I had seen different posts on groups online about how they weighed each individual item, and honestly, I thought that was silly and overkill. Then I listened to a podcast that discussed the same thing. The idea is, if you know the weight of each item in ounces, you can make decisions on each individual item and shed the pounds that way (shave ounces, shed pounds). I have since become obsessed with the weight of all my stuff. In fact, the new sleeping bag I ordered is actually a men's short because it saved me $10 but also because it was 2-3 ounces lighter than the woman's version. So, anyway, yesterday afternoon, I sat down and started weighing everything. So far, I'm at 18.5 pounds (including the pack). This doesn't include clothing, food, water or the tent. It also doesn't include a first aide kit because I realized how heavy they were, so I'm going to rethink my first aide supplies (really, I don't think I need tongue depressors for finger splits when a twig will work nicely in a pinch- not that I plan on breaking a finger). It did include 3 pairs of hiking socks, which are surprisingly heavy. Since I'm taking sock liners (essentially a thin pair of socks worn under hiking socks to help prevent blisters), I think I can get away with leaving behind at least 1 extra pair if not 2. I'm also not planning on taking too many clothes. Not that I have any intentions of naked backpacking (though there is a naked backpacking day on June 21st FYI). Clothes are heavy, so if I can take the bare minimum, I'll be good. Basically, I'll have to wait and see what the weather is going to be like. I'm hoping for warmer temps so I can wear shorts and leave the base layers at home.
Saving ounces here and there by deciding what is really important to take is how I hope to keep my pack weight as close to 20 pounds as possible. If I can manage that, I'll be good to go!
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