By Michael Lanza
The fact that you opened this story means you already recognize a simple backpacking truth: Reducing the weight in your backpack will make this activity feel like an entirely different and far more enjoyable experience. But how do you navigate the transition from heavier to lighter gear—what should you replace first, second, and so on? This story will guide you through the most logical progression of steps to a lighter backpacking gear kit—and more comfortable, happier days on the trail.
I’ve learned the tips shared below as someone who began backpacking when gear was much heavier—and who has spent more than three decades backpacking many thousands of miles all over the U.S. and around world, including a quarter-century testing and reviewing countless packs, tents, boots, bags, and other gear as a past Northwest Editor and lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine for 10 years and over a decade (and counting) for this blog.
If you have older gear, these steps can help you slash your base pack weight—which includes your gear and clothing but not food and water—potentially by 10 pounds or more. You will also significantly reduce your gear volume, allowing you to use a smaller, lighter pack. If you’re a new backpacker buying your first gear kit, use these steps to prioritize your gear purchases and focus on going as light as you can afford and that is practical for you.
Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Join The Big Outside to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Click here for my e-books to classic backpacking trips. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip.
Todd Arndt and Jeff Wilhelm hiking over Clouds Rest in Yosemite. Click photo for my expert e-books to classic backpacking trips in Yosemite and other parks.
As I write in my story “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” which delves more specifically into my approach to managing gear weight, my evolution toward a lighter pack was driven by comfort, but also emerged from a gradual rethinking about why I’m out there: It’s not about having stuff. It’s about experiencing a place.
The steps below are ordered beginning with the heaviest gear items because they offer the most potential to reduce weight and bulk. And like many stories at The Big Outside, part of this story is free for anyone to read, but reading all of my tips in this story requires a paid subscription to this blog.
Please share what you think of my tips or your questions or suggestions in the comments section below this story. I try to respond to all comments.
Backpackers camping with an ultralight tent by Thousand Island Lake along the John Muir Trail in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, High Sierra. Click photo to learn how I can help you plan this or any trip you read about at this blog.
For most backpackers, their tent is the heaviest and bulkiest single piece of gear they carry—making it the item where you can make the biggest dent in gear weight and the logical first step in creating a lightweight or ultralight kit. For example, switching from a two-person tent weighing from three to five pounds to a more compact one tipping the scales at two to two-and-a-half pounds slashes your shelter weight by as much as half. And even dropping a pound or close to it makes a significant difference as a percentage of your total base weight.
For many years, I have used two-person, three-season tents around 2.5 pounds or less and rarely found any need to use a three-season backpacking tent that weighs more than about three pounds. If you can afford just one immediate, major gear purchase, start with a new tent.
See my picks for “The 10 Best Backpacking Tents” and my stories “5 Tips For Buying a Backpacking Tent” and “Ultralight Backpacking Tents: How to Choose One” (both of which require a paid subscription to read in full, as do other stories offering gear-buying tips linked below) and all backpacking tent reviews and an ultralight backpacking tent reviews at The Big Outside.
Bonus tip—Using an ultralight tent that pitches with trekking poles sheds the weight of tent poles. And ditch the ground cloth.
Backpackers on the Teton Crest Trail in Grand Teton National Park. Click photo for my expert e-book to backpacking the Teton Crest Trail.
Backpackers hiking the Piegan Pass Trail in Glacier National Park. Click photo for my expert e-book to this backpacking trip in Glacier.
A bag usually represents not only one of the heaviest items in your pack, but also one of the bulkiest—which means that switching to a lighter bag or an ultralight quilt will drop ounces and greatly help you downsize your backpack.
But many backpackers, regardless of the vintage of bag they own, tend to choose one rated for the coldest temperatures they think they might encounter—and then proceed to use that bag in significantly warmer overnight temps on the vast majority of their backcountry nights.
Don’t get a bag rated for conditions you rarely encounter—get one for the temps you usually encounter, which for many backpackers most of the time are lows above 40° F on summer trips. For some people, that may be a 30-degree bag, for others a 20-degree, depending on how cold you sleep. On the rare frosty night, either wear more layers to bed or eventually buy a warmer bag for those occasional, chillier trips.
See all reviews of sleeping bags and ultralight sleeping bags at The Big Outside and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying a Backpacking Sleeping Bag” and “10 Pro Tips for Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”
Bonus tip—For maximum warmth per ounce and packability, get a bag stuffed with 800- or 900-fill-power down (or a higher fill rating).
Chip Roser and Penny Beach backpacking past a tarn below Mount Oeneis and Sky Pilot Peak, on the Highline Trail in the Wind River Range. Click photo to see all stories at this blog about backpacking in the Winds.
See more weight-slashing tips in my story “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.”
See also my “10 Tips for Spending Less on Backpacking and Hiking Gear” and “5 Things to Know Before Buying Backpacking Gear” and all reviews of backpacking gear and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside.
Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my stories “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be,” “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” and “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-book versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”
The fact that you opened this story means you already recognize a simple backpacking truth: Reducing the weight in your backpack will make this activity feel like an entirely different and far more enjoyable experience. But how do you navigate the transition from heavier to lighter gear—what should you replace first, second, and so on? This story will guide you through the most logical progression of steps to a lighter backpacking gear kit—and more comfortable, happier days on the trail.
I’ve learned the tips shared below as someone who began backpacking when gear was much heavier—and who has spent more than three decades backpacking many thousands of miles all over the U.S. and around world, including a quarter-century testing and reviewing countless packs, tents, boots, bags, and other gear as a past Northwest Editor and lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine for 10 years and over a decade (and counting) for this blog.
If you have older gear, these steps can help you slash your base pack weight—which includes your gear and clothing but not food and water—potentially by 10 pounds or more. You will also significantly reduce your gear volume, allowing you to use a smaller, lighter pack. If you’re a new backpacker buying your first gear kit, use these steps to prioritize your gear purchases and focus on going as light as you can afford and that is practical for you.
Todd Arndt and Jeff Wilhelm hiking over Clouds Rest in Yosemite. Click photo for my expert e-books to classic backpacking trips in Yosemite and other parks.
As I write in my story “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” which delves more specifically into my approach to managing gear weight, my evolution toward a lighter pack was driven by comfort, but also emerged from a gradual rethinking about why I’m out there: It’s not about having stuff. It’s about experiencing a place.
The steps below are ordered beginning with the heaviest gear items because they offer the most potential to reduce weight and bulk. And like many stories at The Big Outside, part of this story is free for anyone to read, but reading all of my tips in this story requires a paid subscription to this blog.
Please share what you think of my tips or your questions or suggestions in the comments section below this story. I try to respond to all comments.
Want to see my top gear picks? See my review of “The Best Backpacking Gear.”
Backpackers camping with an ultralight tent by Thousand Island Lake along the John Muir Trail in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, High Sierra. Click photo to learn how I can help you plan this or any trip you read about at this blog.
Step 1—Your Tent
For most backpackers, their tent is the heaviest and bulkiest single piece of gear they carry—making it the item where you can make the biggest dent in gear weight and the logical first step in creating a lightweight or ultralight kit. For example, switching from a two-person tent weighing from three to five pounds to a more compact one tipping the scales at two to two-and-a-half pounds slashes your shelter weight by as much as half. And even dropping a pound or close to it makes a significant difference as a percentage of your total base weight.
For many years, I have used two-person, three-season tents around 2.5 pounds or less and rarely found any need to use a three-season backpacking tent that weighs more than about three pounds. If you can afford just one immediate, major gear purchase, start with a new tent.
See my picks for “The 10 Best Backpacking Tents” and my stories “5 Tips For Buying a Backpacking Tent” and “Ultralight Backpacking Tents: How to Choose One” (both of which require a paid subscription to read in full, as do other stories offering gear-buying tips linked below) and all backpacking tent reviews and an ultralight backpacking tent reviews at The Big Outside.
Bonus tip—Using an ultralight tent that pitches with trekking poles sheds the weight of tent poles. And ditch the ground cloth.
Like what you’re reading? Sign up now for my FREE email newsletter!
Backpackers on the Teton Crest Trail in Grand Teton National Park. Click photo for my expert e-book to backpacking the Teton Crest Trail.
Step 2—Your Sleeping Bag
Backpackers hiking the Piegan Pass Trail in Glacier National Park. Click photo for my expert e-book to this backpacking trip in Glacier.
A bag usually represents not only one of the heaviest items in your pack, but also one of the bulkiest—which means that switching to a lighter bag or an ultralight quilt will drop ounces and greatly help you downsize your backpack.
But many backpackers, regardless of the vintage of bag they own, tend to choose one rated for the coldest temperatures they think they might encounter—and then proceed to use that bag in significantly warmer overnight temps on the vast majority of their backcountry nights.
Don’t get a bag rated for conditions you rarely encounter—get one for the temps you usually encounter, which for many backpackers most of the time are lows above 40° F on summer trips. For some people, that may be a 30-degree bag, for others a 20-degree, depending on how cold you sleep. On the rare frosty night, either wear more layers to bed or eventually buy a warmer bag for those occasional, chillier trips.
See all reviews of sleeping bags and ultralight sleeping bags at The Big Outside and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying a Backpacking Sleeping Bag” and “10 Pro Tips for Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”
Bonus tip—For maximum warmth per ounce and packability, get a bag stuffed with 800- or 900-fill-power down (or a higher fill rating).
Read all of this story and ALL stories at The Big Outside,
plus get a FREE e-book! Join now!
plus get a FREE e-book! Join now!
Chip Roser and Penny Beach backpacking past a tarn below Mount Oeneis and Sky Pilot Peak, on the Highline Trail in the Wind River Range. Click photo to see all stories at this blog about backpacking in the Winds.
See more weight-slashing tips in my story “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.”
See also my “10 Tips for Spending Less on Backpacking and Hiking Gear” and “5 Things to Know Before Buying Backpacking Gear” and all reviews of backpacking gear and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside.
Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my stories “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be,” “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” and “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-book versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”
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Join now to read ALL stories and a get free e-book!