Alopex is a free, privacy-first backpack weight calculator and route intelligence tool built for backpackers, hikers, and thru-hikers. Plan your gear list, optimize base weight in real time, and analyze GPX routes entirely in your browser — nothing you do ever leaves your device.
Base weight is the total weight of your packed gear minus consumables — the food, water, and fuel you burn through on the trail. To calculate it, weigh your empty pack, then add every durable item you carry: shelter, sleep system, cook kit, clothing, navigation, and safety gear. Anything you will eat, drink, or burn before you get home is excluded. Alopex does this automatically: build your gear list with weights in grams, ounces, or pounds, and the calculator instantly separates base weight from consumable weight and total pack weight, flags your heaviest items, and tracks your pack-to-body-weight ratio as you make changes.
Backpackers generally fall into three load categories. An ultralight setup keeps base weight under 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) and relies on minimal shelters like tarps or single-wall trekking-pole tents, down quilts, and multi-use gear. A lightweight setup runs 10 to 20 pounds (4.5 to 9 kilograms) and is the comfortable sweet spot for most hikers, balancing durability, comfort, and cost. Traditional loads exceed 20 pounds and often include heavier freestanding tents, thick air mattresses, and full camp kitchens. Alopex flags your pack the moment it crosses each threshold, so you always know your category and exactly where the next easiest ounces can come out.
Alopex parses your GPX files directly in the browser — no uploads, no servers, no account required. Drop in a route to instantly see total distance, cumulative elevation gain and loss, high-point elevation, and a full elevation profile chart so you can judge whether a day is as flat as the map makes it look. Routes render over OpenTopoMap layers with contour lines and terrain shading built for backcountry navigation. Because every waypoint and track point is processed on your own machine, your exact locations stay private — Alopex never transmits, stores, or logs your GPS data.
Base weight is the weight of your pack and all its durable gear with consumables removed. Pack weight — also called total or skin-out weight — is everything you carry at the trailhead, including food, water, and fuel. Base weight is what you optimize with gear choices; total pack weight is the actual load on your back each day.
Alopex is privacy-first by design. Your GPX files are parsed and analyzed entirely client-side in your browser. Route data, waypoints, and gear lists are never uploaded to a server, never logged, and never shared — your backcountry locations remain yours alone.