Pack Planner

Pack summary

How Trailkeep calculates pack weight, reads the summary chart, and interprets per-category breakdowns.

The weight summary at the top of every gear list breaks your total load into four categories. When you have more than five categories, a collapse button appears in the summary header so you can hide the breakdown and reclaim screen space.

Weight categories

CategoryWhat it includesExample items
Base weightEverything that stays constant trip to tripShelter, sleep system, pack, stove, navigation
Worn weightItems worn or carried on your bodyBoots, rain jacket, trekking poles, hat
Consumable weightItems used up during the tripFood, fuel, toiletries, first aid consumables
Total weightBase + worn + consumableEverything

Mark each item as Worn or Consumable using the toggle in the item row. Unmarked items count as base weight.

Weight units

Weight units are set per list — each list can use a different unit. Options are g, kg, oz, and lb. The unit you choose applies to the summary totals and the chart display.

Individual items keep their own unit when imported or manually entered. The summary converts all items to the list's unit automatically.

Items without a weight value are excluded from all totals. Zero-weight items (weight set to 0) are included.

Summary chart

The summary includes a visual breakdown of weight by category. Two views are available — toggle between them using the chart icon in the summary header:

Stacked bar chart

A single horizontal bar divided into coloured sections — one per category, sized proportionally to its share of total pack weight. The default view.

Pie chart (donut)

A donut chart with each category as a slice. Hover a slice to see the category name, weight, and percentage. Click a slice to scroll to that category in the list.

The chart view preference is saved per list, per device — switching to pie chart on one list does not affect others, and the preference is not synced across devices.

The shared public view of your gear list always shows the stacked bar chart — the pie chart preference is only remembered for your own dashboard.

Summary controls

The top-right corner of the Summary card has three controls:

ControlWhat it does
Chart toggle (pie icon)Switches between stacked bar and pie chart view
Currency selectorSets the currency symbol for all item prices in the list
Weight unit selectorSets the display unit for all totals (g, kg, oz, lb)

Changing the currency or weight unit updates all display values immediately. Individual items keep their raw stored values — the summary converts them to the chosen unit automatically.

Unit inheritance

When you create a new gear list, it automatically inherits the weight unit and currency from whichever list is currently open. This keeps your units consistent as you build out multiple lists. If no list is open when you create the new one, units default to your locale (g/kg for metric regions, oz/lb for US/UK).

Clicking a category

Clicking a category row in the breakdown (or a slice in the pie chart) scrolls the list editor down to that category — useful for quickly jumping to a specific section without scrolling manually.

Why the breakdown matters

Base weight is the number most serious hikers optimise. It represents the fixed cost of your setup before food, fuel, and calories. Comparing base weight across trips lets you see whether your setup is getting lighter over time.

Consumable weight varies with trip duration and food strategy. Keeping it separate means your base weight comparison stays meaningful regardless of whether you are doing a 2-day weekend or a 14-day thru-hike section.