What size rucksack for a weeks backpacking

Quoted message said:

I'm going to buy a rucksack for a weeks backpacking this summer (not
the trip I'm talking about in the post below), but it's been a long
time since I did anything like this. For a weeks British
Spring/Summer/Autumn walking I was thinking that a 'sack about 60l
would be suitable. Does this sound right?

Yes but that depends on:

- How small/packable your sleeping bag and tent are.
- How much food you take with you. A week's worth of food takes up
quite a bit of room. You'll have more room in your pack if you can
plan in visits to food shops and/or cafes.
- How disciplined you are in packing. This is where I have HUGE
problems!

I would advise that you get a 60 or 65 litre pack (or maybe smaller if
you know you are a lightweight or disciplined packer) and then you
have a limit to how much you can take. Camping gear seems to fill the
space available, so if you buy a huge pack you will end up filling it
....... and probably have a miserable week carrying the thing.

I use a 65 litre sack for backpacking. I would use the same pack for
an overnight camp as for a week's backpacking. I now have a 45 litre
pack and I'm planning to use that for overnight camps just as soon as
I can work out what luxuries I can do without. Food, sleeping bag and
tent look like the favourites so far!

Judith

Quoted message said:

I'm going to buy a rucksack for a weeks backpacking this summer (not
the trip I'm talking about in the post below), but it's been a long
time since I did anything like this. For a weeks British
Spring/Summer/Autumn walking I was thinking that a 'sack about 60l
would be suitable. Does this sound right?

Hi there,

Good question, and one I was asking myself on here about 9m ago 🙂 It
entirely depends on how bulky and heavy your essential items of kit
are (i.e. tent, mattress, sleeping bag, pots, waterproofs, other
clothes etc), how much food you're planning to carry with you and how
much other stuff you take. By way of illustration, I've just returned
from a 2 week backpack across Scotland on which people were carrying
packs ranging in size from just under 40L (truly exceptional) to 70L+.
I suspect that the average was probably 50-60L.

If you have the advantage of light kit that doesn't take up much space
then I'm sure you should be able to manage with a 60L sack, as long as
your food isn't too heavy/bulky. You say you're going for a week, and
if you're planning to carry a week's worth of food then that's likely
to take up a *lot* of space/add a *lot* of weight, assuming you're
taking enough to cover your nutritional needs properly. If you're
planning to eat in pubs etc, though, you'll need much less space.

The whole question of what size and sort of pack to take for that sort
of trip is quite broad, and would be well worth looking into pretty
thoroughly before you purchase a pack, bearing in mind that you say
it's a long time since you did anything like this. I'm assuming that
there will probably have been significant advances in kit size and
weight that you're unaware of. I'd check teh Google archive for this
group, using words/phrases like 'backpack', 'lighweight',
'ultra-lightweight', 'solo tent', 'one man tent', 'camping' and other
such things, and I'd also suggest taking a look over on the Outdoors
Magic forum at www.outdoorsmagic.com.

See also the following threads from this group, which I bookmarked at
the time. There's lots of useful stuff about pack sizes, kit lists
etc.

http://tinyurl.com/77sge
http://tinyurl.com/7toln

Another thing to look out for is that many packs on sale in this
country are not really designed for backpacking as such, so they tend
not to have side pockets. That sort of pack is great for
climbing/mountaineering, but as a backpacker rather than a climber I
find it very annoying to have to open up my pack to get at things I
need during the day, like snacks, first aid, flask, water (when I
carried a bottle), sunglasses, etc etc. Some North American packs
designed for backpacking are gaining ground over here now: see in
particular the packs by Osprey (www.ospreypacks.com) and Gregory
(www.gregorypacks.com). Of those, some are made in lighter versions
than others, depending on what you want to do with them, how much
weight you plan/need to carry, what features you need etc.

This really is a big topic, and a facinating one (in my perhaps
slightly sad opinion ;-) If you'd like further advice or
recommendations then why not post back with an indication of what sort
of major kit you'll be carrying i.e. what tent, mattress, sleeping bag
and stove, as well as how many days' food you plan to carry, and I'm
sure people could be more specific with their help.

Best of luck :-)

Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk

On 21/5/05 12:48, in article
[email hidden], "[email hidden]"

Quoted message said:

I'm going to buy a rucksack for a weeks backpacking this summer (not
the trip I'm talking about in the post below), but it's been a long
time since I did anything like this. For a weeks British
Spring/Summer/Autumn walking I was thinking that a 'sack about 60l
would be suitable. Does this sound right?

I think you will be talking about 60 to 70 litres. You can go with lower
capacity sacks but I find that you end up hanging too much stuff on the
outside.

They key to getting this right is to remember that size and volume is as
much an issue as weight. You need to actually get things into your pack!
And having things not too tight is quite helpful.

Backbacking in the UK you should be able to get away with one of the lighter
weight packs - have a look at the Osprey range.

--
Andy Howell
Birmingham, UK

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