This question was often raised during my preparation, in particular by the pupils I met. My first answer was that I will take a backpack rather than a suitcase. Question of adequacy. And this backpack should not be overweight. Maximum 12 kg (27 lb.) which corresponds to the commonly adopted rule of one fifth of the porter's weight.
You can reach 12 kg (27 lb.) very easily. So you'd better think about it a bit before than the night before leaving. Obviously there will be the strictly needed equipment. And the meaning of "strictly needed" is slightly different from the usual context of live. So I started to list equipments with their corresponding weight, and then delete the unnecessary. Golden rule: the more necessary and the lighter, the better for the back it will be.
Three categories: hiking, clothing and electronics. For hiking, unsurprisingly, you will find the backpack itself! And I will then fill it in with a sleeping bag (thanks for my generous providers!), a small tent and an ultra compact and light air mattress - very important for restful sleep. Here are already 4 kg (9 lb.).
For clothing, forget about cotton. Very bad sweat discharge and when roughly washed it turns into cardboard. Jeans have to be avoided. Already heavy when dry, they weigh like hell when wet. Clothing is thus composed of ultra-light and ultra-warm t-shirts, fleece, jacket, pants, etc. When you add the necessary to freshen up, you have another 4 kg (9 lb.).
And then, for 2 kg (4,5 lb.) there are a camera and a small laptop. So for the moment, I have a spare weight. But there will be some unexpected by the time I will finish my bag. So I don't worry!
