I thought it might be useful to list all of the items I took for last weekend’s 2-night backpacking trek to the South Rim.
Overall, my pack and its contents weighed 47 pounds, 7.4 ounces at the trailhead, of which 27 pounds, 6.3 ounces was WATER. I decided to carry 3+ gallons (420 fluid ounces), and I used all but 24 ounces of it (94% consumed), and only that had amount left because it was very cool when I sped down Laguna Meadow trail. So, 58% of the pack’s weight was water.
Counting the 6 pounds, 0.9 ounces of clothing and other carried items, my total trailhead weight was 53 pounds, 8.3 ounces.
This is what I carried and wore:
PACK
GoLite Odyssey 90-liter men’s pack (1,579g/55.7oz)
Kiva Key-Chain Pack (60g/2.1 oz)
SHELTER
Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo in stuff sack (665g/23.5oz)
Ground sheet (190g/6.7oz)
Stakes in plastic sleeve (42g/1.5oz)
SLEEPING
REI Sub Kilo +20 men’s regular bag in trash bag (949g/33.5oz)
Therm-a-Rest ProLite 3 small inflatable pad (409g/14.4oz)
PACK+SHELTER+SLEEPING: 3,894g/137.4oz (8#9.4oz)
CLOTHES–IN PACK
Base: REI MTS wool long-sleeve shirt (247g/8.7oz)
Base: REI MTS wool pants (194g/6.8oz)
Base: Pair of wool socks (156g/5.5oz)
Insulating: Columbia 100 fleece pullover top (221g/7.8oz)
Insulating: REI Polartec 200 fleece pants (231g/8.1oz)
Insulating: Wool beanie (83g/2.9oz)
Extra: Alpine Design poly T-shirt (199g/7.0oz)
Extra: Bandanna (27g/1.0oz)


CLOTHES–ON PERSON
Magellan Sportswear nylon convertible pants (365g/12.9oz)
Columbia Sportswear nylon long-sleeve shirt (262g/9.2oz)
Cloth belt (104g/3.7oz)
Pair of hiking socks (132g/4.7oz)
Brimmed hat (87g/3.1oz)
Bandanna (26g/0.9oz)
Sunglasses (30g/1.1oz)
Vasque Catalyst Mid XCR boots with gel inserts (1,229g/43.4oz)
TREKKING POLE (286g/10.1oz)
CAMP CHAIR (301g/10.6oz)
CAMERA GEAR
Canon PowerShot G9 with battery and memory card (363g/12.8oz)
Tamrac camera bag (122g/4.3oz)
Spare battery (44g/1.6oz)
Additional memory card in plastic case (4g/0.1oz)
Gorilla pod (45g/1.6oz)
Lens cleaning cloth (3g/0.1oz)
HYDRATION
100oz Camelback insulated reservoir with drinking tube (356g/12.6oz)
2 Platypus 2-liter collapsible bottles (74g/2.6oz)
Reliance 1-gallon collapsible bottle (104g/3.7oz)
Nalgene wide-mouth bottle (111g/3.9oz)
COOKING
Lexan spoon (9g/0.3oz)
Swiss army knife (82g/2.9oz)
LIGHT
Petzl Tikka Plus in soft sack (91g/3.2oz)
Keychain light on clip (16g/0.6oz)
PERSONAL CARE
First-Aid Kit in Outdoor Research bag (186g/6.6oz) — See below for what’s in it
Ace Bandage in shrinkwrap (22g/0.8oz)
Plastic trowel with duct tape (76g/2.7oz)
Toilet paper in zip-loc bag (28g/1.0oz)
Small package of anti-bacterial wipes (71g/2.5oz)
Tube of SP30 sunscreen (32g/1.1oz)
Toothbrush (15g/0.5oz)
Small tube of toothpaste (16g/0.6oz)
Small stick deodorant (59g/2.1oz)
Small stick body glide (30g/1.1oz)
Small pair scissors (12g/0.4oz)
Tube lip balm (10g/0.4oz)
Mini liquid hand sanitizer (26g/0.9oz)
Spare boot lace (16g/0.6oz)
Stuff sack (13g/0.5oz)
ELECTRONICS
Garmin GPS Map 60CSx with clip and batteries (220g/7.8oz)
Extra AAA batteries for light (23g/0.8oz)
MISCELLANEOUS
Bags for storage/trash (65g/2.3oz)
Carabiner with thermometer/compass (21g/0.7oz)
Food stuff sack (18g/0.6oz)
Carabiner (12g/0.4oz)
Map (6g/0.2oz)
SUBTOTAL, PACK AND CONTENTS: 7,728g/272.6oz (17#0.6oz)
* before food and water
FOOD
2 Mountain House meals, repackaged in zip-locs (302g/10.7oz) = 1180 Cal
2 granola bars (76g/2.7oz) = 280 Cal
2 Hammer gels (78g/2.8oz) = 180 Cal
6 wedges cheese (189g/6.7oz) = 540 Cal
2 individual peanut butters (137g/4.8oz) = 780 Cal
Sliced pepperoni (210g/7.4oz) = 880 Cal
Summer sausage (222g/7.8oz) = 595 Cal
Animal-shaped cookies (153g/5.4oz) = 700 Cal
4 drink mixes (9g/0.3oz) = 20 Cal
SUBTOTAL, PACK, CONTENTS AND FOOD: 9,104g/321.1oz (20#1.1oz)
WATER
100 ounces in Camelbak reservoir (2,960g/104.4oz)
160 ounces in two Platypus bottles (4,730g/166.8oz)
128 ounces in Reliance bottle (3,785g/133.5oz)
32 ounces in Nalgene bottle (950g/33.5oz)
TOTAL PACK WEIGHT: 21,529g/759.4oz (47#7.4oz)
SUBTOTAL, CARRIED ITEMS: 2,747g/96.9oz (6#0.9oz)
TOTAL WEIGHT CARRIED FROM TRAILHEAD: 24,276g/856.3oz (53#8.3oz)
NORMAL ITEMS LEFT BEHIND
Stove, pot, and fuel — someone else brought that
Water filter and backup iodine — no water in the mountains to treat
Rain shell and pack cover — no rain in forecast
Source of fire — someone else had some
Emergency whistle — oversight, should have been included
Signaling mirror — on familiar, established, popular trails
Camp shoes — always wish I had brought them
Full-size tripod — went with the Gorillapod since I was using a smaller camera
The first aid kit contains a tube of 2.5% hydrocortisone, small tube of Genteal eye gel, lip balm, tube of antibiotic creme, 8 antacids, 8 painkillers, 2 tooth flossers, nail file, 4 blister gels, moleskin sheet, 2 antiseptic towlettes, 3 large bandaids, 2 small bandaids, 4 wound closure strips, my prescription drugs, tweezers, and nail clippers. As noted, an ace bandage roll is packed separately.

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