Soliciting backpacking information

After my little excursion the other day, I'm trying to figure out how some you you guys and gals pack for extended trips to the back country...most importantly how you carry all the camera gear along with your camping needs and food. If my camera and single day pack weighs 40 pounds, obviously I need to trim some things in order to carry all the other gear. Sooooo, maybe my one camera body, an 11-16mm and a 17-85mm? Tripod is a must and cant afford carbon fiber so keeping my Manfrotto with pan head. Would that be considered enough camera gear for most picture ops? Any other stuff I'm missing? I think initially I would only go for one or 2 nights at the most, then I would go into stealth mode and follow Jody

Thanks

Jack,

Try Darren's website - he put together a pretty comprehensive list of what he packs:

http://www.mycolorado.org/gear.html

Carl

40 pounds for a dayhike sounds extreme. The other thing that stands out is your lens selection. I'd sure want something longer to make the trip w/me, like a 70-200.

Bob Krist had a pretty good article on packing light (not necessarily for backpacking, though) in the latest Outdoor Photographer. I agree with Todd, though, take one lightweight body and 1-2 lenses to cover wide-angle through 200mm (this could be one lens), and one backup compact camera. I had a short blurb on electronics and camera equipment protection in Backpacker Magazine last Jan/Feb issue. Leave the camera bag at home. Pack any lenses in padded pouches, such as LowePro's lens pouches - or if the lens is small enough - into a soda can or water bottle insulator. I've also used a larger fanny pack up front for the camera gear with the backpack. This actually tends to keep you better balanced on the trail. Bring plenty of batteries and cards, of course. I'm starting to use tripods a little less for casual shooting because most of todays bodies can be adjusted up in ISO without much noise issues. The exception is low-light situations or when shooting for large prints. In many cases I can find a steady support (tree or rock) in a pinch. Otherwise, I drag along an Induro carbon-fiber tripod, which can be had for about $300, or so.

Hope this helps, Ken

I probably do not back pack as much as most; but when I do it is to be able to get sunrise/sunset. For this reason, I;d add to the conversation the importance of a split neutral density filter and holder. A polorizer is a a light weight filter to carry as well.

There's a similar thread in the Landscape Discussion Forum Here that might help out. On my last trip I had some thinking time and came up with maybe 5 or 8 pounds I could reduce by optimizing my camping gear. It would probably also help in my case to take off 10 pounds of ugly fat (without cutting off my head)

I understand that there is a gorillapod that is strong enough for DSLR and lens (up to 6.5lbs) and am wondering if anyone has tried or though of using one of these in the pack.

I went on 6 day backpack in Wind Rivers a couple of weeks ago. The food was the worse factor for that many days. I ended up just bringing the G10, but did get the lens adapter so I could at least bring a polarizer and GND for it. I have another backpacking trip this weekend in White Clouds but it is only 2 days, so can afford to bring more camera weight. However, I would like to find out about the gorillapod and bring that rather than spend the extra bucks on super lite tripod.

Wow, your camera and day pack weigh 40lbs??? My backpack for my last 6 day trip only weighed 10 more than that and I'm not what you'd call an ultra light backpacker! Anyway, I think you're on the right track for camera gear. I brought two lenses on my trip (a 17-40 and 24-70), my 5D2, a collection of filters, batteries, cards, and a relatively inexpensive (but light) Feisol carbon fiber tripod. I also used a chest pack and harness made by Think Tank which worked quite nicely to carry the camera in a readily accessible location (and still have it waterproof), otherwise I would've rarely used it while on the trail.

Yes Guy, my problem is I think I need to carry everything I own. My backpack alone weighs in at 4-5 lbs. Add a 2 liter water bladder, a camera body, 3 lenses, filters, headlamp, flash unit, first aid kit, energy bars, tuna paks, sweater, gloves, poncho, water filter and a couple extras, plus my tripod and pan head and I'm pushin 40 lbs. Doesn't leave much room to add a tent, sleep bag, pad, clothes changes, etc.. I'd like to be able to do 2-3 days trips in the future and I plan to start working out regularly but I need to learn to pack ultra light. My tent, bag and pad are light so that's a good start.

The discussion in the landscape forum is a good read - you'll find some links to ultralight backpacking sites that would be very helpful. I spent a couple of years going the super-ultralight route and I eventually migrated back to a semi-ultralight strategy. I'm willing to carry a few extra lbs. for a bit more comfort and durability.

FWIW, I just finished a 14 day thru-hike of the John Muir Trail and my maximum pack weight was 35 lbs, including several days food, water, bear canister, and a ton of camera gear (gitzo tripod, 2 L lenses, 5D, and misc. filters/batteries). By using the ultralight backpacking model as a starting point, you should be able to drop a lot of weight.

Some gear that I personally use and would recommend: Granite Gear Vapor Trail pack, Black Diamond Mega-Light tent, Marmot Helium sleeping bag, and a compact isobutane canister stove.

A couple of ideas I've thought about would be to pick up two or three lightweight primes off of eBay to use exclusively for backpacking. Also, there are some inexpensive cheezy looking tripods by Slik (like the Slik compact xl) and a few others that are very lightweight. They are on the shorter side and probably minimally functional. Not perfect equipment, but inexpensive comprimises that might help.

My overnight gear is very similar to Darren's, though my pack weight tends to be around 45 lbs. for 2-4 nights. Use the articles referenced above to trim ounces off each of the numerous items in your pack. And all those ounces will add up to a much more comfortable trip.

Late July 6 day trip to the Wind Rivers and I had 6# camera gear and still made it with a 38# pack with everything in the pack including water in the water bottles. We had fog, rain, hail, sleet and about 4 inches of snow. I took only the 18-55 lens and really didn't miss the longer lens. It was a BP trip first (no one else in the group did more than snapshots) and photography way down the list but I came back with a couple of images I like. Photography in the fog at 11,700 feet was tough.

I missed this thread earlier. Jack, this might provide some additional insight ...
http://www.jessespeer.com/MyPack.jpg

Click and enlarge it, if needed ... it's a temp pano until I can write up a good article. I'm no ultra-lighter, but I've certainly found a "barely notice my pack" comfort zone after so many years of experimenting.