I carry a 38 liter frameless pack, so in order to create a comfortable structure within the main compartment I begin by stuffing my quilt into the very bottom of the pack without a compression sack or other stuff sack. This allows the quilt to fill up each corner and fully support the bottom of the bag.
I add my Zenbivy light sheet on top of the quilt and again, stuff and compress each of these down as deep as I can into the pack.
I then add my mattress, folded into roughly a 12x9 rectangle, into the pack vertically as a secondary back panel.
In front of the mattress, horizontally, I place my Zenbivy 7 liter dry sack, containing my warm layers (thermal leggings, alphatec hoodie, wool gloves, extra socks and my down puffy jacket) this fits perfectly across the interior of my pack.
On top the dry sack I add my 2 zip pouches, 1 large and 1 small and inside each of these are various ziplock bags organized with my electronics, charging cables, headlamp, extra batteries, repair kit items, toiletries, wallet, and other small necessities.
On top of that goes my food bag which typically contains 2-4 days worth of food depending on the milage I plan to do until my next resupply and directly behind my food bag and on top of everything else, is my rain layer, for quick access when the weather takes a turn.
That completes the 38 liter internal storage of my pack and I roll down the top and strap my closed cell foam sit pad on the very top of the pack.
In my main exterior stretch pocket I usually organize a full day worth of food into a large zip lock so I won’t need to get into the main compartment of my pack until I reach camp for the evening.
Also in my main external pocket I will have my poop kit in a large zip lock which contains an ultralight trowel, toilet paper and hand sanitizer.
Strapped to the front of my pack just below this main external pocket is my tent, I have this in a 10 liter dry sack, just incase of rain or deep water crossings. As well as immediate access and quick setup when I arrive at camp for the evening.
Each side pocket of my pack contains a water bottle, one with a full size sawyer squeeze filter always attached, and if I’m not using my trekking poles for the section of trail I am on, I will also strap those into the side pockets.
So that pretty much covers my full pack set up. If you’re more the visual type, I have a video with this exact set up shown and executed.
Happy Hiking,
Snackbar
