How I Pack My Backpack

I did an 8-day backpacking trip in Wyoming, and learned the limits of my Osprey Exos 58.  Yes, I got everything in it, but it was tight.  My packing procedure is as follows:

I put a trash compactor bag into the body of my pack.  My sleeping bag gets packed in a SilNylon Nano Dry bag (I have a post about this sack) and pushed to the bottom.  Next I drop in clothes I will not be wearing during the day.  These I keep in Ziplocs to organize and keep dry in my tarp.

Next I drop in my Nano Puff jacket and down jacket, and long underwear top.  I then goose neck the trash compactor bag and close with a velcro ziploc.  I put my down jacket along the outside so is can put my stove, mug, etc closer to my back.  They sit outside the bag to avoid food smell contamination.

On my Wyoming trip, we had to carry a bear can since we were above the tree line, so it goes in next.  Finally, trash and overflow items go in a bear bag I strapped in under the top flap/pocket of my pack.  8 days of food was more than the bear can could hold, so I started with 2 days of food in the bear bag.  We had trees for the first few days so no problem.  Later in the trip I put my smellables and trash bag in the bear bag and put it on boulders and shrubs that would keep it away from chipmunks, marmots, and other "mini-bears".

My tarp and stakes go in my front "Stuff it" pocket with my umbrella.  All the typically wet stuff is outside the pack.  The Exos also has vertical side pockets.  I put my rain gear in here since I can get it without opening my backpack.  The other vertical side pocket holds my fuel, water funnel, and two 2L Platypus jugs.

The rest of my miscellaneous stuff goes in the top pocket.   I try to not lot it get to heavy, but my 1st aid kit, foot kit, headlamp, etc goes there.

I'll take more pictures on my October camping trip and update this post.