Pack list help... and hello...

[Latitude42]

Ok,
I'm back from the Island.... here are some insights. For those who have been there, probably nothing new, for those who haven't, there might be some useful info here....
I knew I was packing heavy, everything I was going to leave home I received the reply "If you don't want to carry it, I will..." so, the heaviest thing I brought was my wife!!! LOL...
Sorry, had to through that tidbit in... anyway, at the scale at Windigo with H20 I was at......67lb. !!!!!!!
Well, you can guess, a mile into the hike to Island Mine I knew I was in trouble. I adjusted my pack every which way, but it was no use. So like a pack mule I trudged on till we made camp. (a side note.. GPS says Island Mine is 6.8 miles from Windigo, not the posted 5.8 ) Took off pack at camp and tried to walk... legs were going up to knee height with each step... it had to be funny to watch!!!! Made camp, ate and decided to regroup. Decided that we "could" make it across the island, but no fun would be had in doing so, so we would head back to Windigo, grab a shelter and base camp it for the rest of the trip. (smartest decision the whole trip)
Had a great time after we made it back to Washington Creek in the pouring rain and found a shelter. Hiked day hikes till we departed.
OK, lessons learned.....
Go lite on the stove.... although my Whisperlite worked great, it was heavy and so was the fuel. Also I only used the 22oz. bottle that hooked to the stove and had some left at the end of the trip... I brought 32oz. too much!!!!!! I will be buying a MSR MicroRocket and only take one 8oz. fuel cell good for 12 liters of boiling. I'll save over 3.5 lb.!

H20...Carry what you will need on the trail and filter for cooking when you get to your site... I carried two 1 liter bottles along with my 3 liter Camelback... TOO much, I will carry an EMPTY 1 liter bottle though... weight savings 4 lb.!

Rain tarp... it rained EVERY DAY!!!!! I think you need one on the island, however, at 2lb. mine was too heavy... I found one that comes in at 10 oz.

Rain clothes.... a MUST have... mine were too heavy, coat and pants... found some with a 20 oz. weight for the set.

Bug shirt... bring a light weight head net, treat clothes, leave bug shirt home.... didn't use it, only had one bite.... early season though...

NO COTTON CLOTHES!!!!! except undies....

Food.... brought back HALF of what we took... nuf said.

GPS... don't need it... it was however interesting to see actual milage and elevation gains... I'm on the shelf with that one.

VHF w/weather radio.... dont need it.... I would bring a LITE weather radio only.... many small two way radios have weather channels built in, we had MANY storms and it would be nice to know what might be coming so you can alter routes if desired...

Compass... don't need it... trails are well marked, is however very light..... on the fence.

Clothes... No cotton (except undies), I had too much .... only need two pair convertible pants (wear one), 2 t's (poly), LS T-shirt (poly),Micro fleece, socks, undies, beannie & cap with brim.

Gaiters.... worked great.... will bring again.

Flashlight... I had too many... Bring only your headlamp, your in bed by dark anyway.

Camera Gear.... BIGGIE.... I brought Nikon DSLR, Two lens's, three batteries, ipod touch4, three batteries (rechargers).... TOO MUCH STUFF!!!!! 6 lb. too much!!! Leave the DSLR... I took 3 hours of video and dozens of pics with just my ipod and only used one recharger... that is what I'll take in the future.

During our day hikes (up to 7 miles) I carried 30 lb. in my pack to see what weight is workable... I want my future pack to weigh about 35lb., I could hike all day with that... 40 would be the absolute max I would carry in the future, but 35 is achievable.

As a side note... do not vacuum pack tortillas, they compress together and do NOT come apart!!!

Hope this helps someone....
Happy Hiking!!!!

Latitude42

[Ingo]

Good insights! Glad you were able to adjust and have a good trip. I would say No cotton clothing, without exception, however. I have and will continue to carry my Nikon DSLR, however, but that is important to me and one of the reasons I go (I only carry 1 lens though, 28-200mm). My spreadsheet has my initial trail weight at 43 lbs for a week long trip--hoping to get it down to 40 .

[Midwest Ed]

You are not alone. I've been right there with you on my first trip to the Island. On my first trip I was in worse shape from a weight perspective and totally clueless. I think I was at 80 pounds for a 4 day trip, not to mention all the blisters after the first day.

Retreating to base camp was the only solution.

You seem to be recovering nicely and firmly headed in the right direction. Have you considered leaving your "heaviest thing" at home next time? Sorry, I couldn't resist.

One suggestion, keep the compass. I consider a compass in the survival column. Get a lighter one if it still bugs you. Ditch the GPS first.

~Ed

[srparr]

Welcome back Latitude42!

Thank you for letting us know how it went! I'm glad you had the courage to change your trip plans on the fly once you "hit the ground" on the island. Being willing to adjust rather than "do or die" often makes the difference between enjoying your vacation or suffering thru it.

My first trip was also "heavy", plagued by rain, had to have the route revised ... and I enjoyed it enough to become a regular visitor! Each visit after that has seen my pack getting lighter and my routes more ambitious (though they sometimes they still have to be revised based on the situation).

Trips either go as planned or you have stories to tell.

[DonNewcomb]

About the only cotton I pack now is a handkerchief for cleaning my glasses. If it's really warm I may wear very light, open cotton shirts, like Aloha shirts. Generally the cotton stays at home.

Once upon a time, long long ago, my wife pulled one of those, "If you don't carry it, I will." routines. It was about the tent. I'm sure glad she did. It rained that night. We'd have been really miserable without that tent.

[LeftOvers]

Ditto on the comments above. Thanks for writing up your post-trip thoughts, Latitude42. With the rainy weather it was probably very nice to be in a shelter the whole time.

As you mention in your excellent post trip analysis, you don't need a lot of flashlight gear. This time of year there's about 16 hours of daylight up there. A whistle is a good light-weight emergency item. It has a much longer "range" than an emergency strobe and works in daylight & in the dark. You can blow a whistle longer than you can shout for help.

Compass? I wouldn't start a hike (day or week) without one even with a GPS unit. It's too light to leave behind and too useful if you're lost. It's fun for identifying features using a map. ("What mountain is that in the distance?" "Oh, it's 40 degrees east from here, it must be..."). It works without batteries, day or night, under cloudy skies or dense tree cover.

Your comments about kerosene and some of the replies are making me reconsider my stove/fuel choices. I don't care for canister fuel stoves - from my measurements, half the weight is the canister and only half is fuel. And the canister ends up in a landfill somewhere. Charcoal lighting fluid. I'm going to do some tests with my two MSR multi-fuel stoves. Do stoves need to be cleaned more often? How does it perform in cooler weather (25-50F)? I've started a new thread on this.
http://isleroyaleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1873