OK, i'm an UL backpacker, but my usual re-supply is 5 days at the most.
I have a trek next year that will need around 10/12 days food to be carried. I use an MLD Zip for longer treks right now, but it can't handle the food load for this trek.
Any suggestions?

I don't want to buy a pack from the man.

ULA Circuit. Can resell after your trip easily here. Plenty of room. Comfortable carry. I downsized to an Ohm for most of my trips as the Circuit had just too much room. Good features, and quality. Price is not bad either. No wait time.

Thanks Ken, but i don't think the Circuit can handle the volume.
I already have a Relay and a Conduit(the good one with the roll-top)
:)

Edited by MikefaeDundee on 08/21/2010 10:43:43 MDT.

You'll probably get better informed suggestions if you provide more detailed info:

1) Base pack contents weight (excluding consumables)
2) Maximum food weight and volume (different folk's daily food weights and volumes vary)
3) Maximum water weight (varies a lot from one locale to another)
4) Will you be in bear canister country? (resulting in "food volume that is effectively constant)
5) Do you prefer most of the weight to be carried by a hip belt and suspension or can you tolerate moderate shoulder loads?

SMD Starlite? It's my winter pack of choice.

Technically, it has the same 4200 cubic inch volume of the Circuit, but the main pack body + extension holds 3400ci vs 2900ci for the Circuit. SMD only figures 800ci for the kangaroo pocket and 3 side pockets vs 1100ci for the pockets on the Circuit. I have a hard time believing(having tested out an Ohm) that the volume of the pockets on the Starlite(which I own) is 300ci less. I can fit two 2L platy bladders in the long side pocket alone, with some room left over. The kangaroo pocket easily holds rain gear + a Duomid, and the two smaller side pockets each fit a canister stove, 8oz canister, and Trappers mug. With the stays, it's a 30oz pack. Minus the stays, using a CCF pad in the pad pocket as a frame, it's a 1.5lb pack. I find that a folded over torso-length ridgerest in the pack pocket is good for me to 25lb, and perhaps even 27.

I agree with Jim, especially about #2. 12 days of food is a LOT. If it were me, and all I ate was peanut butter, I'd need about 5 jars of Costco size peanut butter at 4000 calories a day. Now consider that nuts have about half the calorie density, macaroni has less than 1/4th and oatmeal is less than 1/5th.

Now if you can get a calorie density that's about 1/3rd of peanut butter, you can fit about 12 days into an Ursack. That fits 650 cubic inches.

Food has got be be by far the heaviest item we carry. If you really want to stay UL, consider placing a wilderness cache as I did this summer. But you can't always hit civilization every 5 days, so the cache has to be in the wild, and in my case, at a location below timberline. Could give you the link, but it is easier just to go to page 2 of this forum and look at the thread entitled, "Hanging bear canisters." It is all on there, except the Opsac clips that are available from Amazon, and noted on yet another recent thread. I only clipped the outer Opsacs.

It was fun locating a good site to hang the Ursack where I could readily find it but nobody would run across it. And it was a good pretrek warmup to spend a day packing in and hanging just 5 days of food and the cache stuff. Your back will thank you.

The 'trail' i'm doing next year is the 'Arctic Trail' in Greenland. It is only around 100 miles in length, and most folk do it in around a week.
I have 2 weeks vacation, so i will wander off trail, and I want to climb a few of the mountain en route.
There is no re-supply en-route.
I'm experienced in hiking in wet/cold conditions.

Mike, 6 days of food will fit into about 7L of space for me. Dehydrated foods, 1.5 total pounds per day. I would think you might be able to get by with an additional 12L or so. Given that for me, that would be 15lbs, which would put you into comfy framed pack area or not as comfy larger framless pack. I am partial to the former for those types of weights so I would look at the ULA OHM or Circuit (as mentioned). The OHM is noticeably lighter and is comfy in the high 20's for me.

ULA Catalyst. Although it seems hard to believe that a Circuit wouldn't work. Unless I'm confusing packs.

Mike,

Do you envision using a new pack beyond this trip or is it something you need only for this trip? That would be a big consideration for me in terms of how much to spend.
You can usually find a new Granite Gear Vapor Trail here or on Ebay for around $100.00 or less. A used one would work for this trip too. This should definitely handle the weight and storage for the food, especially if your normal gear kit fits in the Zip.

Also, just because I'm curious, what precautions do you need to take for food storage? I'm assuming there are foxes and other small mammals, but do they get near people in Greenland?

Sounds like it will be an amazing trip!

Edit: is Granite Gear "The Man?" Discuss amongst yourselves . . .

Edited by saparisor on 08/21/2010 13:47:04 MDT.

Sounds like a great trip. I have a similar problem but with 8 days food. I am planning to try out a large removable front pouch strung off the shoulder straps that will hold about 4 days food. After I eat my way through that food, the pouch is packed away.

I'll second the SMD Starlite. It wasn't comfortable for me, and honestly it was too big for my winter load + 7 days of food, but I can fit that in and strapped onto my Gorilla, but alot of people find them very comfortable.


If you need the extra volume, the starlite is huge. Seems alot bigger than the Circuit to me.. Volume sizes listed by MFGs are kind of arbitrary.

Mike please tell us what else besides food will you be carrying.

ULA Circuit. I can't imagine you wouldn't fit all your stuff in this.

Thanks for the comments guys.
I don't expect any animals to be a problem regarding my food. Hopefully i won't bump into any polar bears! :)

I sold a Starlite last year as i wasn't using it. Doh!

I haven't finalised a gear list yet, but it will be something like this.

Duomid with maybe inner nest. I've heard the mosquitos can be bad in summer. I may leave the trip to later in the year when the mosquitos aren't too bad, but i don't want to cut it too fine and catch the first heavy snows of winter. If i travel later in the year i may leave the inner nest behind and take a Bristlecone bivvy.
Nunatak Arc Specialist quilt.
Montbell UL 90 or short air pad from Bender. Plus a short length of CCF pad.
I haven't decided on cooking set-up yet. I'm waiting to speak to someone i know who has done this trail before. I might take a Bushbuddy if he says there is enough heather to burn, with an alky stove as back up. There are no trees. I might end up taking an Optimus Crux cannister stove.
TNF Triumph Anorak and Montane Atomic w/proofs.
Montbell UL Down inner jacket or Montbell UL Thermawrap for camp/breaks and sleeping if needed.
PHD Windshirt.
Merino buff and gloves.
0ne pair of spare socks and one pair of spare underpants.
1 litre Platy.
Map and compass.
Knife. Depends on stove choice what knife i take.
Small first aid kit and ditty bag.
Mosi headnet.
I won't need a light, as there is 24 hours daylight.
I intend to drink untreated water from streams.
I will probably be wearing Mizuno Wave Harrier shoes, Montane Terra Lite pants, and Smartwool socks.
Smartwool base layer and a 100weight fleece.

The Zip is perfect for 5 days food, but i couldn't get 10 or 12 days food in there. I'm thinking about the MLD Ark, as i love the way MLD packs carry, and it compresses well as the food goes down. The Golite Pinnacle is another option, but maybe too much the man. :)
I'm trying to avoid a framed pack if possible.

How about following Roman Dial and Ryan Jordan's Arctic trip's example and get the ULA Epic? That way you have a pack that can carry the load (or you can remove the stays), allows you to adjust the volume by using different sized drybags, and is designed for wet environments. I don't know how well the Epic carries compared to the the original Arctic Pack (I have one and it carries very nicely), but it's worth considering. I know Andy Skurka uses an old Arctic Pack with a chopped up GoLite Pinnacle.

Edited by butuki on 08/22/2010 08:28:16 MDT.