December 2013
Excel spreadsheet with detailed checklist list
Everything is weighed on my Soehnle Kitchen Scales
My aim was to get my backpack weight down to at least 7.5kg, preferably below 7kg, plus 2kg of gear/clothes I'm wearing. Ian is not so fussy as the extra load isn't a problem for him. But I work on the theory that the backpack weight should not be more than 15% of body weight, and me being 52kg, means about 7.5kg. Roughly that's 1.2kg for backpack, 1.2kg for computer and charger, 1.2kg for food, eating utensils and water, 1.2kg for maps and passports etc, 1.2kg for toiletries, rain gear and gloves etc and 1.2kg for one change of clothes and PJ's. That's about 7.2kg
Whenever I go shopping for travel gear, I always bring along my Soehnle kitchen scales. It's amazing how you can strip 3kg off the weight just by being careful.
By the time we hit Zermatt, my backpack weight had crept up to almost 8kg. I couldn't resist the French toiletries on the Air France Flight and the extra Mick's nuts that each of us brought to have with the pre dinner drinks after a day's hike.