One of the most annoying things about going on a backpacking trip is having to carry heavy gears on your back as you hike through the wilderness. It may feel like you are carrying your whole house on your back. Having to hike through the wilderness with a heavy backpack on your back with all the gears will lead to bad knees, sore shoulders, bad back, lower back pain and you will have a sweaty back the whole hike. All that will suck the fun out of the whole backpacking trip, in order to lower the chance of having all that problems you will need to pack light as possible.
This article will talk about all the lightweight backpacking tips and tricks so that you can start implementing them on your next backpacking trip. We will be going over the things you should leave at home, the type of food and water you will need, cutting useless weight, and look at some awesome lightweight gears you will need.
Things You Leave At Home
The point of this is to bring things you’ll need and nothing you don’t need. It’s a good idea to bring warm layers like a good rain jacket but a lot of beginners bring things based on what-ifs and that most of the time it ends up being unnecessary.
Do not pack stuff on “just in case” mentality, instead ask yourself “what will happen if I don’t have it” and if it’s not about safety and comfort then you should leave it out. Here are some of the things you should consider leaving out.
Camping Soap
You do not need to bring any soap with you, just bring a small travel bottle of hand sanitizer and a bag of baby wipes to clean your body off when needed. Using any type of soap would harm the environment even the biodegradable camp soaps.
To clean your dishes, just use water and if it’s really dirty you can use banana peels or baby wipes. This will make cleaning dishes easier and safer for the environment. Always remember to collect your baby wipes and dispose of them after the trip or when you are in town refilling supplies.
Deodorant
After a day of backpacking, no one will notice that you smell because everyone will end up smelling bad and deodorant won’t make that much of a difference so no need to bring it along.
If you really worry about smelling bad then you should look into a lightweight merino wool hiking shirt called the icebreaker tech-lite. It’s naturally stink-resistant, moisture-wicking, and comfortable.
If you really want and need the deodorant for whatever reason then you should consider cutting off chunks from a solid deodorant stick and place it in a ziplock bag. When you need to use it just use your fingers to apply it. This will save you space and weight in your backpack since you don’t have to bring the whole stick.
Spare Clothing
In normal daily life, people are expected to not wear the same outfits two days in a row, well on backpacking trips you can and you should. Some people overpack with three or more shirts when you just need one good quality base layer shirt like the icebreaker tech-lite tee.
When you set up camp for the night you can wipe your armpits with water and change into your mid-layer long-sleeve. Then rinse out the base layer shirt with water and let it dry out so you can use it again the next day.
If you are planning to head into town to refill up on supplies, then you should bring a second merino wool shirt so that you have a clean shirt to wear into town.
You should also bring warm layers and rain gear because no one can control the weather. Even if you search for the weather before the trip, the weather can always change.
Camping Pillow
Getting a good night’s sleep is very important and it depends on the person if they feel like they need a dedicated pillow or not. Some people bring an inflatable pillow or a normal small pillow but since this article is about packing light for a backpacking trip you can just use leftover clothing as a pillow like a jacket or just sleep without a pillow. Again, it all depends on you and how comfortable you want to be while sleeping.
Camping Towel
You do not need a camping towel, you can use other stuff to dry your body off like an extra pair of socks or a t-shirt then just let it dry in your tent overnight and it should be good to go the next day.
If you don’t want to use socks or a t-shirt to dry off then you should only bring a small hand towel to dry off and then leave it in the tent overnight to dry. Do not bring a big towel, it’s a waste of space and weighs a lot when it’s damp.
Too Many Toiletries
Without the deodorant and soap, your bag of toiletries will be lighter already but you can still remove some unnecessary things from this bag.
You will need to pack travel size everything like toothpaste, sunscreen, bug repellent, and other liquids items. You can pre-cut your dental floss into segments and leave the rest at home. If you can’t get the already small travel size of the things you need then just buy small containers and fill them up with the supply at home. You do not need to bring a full size of anything like toothpaste.
Tent Tarp
You should bring a tarp for your tent so that there’s less chance of the bottom of your tent ripping from sharp rocks. If you want to skip the tarp then when you set up your tent make sure that the area is free from sharp objects and rocks.
Camping Shoes
You don’t really need camping shoes, a pair of trail runners will be good enough. Camping shoes weigh too much and you will have to use that much energy to carry and walk around in.
You only need a pair of trail runners and sandals to wear around the campsite. After a long day of wearing shoes, using a pair of sandals around the campsite will feel amazing on your feet.
Multitool
Try to picture what you might need during your backpacking trip in terms of tools, you do not need to bring a multitool that has 30 plus functions with you. Most of the time a small pocket knife is good enough.
Restroom Trowel
You can skip on bringing a trowel by using your hiking pole to help dig a hole, this may take longer but it will help save you from having to bring a trowel. Remember to bury your poop away from water sources and at least eight inches deep.
If you plan on going through hard soil then you should bring a trowel because if you use your hiking pole it would ruin it.
Cooking System
Cooking pots, stove, and fuel canisters will be heavy to hike around with, a way around it is to not bring any of them and just eat your food cold.
If you really want to have hot food then bring a small setup like Jetboil with one or two canisters for fuel. You may want to look into alcohol stoves too if you want to really pack light.
Some trails may have fire restrictions so canister stoves are the only options.
Food And Water
One of the heaviest things you will have to carry around during the backpacking trip is food and water. You might be carrying around 15 pounds of food and water alone and it depends on how long you are trying to backpack for which means it might weigh even more. This article will go over some things that can help you reduce the amount of weight you have to carry in terms of food and water.
Depending on the location of your backpacking trip you may see running water like streams and lakes, if you plan it correctly you can cut down the amount of water you will have to carry. Using the streams or lakes you can gather the water and use a filtering system to drink it.
Being hydrated during your backpacking trip is important, do not skimp on the water, just plan ahead and know your route so you know when to take a water break.
Planning your food is another important thing you need to count your calories intake so you know exactly what to pack and not waste space. Most backpackers aim for 3500 calories a day. Depending on how many days and how long you plan on hiking in a day, you may want to pack more or less food.
Try to bring food that is dense in calories. Some examples would be trail mix, nuts, high calories bars, and cheese. Another way to make your meals high in calories is to add olive or coconut oil.
Bring food that is not high in water content because it’s heavy and it gives you no calories. The best types of food would be dehydrated food like beef jerky, powdered milk with oatmeal, and ramen.
It’s best to buy your food in bulk and portion it out on your own so that you can get rid of any extra packaging. Use zip lock bags to help divide each meal out. Remember to also bring treats for yourself too.
Lightweight Dishes
All you need is a spork and collapsible mug. You can spend around $10 dollars for a nice fancy titanium spork or just use a plastic fork and spoon. I suggest getting the titanium spork, it will last you a lifetime and it won’t break on you while you are out there backpacking.
You should get one or two collapsible mugs, depending on if you want to drink coffee while eating. If not then one collapsible mug is fine, you just have to eat everything first then rinse it out to make coffee afterward.
Lightweight Backpacking Shelters
After a long day of hiking through the wilderness, it’s time to set up camp and one of the most important things in your tent. There are tents out there that are under two pounds.
Invest in a good sleeping bag so that you don’t need to layer up that much while sleeping. If you are still cold try using your extra clothing to keep you warm so that you don’t have to carry more blankets with you. Also, remember to have some type of pad underneath so that you are not sleeping on rocks.
Outdoor Gears
Outdoor gears can get pricey but a lot of times there are deals that you can use at certain places. Here is a list of places that you should check out for deals on outdoor gear:
- Moosejaw
- The Clymb
- REI Outlet
- Steep and Cheap
- Sierra
You can also buy used gear to help save some money, things like hiking poles are a good idea to buy used since they will end up being scratched and banged up a bit. Here are a couple of places that you can find used items:
- Ebay.com
- REI used gears
- Backpackinglight.com gear swap
- GearTrade
Conclusion
Lightweight backpacking is all about experimenting and preparation. If you are new to backpacking in general then you should find places close to home to try out first before going too faraway places. Places that you can reach within half a day are ideal so that if you want to bail you can still get back home within the day.
Do not head to the mountains without warm enough gear. Lightweight backpacking does not mean you need to skimp on food and water, you have to plan and prep your food and water.
When testing out new gears remember to test it out at home first so that you know how to use and set up the gear before you head out to your backpacking trip. Also, it’s best to weigh out the risk and benefits of using new gears because sometimes the old ones are better.
Lightweight backpacking will absolutely reduce your back pain and soreness when you are hiking. It will also help you enjoy the outdoors longer and help you hike further more comfortably than ever before.