home » Groups » How much should a school bag weigh? On a hike with a minimum backpack weight The minimum weight of hiking equipment.

How much should a school bag weigh? On a hike with a minimum backpack weight The minimum weight of hiking equipment.

First of all, as soon as it comes to the weight of a backpack, it is not correct to name any figures expressed in kilograms. For example, if you say that the norm of weight is 25 kg, then for a hefty 100-kilogram man it will be so. With this weight, he can comfortably ride the wave all day. At the same time, for a fragile girl who herself weighs 50 kg, it will be just a monstrous burden.

Although there are no strict state standards on this issue either in our country or in the West, most outdoor experts, and the backpack manufacturers themselves, give approximately the same estimate: for a person who is in good shape, the weight of a backpack should be no more than a third (33%) of its own body weight. And for less trained people (especially for those who go camping for the first time), it is desirable that it be no heavier than 25% of its own weight.

If you look at the graph, you will see that the values on it do not excite the imagination at all. And, in general, all this bears little resemblance to our traditional ideas about a tourist, as a person proudly shouldering a 40-kilogram "monster".

Wearing an excessively heavy backpack is harmful, first of all, from an orthopedic point of view. Over time, it can lead to serious spinal problems and joint problems in the lower extremities (such as flat feet or knee injuries). But more importantly, a heavy backpack fundamentally changes the way we think about travel. Communicating with nature, enjoying the beauty, talking with friends - everything is obscured by the exhausting work of carrying weights. When you look only at your feet, and you are no longer interested in anything, except when, finally, there will be a halt and you can throw everything off yourself. Is this why we travel?

So try not to hit anyone and not set "world records". If possible, keep the weight of your backpack within the physiological norm, 25% - 33% of your body weight. After all, the lighter your backpack, the longer route you can take in a day and see the most, while getting the purest pleasure.

Do you often think about what to take with you in a backpack if you are going on a short trip for a few days? As a rule, a backpack up to 45 liters is taken, everything that comes to hand is thrown there and rammed.

Another thing is when you are going on a multi-day hike, or even a multi-week one. The backpack is completed carefully, the weight of each item is calculated up to a gram.

At the second stage, the contents of the backpack are sorted out again and unnecessary items that are not essential are removed from the backpack altogether. No matter how large your backpack is, it usually still turns out to be heavy. This is a problem for many newbies.

Let's look at some examples of how you can reduce the weight of a hiking backpack by half without removing even those items that seem not very necessary.

The first thing you need to pay attention to when buying a backpack:

Company manufacturer;
The weight of the backpack itself;
Displacement;
The comfort of a backpack.

The fact is that the manufacturer will tell a lot for itself. For example, backpacks from the German company Deuter are considered among the best, but their weight is usually quite large due to the complex back system of the backpack. Sometimes extra 2-3 kg in a hike can play a very significant role, so here you need to take into account these moments.

Another example, the Russian company Bask makes high-quality and lightweight backpacks. The back system is a little worse than the Deuter, but if the backpack is properly assembled, then it will not be noticeable under the weight. To date, there are enough lightweight models of backpacks on the market and it is not advisable to list even the most popular ones in this topic.

After you have decided on the purchase of a backpack, you need to proceed to the second stage - this is the choice of a sleeping bag. If your trip is planned in the summer and not to high altitudes, a summer sleeping bag with a temperature regime of +15/0 is enough. The weight of such a sleeping bag should not exceed 700 grams.

If you are planning a long hike in the winter, then you will need a warm sleeping bag, preferably down, because down is warmer and lighter than artificial fills. Such sleeping bag should be with a temperature regime not higher than -10 / -25.

Thus, if you really approach the issue of winter, then your warm sleeping bag will not exceed 1.5-2 kg.

The next moment is choice of light tent. If you are counting on a double tent, then proceed from a weight not exceeding, also, 2 kg. Of course, the combination of lightness and strength of the tent will be directly proportional to its cost. The better and lighter the tent, the more expensive it will be. But this is a thing that is not bought for one season.

So, a backpack (1 kg), a sleeping bag (1.5 kg) and a tent (2 kg) in total weigh 4.5 kg.

For example, thermal underwear. T-shirt set - pants will weigh half as much as knitted ones, but both thermal insulation and the method of removing moisture from the body work much better for thermal underwear than for knitwear. A warm polartec or fleece jacket will be half the weight of a thick wool sweater.

For winter time, you need to take practically the same set of clothes on a hike as on summer period, but additionally: a good puff, down pants and mittens, two or three pairs of warm thermal socks. Forget ski pants and sim-tampon jackets. They are heavy and have less thermal insulation than down.

The main qualities of Polartec fabric:

Principle of operation: the effect of dry heat is provided by a high degree of ventilation and a low coefficient of moisture absorption.
Properties: warm, light, strong, durable, water-repellent and breathable fabric.
Wool in this case will work much worse, plus it will create an additional 1-2 kg of excess weight.

Polartec fabrics:

Insulated trousers are recommended to be taken from Polartec fabric, they weigh very little and have excellent thermal insulation. Either from the Soft Shell membrane, which consists of a soft high-quality fabric and a warm padding made of sheep wool or flannel. Also, it has a minimum weight.

The next stage of preparation for the trip. Choice of light and powerful burner. Calculation of gas in a campaign.

Today, one of the lightest burners in the world is considered Optimus Crux. The size of this burner is 84x57x31 mm with a total weight of 83 gr. and power 3000 watts. An excellent choice for lightening weight on a hike.

Now let's calculate the gas consumption in grams:
Average gas consumption in a summer mountain hike (cooking at an altitude of up to 3500 m at the latitude of the Caucasus), using standard 0.7-2 liter cookware with a lid, Markill Grisu gas burner (or Kovea Hose Burner TKB-9602) with gas 70 / 30, with a windscreen and with a wind of 1-5 m/s, with an almost "instant" menu (2 meals plus 3 teas) is about 70 grams per person per day. Most experienced hikers give recommendations from 55 to 90 grams. With a "flat" use of a similar set of cookware and burner, with a normal menu (3 meals and 4 teas per day) and good wind protection, it turned out to be 60 grams per person per day.

Dishes. For maximum weight relief on a hike, you can use plastic dishes, but because. plastic highlights harmful substances when heat treatment, it is better to use anodized aluminum cookware.
For example, a camping pot from the manufacturer Optimus - "Terra Weekend HE Cookset" weighs only 275 grams. with a capacity of 0.9 liters.

You can buy a mug and a spoon at a cheaper price. Enough of the usual aluminum in the hardware store.

Very successful models of lightweight rugs, for example: Artiach Monocolor (weight: 300 gr), Sirex Easy Light (weight: 300 gr). Again, it makes no sense to list all the lightweight rug models, you just need to look at a couple of catalogs and make your choice. The main thing to understand is that when choosing light equipment for a hike, you need to consider every gram. If you won, for example, 200 gr on a mat, 300 gr on dishes, 500 gr on a sleeping bag and 1000 gr on clothes, then you already lighten yourself by 2 kg. In the mountains, this is a significant weight. On the plain, you can walk under the weight of a backpack of 20 kg, and if you increase the weight to 25 kg, you will hardly feel it. And when you go up a steep slope for a long time, every 200 gr. felt throughout the body.

Cosmetic accessories.
Things like soap, toothpaste, shampoo, wet wipes, sunblock and chapping cream - stock up for exactly the time your trip will last. This means that if you use a large bar of soap in an urban environment for a month, then you don’t need to pull the same bar of soap into the mountains. Cut it in half and pack it in a bag, the soap dish will also be extra grams of weight in this case. toothpaste also calculate exactly for the time of the trip, as a rule, a small tube is quite enough for 2 and 3 weeks.

Towel.
You should not take a bath towel measuring two by three meters with you. In field conditions, it will still not be possible to take a bath or shower. You can only partially wash yourself, and for this a small towel is enough to wipe yourself off.

If you calculate everything correctly with cosmetic and bath accessories, you are guaranteed to win another 1 kg of free weight.

First aid kit.
Try to pour all liquid substances: alcohol, brilliant green, peroxide into plastic cones. Remove the tablets from cardboard packaging- leave only the instructions for them and drag them with an elastic band so that in the end all the instructions do not get confused with the rest of the tablets.

And finally, we come to the most important issue - the correct preparation of products for weight loss on a camping trip.

Cereals, salt, sugar and other bulk components must be poured into plastic bottles from mineral water.
Tea (bags) shift into a bag; pour tea (leaf) into a plastic bottle.
Instead of heavy stew, it is recommended to make freeze-dried meat or jerky. Such meat goes well with any cereals and potatoes.
Soups use those for instant cooking in bags. They are not as tasty as freshly cooked vegetables, but they weigh three times less.
Do not take fresh onions on a hike, only dried ones. It can be added later to any dishes.
Buy things like condensed milk only in bags. This will save you a lot of weight than if you buy in cans.
Potatoes also need to be bought freeze-dried - soluble in sachets. Perhaps some will be surprised “but how could it be otherwise?”, But there were cases when several kg of fresh potatoes, carrots and onions were taken on a mountain hike. The consequences are obvious.
Instead of bread and crackers, it is recommended to take cornbread on a hike. Their advantage over bread is their super light weight; advantage over crackers cut into cubes for compactness - you can spread pate, butter, like on bread.
Candy and other items that may contain additional packaging should also be placed in bags, this will lighten your backpack a little more.
Well, and most importantly - correctly calculate the food layout in grams per person per day.

And in conclusion, I would like to remind you that a properly packed and weight-balanced backpack will also make your trip easier for many days.

hedgehogs.ru

Optimal backpack weight.

I read the topic: How did we go to the Golden Valley and the question arose again.

I weigh 50 kg and 1.5 meters tall. On my first trip 15 years ago, I overloaded the backpack. I don't remember exactly, but something like 20 or 22 was. She couldn't lift herself off the ground. They just hung it on me. She walked, became deaf from the weight, tears rolled down, but she walked. Nobody unloaded me. I consider this dishonest. No one should be responsible for my mistakes. Since then, she has become very sensitive to his weight. This year I had 17 kg. It was hard, but nothing. She ran ahead of everyone and even offered to take things from a sick girl. 17 kg backpack is 34% of my weight.

The guys on the campaign had something like this: 80 kg of their weight, 25 kg backpack. This is 31%.

It turns out that their backpacks are easier for them than mine is for me.

Are there any rules, what percentage of the weight should be the maximum backpack for a girl and a backpack for a guy?

I don’t think it’s right to unload someone who took too much on those who approached the collection more responsibly. After all, men also have a limit to health. And they, too, can overstrain and overload the spine, and the trouble with the knees can be anything, because of the large overload.

The norm of the weight of the backpack in the campaign.

They ask me from time to time what normal weight bag on the route. Since the answer to this question does not fit in a small column of numbers and is generally not unambiguous, I decided to cover this topic in some more detail.

Each tourist group has its own "norm" of weight. Indeed, for many groups who go hiking for the same three weeks, a backpack weight of 35 kg for men is considered quite normal. I often see examples, because before or after a trip I often sit at the station waiting for the train and see other groups, often asking about starting weights.

Water workers who do not go “wheels into the water” can drag 50 kg on themselves. But light-movers, even in difficult hikes, manage to fit into the minimum weight, at which even 20 kg seem like a burden.

There are other nuances. Firstly, the natives carry heavy weights at a relatively low speed and for short distances per walk, or by increasing the distance, but making a long halt after the walk. Otherwise, the weights naturally decrease. Secondly, those who work as porters do not eat a handful of rice, but enough food to cover energy costs and protein costs. Thirdly, they are genetically (I'm talking about Sherpas now) on this moment are better adapted for carrying loads - their body is less injured. The genetic factor is quite important. I have already mentioned the Eskimos more than once, who, within the framework of the human body, are perfectly adapted to the harsh northern climate, while the differences with the average European or Asian in the body of the Eskimo are significant. Yes, there are individuals of Europeans who can be almost as well adapted to survive in the cold as to carry goods, but these are individuals, the exception to the rule. Whereas the Eskimos or Sherpas themselves are the rule for their people, and their adaptability is passed on to their descendants. My point is that among the tourists there are outstanding personalities in relation to anything - there are also Russian porters who earn extra money in the mountains carrying loads and pulling 50 kg uphill. But this load tolerance is not universal.

Let's define the criteria that are important on the tourist route, which will directly depend on the weight of the backpack:

– Overall movement speed. From here, the time that we will be under load will also depend - the time to travel 20 km in the case of a backpack weighing 18 kg and 30 kg will certainly be different for the same person. Especially if these 20 km will be climbing. That is, if we need to walk a certain distance, then with a lighter backpack we will cover it faster. If we need to walk for a certain time, for example 8 hours, then lightly we will simply cover more mileage.
Energy costs on the route, and hence the subsequent energy shortage. Well, we can’t go anywhere without it on a campaign, without energy shortage, the only question is its size. The greater the weight of the backpack, the higher the energy costs to overcome the same distance. And you have to increase the weight of the diet. An increase of one hundred grams per day in a fifteen-day hike entails an increase in the backpack by another 1600 grams for each (I think roughly along with the packaging), and if there are women in the group, then the weight will increase even more for men, since the load is limited for women. At the same time, the calorie content of the diet will increase by 250-350 kcal. The most interesting thing is that for really many tourists the logic works in the direction that an increase in the carrying weight by such a small amount does not play any role and in general for a well-trained person this is a minuscule amount. In fact, this weight should be looked at differently: an increase in weight by these unfortunate one and a half kilograms entails doing less work in the same period of time with an increase in the energy expended on it. Yes, we compensate for the energy expended, but the work is reduced. And, most importantly, fatigue, as a process of biochemical changes in the body, comes earlier. Yes, up to a certain limit, the changes are negligible. But, the more weight in the backpack, the more these one and a half kilos will affect the above parameters. With the course of the trip, this influence will increase, as energy deficit will accumulate, and the degree of recovery during the rest period, on the contrary, will decrease.
The likelihood of injury on the route. The greater the weight carried, the more this probability increases. There is a direct connection, there is an indirect one. The probability of stumbling and unsuccessfully falling, especially when overcoming moraines, fords, passes or other obstacles, is a direct link. Wrong decisions, inattention, inability to assess danger, and so on, are due to greater fatigue and are an indirect connection.
Depreciation of the musculoskeletal system and the likelihood of its diseases in the long term. Something here, many aged masters complain about the same knees. And why would it?

From this, a certain consequence can be deduced. You can plan any route that is difficult and at the same time adequate in relation to your own experience, but the issue of carrying the equipment necessary for it can destroy the whole event in the bud. Well, yes, today there is a lot of light and high-quality equipment for complex events on the outdoor market today, but not everyone can afford it.

The second consequence is that the weight of the equipment and diet should be a kind of golden mean, be optimal from all sides.

Speaking about the weight of the backpack, it is worth mentioning the fact that a significant part of the tourists go to enjoy the mountains aesthetically, and not through masochism. “A tourist must suffer,” one of my friends likes to say. It is possible that it should, but I want to somehow lower the level of suffering.

Anyway, let's move on to the recommendations. They are approximate and based on my own research/observation. As usual, I do not try to convince anyone, everyone decides and considers for himself how much to drag. The recommendations that I give are designed for a physically prepared tourist who does not neglect training. I’ll clarify right away that in this article I will not consider drags, which in winter campaigns, when there are roads, wide paths or just open spaces, can significantly reduce the load. Somehow I will dedicate a separate topic to the volokushs, perhaps even more than one.

So, the first thing I start with when planning the weight distribution is the calculation of the weight for the female composition of the group. No matter how prepared the fair sex is, she will not be able, firstly, to carry as much as a trained male, and secondly, she will not be able to move at the same speed as he, if there is no certain difference in weight carried cargo (there are exceptions, I do not argue). The reasons are different, but the main ones for us are the difference in the ratio of muscle mass to total weight (I remind you that we are talking about the fact that both are well prepared), less physiological resistance to stress, as well as a slightly smaller step width.

The maximum weight I set for women on my hikes is 18kg. Very rarely, for a short time (for example, the first running day), this weight can be raised to 20 kg. At the same time, in the very first days, by removing products, the weight is reduced to 16 kg. Women should not carry heavy weights. I know what they wear, but this can lead to a variety of health troubles in the future. There is another point - a woman walks with a backpack of 18 kg with the same average speed and with the same level of fatigue as a male with a backpack of 25 kg. Such is the injustice.

The smaller the weight of a backpack for men, the less it should be for women. If a backpack for men is reduced to 18 kg, then women should have about 14 kg. The redistribution of weights occurs at the expense of products and public equipment, there is nothing complicated here.

Two points follow from this. The first is that there should be no more than one to two men in a group, otherwise the carrying weight of the latter increases greatly. The second point is that purely female groups on difficult routes require a careful approach to the weight distribution of the backpack, otherwise the load is too high.

What else? When planning a long route, when we consider weight, we should also take into account the fact that there is a possibility that we will have to unload a participant in case of illness or injury. Will the participants pull the extra weight? This is also worth thinking about.

In general, the conclusion from all this is one - the lower the carry weight, the better. It remains only to figure out what compromises to find for this and how much they will cost.

Another thing is when you are going on a multi-day hike, or even a multi-week one. The backpack is completed carefully, the weight of each item is calculated up to a gram.

Let's look at some examples of how you can reduce the weight of a hiking backpack by half without removing even those items that seem not very necessary.

First you need to reconsider the very model of your backpack. If we start from the fact that the trip is planned for 2 weeks, then the volume of the backpack will be: for men up to 85 liters, for women - 75. Now about the weight of the backpack. Often we choose a backpack not by weight, but by comfort. This means that, first of all, you will be interested in a backpack model that will sit comfortably on your back, without pressing or rubbing your shoulders with straps. Which will provide good ventilation for the back under the backpack and sit comfortably on the lumbar of your body. The desire is completely justified. But often many people forget about such a thing as weight. For example, the weight of your fully equipped backpack was 30 kg, and the backpack itself has a volume of 85 liters. Now imagine that the same volume of the backpack is occupied by everyone necessary things, but his weight is only 15-20 kg.

The first thing you need to pay attention to when buying a backpack:

Company manufacturer;
The weight of the backpack itself;
Displacement;
The comfort of a backpack.

After you have decided on the purchase of a backpack, you need to proceed to the second stage - this is choice of sleeping bag. If your trip is planned in the summer and not to high altitudes, a summer sleeping bag with a temperature regime of +15/0 is enough. The weight of such a sleeping bag should not exceed 700 grams.

If you are planning a long hike in the winter, then you will need a warm sleeping bag, preferably down, because down is warmer and lighter than artificial fills. Such a sleeping bag should be with a temperature regime not higher than -10 / -25.

Thus, if you really approach the issue of winter, then your warm sleeping bag will not exceed 1.5-2 kg.

So, a backpack (1 kg), a sleeping bag (1.5 kg) and a tent (2 kg) in total weigh 4.5 kg.

For example, thermal underwear. A T-shirt set - pants will weigh half as much as knitwear, but thermal insulation and the method of removing moisture from the body work much better for thermal underwear than for knitwear. A warm polartec or fleece jacket will be half the weight of a thick wool sweater.

For winter, you need to take practically the same set of clothes as for the summer period, but in addition: a good puff, down pants and mittens, two or three pairs of warm thermal socks. Forget about ski pants and padding jackets. They are heavy and have less thermal insulation than down.

The main qualities of Polartec fabric:

Principle of operation: the effect of dry heat is provided by a high degree of ventilation and a low coefficient of moisture absorption.
Properties: warm, light, strong, durable, water-repellent and breathable fabric.
Wool in this case will work much worse, plus it will create an additional 1-2 kg of excess weight.

Polartec fabrics:

For windproof and water-repellent garments, pay special attention to lightweight and durable fabrics such as membranes. Windproof and water-repellent jacket in modern membrane tissue can weigh no more than 500-600 gr. and fit in any pocket in a compressed form. Gloves, hats, balaclavas - also buy only from Polartec fabric. They will reliably warm and have a minimum weight in relation to woolen products. Now it is worth mentioning the warming of the lower body. In any summer hike two pairs of outer pants are required - windproof and insulated. Windproof trousers can be purchased from a membrane fabric, such as GORE-TEX®. This fabric is the best suited for tourism in any form and for expeditions in difficult climatic conditions. Lightness and strength are the main properties of the GORE-TEX® membrane.

Insulated trousers are recommended to be taken from Polartec fabric, they weigh very little and have excellent thermal insulation. Or from the Soft Shell membrane, which consists of a soft, high-quality fabric and a warm lining made of sheep's wool or flannel. Also, it has a minimum weight.

The next stage of preparation for the trip. Choice of light and powerful burner. Calculation of gas in a campaign.

Dishes. For maximum weight relief on a hike, you can use plastic dishes, but because. plastic emits harmful substances during heat treatment, it is better to use dishes made of anodized aluminum.
For example, a camping pot from the manufacturer Optimus - "Terra Weekend HE Cookset" weighs only 275 grams. with a capacity of 0.9 liters.

You can buy a mug and a spoon at a cheaper price. Enough of the usual aluminum in the hardware store.

Thermos- is considered an extra item in the campaign, but necessary in the base camp. The best option in this case, proceed as follows - brew tea, cool slightly and pour into a plastic bottle (0.5 or 1 liter). In the summer, this will be enough to keep the tea in the bottle warm for several hours. Then there will be a snack time and you can make hot tea on the burner. If we are talking about a winter hike, then a thermos is an extra thing in terms of weight. The fact is that when you drink at high physical activity a lot of water, it negatively affects the work of the heart. Water while running, brisk walking or other physical activities can be drunk only in small sips so that the mouth does not dry out. For these purposes, again, a plastic bottle with warm tea boiled in the morning will be enough for you. If you wrap a flask with hot tea in foil and hide it in something warm from things, and then put it in the backpack valve, then the tea will even severe frost will not become icy in a couple of hours. It will just be cold. In this way, removing a thermos from your backpack, you will save yourself free 500-700 gr. weight.

Karemat (foam, tourist rug). There are varieties of karemats great amount. The average weight of standard tourist rugs is up to 500-600 gr. And now let's try and save 300 grams here.

Cosmetic accessories.
Things like soap, toothpaste, shampoo, wet wipes, sunblock and chapping cream - stock up for exactly the time your trip will last. This means that if you use a large bar of soap in an urban environment for a month, then you don’t need to pull the same bar of soap into the mountains. Cut it in half and pack it in a bag, the soap dish will also be extra grams of weight in this case. Calculate toothpaste exactly for the time of the trip, as a rule, a small tube is enough for 2 and 3 weeks.

If you calculate everything correctly with cosmetic and bath accessories, you are guaranteed to win another 1 kg of free weight.

First aid kit.
Try to pour all liquid substances: alcohol, brilliant green, peroxide into plastic cones. Remove the tablets from the cardboard packaging - leave only the instructions for them and drag them with an elastic band so that in the end all the instructions do not get confused with the rest of the tablets.

And finally, we come to the most important issue - the correct preparation of products for weight loss on a camping trip.

Cereals, salt, sugar and other bulk components must be poured into plastic bottles from mineral water in advance.
Tea (bags) shift into a bag; pour tea (leaf) into a plastic bottle.
Instead of heavy stew, it is recommended to make freeze-dried meat or jerky. Such meat goes well with any cereals and potatoes.
Soups use those for instant cooking in bags. They are not as tasty as freshly cooked vegetables, but they weigh three times less.
Do not take fresh onions on a hike, only dried ones. It can be added later to any dishes.
Buy things like condensed milk only in bags. This will save you a lot of weight than if you buy in cans.
Potatoes also need to be bought freeze-dried - soluble in sachets. Perhaps some will be surprised “but how could it be otherwise?”, But there were cases when several kg of fresh potatoes, carrots and onions were taken on a mountain hike. The consequences are obvious.
Instead of bread and crackers, it is recommended to take cornbread on a hike. Their advantage over bread is their super light weight; advantage over crackers cut into cubes for compactness - you can spread pate, butter, like on bread.
Candy and other items that may contain additional packaging should also be placed in bags, this will lighten your backpack a little more.
Well, and most importantly - correctly calculate the food layout in grams per person per day.

And in conclusion, I would like to remind you that a properly packed and weight-balanced backpack will also make your trip easier for many days.

Very often, tourists who see a beautiful route on the club’s website have a question: “Is it possible to visit these places without a backpack?”. Offered different variants: from porters to jeeps and minibuses that will carry things from one parking lot to another. However, this option not only increases the cost of the trip, but also deprives the trip of the very romance that people go to the mountains for.

Travel backpack weight

Once upon a time, the best equipment was big down sleeping bags, canvas tents, woolen sweaters and cast-iron kettles. All this is long in the past, progress does not stand still, equipment is lightened, it becomes possible to take more electronics and a variety of food with you on a hike. In general, give free rein to a tourist and he will pick up so many things on a hike that he will need a couple of cars to carry it all. But when this heap of things has to be carried in a heavy backpack, the situation immediately changes, and the impressions of the trip can be spoiled.

An adult and physically strong man can carry a backpack weighing thirty to forty kilograms behind his back. But is it necessary? It's not just about muscle endurance. There are also joints for which such a weight is a destructive load. In addition, in order to pass through the mountains at a good pace twenty kilometers a day with such a weight, you need to be a very athletic person. A hike usually lasts from a week to two, and carrying such a heavy backpack all this time is unhealthy, even if you are an ardent bodybuilder. It is much more adequate to take a backpack weighing 12-20 kg with you and plan your vacation in such a way that you do not need more things.

It is clear that the weight of the backpack in winter will increase due to warm clothes. If there is no water at any parking lot, you will have to carry it there, and if there are no places on the route where you can buy food, then you will have to collect a lot of provisions. Therefore, when planning a trip, you need to focus on your physical form. Will you be able to carry 5-6 kg of groceries? Or is it better to make visits to the villages every third day and carry 2-3 kg of food? Do you need to go to the top of this mountain or is it better to stop at its foot in the parking lot where there is a spring? These are all questions you should ask yourself when planning your itinerary.

Basic backpack weight

There is such a term - the basic weight of the backpack. This is the weight of your shoulder friend without provisions, water and other consumables. With the basic weight of the backpack, you can and should work. For starters, you can pick up lighter clothes: fleece, thermal underwear, membrane. Then you can think about the weight of dishes and personal hygiene items. Finally, the backpack itself. Today there are pretty good models with a rigid back, the weight of which does not exceed one kilogram. More expensive and better tents also don't weigh as much as their cheaper counterparts.

Believe that a lighter backpack will give you joy, even if you are a very athletic person. You will be able to climb the mountain without being out of breath, develop a fairly decent pace, and if necessary, even help one of the less efficient tourists.

September 29th, 2015 , 09:18 am

The correct answer is to each his own. But what is this one? I want to reflect on this from my position - the position of an amateur who managed to go on a two-day hike through rough hilly terrain with a backpack that weighed 40 kilograms.

I say right away that this text is about special tourist or trekking backpacks, with an anatomical back, a metal frame, a waist belt, etc. If you want to go on a long hike with an army duffel bag - your right, but I'm not my own enemy :)

On the Internet there is no (well, at least I did not find) a clear answer to the question of the maximum weight of a backpack. There are two main options:

The first option: the maximum weight of the backpack should be no more than 30 percent of your body weight. According to this version, the maximum allowable weight of my backpack should be 24.9 kilograms (my own weight is 83 kg), which means I exceeded the norm by 15.1 kg.

The second option: calculate the maximum weight according to the formula: [your height in centimeters minus 100] divided by 5. This calculation is for women, men can add another 3-5 kg to the result. My height is 192 cm, subtract 100, we get 92. 92/5=18.4. Add another 5 kg "for men" and get 23.4 kg. According to this formula, I overloaded myself by 16.6 kg.

But these are all very approximate figures that do not take into account the complexity of the route (mountains or plains, crossroads or trails, etc.), sports training, health status, etc. I, as an amateur, came to the following conclusion: this is the maximum weight with the maximum preparedness of a person and the simplest path. Why did I come to this conclusion? Yes, simply because I was walking with a backpack at half my own weight (I remind you, my weight is 83 kg), although at an intersection with hills, it was far from the most difficult route in my amateurish opinion. He walked only two days and managed to curse himself many times for not leaving half of the things at home.

To complete the picture, it is worth noting that, with all this, I am very friendly with sports, I don’t smoke and absolutely (i.e. never at all and not how much) I don’t drink alcohol. The working weight of the deadlift in the last approach (4-6 reps) is 120 kg - this is just to understand that I am wildly tired of carrying 40 kg on myself, not because I am "rickets" or "dystrophic".

In general, there is a simple rule for everyone - take only the most necessary. If you are in doubt whether something that you plan to take with you will come in handy, then it definitely won’t come in handy, and it’s better to leave it at home.

I absolutely did not need a 6-kilogram (!!!) tripod. No, I would love to shoot landscapes from a tripod, but when you are sweating while trying to get over the 4th hill, once again take off your backpack, get a tripod from there, and then pack everything back, there is no desire.

The second thing to do is to replace bulky equipment with its lighter counterparts. I am the "happy" owner of a four-seater tent, which is already more than 15 years old, it was sewn in the 90s by industrious Chinese from something wildly heavy by modern standards, and weighs about 8 kg. Instead, you could take something modern two (or even three) times lighter. It would also be nice for me to take a small headlamp instead of my huge flashlight, well, and some things were better not to take at all.

In the end, here are my amateurish conclusions:

1) If you are not sure that you really need a thing on a hike, do not take it;
2) Think about the fact that something from the necessary can be replaced with a lighter analogue;
3) The weight of the backpack is 30% of its own weight - this is only if you are a very trained athlete. Otherwise - 20% of its own weight, no more.

That's all. All the best!

It would seem that the answer to this question is so obvious that it can not be answered. Nevertheless, those who are not familiar with lightness, having heard about it, now and then argue that it is dangerous, expensive, uncomfortable, uninteresting, etc. Let's try to dispel these myths and show the advantages of light-weight tourism:

1. It's more comfortable

Modern ultra-lightweight materials and methods allow you to maintain the same level of warmth, dryness and safety as more traditional equipment. Who will argue that carrying 8 kg instead of 16 kg is uncomfortable?

2. You will walk faster and see more - if you wish, of course!

The experience of light trekkers shows that when switching to ultra-light equipment, backpackers can often cover twice as many kilometers per day as before. However, it is not necessary to increase the mileage of crossings. You can simply cover the same distance faster and then rest longer. And you can go at the same speed, while spending much less energy. When walking with a light backpack, it is easier to look around and enjoy nature than with a heavy backpack.

3. Become more mobile

Overcoming physical obstacles is much easier with a light backpack on your shoulders. The step becomes more elastic and manageable, the muscles get tired less. It is easier to cross difficult sections of the trail. It is possible to take a backpack with you when climbing to the top and go down a different route instead of leaving a heavy backpack at the foot of the mountain and then returning for it.

4. Reduce the risk of injury

The load on the spine, legs, knees, ankles and feet is small when carrying a light backpack weighing 5-10 kg. A heavy backpack significantly increases the risk of joint injuries. In the West, many middle-aged people who stopped hiking due to injury have now returned to their favorite activity thanks to ultra-light gear and are often walking faster and further than before.

5. Increase your security

Lightwalkers are less likely to feel a false sense of security, hoping that their equipment will always help them out. Experienced light walkers have learned to make do with the bare minimum of carefully selected equipment and have gained the experience and knowledge necessary to make informed decisions and use all the resources at their disposal. If an unforeseen problem arises during the trip, b O The greater mobility of light-movers will help them get out of a dangerous situation faster.

6. Reduce your impact on the environment

Heavy equipment requires more raw materials to craft and takes up more landfill space. The footprints of heavy boots cut deeper into the ground. Shorter routes of "heavy vehicles" lead to excessive use of tourist camps located near highways. The ease of movement contributes to the reduction of these negative impacts on the environment.

7. You will spend less money

Compared to fashion gear famous brands, ultralight equipment is usually cheaper ( this applies to everything except down products and is generally true in the States, but not in the CIS, where the lower purchasing power of the population determines the choice of equipment less expensive brands ). In addition, in most cases, you can make light equipment yourself by spending a moderate amount of money on materials. Plus, walking light is more enjoyable, and you'll probably go hiking more often. So, equipment purchases will pay off faster!

8. You will merge more with nature

A minimalist approach to being in nature will make it easier to switch from urban life to the conditions of the wild, where everything that makes us flee to the mountains, forest and desert is not there. Ultra-light equipment contributes to the removal of barriers between man and nature.

hedgehogs.ru

Optimal backpack weight.

Optimal backpack weight.

The norm of the weight of the backpack in the campaign.

Travel backpack weight

Basic backpack weight

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