Why carry more weight in your rucksack than you have to? Great Walks offers 20 ways to lighten your load.
With new and light outdoor gear available to all, a weekend pack of 12kg (even less if you’re a dedicated ultralighter) is possible. Your back and bunions will thank you for it, so it’s worth considering how you can go further for longer – and in comfort.
Look at what you have
The simplest way to reduce your load is to spread it all out on the floor in front of you. Consider those things you’ll definitely take, those you’ll probably take, and those you’ll possibly take. Leave all the possibles at home (making sure you’re not jeopardising safety), then write a gear list of what you need from what remains.
Weigh it all
Drag out the kitchen scales and begin weighing all you intend taking. Knowing the weight of each item begins a shift in weight loss thinking. While you’re weighing, look for any double-ups, or for those things that could serve a dual purpose. Starting with The Big Three – pack, sleeping bag and tent – you’ll begin to recognise the potential to be found in upgrading to new equipment.
Pack
Older multi-day packs tip the scales at over two kilos, but with the incredible weight reductions achieved from new harness and fabric technologies, it’s possible to limit your rucksack weight to just over a kilo or even less. And their storage is better, too. Lighter fabrics may mean reduced durability, but if you’re set on shifting weight downwards, your pack’s a great place to start.
Sleeping bag
A quality sleeping bag will give you the sub-zero performance you need in a package weighing around a kilo. Synthetic bags, while great in damp conditions, generally fail to meet the power to weight ratios of their down cousins. Without a compression bag some models voraciously soak up 20 litres of valuable pack space, and weigh up to two kilos.
Tent
New materials and designs have reduced the mass of modern tents. Light’s fine if you’re summer camping, but a word of warning: read the specification sheet before you buy. 2000mm nylon floors can leak on damp ground, needing a footprint beneath to keep you dry. If you’re looking for year-round use, you may still need to compromise weight for performance. Fly camping – a guaranteed weight saver – is a great alternative.
Boots
Lighter packs can mean lighter boots or trail shoes; even a trail running shoe will carry you everywhere you want to go if it can handle the terrain you’re taking it over. Open, formed trails are the ideal playground for light and breathable trail shoes, while Kosciusko’s scree slopes demand a weightier leather model for the protection of toes and ankles on uneven surfaces.
Clothing – layers and shells
Layered clothing is still the best way to regulate temperature in all climates. Never leave important layers at home to kill weight. Instead, buy base and mid-layers to suit your destination. Not very long ago, rain and mountain jackets weighed 600g or more; but with the advent of fabrics like Gore-Tex Paclite, a shell can be as light as 360g while still maintaining water resistance, breathability and durability.
Food for the larder
Plan your meals – plus extra for emergencies. With tasty freeze-dried main courses, desserts, breakfasts and snacks available, leaving the cans of baked beans at home isn’t a problem. Take all you need, and still enjoy all the flavours of some of the world’s finest cuisines, from meat and three veg to Asian-inspired treats. If you’re taking wet foods, fruit or vegetables, eat the heavier foods first.
Maps
Never leave home without them – but you can cut corners. Your outdoors safety is paramount, so always carry maps for the area you’re going to, and a compass or GPS. When every gram counts, take to maps with a pair of scissors, trimming away what you don’t need (who needs map borders and the bit that shows a local town anyway?), but retain legends and grid reference numbers.
First aid
Like navigation tools, the first aid kit is one of your most critical pieces of hiking kit, but a one-day solo walk requires far less than a multi-day hike. Keep the essentials: scissors, plasters, emergency blanket and so on, but reduce the number of items that make up a larger kit. Fishhooks, waterproof matches and a small notebook are survival kit essentials that can be added without breaking the scales.
Water
Often, as we get fitter, we drink less water. For safety’s sake, don’t scrimp on it when you’re out, but don’t take a dam-full either. Carefully consider what you’d need in an emergency and how to carry it. A water reservoir weighs and holds more than an aluminium bottle, but isn’t as durable when strapped to the outside of your pack.
Multi-purpose gear
A multi-tool isn’t the only thing with more than one use; there are other things that serve two or more purposes when you’re out adventuring. Walking poles are useful to do what they’re designed for, and inverted they make excellent tent poles or vermin swatters. Look at the rest of your gear to see what else does two or more jobs; you may be able to leave something else at home.
Obsessive compulsion
There’s a fine line between practicality and obsession, but when every ounce counts – cut it off. Halving the length of a toothbrush handle, or shortening the over-long webbing on backpack straps saves a gram here and a gram there. Replace zip toggles with shock cord; they don’t rattle, and save weight. Squeeze toothbrush-head-sized strips of toothpaste onto tinfoil, and individually wrap. A weekends brushing for only five grams!
Cookware and lighting
Titanium or hard-anodised aluminium cutlery offers weight reductions in excess of 50 per cent against stainless steel. Similar gains can be made in pots and mugs. In summer, the insulating lid for your mug isn’t required; leave it at home to drop another 40 grams from your load. Try a candle instead of a battery or gas lantern and canister.
Stoves and fuel
Liquid fuel stoves are more efficient in the cold than gas, but need around 300g per person per day to run. Gas canisters weigh around 250g, with burn times of one to seven hours. Consider which is best for you based on the season and climate. Hexamine stoves are light, albeit a little slow. Each block heats a litre; enough water for a freeze-dried meal and a cup of tea.
Walking poles
Boots or poles: if it swings, it needs to be light. Weighing anything up to 100g less than the average aluminium pole, carbon fibre requires less energy to swing or carry when strapped to your pack. Any pole can be broken given the right conditions, but carbon fibre offers the same performance without the weight.
Spend good money
Less costs more, but you’re making an investment when you buy lightweight equipment. The price is directly proportional to the length of time it lasts. Your back, knees and ankles – when relieved of the extra load – will last longer, too. If your components last longer, so do the years you can spend in the outdoors. Buy the best you can afford, and upgrade as finances allow.
Stay in shape
A great way to reduce your load is to eat well and stay in shape. A kilo from your hips is a kilo from your feet, and requires less effort to move from place to place. Good sleeping habits help improve your disposition and your ability to make better choices for overall good health.
Take a friend and lighten the load
Carrying your tent and enough food for a weekend or multi-day hike can be daunting. Because a hiking party is only as fast as its slowest member, meet with your friends prior to leaving to split the load across a number of packs. You will minimise strain and maximise enjoyment, because a burden shared is a burden halved.
Too light?
When is light too light? When you put yourself at risk – especially in an emergency. You might be happy to give up comfort for performance, but every contingency around safety must be accounted for before you leave home. What you pack becomes second nature with practice and experience, but it doesn’t hurt to use a checklist to make sure it’s all there every time. Minimise, don’t compromise, is the only rule of thumb.
What we take with us varies with the seasons and length of time we’re out, so reducing the load in your rucksack takes a thoughtful approach. Update what you can, leave the burdens of the past behind and arrive at your destination fresh and relaxed.