It occurred to me that pack weight matters, so what the heck does that new Yaesu FT-891 (which has yet to see a trail, btw) actually weigh, and how does this compare with the FT-857d and FT-817nd? After finding the single most important piece of backpacking gear (luggage scale), here are the results in pounds:
- FT-891: 5.00
- FT-857d: 5.62
- FT-817nd: 2.72
- FT-60: 0.78
Note that all three HF rig weights include their respective Portable Zero roll cages and microphones. The SOTAbeams speech compressor is included with the 817, because it's pretty much useless for voice without it. The '60 hand-held is included because the 891 doesn't have VHF/UHF capability. Add in its weight with the 891 if you want a more apples-to-apples comparison, but even that is a little off since the '60 carries a built-in battery, is only 5w, can be operated simultaneously with the HF rig, etc. etc.
In the end, the 891 is so close to the 857 in weight that it's all down to rounding errors. And ps, in the end, the 817 and associated lightweight gear comes in at about 5 lbs, while either of the two QRO radios with their laptop & other gear will tip the scales in the neighborhood of 15 lbs. Pick your back pain to power ratio.
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