Wildcamp Pack

Hi Guys

I am planning on some wild camp and bothy camping soon but I dont have a large enough rucksack for most of my kit.

I plan on 2 days camping the most due to restrictions on my dates.

What do people use?

depends alot on who you speak too, i can just about get away with a 25litre bag (kimmlite) for a solo overnighter, looking at getting a 30liter for a planned 3 night wild camp as it requires more food, etc. im not sure which 30litre bag to get yet. vaude have a new waterproof bag which looks a possiblity.

but not many would agree that such small capacity is practical, i use/take minimal gear which is all lightweight and small, eat dull dehydrated food, and smell! at the end

most use 50litre bags such as oprey etc.

I covered nearly 200 miles on the Coast-to-Coast with multiple wild camps with a 45 litre rucksack- this was in the summer tho- would maybe require a little more room if wanting to lug a winter sleeping bag and a buffalo jacket or similar.

PS this was with tent etc too.

I use an old karrimor alpine lite which is 45+10 litres. I've never filled it yet though.
I think simplicity is probably better, as well as lighter. A single buckle lid is a must for me as is a large external lid pocket. I like somewhere for my bladder to go and the rest can be a plain sack as long as it's comfy and carries well.
Do you have/need a kit list?

Blech, i'm having trouble fitting most of my kit in a 65. Am I going overboard here?

Just the sleeping bag, tent, cooking equipment and a spare set of clothes take up almost all of the main compartment in my 65+10.

It's all going to depend on the size of your kit, GT. People who do a lot of backpacking have often invested in small, light tents, mattresses, stoves and sleeping bags, whereas those who don't may be using kit that's considerably larger.

I'm lucky because my kit is small and compact, and I use a 50L Osprey Atmos whether I'm going for a night or a fortnight. If I was still using a big sleeping bag and a bulky mattress, though, I'd probably need a 60L sack. If I had a big tent the pack might need to be larger still.

The best thing to do is to take the main elements of your camping kit - tent, sleeping bag, stove and mattress - to a good shop and try fitting them into some packs. Bear in mind that you're going to need additional space for clothing, food, water, miscellaneous necessities and other little things that you might simply like to take (book, music, camera etc).

Whatever you get, though, you should probably look for something that has pockets for you to store the things you might need to use during the day: waterproofs, warm layer, hat, gloves, food etc - so that you don't need to open the main body of the sack until you get to the camp. That's not essential, but I find it much more convenient, and if it's raining heavily I definitely don't want to get the inside of my pack liner wet.

It's also worth bearing in mind that we're in the midst of a move towards lighter kit generally, and that includes packs. It wasn't uncommon a couple of years ago to expect to carry 3kg in the pack alone for a backpacking trip. These days it's possible to go much lighter, and that makes the whole thing much more fun (for all but the Herculean or plain masochistic ;-) My Atmos, for instance, weighs about 1.3kg, whereas the Osprey Luna I bought about 15 months ago is about 3kg.

If I were you, and depending on your budget, I'd be looking at Osprey, Gregory Packs, ULA and Go-Lite. There are other great sacks as well, but those are the ones in the forefront of my mind these days when I think backpacking sacks :)

Good luck!

p.s. if you let us know what kit you've got, and what your budget is, peeps may be able to be more specific.

Nathan

I'm the same as you. I use an Osprey Aether 70 and it's full even for overnighters. A small pack doesn't suit everybody. My base weight is about 11 kg which I don't think is excessively heavy but I prefer a full length T-rest Prolite 4 and synthetic bag which are quite bulky.

How on earth do people fit all their gear for an overnighter in a 25litre sac?! Do you fit it all inside or do you strap the sleeping mat outside? My gear isn't particularly bulky either (laser, pipedream 300, kettleything, wee-airic which is tho).

I managed an overnighter, very comfortably in my Mountain Mover (50l), but with minimal kit. I think my base weight was in the region of 7-8kg (including oddments like a book). I'd love to fit it all into my 35l OMM sac on my next outing.

Im around 10-11kgs.
If I decide to go lightweight I could probably knock off a few kgs, losing my inner tent, taking closed cell mat instead of the wee airic etc etc. But I like my little comforts, heh.

Steve, thats a really nice pack *brims with envy*

got to get me one of those sooner or later, current pack (a hand me down) is just buying some time for my bank balance.

I'm not as "lightweight" as most on this site, though im trying to improve my situation as I think I hurt myself carrying too much on a recent trip.

My total load tends to be 15 or 16kg and I use an Osprey Aether 70 for between 1 and 3 nights (Havent done longer than that) though for single-nighters it's nearly empty.

I have a pretty heavy and bulky synthetic sleeping bag (Vango Ultralight 1100 - 1.8kg), and carry up to 1/2 a Force Ten Serrac (~3.5kg total), use an MSR Whisperlite which also means 1kg of heavy petrol (not into gas yet). A Wee Airic mat (470g- rather heavy but comfy and cheap as chips) and take minimal clothing.
I'd say my gear is not the heaviest around, but is probably a good maximum weight situation to look at. The good thing about my pack is that although I pretty much fill it at the moment, it performs really well and isnt a burden when carrying much less, the compression system is very very good on Osprey packs.

my pack weight approaches 10kg with enough food and water(2l) for an overnighter. i thinks thats at about the limit for my kimmlite ar25bag. on my next outing i plan not to take the tent inner, shedding about 600g.

any1 know where i can get a small piece of mosquitto net, or similar. enough just to cover the opening of a rab survival bag?(just in case)

morph - lifesystems sell a midge/mosquito head net. Shaped like a biggish stuffsac, even has a drawcord, but made out of mosquito netting, very light. Should think it's best worn over a brimmed hat or baseball cap to keep the netting off your face. That might work for you.

That's an idea Morph. Take the outer tent and a bivvy bag.

But does anyone know what the inner of a Laser weighs? It would have to be at least 600g (like Morph's tent) to make the faff of taking the tent apart worthwhile (that's why i can't weigh it!)

And i suppose i could ditch the airic and go closed cell. I might see what my old foam mat weighs once i cut it in half.

That's what i'd use too morph. I have one (not lifesystems but its basically the same), cost £7, fits in the palm of my hand and I often use it when I sleep in my hammock. Just goes over my head and tightens with a draw cord- haven't yet managed to strangle myself.

tdave, my closed cell mat weighs about 200g, its a full length though.

Morph, I have absolutely no idea how you get 10kg into a 25ltr bag, hehe.

thks, ill have a look for one of those head nets, like the idea of a cap to keep it off your face.

my basic equipment comes in at 6kg + 2kg of water on the shoulder straps. plus food and bits and pieces. its all packed well compressed.

tdave,
i've made a pole securing sytem from some strong nylon cord, and eyelets for the poles to slot into, using the inner tent as a template. as my tent (big agnes) requires the inner for the poles and general structure of the tent.

the outer tent just sits over the pole structure, held together with some nylon cord, half tarp, half tent. the intention is too use this when its raining or cold and windy. ive yet to use it for real.

I'll have to get my spare gear back off me mate tomorrow, and see what the mat weighs. 200g would be better than now, just need to strap it to the outside.

Fortunately my tent is outer first, so i wont need to fiddle with it, just somehow disconnect inner from outer.

I'm going to try and stuff this gear into my 35l sac now for starters.

Surely if it's a hassle forcing your kit into a 35l sac, its worth carrying a larger pack but only having it half-filled? It'd be more comfortable.

probably ben, the probelm lies in the psychology. if your bag is half empty your likey to add a thing ot two, or three, maybe a 4 pack. and 1 for the road...