What to do with two old packs

[Wandering Daisy]

Yes, nobody wants a used climbing rope. And dynamic climbing ropes are not that good for home projects. They are too stretchy. I used some for a swing for the grandkids when they were little, but they did not weigh much. Fishing net for a whale?

[bobby49]

Did I say that they were used climbing ropes? The 1000 feet includes mostly new, some used, some dynamic, some static, and in a variety of diameters and lengths.

[rlown]

Macramé' But on the packs, donate them.

[Wandering Daisy]

Here is what I ended up with combining my two old packs. It weighs 27 pounds for a 6 day trip, with Bearikade Weekender, Crocks for wading, camera, InReach Mini (I attach these to the shoulder straps), and bear spray (yes I know it is illegal). My sleeping pad (x-small Pro lite) has a slow leak so I replaced it with my husbands sleeping pad (small Pro-lite, which he now longer uses) and because his is longer, I can supplement with a short closed cell REI blue foam pad, in the orange stuff sack tied to the back of the pack, for my feet instead of a longer one. Weight comes out the same (14.2 oz). The Granite Gear lid is removable and larger than the one that came with the Bergen's pack.

All my gear fits perfectly! And I really like the removable lid. I am fishing this trip; all fishing gear weighs 9.3 oz. Fishing rod case is a piece of spit-foam pipe insulation. Food 7.8 pounds (1.3 pounds per day). Probably too much if I am successful with fishing. My sleeping bag is good for 10-degrees. A bit light on clothing, but I think it will be OK given warming conditions next week. Am debating leaving out the Crocks and just put up with wading in my hiking shoes. If I keep the Crocks (10 oz), I may lash them on the top of the lid (another thing I like about the GG lid- it has loops for lashing). The water bottle is a 1-liter Bothous Carrot Juice container- I like it because it is somewhat square and fits better in the outside pocket- very light too- 1.4 oz.

My Tarptent Notch (2.2 pounds with stakes and Tyvak ground cloth) weighs a bit more then my last trip, because I replaced four stakes with larger ones since I had such troubles setting up last trip with the soft ground with the stakes that came with the tent. The tent sets up on trekking poles but has four short poles for the ends. I replaced the originals with 3/4 inch shorter ones that my husband made from old arrow shafts, so the tent fits horizontally in the pack at the bottom. The Bergen's pack has a zipper that allows me to access the bottom of the pack without unpacking the top- so the tent is very available even if at the bottom. Bear can is at the top, horizontally.

I will see how this works! Leaving Wed for a trip out of Hetch-Hetchy. Lots of possibilities- probably will not go to Edyth, Jack Main is the real goal, probably will do Berrup Lake and Vernon. Weather report looks good.

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[bobby49]

"Am debating leaving out the Crocks and just put up with wading in my hiking shoes."

In the recent years, I've used 3-oz or 5-oz per pair water socks. You could save five ounces right there!

Also, check out your water bottle. For many years now I've used standard 32-oz Gatorade bottles for a combination of durability and light weight.

I keep my total shelter weight under one pound. Long thin titanium stakes work good. Let Cuben Fiber be your friend.

[Wandering Daisy]

Friend Cuben Fiber hangs out in high dollar places! For now, my pack weight is fine with me. Maybe I will see this differently in a few years as I get even older! What makes more sense is to get a summer sleeping bag - no need for a 10-degree bag for summer Sierra trips. That would save me the same weight.

As for water socks, I have really tender feet and not sure I could stand to wade rocky creek beds in them. But I could get them big enough to slip in inner soles. Where do you buy water socks?

[bobby49]

"As for water socks, I have really tender feet and not sure I could stand to wade rocky creek beds in them. But I could get them big enough to slip in inner soles. Where do you buy water socks?"

The ones that I had a few years ago were thin and did not provide much protection from rocks. Then I got some others that have a very thin rubber sole (which explains why they went from 3 oz to 5 oz. If you do slip in some inner soles, I would wager that very little is needed.

Where do we buy these? The simple answer is online. I have no idea who the vendors are today. That market changes from year to year.

Cuben Fiber backpacks can be pricey, especially if you buy the nice pretty ones with lots of frills. Years ago I purchased a barely-used one from Zpacks, and that has turned out nicely. I mean, it looks like very old Cuben Fiber, but the stitching is still good. There are no worn-out spots. The hipbelt and shoulder strap padding is old and a bit compressed, but it still works. With a DIY waist pouch added, the total weight is under one pound. I wrap my foam pad around my bear canister, and then slide it vertically down inside.

[Harlen]

WD wrote:

Crown Victoria 60L pack-which unbelievably, has a smaller top bag circumference, making the bear can a very tight fit which has worn holes where the bear can rubs. The back of the pack is hard as a rock and rubs me raw.

Darn! I just bought another Granite Gear Crown 60 for Lizzie. I've been pretty happy with mine overall, which I bought partly because I thought you recommended them. When I switched to it, I was mainly worried that it would blow out with heavy winter loads, and that hasn't happened. I just tested that pack strength on a workout by filling it with 80 lbs. of river rocks and bar-bells, and carried it for 5 miles of hills. The pack performed just fine, however I suffered a lot. My only complaint re. the Granite pack is that the capacity of the "floating lid" is too low. Big floating lids are an essential feature for a small backpack because it allows us to convert it into a large capacity pack with no added weight.

Our big Bear vault cans do just barely fit in the middle of the pack, where we would like them, but they fit easily at the very bottom, or under the lid.

Like you Daisy, Lizzie and I both like the way our old Kelty packs carry big loads.

bobby49 writes:

Worse, what do I do with 1000 feet of rope?

Give it to an arborist.

[Wandering Daisy]

If the back board is uncomfortable for Lizzy (it was for me), then just put a folded square of blue foam near your back (or make some other padding- the blue foam is really sweaty). That is what I had to do for it to work for me. Often a men's large has more capacity than a women's medium. It will be interesting to see if her pack fits the bear can as well as yours. As for the lid being "small" it is a lot larger than the one on my Bergen's Pack. The other problem I had was that even with the hip belt cinched as tight as it would go, it was too loose. There again, the blue foam pad on my back solved that problem too. I am not sure you can order different hip belt sizes for GG packs. I thought they ran really large. The woman's medium was really too big for me.

As someone else has said, the "features" on the Crown Victoria are great, the comfort less so. Not that it does not carry the load, but it rubbed my back and shoulders raw.

You may relate to this; the Bergen's of Norway pack is a pack designed for ski touring. The packs are not that available. I found mine on Sierra Trading Post as an odd ball item. They tend to get a lot of surplus European stuff.

[erutan]

I have a 6oz pair of no cushion sandals that are basically vibram bottoms glued onto a non-slip(ish) surface. No toe protection for crossings, but good enough on the bottom for me and I use them for camp shoes / grabbing water as well at crossings. I used to go barefoot, so YMMV, but should/might be better than a water sock?

They've gone up noticeably in price since I got mine, but the site has 25% etc sales occasionally:

https://shammasandals.com/collections/s ... rs-sandals