My 4x5 set up for Hiking

[Meekyman]

Try getting all your view camera supplies for a two-week trip into the same pack as two weeks worth of food, shelter, and all-weather clothing. That's a routine ritual for me, or, actually, a repetitive headache. We need gear we can just add water to and it will swell up to full size, just like freeze-dried food.... Well, maybe not the coat and sleeping bag.

Hi Drew,

Can you tell me how you manage to do this?

Asking because I camp out with camera supplies for overnighters, use lightweight titanium stuff, light tent (1.4 kg), real trekking backpack with great support, small photobackpacker for camera, one for lenses and other stuff in stuff sacks. Add on cooking kit (titanium, light), pan for boiling water (titanium, light), waterproofs, freeze-dried food, water filter, tripod and no luxuries... it's touching 14 kg (28 lb). I'm impressed you can survive with everything on your back for two weeks, very impressed.

[Drew Wiley]

Unlike my youthful days of ultralight packs and a 35mm camera, my whole adult life I've been my own mule plodding along with a heavy pack and LF gear. Of course, as I'm now entering my 70's, if I can find ways to reduce the overall load without sacrificing functionality or safety, I'll do it. I went from 85 lb packs with full Sinar gear down to around 65 lbs now, using a little Ebony folder. I still use a Sinar 4x5 or even an 8x10 folder for day hikes. But I also have MF gear for times that is more realistic. I grew up in the mountains, and we kids would just disappear into some remote area for days at a time, with almost nothing except a fishing pole or .22 rifle, not even a sleeping bag, just a basic poncho which served as both raincoat and emergency tent. But that also involved being in great shape and being able to travel very quickly over steep terrain down to timberline. The Indians did it; so we figured we could too. But none of us know how many Indians might have perished in high-altitude storms. I've saved the life of several backcountry joggers who got caught off guard in a sudden snowstorm by loaning them a coat and following them out of the hills. Otherwise, it's best to build up your endurance by frequently wearing a pack heavier than you need. I don't know exactly where you go, but there are no doubt seasoned outdoorsmen who can teach you a lot of things. On longer trips, use things like bubble packing and plastic bags to cushion and protect your camera gear rather than an extra camera pack. Instant mashed potatoes are lighter weight, more caloric, use less fuel, and way cheaper than freeze-dried dinners, but can get boring. Sometimes fishing is an option, but the best times of the day for trout tend to conflict with the best times for photography, so I don't fish very often anymore. Just take things a step at a time, until you're comfortable with longer outings. I just returned from a two-week outing in the Wind River Mtns of Wyoming. The nice thing about that is the relaxation it gives away form the distractions of the modern world. I don't take along even a cell phone, and it wouldn't work in places like that anyway. People thin out after a day or so, and often complete solitude follows. Refreshing.

[CreationBear]

it's touching 14 kg (28 lb).

Assuming you've got about 20 lbs left of camera gear (tripod/camera/holders/lenses etc.) and 2-3 lbs of food per day, that strikes me as a bog standard load-out for a weekend afield if you're an average-sized bloke. (The old rule of thumb is that pack weight shouldn't be more than a third your bodyweight.) Of course, if your plans include yomping through the Cairngorms or Snowdonia in winter, that changes things considerably...)

[Drew Wiley]

Just depends. I know people who go out for months at a time, and little guys capable of carrying almost as much as their own body weight, sometimes even more. Lots of the places I go can suddenly turn into winter any month of the year; so I have winter-style clothing in the pack at all times. Just a few years ago I got my hike interrupted by a search for three missing people. I found one of them safe, if lost and scared, because he had a pack containing warm dry gear and a serious tent, while two others were found by the wilderness rangers dead in the snow because they didn't. It happens every year it seems. Blizzards can come even in summer in the mountains, which can create their own weather if they're high enough. And the fad of ultralight hiking and mtn trail running doesn't help things. Some of these young people are really naive, with their glorified tennis shoes that will lead to frostbite in even a few inches of snow, and their minimal tents that will blow right over above timberline. Some of them don't even bother with a belt pack containing a raincoat and sweater, and no matter how fit they consider themselves, all it takes is a twisted ankle to stop them from outrunning an afternoon storm and it becoming fatal. I often carried a spare waterproof jacket just in case, and probably saved several lives that way. If you need real mountaineering gear like ropes or ice gear for glaciers, that will add to the weight. Back when I was still a teenager in my 40's, pack weight was a non-issue, even on steep off-trail terrain day after day. I'd have 40 lbs of camera gear alone, with big heavy lenses, a dozen holders, and full Sinar system. Now I opt for tiny lenses like Fujinon A's and C's, or Nikkor M's. My knees, back, and comfort with high altitude are still all excellent. But I don't cover the nearly same daily distance as I once did. It's nice to just relax a few hours a day.

[Corran]

Drew, please post a photo of your pack and loadout for us to see, I'm certainly very interested to see what you bring when camping for longer periods of time and how you fit an 8x10 setup. Thanks. I'm looking at upgrading my ultralight gear setup so I'm sure it'll be instructive.

[CreationBear]

little guys capable of carrying almost as much as their own body weight, sometimes even more.

Ha, definitely--reminds me of one of my ex-students just separated from the 173d Abn who once told me he was jumping with nearly 200 lbs as a LRRP.

At any rate, it's all good--I'm coming to appreciate just a casual walkabout these days...and my Exped DownMat 9.

[Drew Wiley]

Hi Corran. I recently finished cleaning up and storing away for the season my long haul system. Just look up ole vintage Kelty and Camp Trails true external frame packs, and imagine them as stuffed and piled upon as much as they can get. Or hang around a few high altitude mountaineers preparing for an expedition to the Andes or Arctic or Himalayas. My kind of pack weight isn't all that bad by comparison. For casual day use, I have several Rubbermaid plastic kitchen trash cans which simply drop into the big top compartments of these kinds of packs, each interchangeably with a different system, whether my 4x5 Norma, or 8x10 Phillips & holders, or a P67 system replete with a big 300 telephoto. The Ries tripod is attached to the back via bunji cords. Lenses go into side pouches, lunch and weather gear into the bottom compartment. For long-haul backpacking, I switch to a little 4x5 Ebony folder, with a CF tripod under the top pack flap. The camera and film is wrapped in my goosedown jacket. Below that is some kind of food container, either a carbon fiber bear barrel or Ursak bear sack, or both. That leaves lots of room for my clothing and cooking supplies in the bottom compartment. Side pouches accommodate lenses, filters, meter, etc. Tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad are all rolled up individually in waterproof bags and strapped outside, onto the frame below the compartments. But I must confess that on this last trip I wanted to eat better than usual, so my younger friend carried yet another Ursack for me containing my daytime snacks. His total weight was around 75 lbs, considerably less than the 110 he carried last fall on a 4 wk cold mtn trip, a weight he swears he'll never try again. But we always carry more food than necessary for the planned duration of the outing, just in case we get stuck in a blizzard for a few days. It's happened more than once. Due to the fact of aging, I also have a large Feisol carbon fiber tripod in reserve suitable for my 8x10 and big MF telephoto, for when I'll have to scale down day pack weight even more. There have been a few long trips when a Fuji 6x9 rangefinder worked out well; but due to its lack of lens interchangeability, it can't home in on distant peaks and details, like I needed to frequently do on this last trip. But it's a faster way to work in a storm or downpour when view camera setup can be frustrating. I like to keep all my options open. Since Quickload film sleeves are no longer made, I can choose between Mido thin holders, regular holders plus a film tent (or thick plastic bag at night), or 6x9 roll film backs. The cumulative wt comes out similar; but I wisely chose 6x9 backs this past trip because reloading sheet film holders with both hands occupied would have been hell with the horseflies still active at high altitude. They follow the moose and bighorn sheep.

[Corran]

Ah, how convenient. I stopped reading after the first sentence, sorry.

[Drew Wiley]

CreationBear - one of my nephew's frequent climbing partners, who is also an old friend of mine, is only 5 yrs younger than me, but still works as a summer guide up Denali (Mt McKinley). He's about 5 ft 4", only around 115 lbs, but with long arms like a monkey, who can do a hundred or more chin-ups, and has been known to carry 120 lb packs on long expeditions. That's not an unusual weight for Sherpa porters either, even teenage girls, though they typically don't carry more than six miles or so a day. There are high altitude miners in the Andes who daily carry around 200 lbs over limited distances, and they're little too. But I'm now in the process of learning how to be a little more lazy each year.

[Drew Wiley]

Well, Corran, this time I gave you the opportunity to be sincere; but if you're just seeking an excuse to inject skepticism and poison into the kind of answers that any real outdoorsman around here would accept as routine, you're headed back to my Ignore list. I hope that doesn't have to happen.