Quote: Originally posted by ZIZAG on 10/10/2011How much weight (kilos) would you recommend to put in a hiking rucksack without being overloaded
The short answer is 'as little as possible'.
Don't take anything that will add weight that you don't really need. That starts with the pack itself - my old Jack Wolfskin ruckie weighs nearly 2Kg so I have replaced it with an Osprey weighing just over 1Kg.
Pack capacity has a bearing too - if you buy a 50 litre pack you will have to leave any non-essential items out because space is at a premium whereas if you choose a 65 or 70 litre pack the temptation will be to fill it with unnecessary items.
As to gear, my advice is buy the lightest you can afford. But remember when it comes to the three qualities of 'strong/durable', 'cheap' and 'lightweight' you can only have two - in other words strong lightweight gear is never cheap. Or, put another way, cheap gear is rarely either light or durable.
Using my old backpacking tent and the JW rucksack, I carried a baseweight of about 11Kg. With my new lighter tent and the Osprey pack I've got that down below 9Kg.
I have often heard the 'quarter of one's bodyweight' formula quoted. I weigh about 66Kg (ten and a half stone) so that would mean carrying 15Kg. I'm pretty fit for my age but sod that for a game of skittles!
I carried 9Kg up 2,000 feet of ascent in just under a mile the other day and - believe me - that was heavy enough. But even at just 9Kg my pack still held everything I needed for a comfortable overnight camp (including everything to provide myself with hot drinks and a cooked meal).
To some degree, of course, how much weight you carry will be governed by the terrain you are covering. For level (or nearly level) walking at an easy pace I'd happily carry 12Kg or more (provided, of course, the rucksack was a good fit). But for walking in hilly areas at a decent pace I'd never go above 10Kg.
The best advice to the OP is to do some Googling around lightweight camping and read as many articles as possible.
I use a tibet 65 for 2/3 nights wild camping - gets everything i need in but it's all about trimming down the packing - icebreaker base layers means no need for spare t-shirt and undies as they dry quick and don't smell. I use a drinksafe travel tap which sorts the water problem out - provided you're near water this for me is the best alternative to carrying too many litres of water - see drinksafe website. My other pack is a golite peak that I haven't had chance to properly test yet but will be doing soon on my annual pilgrimage to Helvellyn. I would say that the tibet was a little disappointing in the rain even with the raincover on - some gear got damp but I prefer conventional looking rucksacks and don't mind a few extra grams when compared to the sea to summit type rucksacks/drybags.
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