Backpack Base Weight & Gear List
Build a gear list and get an honest base weight, skin-out total and a breakdown showing where the weight actually is — usually not where people think.
Grams instead of ounces? Type the grams and add “g” — e.g. 370g in the weight box.
Gear list
| Item | Category | Slot | Qty | Each | Total |
|---|
What base weight actually means
Base weight is everything in your pack that you do not eat, drink or burn. Food, water and fuel are excluded because they shrink as you walk, so base weight is the one number that stays the same all trip and can be compared between hikers. Ten pounds is the recognised ultralight threshold; twenty is comfortable and unexotic.
Worn items are tracked separately rather than ignored, because "worn weight" is the standard way people quietly cheat their own numbers. A three-pound jacket is three pounds whether it is on your back or in it. The skin-out figure is the honest total.
Where to cut: almost always the big three — pack, shelter and sleep system. They are shown separately above for exactly that reason. Shaving grams off a toothbrush is a well-known way to feel productive while changing nothing.
How to use
- List every item with its real weighed weight.
- Mark consumables separately from base weight.
- Read the breakdown by category.
- Attack the big three before shaving grams elsewhere.
Frequently asked questions
What is base weight?
Everything in and on your pack except consumables — so excluding food, water and fuel, which vary through the trip. It is the figure people compare because it is the part you control by gear choice rather than by trip length.
What are the big three?
Pack, shelter and sleep system, which together typically dominate base weight. Reducing them delivers far more than optimising small items, and the common mistake is agonising over a titanium spork while carrying a pack twice as heavy as it needs to be.
What is skin-out weight?
Everything you carry or wear, including clothing, boots, trekking poles and what is in your pockets. It is the honest total, and it is considerably higher than base weight. Quoting a low base weight while wearing three kilograms of clothing is a well-known way to make a number look better than the load.
Should I weigh items myself?
Yes. Manufacturer figures are often optimistic, sometimes quote the smallest size, and frequently exclude stuff sacks, stakes or guy lines. A cheap kitchen scale reliably finds several hundred grams of difference between the listed and actual weight of a gear list.
What weight should I aim for?
It depends entirely on the trip, the conditions and your own tolerance, and any single target is arbitrary. The more useful question is whether each item earns its weight for this specific trip — a fixed number encourages leaving behind something you needed.
Is lighter always better?
No, and this is where the pursuit goes wrong. Cutting insulation, shelter or safety equipment to hit a number is how people get cold, wet or into trouble. Lighter gear is worth having; carrying less than the conditions require is a different thing entirely.
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