Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board pack weight

As a general rule of thumb, how much weight should your pack weigh or not exceed. FYI... I'm hiking Whitney as a day trip not an overnighter. Although I would be interested in the number for both hiking and backpacking. Thanks…

Michael

Water alone weighs about 2 pounds per quart. After that, depends how much gear you plan to bring. I'd figure another 8-10 pounds for camera, clothing, etc.

As a rule of thumb I use 25% of body weight Max for backpacking. Of course, the lighter the better is the best.

you can make your day pack really light if you think about it. if you don't mind iodine or if you have a pump you can get water all over the trail up to the switchbacks saving lots of weight in carrying all your water with you at one time. add a few layers of clothing, a waterproof garmet,a few bars, and a headlamp and you could keep your pack under 10 pounds.

I agree with the 25% rule, though if you're 300 lbs I wouldn't plan on a 75 lb pack! I typically carry between 38 lbs (good weather) and 45 lbs (cold or wet weather) for a 2-3 day hike on Whitney. I've seen a few people who managed to get down very close to the 30 lb mark with some super-light gear, bivy sack, no spare clothes or luxuries, etc.

Depends on what you feel makes you safe on the mountain, how much you have condensed items like sun screen and DEET, how much food you are going to take and how state of the art your gear is. You are going to have to carry between 3 and 4 qts. of water from Trail Camp to the summit, that's 6 to 8 pounds right there. Pack weight will vary during the day. Try to get it as light as possible so you can better enjoy you day on the mountain.

Honestly, no one can answer this question for you.
All they can tell is what they take with them and why.

Bill

There are various rules of thumb which leave out personal conditioning. I've heard it said that if you are 10 pounds overweight, you need to subtract that weight from your pack. Obviously, the extreme of this would allow for no pack weight at all.

The heaviest I will go is 30 pounds total pack weight for a week-long trip. This requires equipment "not sold in stores."

AsABat