Weights and Measures

When planning to go backcountry canoe camping you select each item you are going to bring based on weight and mass. Tossing this, that and the other thing into your backpack can really add up. Not just in how heavy your bag gets, but how much you can fit into your bag. 

I carry a 75 liter pack - that's the space measurement. I could not carry 75 liters of water in that pack, that would be over 150 pounds, phew! Maybe they fill 75 balloons the same sized as ones filled with a liter of water then fill the pack to measure its capacity. LOL

Loaded and ready to go...

When I first started planning to camp two years ago I was keen and weighed each item I was putting into my pack. This post is a great opportunity for me to update that list as I've certainly altered what goes into my bag.

See here for a description of all the items I carry in my bag.

Every little thing weighs something! (16 grams)

Here goes (all items with an asterisk * vary in weight from trip to trip) sorted from the lightest item to the heaviest:

Item	Weight (grams)
Bear bell	35
Shiny mattress liner	38
Emergency blanket	47
Lighter, firestarter	70
Camp soap	75
Mosquito coils	86
Deck of cards	97
Blue foam kneeling pad	98
Notebook and pen	104
Salt and pepper mill	107
Backpack protective cover	113
Large carabineer	113
Map, clear bag for map	114
Shower	122
Extra filter in plastic bottle	132
Pocketknife	154
Dry bag 10L	155
Bug hat, bug shirt, bag	170
Headlamp, flashlight/lamp	173
Bug spray	190
Stove diffuser with fabric oven	194
Small camera with case	194
Kettle	201
Extra water bag for lake water	203
Dry bag 20L	214
Travel mug with lid	251
Personal towels (1 large, 1 small)	262
Pillow	279
Dish towels, sponge	300
Toilet paper and wipes, mini shovel	380
Platypus water filtration system	405
Bag liner (cold weather only)	443
Toiletries	500
Extra tarp	544
Stove with fuel, lighter, windbreak (empty gas bottle)	591
Sleeping bag	736
Chair	881
Pot set with dish, cozies, lid, handle, measuring cups, utensils, holding case (minus big pot)	1,362
Hammock, fly, snakeskins, hanging straps	1,388
Clothes(varies by days - estimated for 7 days)*	1,565
2 Nalgene bottles filled with water	2,424
Air mattress (in bag)	2,500
Backpack	5,700
Food bag with food (varies by days - estimated for 7 days)*	7,000
TOTAL WEIGHT IN GRAMS	30,710

The total weight of the above list is: 30.710 kg which is equal to 67 pounds and 11 ounces. I have estimated this load based on a trip of 7 days, so that would be the heaviest I would carry. Also because some of my load is food, as the trip progresses, my load lightens by a kilogram a day. 

My new Cabela table is not in that list. I would not be able to fit it in my backpack, and it's too heavy to bring on a long trip. I might not bring my air mattress on a warm weather trip, it's pretty heavy as well.

I have to give a lot of credit to my backpack, it's pretty amazing at distributing the weight and making this load comfortable to carry. I even took it on a 12-km hike to carry my water, lunch and snacks, as I don't like a fanny-pack style waistband cutting into me while hiking. There's a hip band that swivels, I can hike up the backpack higher and my hips take the weight for a change. There's a moveable chest strap holding the shoulder harness tighter in the front, I will put my hands on that to help carry the load also for a break. And I couldn't do any of this carrying without my trusty walking poles!

When I get home from my camping trips, my final carry is three flights of stairs up to my apartment. That's the only time I wish I had an elevator. 

Hey lady, what's in the bag?

So far my travelling philosphy is to get everything into one bag. That way, when we are portaging, my hands are free to use my hiking poles. This has some benefits, but I also have some difficulties. Mostly with picking up my bag and putting it on my back. I need help. I just recently bought a huge caribiner that I'll take on my next trip and I'll see if that helps with at least picking my own bag up and out of the canoe. 

My bag will usually weigh from 40 to over 50 pounds once packed. It is a MEC Aurora 75 litre, ladies version. I love that it has a hip band that swivels as you walk. Here's a link to it: MEC Aurora 75 Backpack. I will do a review of it at some point. :-)

Portage pose - where it's usually dumped

Here are some pictures of stuff that goes in the bag.

Just the bags, some of the bags

These bags are for: food, water, camera, sleeping bag, clothes, pillow, chair, sleeping pad, water filtration system, chair, backpack cover, the list goes on.

Sleeping stuff

The green bag is my sleeping pad, or air mattress. The blue bag has my pillow, the black compression bag with the straps is my sleeping bag all squished down, the other purple bag is a new down throw I picked up at Costco for the colder trips. It will probably compress down more in a special bag.

Water filtration kit

As I unpacked the bag I realized I'm missing one of my clear plastic Platypus bags.  Hmmmm.  I have 2 filters, a charcoal filter, a plastic jar with lid to carry the extra filter (they can be sensitive) and the big gray bag is what we scoop water out of the lake with. Take caution with some of your silicone gear, chipmunks (or maybe mice) think it is yummy! Take care not to leave it out overnight.

Kitchen gear

I'm missing my salt shaker out of this picture. :-) The big bag is all my pots and dishes, my kettle is in one bag, my stove the other. The white item is the cosy for the largest pot, there are a couple of dish towels and a great travel mug, double-walled.

Pots unpacked

I have 3 pots (but we almost never carry the largest one), a frypan, a lid for all, a handle, various utensils, a tin plate and a couple of folding silicone measuring cups to add water to my dehydrated food.

Kettle, oven, stove

Kettle, oven, stove - unpacked

Miscellaneous

In the above picture: notebook, night sky guide, backpack cover, lamp, headlamp, Thermacell refills (bug repellent), multi-use tool, clothes pins, gloves, bear bell, whistle, large carabiner, folding shovel for cat holes, personal towels, the bag holding my bug hat and bug shirt, water treatment tablets, a lighter, and firestarter. 

Not pictured above that I'll be adding this year: my Hennesy hammock, a fly, and hanging straps. Also not pictured is the food, all of it usually in the orange drybag. My clothes are not shown here either, that varies depending on the time of year, length of trip. The backpack is getting pretty heavy by now, so I try to limit my fashion choices. I'll have my hiking poles, a camera (either the small one or my digital SLR in the red drybag).

Here's a list of each individual item that I usually carry:

• sleeping bag
• pillow
• clothes
• toiletries
• air mattress
• stove
• fuel bottle
• camping oven (really just a special pot cozy cover)
• heat diffuser (for evening out the heat from the stove flame)
• pots, frypan, lid, handle, pot cozies
• my own dishes (plate, mug, KFS)
• silicone measuring cup (to add water to dehydrated foods)
• cooking utensils
• kettle
• scrubber/sponge
• dishtowels
• camp soap
• multi-tool (pocket knife)
• water filtration system
• large water bag (to take water from the lake)
• spare filter for water filtration system
• mosquito coils
• Hennesy Hammock
• chair
• kneeling pad (I mostly use it as a table surface on the ground)
• bug hat and bug shirt
• gloves
• bug spray and sunscreen
• camera
• notebook and pen
• map
• sunglasses
• reading glasses (2 pairs)
• toilet paper
• baby wipes
• small shovel (in case there's no thunderbox)
• headlamp
• mini tent lamp/flashlight
• bear bell
• rainjacket
• towel (1 small, 1 large)
• dried food bag with food

One of the features I like about my bag is that I can lay it on its back on the ground and I have access through a zipper that goes around the body of the bag. It allows me to stuff some extra things in at the last minute, using every possible nook and cranny!