Spend some money on a "good" water filter and you'll cut some weight.
If water is plentiful carry food that needs water to cook but is light without it (noodles, soup etc.)
You can mash up four packs of Ramin noodles until the noodle are about the size of rice. You can then pack all 4 into a package about the size of the original. Small package, lots of food.
Plan your trip where you eat the heaviest food first.
Write a note to yourself listing what you used on your trip, what you didn't need and what you were lacking. Put the note in the pack as a reminder to yourself for next time.
I just got back from Nevada and my pack with bow and binos was 62#- much more than I usually do on a hunt like this but I don't usually backpack in for 5-6 days.
Not as much fun with a heavy pack especially with a 2,700' climb to get into the spot-less stuff is better.
28 pounds with 4 days food and 1.5L of water to start out with.Over the years I've found what I can do without and whats worth the weight.Things like a good pad and Hiker Pro filter that will pump right into my platypus while its still in the pack.
like others have pointed out, water is a key issue when bivy hunting. if you can get down to 20 pounds plus food and water you are in good shape. weather can also be a big factor. clear days at 70 require less gear and food than snowy weather.
i have always found that i have to start out with a gallon of water unless i really know the area.
I should be out about 8 days and I am at 52lbs total weight on my list. I hauled 62lbs up the mountain last year. I believe I carry to many clothes.
Kifaru pack/ longhunter guide z lite pad under thermarest to protect thermarest/ neo air kifaru 4man tipi with liner Kifaru small stove helle knife ACS CX jet boil stove fly rod, flys, etc./tenkara or collapsible spinning 2 lighters/fire starter wet match / flashlight/fenix pd30/extra batteries head lamb/petzl/ extra 3 AAA batteries batteries/ 6 extra lithium GPS map cut map down gatorade powder x8 hot chocolate x8 camera extra string/ shelf material/ kept at truck para cord and bear/bag for food water bag 4liter tyvek sheet almonds portable water bottle with filter zone bars x8 Day 1 mountain house day 2 " " " day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 day 7 day 8 cliff bars x3 rain gear/ small pack extra socks/ theos ascent sitka pants x2 sitka transverse shirt x2 sitka 90% jacket sitka kelvin jacket sitka core bottoms sitka beanie face mask cold gear sitka gloves blue comp sack for clothes Crocs for camp tab small detergent calls bow sock fuel X2 cannister western mountaineering badger down bag throat lozengers diamox chapstick hunter wipes large 10x15 toiletries/ baby wipes dry x30 tooth brush& paste decoy/ heads up decoy wire rack
rangefinder monocular glasses cleaners allen game bags or alaskin game bags sock liners x5 platypus water system or katadyn hiker water system
I'd love to see how you folks get 4 days and 3 nights for hunting down to 30 something lbs.
I've attached a spreadsheet I originally got from BuckT4 here on the bowsite years ago. It shows my setup and the rough weight of each item. Change the days and it automatically puts in how much food to bring.
I get my pack for 3 days to be about 45 lbs with 1 liter of water.
Currious how you guys are getting so much lighter?
Thanks Pete for the spread sheet/packing list. Will be helpful for future hunts. I'm beginning right now to plan first ever diy backpack hunt for next year and appreciate all the info that all guys are so willing to share on here.
Backpacker say you should carry no more than 25% of your weight for a light pack 30% for a heavy pack. On my first bivy hunt I carried 62# for a 10 day trip. On my second I was able to cut that to 42#. For a 3-4 day bivy you should be able to get it under 35#.
I switched to a kifaru UL 3700 which dropped 4 lbs of my empty pack weight alone. The biggest difference I have than that spread sheet is clothing at 13 lbs? My clothes sack, not including what I'm wearing, but including raingear is 4.5 lbs
4lbs for a stove and gas? My pocket rocket and fuel are 13oz.
No sunscreen,bug dope, wash towel,or spare this in that for me.I have made a little rule for myself,other than first aid or survival,if I havent actually used it in the last few years then I dont take it. If Im only going for 3-4 days then I forget about all the what-ifs.Good hunting!
I just went on a 6 day bivy trip and my pack with food and all equipment was 33 pounds. my bow and water was not included. one tip i have is lay all your stuff out and go through it about 6 times on different days and keep asking your self do i really need this or chow can I shave weight off my equipment.
32# pack weight with food and water. Badlands 2800 Marmont EOS 1p tent Marmont Helium bag BA IAC pad Snow Peak stove and pot NF fleece, wool shirt,briefs,socks,cap,and long johns As show 28# without water & binos
*(doesn't include binos, GPS, or knife on my belt or in pockets.)
I use only MH meals. No pad. integral designs wing tarp, Soto OD-1R Micro Regulator Stove, MSR Miox, 700 Goose down bag, 1 set of light weight rain gear (no change clothes), titanium pan & spork, Badlands Diablo pack ....etc.
I have been back packing/ and hunting 25 years. It isnt that hard to get the weight down. Some of the gear costs more, but in the long run it's worth it. IT CAN BE DONE!
Been working on my bivy pack set up for 2 weeks (read 5 years) now and have it down to 27 lbs. including 100 oz of H20, food for 2.5 days and a Glock 40 with 10 rounds. Does not include bow/arrows/binos and misc. stuff carried on my person like copenhagen, sunglasses, etc.
I've spent more money over the years than I care to think about on the techy, light weight gear that makes it possible and have cut out a lot of "frivolous" crap like toothpaste.
I'll be warm, dry and fairly comfortable night or day in any weather and have plenty of calories to consume but no frills.
PM me if you want more details about specific items/weights.
The mantra is this: You're trading one thing for another, figure out what is most important to you and invest in that. You can't have it both ways.
You really get all that into a Diablo? That thing must be ready to bust wide open. I had a Diablo for a while. It was a great pack, but I hated it with more than 20 lbs in it.
I'm doing an overnight scouting trip with all my bivy gear this weekend. You guys have inspired me to weigh it all out :)
It is tight. I have a strong compression sack for my bag, & tyvek. If i'm not careful packing, it starts pushing the metal stays out toward my back.
I really enjoy planning and packing lighter and lighter. I will sometimes prepare my pack months in advance. I might pack it many times. I also like to practice when I scout. It may seem overkill, but I have a light pack and its worth it!
I also pack a second bag that I leave in the truck miles away that has game bags and a lot of extras. We hunt light and wear our packs. We sleep where we end up. When we get an animal down we send someone to get the second pack. etc. Works Good.
I packed an elk quarter in my diablo once. I thought it was going to be fine until I flipped the pack over and realized the stays were bowed out in a half cirlce.
I also take a second pack frame that I leave at the truck. I usually have four game bags, and an extra saw and knife strapped to it.
I've never done a true bivy hunt, but I've slowly been aquiring some lightweight gear and I'm looking forward to not seeing a computer screen for about a week.
45 pounds.... is about average... I've got all the crap a guy can get... with water and a bow... throw in some arrows and you get pretty darn close to 45 pounds... but the good thing is you loose about a thousand dollars to do it... do it right and it won't cost much more than that and it'll last for a long time.
The only difference in a 5-9 day bivy is the pack size and the amount of food you'll need... everything else is the same... but the same can be said for an over nighter... depending on your expected comfort level, the only difference is the amount of food you take.
An over nighter can be done with a small pack and a 9 day bivy will be a bigger pack to facilitate the amount of food.....
Your bow plus gear and water will weigh 45 pounds...
c3 you show stove and white gas at 4#. Cook pot, insulated mug, spoon at 1.5#. Socks, spare longjohns, ands shorts at 4#, that is a lot of socks and lonjohns? Knives at 1#. Those are the things that really jump out at me. Other things are a bit heavy. But to give you an idea
My jetboil cup, soto stove, fuel, and spork weigh a total of 1#6oz. My knives weigh 7oz for 2 knives and 10 blades. Extra socks and lonjohns for 1 week weigh 1# 5oz.
Mine totals 3#2oz and I am good for over a week with that. Yours is 10# 8oz take that 7 1/2# out of your pack puts you at 37.4# before any other changes.
I threw my gear together and loaded up my pack. I am at 25# with a full 70 oz water bladder, but no food or binocs or stuff on my person. I think I'll be around 30# fully geared up.
Eberlestock x2 Mountain hardwear Merced 32 Big Agnes IAC Tarp off an old A frame tent (8x12) 70 oz cambelback bladder one full set of extra clothes, extra socks. stainless steel quart pot, brunton single burner plus fuel Plus all the little stuff( flashlight, batteries etc.) Katadyn hiker water filter (haven't decided if I'm actually going to take this as I rarely filter anyways)
This was for a five-day drop-off that covered about 40 miles. I didn't weight it, but it was ridiculous compared to what you guys carry. Also, I ran out of water and got into some hairy situations. The only things I didn't use were things I very well might have needed. If I did it again I would add at least eight more pounds of water.
Granted, I can't afford the lightest gear and I was hunting in the SW part of the country during an extreme drought. Even so, a 35# pack sn't even in my realm of thinking! I wish it were. I'm jealous!!
Pack weight is subject to interpretation. Some guys leave things off there weight. Myself I claim everything except clothes I am wearing. On a 6 day hunt I can get it to 50 lbs.
I'm in the 28-30 range too. Most guys bring way too much clothes and food. I also don't bring a spotter...my 10x42 are fine for elk. As far as clothes I bring an extra pair of socks and underwear, a puffy and packable rain clothes. What I wear in I wear daily. I haven't had any issues with smell since switching to merino. I don't pack in water and wouldn't recommend it if you have a source.
Boggles my mind that people bring 50+ pounds unless they are bringing heavy duty film equipment...or moving into the mountains!
"Haven't had any issues with smell since switching to merino."
Ummm, back when I worked construction we had a new guy who informed us he only needed to shower once a week since he had no body odor whatsoever. But whatever truck he was riding in always had all the windows rolled down for some reason...
"I'd love to see how you folks get 4 days and 3 nights for hunting down to 30 something lbs."
A couple hundred people hike the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada every year and many of them have pack target wts of 25 lbs and that's with stocking up every 2 weeks.
As a group, hunters have to bring more stuff just by nature of the fact that we're not only backpacking, but also hunting. But we tend to bring a ton of superfluous and redundant items plus backups.
By "bivy" do you mean carry your camp every day and set up where you stop or do you mean a 3-4 nights in one spot?
If it's one trip in and out and no farther than a single guy wants to pack an elk, I lean towards comfort more than weight savings. A nice pad, some real food and some extra clothes are worth 10# to me.
If you stop and think about it, the only difference between an overnighter and a 4 day should only be the amount of extra food you need. (1.5 # to 2# food per day).
As stated a 1-2 day bivy versus 4-5 day bivy isn't much different except more food. If you have access to water (that's HUGE) and pack mainly freeze-dried the difference to extend a day or few isn't much more weight.
As Arctichill photo demonstrates, sometimes VOLUME is as critical as WEIGHT.
Reducing both can be costly, but if you do it a little bit at a time it's manageable. Better yet try to get critical pieces right the first time "buy once cry once" like shelter, sleeping bag and stove.
Wyoming bone saw. Solid and too heavy LOL. I have always used gutless and where needed just separate the bones at joints using a knife. I ultimately debone entirely for packing out. I keep skull intact for Euro so no need for saw.
Regarding sleeping pad check out Klymit Inertia X (the flo green one). Super light & compact and I find it to be extremely comfortable whether on my back or side.
I started using a warbonnetoutdoors black bird hammock with a thunderbolt rainfall. Much lighter than my old tent, way more comfy than the ground. Also went with a klymet hammock pad. Cut about 3 pounds from my pack!
I backpacked hunted for years and refined it to what I need vs what I want to take... I've come up with the realization that it doesn't matter how long you stay really... one night or 5 nights... the gear is basically the same. You start with a full water bladder and you need to fill it at some point so that doesn't play into it. The thing that is the variable is food. I found that the difference is weight is basically how many meals I'm taking. I take Mountain House or some other freeze dried meals so they weigh next to nothing. I can easily get by for a week with one canister of LP fuel. You can wash your clothes socks and underwear in a stream and let it dry. Food is the biggest variable and MH weigh nothing.