With the onset of the heatwave we are currently enduring, I was starting the feel the weight of my fly fishing day pack. Like I say, maybe it was triggered by the oppressive heat, and added to that the hike up out of a river valley. But, as has happened before, I took the pack off to cross a fence, and lifting it again by hand, was struck by how heavy it was. So I asked The Boardermaster to give it a lift and see what he thought. His exclamations got me thinking that I really have to look into this. Need to analyse this and see what is adding to this surely unnecessary weight, and maybe bulk.
So when the heat was truly upon us, and fishing was out of the question, I hauled out a scale and got to work.
I weighed absolutely everything. Then I categorised things. The empty pack itself was surprisingly heavy. The fact that I carry 1.5 to 2 litres of water was probably the heaviest thing, and like other things that keep me hydrated, dry, warm, fed or protected from the sun, I decided to call that “Comfort and safety”. It stands to reason that this makes up the largest portion of the weight I carry, since the front of my pack holds the fishing stuff, and the back could be empty but for the fact that I need to prepare for hours up a river valley.
Those who follow this website and any of the other writing I do, will know that I enjoy my photography, and I was not unhappy to discover that this doesn’t add as much weight as some might think.
In contemplating which lens to weigh, I got to creating a category for “optional extras”, and there I put the added weight of choosing the heavier zoom lens over the much lighter fixed focal lens. Triggered by that notion, I threw into the extras, the additional water I choose to sometimes carry, the wading staff which I elect to use if flow is high, or I suspect I might need to probe long grass for snakes before venturing in.
Something I often leave behind, depending on my mood, and the weather and how far I think we will walk, is the coffee kit. Now people might scoff at the notion of straining your shoulders for fresh coffee on the stream, but to me, if it is a cool day, I am in the company of someone who will appreciate it, and the scenery is likely to be so heavenly that it will enhance the experience, then the coffee kit goes in. But since it weighs 1.3Kg, that decision is not taken lightly.
Also an optional is the drone, although that is surprisingly light, but things add up, so these additions add just over 2.5 Kg, taking my bare bones weight of 7.5 up to 10.6 Kg. But this is only if I take them all, which I don’t do often at all.
Under “comfort and safety (because you must be wondering what that’s made up of), I have all the stuff listed alongside here. The SPOT satellite location device doesn’t always come with me, but if I am going far, in rugged territory, or alone, then its not optional at all, so I left it in here.
All told I think this list is spartan enough, and I don’t think anything is excessive. Its just that, like I say, things add up.
Some might smirk at the fact that the fishing tackle is the lightest load, but I really want for nothing. I have floatants and fly boxes and strike indicators and tippet and forceps and zinger …and that’s just about me done.
Add to that my net of choice on the day, and the fishing part is taken care of for just 900 grams.
But here’s the part that you might chuckle at. I then did a mercenary, brutal trimming. I removed absolutely everything that I can do without. Stuff I never use, and which I berated myself for carrying around all these years.
And I saved…..
Wait for it…
240 grams! (8.5oz)
