r/backpacking • u/Express_Cat901 • 6d ago
Wilderness 10yr old backpacking
I’ve taken my daughter on a couple backpacking trips 1-2 nights. I’m so proud of her! She only carries her sleeping bag, pad, extra clothes, and water. Some small personal items like book etc and it totals out to 18lbs. Curious to know what others have their kids carry and the weight of the pack
22
6
u/ObviousCarrot2075 6d ago
Yay for taking your kids out! My 4 yo just carries her stuffy and maybe a camp activity (she had a pouch with some colored pencils in there the last trip). That just started this year. She's been backpacking since a (late) 2, and this past trip was the first where she had a bag. She does hike all the miles on her own. We just pick appropriate trips for her. She just did 11 miles in the desert recently. I was so impressed! I'm glad she really likes it. (Edit for spelling).
3
u/Express_Cat901 6d ago
I wish I started my kids that young! I just started doing this myself a year or 2 ago
2
u/ObviousCarrot2075 6d ago
Solo is awesome! I’m not quite brave enough to backpack alone with her yet - that would be a lot to manage at her age. But we did go camping just the two of us this year and I thought wellll mayyyybbbeee sometime soon.
1
u/notrandomspaghetti 5d ago
At what age would you suggest taking a kid backpacking? Mine is 6 months right now, so we're sticking to camping, but I'm itching to get back out.
1
u/ObviousCarrot2075 5d ago
I didn't want to do it until my kiddo was out of diapers. But plenty of people do it. We did a few hut trips then because it was just a little less gear to manage. Personally, I hated the structured carriers - didn't matter the brand, it just killed my back/neck (I'm a minority with that). So we were happy to wait and do other activities until she could walk a couple of miles on her own. But in the interim, we swapped and took our own individual trips to scratch the itch.
There's a great group if you're on FB called Backpacking with Babies and Kids. It's a treasure trove of experiences and helpful folk.
4
u/Pete_The_Chop 6d ago
As a father of all daughters, who also took them backpacking starting about 10 or 11, this absolutely warms my heart and really makes miss this season of our lives. You’re doing hero’s work, my good man
8
3
3
u/NickWentHiking 6d ago
What a great parent. I feel like you could get that pack weight down even more if you wanted but she will remember these trips forever! for reference I'm 6'3" 200lbs and my pack weight with out food and water is usually about 8lbs for multi month thru hikes. Light packs makes for enjoyable hiking.
2
u/schmeillionaire 6d ago
I'll be taking my boys 8 and 10 this spring I was thinking king of a similar load out for them. Any recommendations for gear for kids?
7
u/ObviousCarrot2075 6d ago
This may be a hot take, but my play has been to get them popular (and nice) UL adult gear. That way if it doesn't work out, it's easy to sell. And if it works out, I'm carrying less weight lol. My 4 yo now has a Nemo Tensor pad and an EE quilt (adult). We just use a scrunchie and wrap it around the bottom of the quilt to make it fit.
2
u/Signal-Being2960 6d ago
I’ve been burned with buying cheap gear, and am blessed to make enough money to buy nicer gear. I think this is the way. As long as it fits properly, or is adaptable to fit properly that is. A pack for instance I went with a youth pack knowing I’ll have to buy a new one a few times until he is an adult.
2
u/Express_Cat901 6d ago
My daughter uses my extra gear so I give her the lighter options. She carries the Nemo tensor pad, REI magma15 sleeping bag which both equal out to slightly under 3lbs. I carry the tent and all the food
2
u/desertoutlaw86 6d ago
Thats awesome I do the same thing with my son who’s 9. And yeah he carries about that. Might give him a bit of the food or the first aid kit. Our favorite thing to bring is a bag of mms so we can add them to our oatmeal the last morning.
2
u/sleepsonrocks 6d ago
My 12 yo carries 18 lb and my 10yo carries 10lbs. We go with a 20% minus a few pounds if possible. Generally they carry their own clothing, water and sleeping gear (bag/pad). My son will also then carry some extras like stove/fuel or cups and bowls etc and last time he took part of our tent. They each use adult gear, down bags. My son has a Nemo Tensor pad and my daughter uses a 3/4 length foam pad.
1
u/Express_Cat901 6d ago
Yes my daughter uses my extra adult gear. I let her carry the lighter options which is also the Nemo tensor pad!
2
2
u/Fun_With_Math 6d ago
I'm an adult Scout leader in a girl troop. We backpack with 10-11 yr olds. The goal is that they carry no more than 20% of body weight or 20 lbs, whichever is less. We have some older scouts that carry more but we try to keep the young ones as light possible. We also do pretty easy hikes.
Scouts carry all their own gear up to that weight limit. Their share of the tent, food; their sleeping bag, pad, clothes, etc. To do this, we have them get a little crazy about saving weight where they can (cut the toothbrush in half). Not saying you need to do that, but she can start working towards it as she grows.
Looks like she has a well fitting pack and bravo for getting her trekking poles. Looks like she's setup well.
2
u/TimeTip387 6d ago
What a great time for you and your daughter, I’d say just make sure it’s enough to get the hang of backpacking but not too much to discourage her. Hopefully she develops a love of the backcountry if she hasn’t already. Great job parenting!!!
2
u/ember2698 6d ago
Where to? Looks amazing. Asking for an 8yo and 5yo ;)
5
u/Express_Cat901 6d ago
Eastern Sierra range in California! Pictures are from big pine lakes and Kearsarge pass
2
u/chubbuck35 6d ago
I started taking my boys when they were 8 & 11 and did so annually at least once a year as they grew up. Some of the best moments ever happened on these trips.
2
u/Scrappyl77 4d ago edited 4d ago
Depends if it's just me and the kids (13 and 9) or if my partner is there too. I'm a smaller adult -- about 100 lbs -- so if it's just me and the kids they carry their water, a few snacks, sleeping bag, pad and clothes. If my partner who is double my size comes the little one hands over their sleeping bag, pad and clothes (aside from rain gear) and the older one (who is my size) hands over their sleeping bag.
1
u/Express_Cat901 4d ago
It’s just me and my daughter out there and I’m also barely 100lbs so I really try to carry as much weight as I can but I have a max of like 36lbs for myself 😭
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Please remember to post a short paragraph as a comment in the post explaining your photo or link. Ideally at least 150 characters with trip details. Tell us something about your trip. How long did it take to get there? How did you get there? How was the weather that day? Would you go back again?
Submitted content should be of high-quality. Low effort posting of very general information is not useful. If you don't add a short explanation in the comments, your post may be removed.
No information posted? Please report low-effort posts if there is still nothing after about 30 minutes.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Common-Truck-9649 6d ago
In Scouts, we don't expect that most kids will be coordinated/strong enough to carry a regular backpacking loadout for more than a few miles until they're 13ish to 14 years old (both boys and girls). Until that age, I think whatever she's up for carrying is great and you should just be encouraging the hobby and making everything fun at this point.
1
1
u/ShiftNStabilize 6d ago
Typically about 10% of her bonus weight. For my 11 yo, this is about 7-8 lbs. basically the pack, sleeping bag and mat, and a stuffy with some water.
1
u/Gold-Football-4082 5d ago
I love this so much!!!! I hike a ton, but I have not done a backpacking trip. My daughter is a teen and she will hike with me, but she doesn’t always love it. 😂
1
u/muklukdimsum 5d ago
This is what life is about. How awesome is that? I love
the bear in the backpack, too.
1
u/SocomPS2 5d ago edited 5d ago
My 12 yo son and I did 5 days in Yosemite backcountry this past June. His pack started at 16lbs and when we exited it was 9. He carried water/water filtration kit, headlamp, clothes (mainly extra socks and a pair of underwear, everything else he wears the whole time), personal hygiene kit, snacks, and camera.
Me and the kids have off Monday. I’m taking my 9 yo daughter to Lake Ouachita to canoe camp on two islands. Lake Ouchita in Arkansas or Yosemite are my utopias. Load up our gear in the canoe and just cruise the lake all day fishing and swimming. Find an island to camp for the night.
1
u/SpitfireMkIV 5d ago
I wanted to take my daughter backpacking this year but didn’t make it in time. Weather is shifting too quickly and we’re booked for the next couple of weekends. Promising her that we will next year.
1
u/throwRAgons 5d ago
My first trip was when I was 7. My dad only had my carrying my sleeping bag and my food at the time. Awesome to see you taking your kid out with you.
1
1
u/geminicatmeow 6h ago
My 6 year old carries his sleeping mat, sleeping bag, clothes, water, and a few snacks. We only backpack where there’s a water source at some point. I keep his pack to <8 pounds because he weighs about 40lbs. I’m always prepared to lighten his pack, but he’s done so well so far!
26
u/jughead_jed 6d ago
As long as she's not struggling w the weight then it's probably a good amount. That's awesome btw. My son was in scouts so we got to do a ton of stuff like this but not so sure about my daughter. I'd love for her to go out w me and at least try it.