Touring - About 35 1/2 pounds.

Went to LBS today with my B.O.B. Yak loaded for a over night tour. I'd leave on a Sat., camp and return home on Sun.

With everything I need for such a tour and the trailer and bag weight it all came to about 35 1/2 pounds give or take a pound or 2.

Not bad huh?

A majority of the weight is my tent and the trailer and bag. My tent alone weighs about 10 pounds, give or take a pound or 2.

I plan on starting such self contained tours sometime in May.

NC,
Not bad, are you carrying a stove or do you plan on eating out. We replaced our old tent last year, it was about 12 pounds. The new tent is under four pounds. So far the new tent is ok, but it could use better venting. So we may try another.

hey, tell me how it goes. I'm on the fence as to whether or not to buy a trailer.

I also use a tent that weighs about 4 lbs. but go with the one you have.Keep us informed as I also plan to start some weekend or weeklong tours again and reading about others plans/trips is good motivation.

35.5 pounds sounds heavy to me.

We put a limit of 12kg (about 25 pounds) on gear for a two week trip (and yes that does include tent, stoves etc)

Once you have added water and food this will increase to a maximum of 15kg or 30 pounds.

We have one well known person in our group who has often been seen just before a long uphill haul to dump all his water to save weight.

If I were you I'd repack, remove all packaging, and anyting you don't need and then reweigh

35 lbs sounds heavy to me too. How much of this is Tent/Sleeping Bag/Stove and how much is tare weight (trailer, BOB Bag, etc) ?.

A tent that weighs 10lbs is not for bicycle touring IMHO. My Dart weights in at about 3 lbs and tarps are about half of that (1-2lbs).

Since you are going to be on the road instead of in the woods, you can limit the amount of food you carry to a late dinner and small breakfast, and eat along the road.

I am guessing that your gear is designed for "car camping", where there is little or no adantage to lightweight gear.

If you were to pare down your packing list and replace the heavier items with lightweight versions, you could forego the use of a trailer.

Backpackers can spend up to a week in the woods entirely self-contained on 35lbs of gear. You are only doing an "over-nighter" at most 500 yards from a paved road, and likely less than a hour's ride from a town or city. If you want to get an idea of what is possible, read about Ray Jardine or "Grandma" Gatewood. They literally walked thousands of miles across the country with amazingly light packs (20lbs or so). Gatewood did this in a pair of Keds, with a homemade pack in her 60's.

Good luck on your trip.

Dan