What's my pack weigh?

[VStammer]

Let's classify this under "don't ask a question that you don't really want to hear the answer for"!
I recently upgraded to a "slightly" larger backpack in order to provide myself some additional room for a second body and/or lens and also for additional clothing and/or my porta blind. This pack is the Mindshift Backlight 36L. I have been carrying an older 600mm f4 AF-s along with a Nikon D5. I have been noticing that it is quite bulky and somewhat "heavy" . In the past I typically have used smaller and lighter packs with a walk around type system that is highly mobile and I can throw it in the vehicle and keep with me. (This would be like my Nikon D500 and the 200-500 zoom lens).
Having been in the military I remember the days of humping a 40lb loaded rucksack on my back along with a weapon, but that was many (too many!) years ago. Which got me curious as to what my prime lens backpack loaded with my gear weighs....
Not an official scale, just a bathroom digital type, but it is showing 26lbs! Add in another 5-8 lbs. for my tripod and head and I'm rockin' nearly 35 lbs. !
Now granted I don't just go walking around with this set up. It is usually only for a specific destination where I have a planned route in mind and where I have a specific species at specific point I am targeting.
I know the newer lenses and mirrorless camera bodies are getting lighter but I am not sure my wallet will ever get me there.
In some regard I'm pretty proud of myself for still having the physical ability to still carry the load, but I also know this won't always be the case. (I think most people would say I'm goofy, which there could be some truth to it as well, but for other reasons!)
Just thought I'd share this funny experience I had today.

 

[Thern]

You’re goofy Sir!

 

[Thern]

You’re goofy Sir!

(me too LOL)

 

[Graham Clark]

Had my carry-on spot checked for an Air Baltic flight to Latvia last year, it weighed in just over 17kg, which I think is about 38lb in old weight?

Really had to sweet talk the lady on the desk to get it onboard

Later on during the same gig I tripped over a root in some swampy forest while tabbing around the perimeter of a Russian Air Base, the pack swung up my back and nearly knocked me out, lesson learnt about leaving the chest strap undone!

 

[DRwyoming]

Just thought I'd share this funny experience I had today.

Yeah, I've been through the 'big pack and carry it all...' phase. I had a huge Lowepro pack that would carry the 600mm f/4, 200-400mm f/4 and a bunch of other lenses, a couple of bodies and flashes. That phase didn't last too long

These days I have a different strategy, I use a Mindshift - Moose Peterson MP-2 to carry the big glass and a Lowepro Flipside 400 AW-2 but those really just go in the vehicle or I use one of them on air travel trips depending on what I'm carrying for the trip. But once I get to a shooting location I break things out in a few different ways depending on how I'm working for the day:

- Close to the car I usually run a single lens and camera though for some situations I'll have one camera and long lens on a tripod and another camera and lens on a Black Rapid strap but I'm close to the car so I can just go swap out gear.

- For short to medium walks I'll usually have the big glass and a body on the tripod and then carry the flip side 400 with just a few things like a couple of lenses and maybe a second body and some extra clothes, gloves, maybe water, etc.

- For longer hikes I'll carry the flip side 400 with lenses and camera I think I'll use, often some kind of wide angle zoom, the 500mm PF and something in between like a 70-200mm or maybe the 300mm PF which still leaves room for clothes, food and water.

Basically I don't carry my whole kit on any longer walks or hikes anymore and don't mind breaking the kit into more than one pack or case for the purpose of putting it in the car. I also don't feel the need to wear a pack that's big enough to hold the 600mm f/4 when working farther from the car as the lens is generally up on the tripod and over my shoulder anyway. If I really need to pack the 600mm f/4 for any distance I'll use the MP-2 pack but I'm not doing that as much as I used to, if I'm more than a mile or two from the car I'll shoot with a smaller lighter lens.

 

[VStammer]

Yeah, I've been through the 'big pack and carry it all...' phase. I had a huge Lowepro pack that would carry the 600mm f/4, 200-400mm f/4 and a bunch of other lenses, a couple of bodies and flashes. That phase didn't last too long

These days I have a different strategy, I use a Mindshift - Moose Peterson MP-2 to carry the big glass and a Lowepro Flipside 400 AW-2 but those really just go in the vehicle or I use one of them on air travel trips depending on what I'm carrying for the trip. But once I get to a shooting location I break things out in a few different ways depending on how I'm working for the day:

- Close to the car I usually run a single lens and camera though for some situations I'll have one camera and long lens on a tripod and another camera and lens on a Black Rapid strap but I'm close to the car so I can just go swap out gear.

- For short to medium walks I'll usually have the big glass and a body on the tripod and then carry the flip side 400 with just a few things and some extra clothes, gloves, maybe water, etc.

- For longer hikes I'll carry the flip side 400 with lenses and cameras I think I'll use, often some kind of wide angle zoom, the 500mm PF and something in between like a 70-200mm or maybe the 300mm PF which still leaves room for clothes, food and water.

Basically I don't carry my whole kit on any longer walks or hikes anymore and don't mind breaking the kit into more than one pack or case for the purpose of putting it in the car. I also don't feel the need to wear a pack that's big enough to hold the 600mm f/4 when working farther from the car as the lens is generally up on the tripod and over my shoulder anyway. If I really need to pack the 600mm f/4 for any distance I'll use the MP-2 pack but I'm not doing that as much as I used to, if I'm more than a mile or two from the car I'll shoot with a smaller lighter lens.

Yea, I am generally pretty strategic about what I carry and what I plan on doing. Just can't help wanting the big glass more often but that leaves me exposed with nothing on the short side so I wanted room to bring at least 1 more shorter zoom and maybe already have it attached to a body for those longer hikes. I didn't think any of the bags you mentioned would fit a 600mm f4 lens?

 

[VStammer]

off topic so skip on by...
I travelled home from Vancouver (to London, Englandj with two golf bags. They don’t normally get weighed, but my jeep needed new drive shafts and they’re like 1/2 the price in BC.
you guessed it, but the airline said their scales were broken because golf bags can’t weigh that much!

The extent we will go for our Jeeps!

 

[Mr F Stop.]

Oh yes I am guilty on all counts here. As an ex commando and an offroad motorcycle guide it seems like I have been carrying a rucksack for most of my life. When I started photography for real a couple of years ago I said I would not fall into this trap. So I bought a bridge camera! Problem solved? No, of course not because as your abilities get better so do your expected results. As a happy snap camera the bridge was great but image quality soon meant I had to go PRO! So I got a DSLR and so the pack started to fill up again. Now I carry 4 lenses, two bodies, a drone, a tripod, filters, flash, and what seems like a thousand batteries! In my defence I love to shoot in new areas which are to start with completely unknown so I would be gutted to arrive at a spot and not have the right gear for the job. But I rode my bike the other day without a rucksack full of tools, a rope, first aid kit, spares, inner tube, food, spare GPS..........................and it just did n't seem right!

 

[Thern]

Yeah, I've been through the 'big pack and carry it all...' phase. I had a huge Lowepro pack that would carry the 600mm f/4, 200-400mm f/4 and a bunch of other lenses, a couple of bodies and flashes. That phase didn't last too long

These days I have a different strategy, I use a Mindshift - Moose Peterson MP-2 to carry the big glass and a Lowepro Flipside 400 AW-2 but those really just go in the vehicle or I use one of them on air travel trips depending on what I'm carrying for the trip. But once I get to a shooting location I break things out in a few different ways depending on how I'm working for the day:

- Close to the car I usually run a single lens and camera though for some situations I'll have one camera and long lens on a tripod and another camera and lens on a Black Rapid strap but I'm close to the car so I can just go swap out gear.

- For short to medium walks I'll usually have the big glass and a body on the tripod and then carry the flip side 400 with just a few things and some extra clothes, gloves, maybe water, etc.

- For longer hikes I'll carry the flip side 400 with lenses and cameras I think I'll use, often some kind of wide angle zoom, the 500mm PF and something in between like a 70-200mm or maybe the 300mm PF which still leaves room for clothes, food and water.

Basically I don't carry my whole kit on any longer walks or hikes anymore and don't mind breaking the kit into more than one pack or case for the purpose of putting it in the car. I also don't feel the need to wear a pack that's big enough to hold the 600mm f/4 when working farther from the car as the lens is generally up on the tripod and over my shoulder anyway. If I really need to pack the 600mm f/4 for any distance I'll use the MP-2 pack but I'm not doing that as much as I used to, if I'm more than a mile or two from the car I'll shoot with a smaller lighter lens.

Don’t know how ‘things’ are in the US but overhere insurance won’t pay a dime when you leave your gear in your car and it gets stolen...
A girlfriend/colleague left her gear (about 40K worth) in the closed trunk of her car and it was stolen, insurance stated she left it unattended so she was to blame...
She was very happy, I never heard her swear before LOL.

 

[Mr F Stop.]

Don’t know how ‘things’ are in the US but overhere insurance won’t pay a dime when you leave your gear in your car and it gets stolen...
A girlfriend/colleague left her gear (about 40K worth) in the closed trunk of her car and it was stolen, insurance stated she left it unattended so she was to blame...
She was very happy, I never heard her swear before LOL.

Well I lived in the UK and left because if it was n't bolted down someone would steel it. The police were not interested either. So I moved first to Turkey and now Bulgaria. Both countries I am happy to say you can leave anything anywhere and it won't be touched. I have not locked my house, camper, car for 7 years here in Bulgaria. I also ride a motorcycle and have never even taken the key from the ignition. I rode to Kazakhstan a fews years back and had hundreds of pounds worth of camera gear on board and it was in soft panniers and nothing was touched. I have no insurance for gear of any kind. It's a sad situation in the western world.

 

[Thern]

Well I lived in the UK and left because if it was n't bolted down someone would steel it. The police were not interested either. So I moved first to Turkey and now Bulgaria. Both countries I am happy to say you can leave anything anywhere and it won't be touched. I have not locked my house, camper, car for 7 years here in Bulgaria. I also ride a motorcycle and have never even taken the key from the ignition. I rode to Kazakhstan a fews years back and had hundreds of pounds worth of camera gear on board and it was in soft panniers and nothing was touched. I have no insurance for gear of any kind. It's a sad situation in the western world.

Survey: Bulgaria is the Most Dangerous Country in the EU: The Highest Number of Crime, Violence and Vandalism - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency

Bulgaria is the country with the highest crime rates, the highest number of violence and vandalism, according to a survey of the European Statistical Office Eurostat. The data is for 2017 and was published today.

m.novinite.com

 

[Mr F Stop.]

Survey: Bulgaria is the Most Dangerous Country in the EU: The Highest Number of Crime, Violence and Vandalism - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency

Bulgaria is the country with the highest crime rates, the highest number of violence and vandalism, according to a survey of the European Statistical Office Eurostat. The data is for 2017 and was published today.

m.novinite.com

Glad to read you state things are so much better today in Bulgaria

I can only give the facts as i experience them. What I have said is fact not internet polls. The strange thing is that even Bulgarians believe crime and theft are everywhere. They have guards on everything including supermarkets. But I have to say it like I see it. In the UK I personally experienced theft of a motorcycle, Quad, tools, generator, and my house broken into, and another house burnt out by Welsh nationalist. These too are facts.

 

[dabhand16]

I too am getting old........ I've been only taking my Nikon FF kit I need for any particular outing for some time now, and for a lightweight travel/holiday camera kept my D300 with an 18-200.
That all changed when I thought I'd see what all this mirrorless lark was all about. My Fuji kit now (in spite of me vowing that I was NOT going to build another kit) has 1 camera and 6 lenses, a flashgun, battery grip and odds and ends and weighs in less than my D850 with 2 f2.8 lenses (24-70 and sigma 105 Macro) 2 flashguns and a few odds and ends. I can lift my Fuji bag with just my little finger.

 

[DRwyoming]

Don’t know how ‘things’ are in the US but overhere insurance won’t pay a dime when you leave your gear in your car and it gets stolen...
A girlfriend/colleague left her gear (about 40K worth) in the closed trunk of her car and it was stolen, insurance stated she left it unattended so she was to blame...
She was very happy, I never heard her swear before LOL.

Apparently things are better over here. I specifically had that discussion with the folks that provide my camera equipment insurance when I bought the policy and I'm covered for that scenario but I do need a police report on the break in. I've only once had to exercise it where the camera stuff lost was minimal (a bag with a couple of strobes and some cables) but the car damage and broken window was the main problem. The car insurance company covered the vehicle damage and the camera insurance company covered the stolen gear.

That said, I never leave camera gear exposed and visible through the windows and generally lock it up out of sight as in the back of our van. If I'll take the jeep that doesn't have any good out of sight storage options and will work away from the car then I only take what I'll carry on my back or on the tripod and leave the rest at home. I'll also say that when on photo road trips the gear never stays in the car over night, insurance or not, and comes into my hotel room and it's not left alone there either.

 

[EricBowles]

I've gone through a similar thought process.

At one point my primary pack was a big Tamrac Expedition. It turns out the empty pack weighed something like 8 pounds. It had big heavy straps for the shoulders and waist - just far too much padding. I replaced it with a travel bag that stays in the car - a ThinkTank Airport Addicted - and a small torso bag from ThinkTank - the Turnstyle 20. The Turnstyle bag is my working bag in the field with room for three lenses, business cards, spare batteries, a rain cover, and other items. My range with the Turnstyle bag is 15-20 miles in a day - the bag is very efficient and has a comfortable, wide strap.

My bag for my 600 f/4 requires a different approach. When I use that lens, it's the only bag I carry into the field. I normally have a camera with a wider lens (for landscapes if planned) on my shoulder, the 600 f/4 with flash, bracket, cord, and teleconverters in a LowePro LensTrekker AW600. I'm carrying a tripod and gimbal head. This kit normally has a hiking range of about 5 miles on foot. I've also carried this bag and a tripod on a bicycle for longer distances.

At one point my packing list for trips carried the weights of everything, plus a 10% allocation for miscellaneous things like caps, batteries, spares and repairs, etc. Even things like camera straps add up when you carry a lot of gear.

Of course, we all know that if we can shave 5-10 pounds off the photographer, the weight of our gear won't matter too much.

 

[TimGVA]

I spent many years shooting underwater, so any weight you guys come up with, double that for traveling with a housing, strobes and ports.

Since I retired (thanks to Hurricane Irma) I’ve gone mirrorless and light (Z50). I live deep in the woods and have everything from open meadow to creek to beaver dam to thick forest within a mile of my retirement man cave.

I have a LowePro Flipside Trek BP 450 that easily handles everything I need for the day, including lunch, blind, folding stool, water and assorted tools and chargers This comes to about a 20lb load including a second Z50/50-250mm. I walk with a monopod with a Wimberley MH-100 gimbal head and a Z50/NTZ/200-500mm 5.6 lens.

Compared to lugging underwater stuff on and off boats, this is a breeze.

While the Z50 has its pros and cons, it has been an interesting transition and quite affordable. I am not shooting for publication anymore, so the Z50 suits me well. I am getting 2-3 miles a day with the 20lb. pack with no problem.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[Calson]

On one of my trips to Costa Rica my Gura Gear 32L backpack weighed 37 pounds. I realized that I needed to take as much weight as possible out of this backpack and take along a 18L backpack. It works for air travel as the 32L qualifies as carry-on luggage and the 18L which fits under the seat in front of me qualifies as a "personal item". My laptop goes into a pocket in the 18L backpack. Having 22 lbs in the 32L and 15 lbs in the 18L backpack is a lot easier on my back. Going through airports the 32L is on a collapsible cart and the 18L is on my back.

 

[markymark]

I can only give the facts as i experience them. What I have said is fact not internet polls. The strange thing is that even Bulgarians believe crime and theft are everywhere. They have guards on everything including supermarkets. But I have to say it like I see it. In the UK I personally experienced theft of a motorcycle, Quad, tools, generator, and my house broken into, and another house burnt out by Welsh nationalist. These too are facts.

I think to be honest you get good & bad in any country.
I live in England & yes there is theft & crime, but what major city in the world doesn't get that?
I'm really glad you've settled back in Bulgaria as understand that the wildlife is fantastic.

 

[ccirelli]

Since I retired (thanks to Hurricane Irma) I’ve gone mirrorless and light (Z50).

I love the Z50, it's a great little camera that is quite powerful. I've since moved on to a Z6 but at times I wonder if I should have kept the Z50 for it's size / weight / and APS-C "reach". That 50-250 is amazingly sharp too.

 

[ccirelli]

I recently upgraded to a "slightly" larger backpack in order to provide myself some additional room for a second body and/or lens and also for additional clothing and/or my porta blind. This pack is the Mindshift Backlight 36L.

Funny, I just upgraded to a Lowepro ProTactic 450 AWII, coming from a Flipside 300 AWII. The ProTactic is a 26L bag but it felt HUGE to me at first. After getting it set up, it turned out to be ideal, love it. But I think I need to re-calibrate my notion of "large bag"

 

[StefanSC]

Well...
I got the ‘reconnaissance pack’ with a Panasonic G9, PL 8-18, Olympus 12-40, Olympus 30 mm f3.5 1.25x macro and Olympus 75-300mm which clocks in at about 6 pounds in an old Lowepro Tahoe 150 bag.
I got the ‘focused pack‘ which is a Lowepro Flipside 400 AW which can vary in weight from 10 pounds (landscape and macro) up to about 20 for wildlife,
I got the ‘we’re moving pack’ which is a Mindshift Backlight 36L that can swallow most of my gear. Most often I use this for portrait sessions as it allow me to carry flashes and light modifiers and multiple fast primes. Never weighed it but most likely it hits 30+ pounds.

 

[Stokes]

I have to say that I'm disappointed in all of you. My dear wife of 55 years has helped me carry my gear for as long as we both can remember. As the years have gone by we both carry less, but she is still a real trooper. My pack probably weighs at least 30 lbs and she carries a large tripod and a small backpack. She's also the artistic director and I'm the camera "tech", meaning I get to release the shutter. Works for us .

 

[Mr F Stop.]

I have to say that I'm disappointed in all of you. My dear wife of 55 years has helped me carry my gear for as long as we both can remember. As the years have gone by we both carry less, but she is still a real trooper. My pack probably weighs at least 30 lbs and she carries a large tripod and a small backpack. She's also the artistic director and I'm the camera "tech", meaning I get to release the shutter. Works for us .

I think this thread has been done before? Anyway I had to reply to Stokes, I love it, Artistic director! I am guessing she has a fold out chair? In the end I bought my wife a camera to stop this, now of course we compete, which is probably even worse.

 

[Maljo]

30 lbs without tripod. I like to bring all. Feel fortunate to have these lighter Z bodies. I’m 65 and I know some day I will have to leave a few things at home.