My pack weight dropped 9 pounds after I finally measured my gear properly

For about 3 years I just guessed what my gear weighed. I would look at a sleeping bag and think, "that feels like 3 pounds," and move on. Then a buddy on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia let me weigh my full pack on his scale at a hostel. It was 41 pounds, not the 32 I had been telling myself. That moment stung. I went home, bought a $15 luggage scale from Target, and weighed every single item. Turns out my tent stakes were 1.2 pounds just by themselves, and my old camp stove with a full fuel can was almost 2 pounds. I swapped out 4 items and dropped to 32 pounds before my next trip to Shenandoah. Has anyone else had a big gap between what they thought their pack weighed and reality?

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spencer_wood15d ago

The luggage scale is a total game changer, no doubt. I had the same rude awakening when I finally weighed my old pack and found out my "lightweight" tent was actually 5.5 pounds after the footprint and stakes. What really helped me was making a simple spreadsheet on my phone, just item by item, and I still update it after every trip. Weighing things like my cook pot and water filter separately showed me where the hidden ounces were piling up. I also started weighing my food per day, which was another big surprise, like 2 pounds just for three days of meals. That first real number stings, but it turns your whole packing mindset around, you know?