A healthy adult can carry roughly 20-25 kg over distance without rapid exhaustion, and a fit person with a good backpack perhaps 30-35 kg, so every kilogram has to be justified by what it keeps you alive for. Rank items by survival value per kilogram: a 0.5 kg bottle of broad-spectrum antibiotics beats a 15 kg generator with no fuel, and a light fire steel beats a heavy axe you already own. A cart or vehicle raises the limit, at the cost of noise and visibility.
Part of The Salvage Triage Framework
Capacity is the fixed budget on every trip, so the useful question is what each kilogram buys, not whether an item is useful in general.
Weight Is The Budget, Value Is What You Spend It On
Capacity is the limit that never moves. A healthy adult manages about 20-25 kg over distance without rapid exhaustion; a fit person with a good backpack might manage 30-35 kg. A wheelbarrow, cart or vehicle raises the limit dramatically, but noise and visibility rise with it, which matters when others are watching the same sites.
Value per kilogram is the working measure. Do not ask “is this useful?” Almost everything is. Ask “what does each kilogram of this buy me, compared with each kilogram of something else?”
Method: Compare By Weight And By Dependency
Step 1: Count what the item needs to work. A generator needs fuel, a place to run it and something to power. Without all three it is dead weight. A fire steel needs nothing. Items that depend on other items you do not have drop down the list.
Step 2: Check whether you already have an equivalent. A second axe adds little to a person who already carries one. A first of something is worth far more than a second.
Step 3: Decide whether it can be replaced locally. Cutting an edge from flint or splitting a branch for a spoon costs time but needs no salvage. An item that cannot be replaced locally earns its weight.
Step 4: Pack the dense, irreplaceable items first. Medicines, fire-starting gear and cutting tools weigh little for what they do. Fill the remainder with bulky necessities such as blankets and containers.
Worked Example
Compare two items by weight alone: a 0.5 kg bottle of antibiotics and a 15 kg generator.
15 kg divided by 0.5 kg is 30, so the generator weighs 30 times as much. Out of a 20-25 kg budget, the generator would consume 15 kg, leaving 5-10 kg for everything else (20 - 15 = 5; 25 - 15 = 10). The antibiotics consume 0.5 kg and leave 19.5-24.5 kg. Add the dependency: the generator does nothing without fuel, while the antibiotics work as they are.
Common Mistakes
- Loading to the maximum at the first site. You will find better items at the third site and have nowhere to put them.
- Judging by what an item is worth before the collapse. Electronics and valuables are often worth less than a blanket.
- Forgetting water. Water has real weight, and a full day’s supply competes for the same budget as everything else.
Safety
Overloading hurts you before it helps you
An exhausted person trips, drops loads and makes poor decisions, in the places where a fall is least survivable. If you are told by your own legs that the load is too heavy, it is. Make a second trip.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Competition & Risk Assessment — whether the site is worth the trip
- Combine with: Hand Tools & Hardware — applying the weight test to the heaviest category