Backpacking Mom

Lighterpack: 7wo591

I’ve put this list off too long to be perfectionist about it, so I’m putting up this list in it’s beautifully abridged form.

I’m awfully proud that I even made packing for 4 in 1½ backpacks work. Apart from a too little milk powder as mentioned in my last post, we didn’t lack anything. We could have done with a warmer sleep system for Junior and a windscreen that didn’t blow away. I don’t think we had that much gear that we didn’t use either, meaning that I must have had hit a fine equilibrium.

The big three

The big three – or in our case, the big eight – was definitely what took up most space. Just take a look at the two categories “Bags” and “Sleep & shelter”, and see how they make up for the majority of the weight.

The Rumpl down blanket didn’t cut it at the down to 6°C at night even with wool clothing, so for similar trips, I definitely recommend going for something warmer. Baby slept in the Nordisk Tension Junior and was cosy and warm.

We slept in a Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL 4, which is a really, really nice tent. It was far cheaper when we splurged on it back in ’21, plus that we bought it marked down, so I think we paid half of some the prices I see now. The weight and roominess can’t be beat though, at ~2,8 kg for 4 people – 0.7 kg per person – for a semi-freestanding tent is really nice. In addition to that, it has loads of nice pockets and has two entrances, which is a must for me on warm days.

Dad carried Baby in a Thule Sapling with an detachable backpack clipped onto it. It is super comfortable for baby, has lots of packing space, but it was less comfortable for Dad, and he actually got chafing sores on his hips. It might be due to us not having adjusted it sufficiently, but for the moment it was less than ideal. It might also have to do with my partner being extremely tall at ~1.90 cm too. Still however, the carrier has high comfort for the baby in it, and unlike a lot of other carriers, it’s seat gives the baby a ergonomically correct frog position, which has been hard for us to achieve with the Osprey Poco LT.

We made an improvised bottle holder string, which will be improved upon and made safer in the near future.

I used my Exped to carry around 16 kg of gear and food, and somehow managed to strap to foam pads under the brain/lid, which looked ridiculous as fuck, but worked.

Junior actually ended up carrying a bag as well at least some of the way; a packable H&M bag filled with snacks, water and an emergency blanket. It didn’t fit properly however, so next we’ll bring a more fitted backpack.

Kitchen

Same as last time, but now with a titanium wind shield. The windshield has sharp edges and blows away easily, and I cannot recommend it for a family trip. I think I’d also recommend a bigger burner than the BRS stove, as it seems to mostly work well for solo hikers, and carrying perhaps about 50 ekstra grams might be well worth it in reduced cook time.

We also brought a lightweight foldable bib (ours is decorated with dinosaurs though, an important distinction).

Clothing

Adults only had extra layers and spare underwear. Junior got one full extra set of spare clothes and Baby got two. Both had lots of wool.

Toiletries & First Aid

We have all our toiletries apart from sunscreen in a Osprey Washbag, which has held up well for years. It’s long enough for full-size toothbrushes and is transparent, if you want it to double as a flight bag.

We have two first aid kits. I had the bigger one, and Dad had the smaller one in a hipbelt pocket.

Baby gear

For nappy changes we brought, I think, 7 diapers per day, 30 wet wipes in a zipper bag, and two small tubes of lanolin and zinc cream. We used a Packtowl towel as a changing mat.

For cleaning our baby bottle, we brought a short Garage Grown Gear toothbrush.

Entertainment

Junior had to do without a tablet on this trip, but we brought a Lego Technics polybag set instead and then used Dad’s phone for a few cartoons in the evening. Baby got to bring Vuv-vuv [Woof-woof], a Jellycat dog.

Electronics

We have a 30k powerbank, that has run dry on only one trip that lasted a week. It did discharge a lot on this trip though due to the cold. On top of that, we have some electronics that perhaps somewhat surprisingly come from Ikea, an USB-C and USB micro cable at 10 cm and an LED tea light. The tea light is super nice for putting children to bed at night, although it was dark for such a short amount of time that it was hardly necessary.

Ditty bag

I had my loose stuff in a stuff sack. Dad had his stuff somewhere, presumably his pockets. I do not know.

Food

I packed somewhere around 400 g pasta and a block of tofu at 200 g for dinner, along with some parmasan, ketchup and few fresh greens. For breakfast we had wraps. We went home early, but I had planned for instant noodles with TVP (ærteprotein or soyagranulat for my Danish readers) and some sheets of nori.

We also brought whole milk powder for Baby at night, but we hope to phase out this habit and first replace it with just water, then a pacifier, and with age with nothing at all.

Lighterpack

If you’re not yet familiar with lighterpack, it’s a site where you plot in each item you have packed or intend to pack, to get a better overview of what weighs the most, and in which categories you can perhaps cut down a little bit.

I don’t think the numbers are extremely correct, but at 4.8 kg base weight per person, this setup can almost in a certain sense count as UL.