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25 Ways to Cut Backpack Weight

You’ve done your research and made plans for an incredible adventure. You’ve picked a remote destination and put together an elite group of adventurers (or maybe just some people you like to hangout with). You’ve planned a menu for kings, heck you’ll be eating better than you do at home. The only problem is you have to carry everything on your back; rescue and first aid gear, food and cooking utensils, clothing, tents, etc… Not only do you have to carry it, but how are you going to fit it all into that backpack of yours?

The recommended weight for a beginner’s pack is 25% of their bodyweight and for some people that’s even pushing it. For the ultralite backpacker it’s blasphemy. So how can we lighten your load? Well, let’s start with some fundamentals and then make a list.

Fundamental #1 - Look at the big and heaviest things first. Replacing a 6 pound pack with a 1 pound pack saves you 5 pounds! Replacing a 7 pound tent with a 1 pound tarp saves you 6 pounds! By picking just two of the heaviest items of gear you’ve already shaved over 10 pounds and we’ve only just begun.

Fundamental #2 - Many items of backpacking gear can be used for multiple purposes. The practice of using one piece of equipment for more than one purpose will allow you to leave gear at home. Your imagination is the only limit, you can use your stuff sack for a pillow, your shovel for a winter stove platform, and duct tape makes a great bandage. Really there’s just about no limit to how many ways you can use duct tape (but that’s a whole other article).

Fundamental #3 - Find the lightest and small gear you can. Take a smaller LED flashlight or headlamp, consider taking an old Gatorade bottle instead of those big wide- mouth Lexan bottles. And don’t forget titanium cook pots. By themselves these substitutions may not seem like much, but in combination they can really add up.

Fundamental #4 - Many pieces of gear come with extras like straps, loops, hooks, bells, whistles, doo-dads, and features that you never use. These features add unwanted weight, so cut off everything you don't need.

Fundamental #5 - Finally, everything that you put in your pack adds weight, but if you leave something out of your pack you reduce its weight by 100%. So ask yourself if you really need those extras. Do you really need all those cook pots, or a machete, or a camp chair?

That reminds me of a backpacking buddy I had that would bring every thing and the kitchen sink. He was a nice guy and would always share if someone didn’t have something, so I started not bringing things and just borrowed his. He always had an extra spoon, etc. It almost got to the point where I thought of just putting a pillow in my pack and then borrowing the rest of his stuff, but by then he had caught on and decide to start going lightweight (all good things must come to an end).

Now let's look a ways we can apply these fundamentals in the list below. Here’s 25 ways to cut pack weight so your adventure is more enjoyable:

1. There’s a saying that goes, “Every pound on your foot is equal to five on your back”. With all the lightweight technology companies are putting into shoes and boots, there’s just know reason to wear heavy boots anymore. Find a good pair of lightweight boots or approach shoes and you’ll feel the difference right away. If the saying is correct, than a 3 to 4 pound cut in your footwear would be equal to a 15 to 20 pound drop in relative pack weight. Also, if you use the techniques in this article, you’ll be carrying a significantly lighter pack and a lighter pack means you don’t need those heavy duty boots anymore.



2. Buy a smaller pack. If you don’t have a big pack you won’t fill it, you’ll be forced to leave stuff out. Make sure it has some lash points for those extra items you just have to have on various types of trips.



3. Buy a lightweight pack. With all the new fabrics and technology, you should be able to shave a considerable amount of weight here. The days of a 6 or 7 pound pack are gone. Heck, I’ve been on trips where I’ve seen people who’s pack weighed more than their combined gear did. I think we call that “putting the cart before the horse”.



4. Use a tarp instead of a tent. I use my tarp mostly for laying down on the ground so I don’t get my stuff all dirty. Then I just sleep out under the stars and if it rains I’ll just pull one side over the top of me like a sandwich (if it rains hard I’ll roll up more like a burrito). Tarps can be put overhead, under foot, and I’ve even seen them with nets sewn on the bottom so they hang down to the ground. Personally, I think we’ve lost the simplicity of sleeping out under the stars because we think that a single ply of nylon is going to keep a bear out, etc... The reality is that it won’t even keep a mouse out, if give them a reason to come in (but that’s a whole other article).



5. Use a poncho instead of a tarp or tent. A poncho can be used for shelter and for rain gear, so you’re now starting to follow fundamental number 2 in lightweight packing (find multiple uses for the same piece of gear).



6. Take a lighter weight sleeping bag. You don’t need a 0 degree bag to stay warm, just wear some of your clothing to bed to increase the bag’s warmth. Also, as a general rule, Down-fill bags are lighter than Synthetic-fill bags with the same temperature rating.



7. Repackage items. You don’t need a full bottle of sunscreen. Take what you need and put it in smaller, lighter containers (like a film canisters and zip-lock bags).



8. Do you really need that camp chair? I know they’re comfortable, but if you want to save weight use your pack as a back-rest instead.



9. Use sand, dirt or moss instead of a scouring pad to clean dishes.



10. Instead of carrying a pillow, stuff your clothes into a stuff sack. Your clothes will be dry & maybe even warm in the morning (unless you drool, in that case I would recommend a waterproof stuff sack).



11. Take a lightweight canister stove instead of a liquid fuel stove. They’re a lot smaller and lighter.



12. Take water purification tablets instead of taking a water filter. As a note, vitamin C helps eliminate the iodine taste and can be found in many drink mixes.



13. Use an old Gatorade bottle instead of a Lexan one. Their cheap, tough and can even be frozen, but the best part is they only way about 1.9 ounces.



14. Water is heavy so only carry what you need. I don’t know how many times I’ve been guiding a trip and I’ve had to dump water out of someone’s pack because they were falling behind the rest of the group. They would be all burned out compared to the rest of the group, but couldn’t figure out why, until we looked in their pack. Most often they would be carrying about 2 gallons or more. Plan your route by the water sources and carry only enough to get to the next watering hole. The weight savings will be significant.



15. Carry less fuel. Test how much fuel your stove uses to cook your favorite meals and only take the necessary amount of fuel. Always cook with a lid on your pots to create better heat retention, so the water boils faster, which means less fuel and less weight.



16. Take foods which don't require cooking. This will reduce the amount of stove fuel you will need to carry in the first place.



17. Eat the heavier foods first. Foods such as fresh fruits & veggies, canned foods, sausage, etc., add the most weight to your pack. Eat them as your first meals to lighten your load.



18. Replace the AA Alkaline batteries in your flashlights with AA Lithium batteries. Lithium AA batteries weigh 50% less than alkaline and last about 3 times longer.



19. Candles are lighter than batteries. I know we sometimes need a headlamp, but see if you can use a candle for other things and that way you’ll save on battery weight.



20. Tooth powder is lighter than toothpaste or better yet just use the brush without anything extra on it.



21. Use Lexan utensils instead of stainless steel. Or better yet buy the cheap plastic ones in the picnic section of your grocery store for some really lightweight ones (they’re not very strong, but they work).



22. Take a closed-cell foam pad instead of an inflatable mattress for a sleeping pad. Or use your pack as a half pad and put some close under your legs.



23. Take freeze-dried or dehydrated food in place of heavier food items. They are extremely lightweight and easy to prepare, plus they require fewer dishes.



24. Find the lightest clothing possible without compromising function. You can probably save at least an ounce or two on each piece of clothing if you shop around and that can add up to a pound or more in the end.



25. Finally, I remember a mountain biking partner I had, who was always trying to shave ounces off his bike for those long hill climbs. One day I said to him, “you spent all that time and money just to lose 1 pound off your bike, what if you just lost 5 pounds of body weight, wouldn’t that be a little more significant and a heck of a lot cheaper?” Drop those 5 extra pounds and that less you’ll have to carrying around.

Not to forget the fanatics out there here are a few more suggestions in the ounces category:

Cut off handles and drill holes. Cut the head of your toothbrush in half and then cut off the handle. For your spoon, cut off the handle and drill holes in the spoon.

Eliminate Map Edges. Cut off map edges (leaving just enough room for bearing calculations).

Shorten nylon webbing straps and laces. Cut off lengths of cord and extra laces.

Eliminate cord locks. If garments have cord locks, replace them with small doubled-up patches of light-weight leather with two slits.

Alter your clothes. Cut off pockets, cords, tags, unneeded linings, etc...

Remove manufacturer's labels. Remove labels & apply a light bead of seam sealant onto the needle holes. Potential sites are on tents, packs, bags, clothes, even on boots.

In Closing, take time before, during, & after each hike to inventory your gear and packing habits. Keep equipment lists and analyze what you used and didn’t use at the end of every trip. You may be surprised at the amount of unnecessary weight that you carry. In time, you will see patterns and ways to shave weight, but keep in mind it is a process and takes some time to get the hang of it. In the end, I hope this article helps you lighten your load!

About the Author:

Greg Rouse has been teaching wilderness sports and emergency response at the university and college level for over a decade. He is also the founder of a unique web site called WildernessTrip.com, a one-stop resource for self-guided wilderness trip planning. This web site is basically; a free online guidebook that photo-documents trips with interactive maps and detailed route descriptions. Each trip has free pictures and free topographic maps of the trail, all in a print-friendly format. Check it out at http://www.WildernessTrip.com