Ever wonder what fits in a regular backpack or sack?

[Thorin]

I found this info by reading the handy Index of Equipment.

Go to http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20040406a, scroll about three quarters of the way down, and you'll find the following table (this is not in the 3.5 PHB!); although the article is about converting to metric, I removed the metric entries from the tables:

Containers and Carriers
=======================

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Hauling Vehicles                                                          |
+-----------------------+-------+-----------------+-------------------------+
| Item                  | Cost  | Empty Weight    | Holds or Carries        |
|                       |       | (English Units) | (English Units)         |
+-----------------------+-------+-----------------+-------------------------+
| Cart                  | 15 gp | 200 lb.         | 1/2 ton                 |
| Sled                  | 20 gp | 300 lb.         | 1 ton                   |
| Wagon                 | 35 gp | 400 lb.         | 2 tons                  |
+-----------------------+-------+-----------------+-------------------------+

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Dry Goods                                                                 |
+-----------------------+-------+-----------------+-------------------------+
| Item                  | Cost  | Empty Weight    | Holds or Carries        |
|                       |       | (English Units) | (English Units)         |
+-----------------------+-------+-----------------+-------------------------+
| Backpack              | 2 gp  | 2 lb.[1]        | 1 cubic ft./60 lb.[1]   |
| Barrel                | 2 gp  | 30 lb.          | 10 cubic ft./650 lb.[2] |
| Basket                | 4 sp  | 1 lb.           | 2 cubic ft./20 lb.      |
| Bucket                | 5 sp  | 2 lb.           | 1 cubic ft./65 lb.[3]   |
| Chest                 | 2 gp  | 25 lb.          | 2 cubic ft./200 lb.     |
| Pouch, belt           | 1 gp  | 1/2 lb.[1]      | 1/5 cubic ft./10 lb.[1] |
| Sack                  | 1 sp  | 1/2 lb.[1]      | 1 cubic ft./60 lb.[1]   |
| Saddlebags            | 4 gp  | 8 lb.           | 5 cubic ft./250 lb.     |
| Spell component pouch | 5 gp  | 1/4 lb.[1]      | 1/8 cubic ft./2 lb.     |
+-----------------------+-------+-----------------+-------------------------+

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Liquids                                                                   |
+-----------------------+-------+-----------------+-------------------------+
| Item                  | Cost  | Empty Weight    | Holds or Carries        |
|                       |       | (English Units) | (English Units)         |
+-----------------------+-------+-----------------+-------------------------+
| Bottle, wine, glass   | 2 gp  | --              | 1 1/2 pints/1.5 lb.     |
| Flask                 | 3 cp  | --              | 1 pint/1 lb.            |
| Jug, clay             | 3 cp  | 1 lb.           | 1 gallon/8 lb.          |
| Mug/tankard, clay     | 2 cp  | --              | 1 pint/1 lb.            |
| Pitcher, clay         | 2 cp  | 1 lb.           | 1/2 gallon/4 lb.        |
| Pot, iron             | 5 sp  | 2 lb.           | 1 gallon/8 lb.          |
| Vial, ink or potion   | 1 gp  | --              | 1 ounce/--              |
| Waterskin             | 1 gp  | --              | 1/2 gallon/4 lb. [1]    |
+-----------------------+-------+-----------------+-------------------------+

-- No weight worth mentioning

1. When made for Medium characters. Weighs one-quarter the normal amount when made for Small characters. Weighs twice the normal amount when made for Large characters. Containers carry one-quarter the normal amount when made for Small characters.

2. A barrel filled with liquid holds about 75 gallons.

3. A bucket filled with liquid holds about 7 gallons.

[Lazybones]

hence why a bag of holding is important.

[Mr. Analog]

hence why a bag of holding is important.

Handy for non-battle related stowage.

[Thorin]

Yes, a Bag of Holding is quite useful...  Keep in mind my other post about why I picked a Handy Haversack instead - once the Bag of Holding has more than 60lbs in it it'll take you a full-round action to retrieve an item.  No big deal out of battle, but it'll suck to try and find that Potion of Cure Serious Wounds if you do have a lot in there.

Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm willing to bet Aerindra's backpack is almost full of gear at the moment   Now if only eTools had a way of stating what items are in the backpack.  Or, maybe I could create duplicates of the items using the House Rules Editor that have [BACKPACK] or something like that in the name...

[Lazybones]

That is why you still have a backpack for the items you need quickly.