Lightweight backpacking isn't just about buying lightweight gear. In this video
I'm going to show you guys how you can easily drop 5 to 10 pounds off your
base weight without buying any new gear. For those of you new to the channel...
My name is Iron. I spend over 100 days a year, backpacking
and photographing remote areas the Pacific Northwest.
If you like backpacking subscribe. Let's jump into these ultra lightweight
backpacking tips. When I first started backpacking I would bring a lot of gear
that I would think MAYBE I might need, but the reality was I found out I really
brought a lot of stuff that I never used at all. I see a lot of beginners do
the same thing. So what you can do is... When you get back from your trip,
look at every single piece of gear that you brought and say,
"hey is there something I did not use at all?" Odds are you probably won't ever need it...
The only piece of gear that I bring backpacking that I don't use regularly
is my first-aid kit. That's it. Everything else I use on every single trip.
So just start taking note. Learn to bring exactly what you need.
If you have a few luxury items that you like, bring those. Those are things that
you are using still. Just really try to analyze everything in your bag.
Only bring what you need. All right you guys. One of the easiest ways that you can cut
the weight of your pack down is to not carry too much water. 1 liter of water
weighs 2 pounds. It makes no sense whatsoever to buy any lightweight gear
if you're always carrying too much water. I see people do this time and time again.
I RARELY ever carry more than one liter of water. The only
exception to that being a dry camp, or hiking long waterless stretches.
I would say hiking six miles or less... 1 liter of water is more than enough for me.
Another thing I like to do too is CAMEL UP.
When I get to a water source like this one, I will just chug, you know
maybe like 1/2 a liter of water and take off with just a 1/2 liter of water.
You know we've been passing water sources every half mile - every mile.
I'm not worried about any shortages. So one thing that you can do...
Check the map before you take off and see if there's any creeks, rivers, or lakes.
If you're continually passing good water sources with a full liter
or more than a full liter of water. You should really be thinking
about not doing that. Water is super HEAVY. I've seen
people carry 2-3 liters of water on backpacking trips with me. Showing up
to camp at a lake with multiple liters of water. I've watched them struggle...
It's almost like some people are scared that they are going to run out of water.
Some people might find it inconvenient to filter water...
Well why don't you plan to have your breaks at water sources.
Doing that will make it easier. It's not as much of a hassle if your
backpacks already off and you're taking a break at the water source.
All right you guys. Multi-purpose gear is your best friend
when you're trying to cut down on weight. Something I see a lot... A lot of hikers
will have a stove, a bowl, a cup, a spoon, and a fork. All I carry is my Jetboil
and a spoon. This is my only utensil. I cook my foods in this. I drink my
coffee out of this. I eat my soups out of this. So I've been backpacking for close
to a decade now and I'm still figuring out ways that I can cut down on things.
I was carrying a Kindle around for the last couple of years...
I just found a Kindle app for my phone. It's not quite as good as having the Kindle itself.
But it's good enough and it's worth the weight savings to me.
You floss can double as thread in an emergency situation
where you need to repair your gear. Just REALLY try to think
about how you can use one piece of gear for multiple different tasks.
Another good tip. leave the deodorant back at home.
leave it in your car. I've seen people bring sticks of deodorant on the trail...
Number 1 - nobody cares how you smell out here besides yourself. Odds are.
Number 2 - the scent of your deodorant will attract animals.
Those animals could be critters or bears. Things that you don't want around camp
or around your stuff. Carrying a spare shirt or pair of boxers to change into...
TOTALLY unnecessary. I'm on day 5 of a 5 day trip right now.
Me and my fiance have been wearing the same pair. Just try to buy
clothing with antimicrobial properties. I've noticed some people like to bring
an extra pair so they can wash a pair and then let a pair dry out.
I have found, in my personal experience that if I want to wash my shirt or my boxers...
I will change into my shorts so I'm going commando. Then wash my boxers.
I will just put them back on wet. The heat from my body will
actually dry them out faster than they will air dry.
The same thing with my shirt. So you know, I am still able to wash my clothes
on longer trips. Yeah, I mean if you look at most any thru hiker...
They don't bring that extra pair.
Especially on a 2-3 day trip. Totally unnecessary.
Leave a change of clean clothes back at the car. That's a solid move.
That way when you get back into town, nobody has to smell you
where it actually matters. you know we don't really care too much
about that. Another REALLY good tip is to bring lightweight
backpacking food. And what I mean by that is food that has a high caloric value.
I usually try to shoot for foods that have at least 100 calories per ounce.
For the most part. Think nuts, chocolate, oils, butters, things along
those lines. High fatty foods tend to give me a lot of energy out here.
Per ounce you can't beat them. Another thing that will really help you out is
to strategically plan out the food that you bring. Before any trip I go on...
I lay out every single day's worth of food and that really helps me
not bring too much food. I've got an example of a day's worth of food here.
This is what I'm eating right now.
I've got my breakfast here and this is a blend that I created.
It's full of nuts & coconut shreds. Just a bunch of really good fatty foods.
This small bag holds about 800 calories worth of food. Then few snacks to get me
through the day here. A bag of cashews. A turkey stick... This actually
is only 70 calories per ounce but it's a very small part of my diet. A Clif Bar.
I've got my dinner here. This is full of butter powder & cheese powder.
Super high in fat. Beans. A bunch of really good stuff.
This dinner is just packed with calories. I've even got a little bit of olive oil
to add to it. And then my coffee... I mix with coconut milk powder.
Which is SUPER high in fat. This might not look like a lot of food.
But I weigh over 200 pounds and I hike all day long. This gives me more
than enough fuel to be able to hike all day, feel good and be stoked.
If you guys want to know more about exactly what's in my breakfast meal
or what's in my dinner. I've got a bunch of awesome free recipes that you can find
on my website. I'll leave a link below in the description. All right you guys
another good tip here. Sharing gear with a friend or partner.
Maybe you can share a toothbrush or a sleeping bag. If you're really close
maybe you could just share a stove or a water filter.
Obviously me and Trish share a lot of gear. When I backpack with other friends...
I'll share tents, stoves. You know maybe one friend carries a stove
and one friend carries the fuel. Just stuff like that. I think Trish went on a
trip with some of her girlfriends. Didn't you guys like all share a 3 person tent?
Mmmmhm. We split up the tent, stakes, the poles. We shared a stove.
Yeah so that's a good one. Collaborate with your friends before you go out.
If you hike by yourself sorry. Not sorry. I hike by myself all the time.
It's awesome.
When I'm trying to go super ultra lightweight. Maybe like a 1-2
week trip when every ounce really counts. I leave my stove at home. I love stoveless backpacking.
I don't do it all the time, but when I really need to cut every ounce I do.
So make sure you guys check out my video about stoveless backpacking.
Another thing I always do. I repackage disposable items.
Those would be things that you use on every single trip. I'll give you an example
of some of the things that I always use. Toothpaste, you can either carry
a full tube from the house or you can try to buy travel sized ones. The problem
with that though is you're going to get down to the bottom of a
travel sized tube. Then have to buy another one... Bad way to go about doing it.
I found these little reusable containers. Depending on how long
I go out for... I'll just put, you know how much toothpaste in here I need.
Not only does this save you weight, it saves you money. That's a win-win right there.
My floss. I've got this little tiny floss holder here and when
this runs out I will actually open it up... I have a bigger thing of floss and I will
refill it. Toilet paper. Do you really need to bring a whole roll?
Even my hand sanitizer, you know I've got a big bottle at home and I'll just
refill this when I need to. My sunscreen as well. I really love these
small Nalgene containers. They're really leak proof.
I'll put olive oil in these, sunscreen. They can hold sauces.
Kind of whatever you want here.
So yeah, repackage anything disposable that you can. Finding little
reusable containers is a really good way to go about doing it.
One more thing here. This is an old chili paste container I have.
I put my coffee in this. It's not really leak proof for liquids but it's
excellent for powders. I'm actually hiking out right now so
you can see I miscalculated a little bit, but you never want to run out of coffee.
All right you guys. I'm going to end this video with...
Be an ounce counter. You'd be surprised how much certain things weigh. I own a small food
I own a small food scale that I use to make all of my backpacking meals with.
And I use it to weigh gear. It's a good way to compare certain items.
If you have any questions about these tips, about anything backpacking or
photography related leave a comment. You guys are AWESOME.
Thanks so much for being here. I will catch you guys on the next trail.
Peace.