Actually tall people do get notably victimised for light tents (bigger sleeping bag too.).
I suppose the reason I'm keen on keeping a distinction between carried and worn weight is that you'd end up madly trying to minimise the weight of some things that perhaps shouldn't be.
But do agree that you want to be careful. There aren't that many backpacking trips (in the UK this is!) of any length where you'd happily commit to wearing Paramo all the time. Winter yes, but otherwise it'd sort of end up in between.
Considering that Ladies are the ones who are generally carrying packs that are greater on a pack to body weight ratio than men... I'm suprised there hasn't been more female input to this thread.
Is it because they are harder, or because they are not so far up their own arses that they need to compete on something so trivial?
i do pay attention from time to time mike. don't blink though...
ladies have more sense.
having a quick think and a rummage or two my summer "weight" is actually the same or heavier than my winter weight due to what's worn and what's carried. head to toe paramo worn against waterproofs, and incidental things, carried.
Considering that Ladies are the ones who are generally carrying packs that are greater on a pack to body weight ratio than men... I'm suprised there hasn't been more female input to this thread.
Is it because they are harder, or because they are not so far up their own arses that they need to compete on something so trivial?
this 'lady' has weighed and charted everything, down to the car keys, that gets carried. not because i'm competing, but because i'm lazy and don't want to carry more weight than i absolutely have to. if i start nudging over about 8kg (including consumables), then my packing has gone seriously awry. so a base weight, of whatever configuration you choose, is very useful to restrain the kitchen-sink approach to including rubbish in your pack.
I definitely agree that Parky's right-a comfortable pack as opposed to a merely light pack is the most important thing. The discussion always seems to head down the route of baseweight as a tool for lightening a load, which it's not. It's a tool for understanding your load. One of my biggest leaps forward has been understanding that a backpacking load is a system rather than a collection of objects in a bag. Parky nailed it down when he mentioned that Mike understands what he wants from each piece of gear. I used to caryy multiple hats- One warm, one for sun, a waterproof hat and an ear warmer band thing. Each had important uses and covered a variety of situations. Most of those uses were 'just in case'. Same goes for the extensive repair kit, bivy bag (When i had a tent) weighty medical kit etc,etc.
(bigger sleeping bag too.).
