 whats the average pack weight and contents for a 3 night trek for 2 people? mines about 11kg including..
60ltr pack.......1.6kg
half a tent.......2kg
stove and pans (inc gas)..700g (est)
food.............1.5kg
sleeping bag.....1.5kg
thermarest........500g
extra warm layer..500g
spare trousers....300g
2 shirts, 2pants 2socks..500g
water.............1.5kg
head torch, fork, knife etc...400g
anything here I can reduce? (at minimal cost)wifey carries smaller part of tent (1kg) less food (500g) more make up (50-60kg)
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 Your problem really is that the two main determinants of pack weight, in my opinion anyway, are the tent and sleeping bag - you's are both quite heavy, but there's not much you can do about that without replacing them with lighter stuff, which'll be expensive. Ditto stoves and other hardware.
I guess you could rationalise the clothing, but what you're happy with is very personal. My tip is to sneak some more of it into your wife's pack when she's not looking. You could probably lose some weight on the food by sticking to lots of dried stuff, but where's the fun in that?
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unfortunately thetent and sleeping bags oare only 6-8 months old so buying replacements would involve certain death. the pans weigh about 225g inc lids which double as plates/bowls.. stove is 85g so rest is fuel (maybe overestimating weight of small gas cannister!)soon as I finish my student malarky and get a job the wallet may come out for one of those teepee like shelters plus nest (like the go-lite hex a thingy)
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 Make/Beg/borrow/steal/email me for a pepsi can stove (10g) which uses meths (thus you only carry the exact amount you need, no wasted gas). Saves a bit on the cooking system (maybe 300g) and saves the environment.
I'd happily wear the same clothes for three days (except socks) saving 700g or so. Your smelliness tolerance may vary.
Karrimats can be warmer than thermarests, are much lighter (250g) and more robust. Not so comfy, but grassy campsites counteract that.
Gets well over a kilo off the weight for no financial outlay. Taking less stuff may mean a smaller (lighter) rucsac can be used as well. My wife & I have a combined gear weight of 10kg without water/food/fuel, but with lighter sleeping bags and tent helping a lot. Enjoy the trip.
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Don't eat or drink anything. That'll save you loads...
On another note, when the weather picks up, ditch the tent and use bivvy bags - much lighter and IMO easier to get up in the morning!
>stove and pans (inc gas)..700g (est)
>food.............1.5kg
If you take a stove+gas, cut the weight of your food by using dehydrated stuff. Or save the weight of the stove and munch ready to eat stuff. You also don't want to take more than one pan with lid.
>sleeping bag.....1.5kg
Again, sounds heavy - when weather is nicer and recent purchases are more distant get a lightweight one (justify it as being spare bedding for your house!)
>spare trousers....300g
IMHO unnecessary
>2 shirts, 2pants 2socks..500g
Again, maybe a spare thermal and couple of pairs of socks TOPS!
>head torch, fork, knife etc...400g
If you have a fork, you don't need a knife, If you have a spoon you don't need a fork or a knife. If you have a titanium spoon, you've more money then sense!
I'd second what was said about packsize, I reckon your kit list should go in a 45ltr sack - the rule of thumb is, whatever you take on the hill you will manage to fill. Take a 40ltr sac and you'll be surprised what you can do without (or the missus will be anyway!)
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 11Kg? for 3 days? that's a pocket, not a sack. I'll warrant you've never braved the marshes of agneroth in December with two dwarves, a wizard and.......
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 11kg sounds fine to me, though you havent included your waterproofs in the list. I wouldnt worry about carrying that much. I sometimes carry 15 or 16kg which is the point at which I'd say a pack is getting too heavy.
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 1.5 kilo's of food?! I'd eat the best part of that in a day! To be honest, I'm not a fan of weighing my pack... I'll chuck in everything I think I need, and it weighs whatever it weighs. I may be in a minority there, though, judging by the number of pack weight threads I've seen, and people complaining that their cutley is overweight.
;o)
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 im with you simon, ive only ever actually weighed it once aand it wasnt full then.
its definately not light especially wheni have the other halfs gear in it too.
having said that when it comes into replacing gear i will consider lightweight gear just not comprimise on quality or longevity.
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 I think last time i went with shared gear, it came in at about 7 kilos including food and water, but my bathroom scales aren't very accurate. That was for a 2 night trip, with only a short 2 hour walk on the first day.
Backpacking Gear calculator estimates my gear at 6kg, plus consumables like food, which is usually dehydrated (250g for a meal, sorted).
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What you should realise is that it's very dependant on your level of fitness, strength and size. 11kg is light. My lightest is 15Kg, and heaviest is 17ish. This feels real fine to me. I did carry 22Kg one trip, and it was getting a bit heavy then. But take a look at a marine's bergen fully loaded!! Those guys must be seriously fit. And not too happy either! I only weighed out of interest, when I nearly got the lightweight mania, but if it feels O.K., then it is.
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 head torch, fork, knife etc...400g ?
Ever considered a Petzl Tikka Plus at 78gs currently available for about £25 and the LifeVenture titanium cutlrey set at 52g for around £11. Thats about £36 for a 270g saving. Plus if your not too fussy about your cutlrey there are these tough plastic Light My Fire spoon/fork/knife things in some outdoor shops at the moment for £1.99 and they weigh about 9 grams!!!
One great bargain at the moment that I saw on the Bargain Alert thread is the OMM Mountain Mover rucksack thats only £49 on special offer. That would be a saving of over half a kilo in weight.
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 "But take a look at a marine's bergen fully loaded!!" That'l be me then :) Well ex boot-neck. 360 rounds of 5.56 tend to weigh things down a bit ;) Im not a weight fanatic. Your pack weighs what it weighs, end of story, take what you need for the trip and get on with it. As far as Im concerned most decent modern kit dosnt weigh much and shaving off the odd ounce here and there is a bit futile. The main causes of weight are food and water, but you can't really do without those!
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Jamie: Titanium cutlery, really? "only" around £11...
£11 is ridiculously steep when you consider plastic cutlery (lighter?) can be had for a few quid. It's not like you need to cut steak in the hills anyway.
Besides, if you were truely weight conscious you'd be using a single spork and these can be had from M&S for free!
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What Mark Gurry says has an important message in it - take what you NEED -and no more. He's also right about modern kit, it's all pretty light nowadays. I'm a firm believer in titanium, though; it's light as a feather and will last and last. Cutlery can also be sharpened too. -Go titanium, buy minimal, and your pack will be fine if leave out the mobile, PDA, GPS, Lord of the Rings, silly hat.....
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