Warin wrote:Do some overnights with the Atmos and see how the sizing suits.
Rather than target the backpack, I'd target your sleeping bag. What limits the reduction of backpack weight/size is what you need to put in it. By reducing the size/weight of your sleeping bag you then open the opportunity to reduce the backpack.
The Atmos is a good comfortable pack .. use it for a year and see what you might improve.. including size and load.
Note: similar range of sleeping bags/quilts as there are for backpacks. Need to identify what suits you and what temperatures you will be experiencing.
Moondog55 wrote:What Warin said
There's no real functional difference between a 58 litre pack and a 65 litre pack, and far better a bigger pack with everything inside it. Fit and comfort is the important thing with packs once the capacity is right.
Lamont wrote:Welcome along.
You'll first need to work out the volume of all your gear.
Especially as you say you don't want to get a sack bigger than what you need and are trying to avoid 'overkill'.
No-one can really say what volume you need unless they know the volume of your gear.
Baseweight (the accepted definition) is the weight of everything minus your water, food and fuel. So your true baseweight is quite a bit more than you quoted. The usual thing and the best thing to do first I'd say is stick all your gear in a box, packed the way you would in a rucksack (roughly)-do the sums. L x W x H and get a volume.
Weigh it when it's all loaded up as well. Allow about a kg of food per day and don't forget water weight. I usually factor on carrying 1.5L/1.5kg into the equation.
At least then you have a starting point. Otherwise it's all just largely guess work, which is fine if that's the way you want to go.
You'll likely need a smaller sack as you buy lighter (and less voluminous) gear anyway and there's probably no way around that. Or your first rucky becomes your Winter one and you get a smaller one for summer?
All the best.
Ms_Mudd wrote:I agree with the others, you have ordered a good quality bag to get you going.
As you tweak gear maybe you will want something different, maybe not. By the time you add fuel, food, water, clothes for a multiday walk, you will likely be creeping up a bit higher in weight than anticipated. The Atmos will carry a heavier load comfortably, so no pressure to minimise things yet until you work out what is important to you when out for a few days.
I had the women's equivalent, the Aura, for a few years and it served me well, whether my load was light or heavy. I would have held onto it, if I didnt lose 30kg and hip belt was too big. Oh and I also bought wrong torso size initially, but it still was comfy anyway!
Eremophila wrote:Better to start bigger and have excess room, than not enough. Spare room in your pack weighs nothing.
Once you’re satisfied the pack is actually too large for your needs - second-hand Osprey packs aren’t difficult to sell on this forum. Heck, mine was bought from a forum member. So you can recoup some of your outlay and purchase something smaller.
And then you’ll never need to buy any more gear..... right guys?
EGM wrote:Other bulky items can include clothing, particularly for cold weather and waterproofs depending on what you have.
If your pack is rated for 20kg it should be very comfy at 10 or 15kg. There are things you can do such as leaving your sleeping bag and clothes uncompressed to fill up the empty space so things aren't rattling around if it turns out your pack is too large.
Most importantly enjoy the process, refining gear over time is alot of fun and very rewarding.
rob1970 wrote:Hi Jack,
Other's have given really good advice.
When you're starting out, it's quite daunting on what you really need... we've all been there.
Putting a gear list together is really handy (for me, it's essential).
Once you've got a basic list, you just can fine tune it to suit you're style.
A couple of weeks ago, we did a hike and had sub-zero temps over night.
The gear I took was near on perfect for me... as in not too much and not too little.
Here's my gear list (as a guide for what you may need)
https://lighterpack.com/r/fvkwsm
Tazz81 wrote:I double bag! Take the pack liner regardless and then put everything into colour coded dry bags. Makes it so much easier to find everything you need when it’s organised. Also I can throw it all on the ground when setting up/packing up and don’t have to worry about mud. Last year I fell into a creek on the Port Davey (“bridge” was rotten in the middle) - by double bagging everything was dry and my pack was quite buoyant too!
rob1970 wrote:Hi Jack,
My stuff sacks are just the ones that items come with.
A small mix of DCF and zip lock's keep food and smaller items sorted.
Yes, I just use the pack liner if the weather dictates.
Al M wrote:Your initial base weight isn’t correct as it’s missing a lot of sundry items like toiletries, clothing, torch, water container etc. Given your gear it will more likely be well above 9-10kg without consumables. There are many online baseweight calculators to help you.
Some gear examples to reduce the weight would be like Big Agnes, MSR or Nemo tents around 1-1.2kg, down sleeping bag or quilt around 0 C at 600g, 1.2kg Osprey Exos 45 to 58L packs etc. Without such weight gear you would be struggling to achieve a true baseweight of less than 9kg if sticking to currently listed stuff.
I have Osprey Exos 38, 45, 58 and Lumina 45L and find the Exos 45L to be the most useful, comfortable and durable for 3-5 day hikes with 15kg loads, baseweight of 9kg.
Aussie_Camper wrote:I will be looking to upgrade my gear slowly though, don't worry fully open to being converted to the lightweight way
Warin wrote:Aussie_Camper wrote:I will be looking to upgrade my gear slowly though, don't worry fully open to being converted to the lightweight way
Do you overnighters with the gear you have, you will gain experience that is priceless.
Keep an eye on the market place on this sight - some good bargains with weight reduction, but takes time.. as you have time then that is not a problem.
The last thing you need to upgrade is the backpack as the other upgrades will impact the backpack choice.
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