I finally stopped ignoring the advice about lighter packs

Last month a guy on the JMT told me my pack was way too heavy for a 5 day trip. I had like 45 pounds in there because I brought a ton of extra clothes and a big camp chair. He said I should just use a sit pad and cut my clothes in half. So I swapped everything last weekend on a 3 day loop in the Smokies and dropped down to 28 pounds. My legs felt so much better at the end of each day that I'm never going back to the old way. Has anyone else tried a frameless pack after switching from a framed one?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseym4814d ago

And you don't even need to go frameless right away. A lighter framed pack around 2 pounds will blow your mind compared to that 45 pound setup.

christopher_sullivan14d ago

Wait, did you actually go frameless after dropping 17 pounds? I tried a frameless pack once at around 25 pounds and it was brutal on my shoulders by day two. The hipbelt had nothing to transfer the weight to so everything just pulled down on my traps. How long was your total pack weight for the Smokies trip and did your shoulders survive okay? I'm curious if you had to ditch the camp chair to get that low or if you just trimmed other stuff.