Coywolf, there's no way you were hitching around with 80 lbs on your back. My REI 85L hiking pack is only rated for 40 lbs. I've put 52 lbs exactly (6.5 gallons) in it when I was hauling water for my squat and my shoulders were killing me after a couple blocks. My bag also has a great strap and padding arrangement. It doesn't matter how strong you are or how you condition yourself, the shoulder straps chafe and bruise your skin if you carry that kind of weight for much time. For reference, a gallon of water weighs 8 lbs. 2 gal water-16 lbs, 12 pack of 12 oz cans of beer-8 lbs, half gallon of vodka-4 lbs, that's 28 lbs of liquid. Idk how much food and clothing you had but my 85L pack weighs about 40 lbs when completely filled with just cloths and a person eats about 3 lbs of food per day. But you're right about one thing, those Alice packs are shit.
Not true , I have a 90 ltr and a small 35ltron my chest and lived out of both for quite a while .
Reason I carried so much and both was mainly winter gear and Carhartt ect.
I was going through temps of 120° in Las Vegas to - 34° in Western Montana .
Cought a greyhound and of course they weigh everything and I was sitting just under 100lbs , and I've walked miles and miles with them , and yeas hopped ect.
For me the trick is loading your pack properly so nothing is poking you or rides uncomfortable or isn't swinging or shifting , the pack on my chest actually worked as a good counter Ballance and was mainly important day to day stuff or stuff I wanted to get to without dropping everything and digging .
After you get everything to ride right and adjusted to comfort (as much as your gonna get with that weight) the next most important thing is foot wear.
I started with brand new docs that were broke in , but ditched them in favor of after market airforce boots I dug out of a salvation army donation box , the docs had zero arch support and I could literally feel my arches flattening out and it was very painful , the military boots are goretex have a good insole and nice ankle support , as you don't want to roll or possibly break ankle .
And yes you can do alot with trekking poles , I never really used them as trekking poles but as poles to stretch out a tarp or tent fly with as a make shift pup tent type shelter .
I carried alot of water , two bladders , 3-4 metal water bottles at a time .
It's important to stay hydrated because you are going to sweat alot , and not just when it is hot.
Most of the time even in winter as I was walking I got by with just a hoodie because of the heat I generally generated from walking with two packs and one on my chest , you don't want to over heat or sweat so much as to be wet in the cold , and if you do change your shirt immediately when you stop and then put on your coat or else you risk freezing or hypothermia.
It is much easier to dry a hoodie and shirt then to go without your coat because it is wet.
