and wasn't sure how
this would effect using a lighter pack.<BR><BR>I'm also not sure if I'm ready
to switch to a rucksack, especially since I may not have much time to get out
hike enough to learn how to efficiently use it, or if I'll even be comfortable
with it.<BR><BR>Any thoughts?<BR><BR>
<P>
<HR>
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