I’m working on finalizing my gear and supplies for the upcoming BMT fastpack. After the first round, my pack weighs 6.5 pounds. This includes the pack itself, shelter, rain gear, warm clothing, med kit & emergency supplies, tolietries, water filter, headlamp with extra batteries, bear bag kit, and (of course) map and compass. This does not include the SPOT GPS tracker that I will be renting (+ 0.5 lb), water, or food. I’m tentatively estimating 12 lbs of food at the start, which I think will be in the neighborhood of 22-24,000 calories. Food packing will be this weekend, however.
This seems like a very reasonable base weight for a 300 mile backcountry fastpack, but I’m still wondering if there is anything I can safely cut out. Plus, I’m sure I’ve forgotten something that will need to be added.
It seems like this adventure has snuck up on me! Less than 10 days and counting!..with plenty more packing and planning, and thinking about packing, and re-packing, and re-thinking the planning. Rinse and repeat 10 times. Whew, I’m tired already.
Charlie — It’s great that you doing this! I wish I could too. About how many days do you think it will take?
For equipment, do you have a knife or multi-tool? I know they are heavy, but I always feel better carrying one and I have used mine many times racing or backpacking.
For the rest of the gear, if you have time to list out the brand and model, that would be great. Same for food — I’d be interested to see how much like race food vs. backpack food it is for you.
/Sean
charlie Reply:
May 13th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Hey Sean, I’m approaching this more like a race, which is definitely affecting my food and gear choices. I’m tentatively thinking that 30-40% of my calories will be from Perp and SE (the new Caffe Latte Perpetuem totally rocks! ), and the rest comprised of a careful selection of real foods. I’m still trying to get it all figured out and tested. I’ll do a detailed post of my gear and food once it is finalized.
My goal is 5-7 days for finishing. I’m going in “self-sufficient” style…no support or drop bags. The original idea was to see just how fast the trail can be done in this style. It would be nice to go out on a leisurely trek, but I barely am able to get away from work for this long! :-(
Oh, and yes, I’m definitely carrying a knife.