The Base Weight Budget
A lighter backpacking pack without losing the essentials: every item weighed into base, worn and consumable, a base weight budget from your own body and day-one load, the free grams taken first, and every upgrade priced per 100 g saved so you buy only what closes the gap
WikiGear's Base Weight Calculator classes your base weight by fixed pound bands, the same for every hiker, and its Backpack Weight Calculator rates the loaded pack against your body. The two never meet: neither says what base weight your own body and trip allow, where the grams are, or which purchase buys them back cheapest. The usual answer, replace the big three, is also the most expensive one. The Base Weight Budget joins them. Every item is weighed into three piles; the budget is 20% of your body weight (an adult rule of thumb, not a safety limit) minus the food, water and fuel you carry on day one; the Ten Essentials and gear the land manager requires are marked as a floor you never cut; the free grams come out first; and every upgrade is ranked by its price per 100 g saved. In the worked example a 72 kg hiker with a 12,360 g base is 3,020 g over a 9,340 g budget. Free cuts take 1,940 g, and two upgrades at $329.99 close the rest, where replacing the big three alone costs $1,040 and still leaves the pack 520 g over. Every figure is computed by the site's own calculator code and labeled as an example; no brand, model or shop is named, and the pack never says how much food or water to carry. The Ten Essentials, water treatment and the child backpack figure are quoted from the National Park Service, the CDC and HealthyChildren.org. Included: 7 steps, a weigh sheet, a budget sheet, an upgrade ranking sheet, a trip card to leave at home, reference tables and a quickstart, plus a personalised sheet worked from the numbers you enter in the Base Weight and Backpack Weight calculators.
Look inside
Two full pages from the budget, exactly as printed. Click either to read it at full size before you decide.
What is in it
- Step 1: every item weighed into base, worn and consumable, and run through both calculators
- Step 2: a base weight budget from your body weight and your day-one food, water and fuel
- Step 3: the base pile sorted heaviest first, and the share the top four hold
- Step 4: the NPS Ten Essentials and gear the land manager requires marked as a floor that is never cut
- Step 5: the free grams first: leave at home, one of two, repackage
- Step 6: every upgrade priced per 100 g saved and ranked, same job and same season
- Step 7: buying down the ranking until the budget is met, and stopping there
- Working pages: a weigh sheet, a budget sheet, an upgrade ranking sheet and a trip card to leave at home
- Reference tables: base weight budget by body weight and day-one consumables, price per 100 g as per ounce and per pound, and the calculator's classes in grams
- A personalised sheet worked from the numbers you enter in the Base Weight and Backpack Weight calculators
- ✓ 24 printable pages
- ✓ 10 sections, worksheets and templates
- ✓ A second PDF worked out from the numbers you enter
- ✓ No account needed, just an email address
- ✓ Instant download; link valid 7 days
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The budget picks up where the free Base Weight Calculator and Backpack Weight Calculator leave off. One classes your base weight by fixed pound bands, the other rates your loaded pack against your body; the budget joins them: every item weighed into base, worn and consumable, a base weight budget from your own body weight and day-one load, the Ten Essentials and required gear marked as a floor that is never cut, the free grams taken first, and every upgrade priced per 100 g saved so you buy only what closes the gap. Every figure in it is an example for you to replace.