Add the empty pack, then weigh the equipment and contents you will actually carry. This calculator separates packed base equipment, consumables and worn or held items. A shared stove counts at its actual physical quantity, once across the ledger, rather than once for every person who might use it.
Start with the Ten Essentials packing builder to decide what the trip requires. This page answers the next question: how the mass of those actual objects adds up. A low subtotal does not establish a complete kit, suitable pack or safe load.
What the totals mean
REI’s base-weight explanation excludes consumables such as food, water and fuel from the loaded pack. This ledger uses that distinction and records equipment outside the pack separately.
| Total | Included here | Kept separate |
|---|---|---|
| Packed base | Empty pack, packed clothing, reusable containers and other packed equipment | Food, water, fuel and other consumables |
| Starting packed mass | Everything recorded inside the pack, including consumables | Worn or held items |
| Worn or held mass | Recorded items outside the pack at the start | Packed mass |
| All equipment mass | Packed plus worn or held rows | Your body mass, which is not entered |
| Combined filled units | A whole filled container whose dry tare is unknown | Its base-versus-consumable allocation remains unresolved |
Moving a jacket from the pack onto your body changes its accounting location. It does not remove the jacket’s mass from the equipment you transport. Likewise, the whole-group subtotal is the combined inventory, not a load recommendation for any one person.
Weigh without counting the same contents twice
Use the same scale and consistent units where practical. Record the actual configuration: raincover, straps, batteries, covers, packaging and accessories can matter. We have not measured your equipment or supplied product weights.
For filled water or fuel containers, choose one of these records:
- Separate known parts: record the empty reusable container as base equipment and its contents as water or fuel. Both contribute to packed mass.
- Only a whole filled mass is known: select the combined-filled-container type. The known whole mass contributes to carried mass, while the base and consumable allocation remains incomplete until dry tare is established.
Do not enter a filled bottle and then add its water contents again. The same problem occurs when a complete first-aid pouch is entered alongside every component already inside it. Repeated item labels prompt a review, but the tool does not delete them: two similar labels may represent two real objects.
The water carrying and refill planner addresses the route, individual assumptions and source uncertainty that set the water plan. This mass ledger does not decide how much water you need. Reducing required water or emergency equipment to reach a preferred total is a different decision and can invalidate the trip plan.
Count shared gear once, then name its carrier
In whole-group mode, quantity means actual units across everyone. If one stove serves four people, enter one stove with quantity one and mark it shared. Entering quantity four would mean four physical stoves. Nothing is automatically multiplied by group size or divided into equal personal shares.
Name the person carrying each row if that is known. Carrier subtotals show recorded distribution; an unassigned item still contributes to the group mass. Split a shelter into actual separately carried components if different people carry them, and remove any duplicate whole-shelter row. The calculator does not choose a fair or safe allocation, assess a child’s load, or verify that shared equipment has enough capacity.
Read the arithmetic example carefully
The example button loads a deliberately incomplete hypothetical inventory:
- 700 g empty pack and one 100 g shared stove: 800 g packed base;
- 2,000 g water contents, 500 g food and 100 g fuel contents: 2,600 g consumables;
- starting packed mass: 3,400 g;
- one 300 g jacket worn outside the pack: 3,700 g of equipment overall.
These are arithmetic values, not measured products or a suggested packing list. Empty water and fuel containers, other people’s equipment and many essential items are absent. Add the actual objects before interpreting a real trip’s totals. The stove remains 100 g in the group total even when several people use it.
Blank mass or quantity remains unknown. The heaviest-item list ranks known extended row masses, not individual unit masses; an unweighed object could be heavier than every ranked item. Complete entered quantities do not establish a complete inventory.
Compare with the actual packed unit
The optional scale check compares the entered packed subtotal with a measurement of the same packed equipment, excluding worn items. In group mode it must cover all the group’s packs. Editing item or scope records clears that old measurement for rechecking.
A difference can come from missing objects, duplicate contents, estimates, changed water or food, or measurement error. A matching number cannot prove completeness or safe carrying. Check volume, access and loaded fit separately. The Hikelite 18 review explains those model-specific checks; the Hikelite 18 versus 26 comparison addresses when more volume solves a packing problem.
Method, sources and limits
This original ledger combines reader measurements, physical quantities, explicit contents categories, carried location and carrier records. Source definitions and unit references were checked on October 17, 2026. No product, packed capacity, comfort or hiking performance was tested.
- REI: Ultralight Backpacking Gear Essentials supports the distinction between base equipment and food, water and fuel. Its weight-class labels are not used as goals or safety limits here.
- NIST: Consumer Package Labeling Guide, conversion table on printed page 13 supplies 453.59237 grams per pound and 16 ordinary mass ounces per pound. Dividing those gives 28.349523125 grams per ounce. The tool uses that ordinary mass conversion, not fluid or troy ounces. Displayed totals round to three decimal places; conversion precision does not improve the original scale reading.
- NPS Ten Essentials supplies the essential-category context. A mass calculation cannot decide which required systems to remove or replace current route guidance.
There is no bodyweight percentage, universal safe pack weight, readiness score or automatic shopping recommendation. The ledger supports up to 100 rows. CSV and native print retain actual entries, unknowns, physical quantities, carriers and limits. Entries remain in this tab without automatic saving, an account, server calculation or new tracking. Export before closing the tab.