Free (or Inexpensive) Ways to Lighten Your Pack Weight

Purchasing ultralight (or super ultralight) gear and clothing can sometimes be rather expensive.  However, there are also several ways to greatly reduce your pack weight without it costing you "an arm and a leg".  Here are some free (or fairly inexpensive) ways to lighten the load.

LEAVE STUFF AT HOME

It might sound silly (and simple), but one of the easiest (and FREE) ways to lighten your pack weight is to simply LEAVE ITEMS AT HOME and don't bring as much stuff with you on your trip.  People are certainly free to bring WHATEVER they want with them on a backpacking (or paddling trip). However, it is very difficult to bring "everything" and still have a low pack weight.  Thus, you will probably have to leave some stuff at home if you want to lower your pack weight. What particular "stuff" you leave at home will vary from person to person.  What I consider to be an optional item -- you may consider to be an essential item (or vice-versa).

Here are some items that I frequently leave at home:

• Camp chair. I try to find a rock, log, or picnic table to sit on--or I sit on the ground.  Not everyone is willing to do this.
  
• Ax and saw.  I personally see no reason for bringing these items to Isle Royale. You can rarely have a fire on Isle Royale, and -- even then, it is fairly easy to limit yourself to using wood that you can break with your hands or by standing on it.  Without proper authorization, training, and supervision, trail work is not permitted to be done by park visitors. Thus, I leave the ax and saw at home.
  
• Big "Rambo" knife. Everything that I need to cut with a huge knife I can also probably cut with a smaller and lighter knife. My knife weighs 0.7 ounce and also has a small scissors.
  
• "Extra" changes of clothing--including several "extra" pairs of socks and underwear.  EVERY item of clothing weighs something--and those small amounts add up to big amounts. Thus, I bring fewer clothing items and I rinse or wash clothing items throughout my trip. Ask yourself this question and be dreadfully honest: "HOW MANY CHANGES OF CLOTHES DO I REALLY  NEED?". You can reduce  OVER a pound off of your pack weight, just by leaving at home one 4 oz. pair of socks, one 3 oz. change of underwear, a 7 oz. pair of shorts or pants, and a 5 ounce t-shirt.  If you are one of those people who brings LOTS of changes of clothing--you can reduce your pack weight by 2-3 pounds--simply by bringing fewer clothing items.
  
• Think in terms of wearing LAYERS for warmth and for dealing with nasty weather. What items can you COMBINE and LAYER in order to achieve a similar overall effect (and what items can you perhaps leave home)?  Do you REALLY need a short sleeve t-shirt, AND a long sleeve "base layer", AND a long sleeve shirt, AND a micro-fleece, AND a down "puffy" jacket, AND a wind shirt, AND a rain jacket/poncho --or can you maybe combine and layer some of these items and leave a couple of the items at home?)
  
• Most Cooking and Eating Gear:  My entire cook kit and eating utensils consists of a very small pot (to boil water in) and a lid for that pot, a titanium "spork", a homemade alcohol stove, and an aluminum foil wind screen. I also bring a plastic bottle with several ounces of denatured alcohol for stove fuel. No plate, bowl, cup, frying pan, no second or third cooking pot, no spatula, no fork, spoon, butter knife,  I pour hot water into the bag containing the entree' and eat right out of the bag.
  
• Camp shoes. Sometimes I bring camp shoes ---sometimes I don't. When I do bring camp shoes, I try to bring something very light--such as lightweight flip flops and not  3 lbs. of trail runners as camp shoes.
  
• Fishing Gear. I don't typically fish.  If I do fish, I bring only limited fishing gear--and not many pounds of fishing gear.
  
• SOME food items. Let's pretend we will be on the Island for 8 days. Even if I reduce the weight of my food by just ONE ounce per day--that is a total of 1/2 pound less for the entire trip. If I can reduce my average daily food intake by FOUR ounces per day, that is a two pound reduction in pack weight.
  
• Books.  Books can be heavy. I have seen people hiking/camping with 1 to 3 inch thick HARDCOVER book(s). Why not put an electronic version of the same book on the cellphone that you are probably be bringing with you anyway?  A hardcover book can weigh 1.5 to 3.0 lbs.
  
• "Electronic" Gear and Accessories. The big question is "how much" of this stuff do you want to bring (and how many chargers, cords, batteries, and power packs do you want to bring to power it?).  The weight all adds up very quickly. People will bring a cellphone, a separate GPS device, an emergency beacon, digital camera, a radio, walkie talkies, mp3 player, a Kindle/Nook for reading, electronic tablet, external speaker, etc.  What items can you "live without" for 5-10 days? What items can you combine into one device? What cords and chargers can power multiple devices?
  
• Pillow.  I either use a jacket for my pillow or I use a stuff sack with clothes in it. for my pillow.
  
• Swimsuit.  I swim in my regular clothes and I don't bring a separate and distinct swimsuit. (Also, ask yourself, do you need BOTH camp shoes and water shoes?)
  
• Giant water containers (and/or lots of EXTRA water).  I see people with 1-3 gallon plastic water jugs.  How much does that big water container weigh--even when empty? A simple plastic water bottle--can weigh less than one ounce for 1 liter of carrying capacity. Next question: How much water should you carry?  I can definitely understand people (responsibly) carrying 2-3 LITERS of water when they hike on Isle Royale. (You need to avoid dehydration and heat injuries).  However, at a certain point, carrying too much water is just extra weight. Water weighs 2.2 lbs. per liter.
  
  You can see how easy it is to drop lots of pack weight just by  leaving some stuff at home. (And, it doesn't cost you anything!)
  

BRING LIGHTER VERSIONS OF THE SAME STUFF

I am going to guess that most of you already own quite a bit of gear and clothing--and SOMETIMES you have a choice between bringing the HEAVIER version or the LIGHTER version of some items.  When you have a choice, I USUALLY recommend bringing the lighter version of the item.

MINDSET IS EVERYTHING
Fractions of ounces add up to whole ounces. Whole ounces add up to pounds. It might not seem like very much to save only a half ounce here--or just 2-3 ounces there. However, it adds up. HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE: Let's say that you have 32 items in your pack. If you save (on average) just a half ounce per item (by carrying something lighter) -- multiply that meager weight savings times 32 items and you save one pound.  Save an average of one ounce per item -- for 32 items -- and you will lower your pack weight by 2 lbs. If you lower the average weight of each item by two ounces--you lower your entire pack weight by 4 lbs. !!!

Mindset and attitude are EVERYTHING when it comes lowering pack weight. On one hand, you can think to yourself: "That extra ounce isn't very much--so I will just bring that extra item or that tiny bit heavier item. It doesn't really matter". Before long, you will have ADDED a couple of more pounds to your pack weight.   Conversely, if you adopt a mindset that EVERY fraction of an ounce matters and it adds up (and if you pack accordingly) you can easily DROP 2-3 pounds from your pack weight.

Mindset and attitude are EVERYTHING.

GET A DIGITAL KITCHEN OR POSTAL SCALE
A digital kitchen scale or digital postal scale are not very expensive. However, using such a scale can go a long way in helping you reduce your overall pack weight. Get yourself a scale and weigh EVERYTHING and use an item's weight in helping you make your packing decisions.

HOW I USE THE SCALE
Here is a typical example of how I use my scale to help me make decisions for backpacking trips on Isle Royale.  I have LOTS or nice wool backpacking socks. I could very easily just throw two random pairs of socks into my pack. HOWEVER, some pairs weigh 5 ounces. Some weigh four ounces.  Other pairs weigh three ounces. Two 5 oz. pairs of socks weigh 10 ounces.  Two 3 oz. pairs of socks weigh just 6 ounces.  If I bring two 3 oz. pairs.--that is a four ounce savings.  That doesn't sound like very much--but WAIT there's more! 

I have an 8 ounce pair of shorts and a 4 oz. pair of shorts.  If I bring the lighter pair--I save four more ounces.  A 5 ounce pair of underwear or a 3 ounce pair of underwear--two more ounces saved. A five ounce t-shirt or a three ounce t-shirt? Two more ounces.   A wool "beanie" hat to wear on a cold night-- do I bring the 5 oz. beanie or 1 ounce beanie?  Four more ounces saved.  All I did (on those few clothing items) was weigh the items THAT I ALREADY OWNED -- and decide to bring the lighter choices on my trip. In doing so, I cut 1 pound from my pack weight. 

Those few instances (regarding clothing) were not the only times where I used the scale to save weight from among ITEMS I ALREADY OWNED! Here are just a few more ways. Which item would you choose?

• 5 ounce knife or a 0.7 ounce knife?
• 1 ounce stove or a three ounce stove?
• 3 ounce (2.2 cup) cooking pot or a 10 ounce (4.4 cup) cooking pot? (I never heat more than 2 cups of water at a time)
• 28 ounce sleeping quilt or 20 ounce quilt?
• Two (one liter) Nalgene water bottles (6.2 oz. each) or two regular plastic (one liter) "bottled water" bottles (like "SMART Water") at LESS THAN 1 ounce each? That is roughly a 10 ounce savings!
• My 6 lb empty pack?  My 3 lb empty pack? My 1 lb 10 oz. empty pack? My 13.2 ounce empty pack? (Assuming that each pack is able to comfortably carry the necessary items and weight)
• 2 ounce water filter? 4 ounce water filter? 8 ounce water filter?
• 5 lb. tent? OR 2 lb. camping hammock--with rain fly and bug netting? OR 8 ounce simple tarp? (I am an experienced hammock camper and experience tarp camper)
• Peanuts for eating (multiplied x 8 days). 6 ounces per day (966 calories) or 4 ounces per day (644 calories)? Bringing two ounces less per day (in peanuts) saved one whole pound in total pack weight.
• 2 ounces (combined) map and compass or 7 ounce (combined) map and compass?
• Six tent stakes. 1.4 ounces or 2.8 ounces?
  
  

BOTTOM LINE:
Using the kitchen scale  (and weighing everything) helps me make good decisions from among the gear and clothing items THAT I ALREADY OWN. I am able to reduce my pack weight significantly--just by making smarter (and lighter) choices. Cutting an ounce here and 4 ounces there--- can soon add up to entire pounds of pack weight that have been reduced.

FOUR BIG PURCHASES
The intent of this article is to focus upon FREE (or inexpensive) ways to reduce your overall pack weight. However, I do wish to make a slight detour and speak about four major purchases that you can make that WILL COST QUITE A BIT OF MONEY but will reduce your pack weight DRAMATICALLY!  Those "Big Four" items are:

1. Your backpack
2. Your tent (or shelter)
3. Your sleeping bag (or sleeping quilt)
4. Your sleeping pad

BACKPACK
An Osprey Aether 70 backpack (for men) weighs 6.1 pounds. An Osprey Atmos AG LT 65 weighs roughly 4.1 lbs.  The ULA Catalyst backpack weighs 2 lbs 13 oz.  The ULA Circuit weighs 2 lbs 6 oz.  The ULA Ohm weighs 2 lbs 2 oz.  The Gossamer Gear Mariposa weighs 19 ounces.  The Gossamer Gear Murmur weighs 13.2 ounces. 

These are all VERY different backpacks with VERY different load bearing and volume capacities.  There is a big difference in durability. However, there is also a HUGE difference in the weight. (Over 5 lbs difference between the heaviest and lightest packs on this list.

TENT (or Shelter)
The Marmot Tungsten 2-person tent weighs 5 lbs 11 oz.   The Kelty Grand Mesa 2 person tent weighs 4 lbs 12 oz.  Gossamer Gear "The Two" (2 person tent) weighs 1 lb. 12 oz. The Z-packs Duplex (2 person) tent weighs 1 lb. 4 oz.   

Just like with the backpacks, these tents vary greatly in what you get (i.e. floor vs. no floor.  Separate tent poles versus using a trekking pole to support the tent).  However, the weight difference between the Marmot Tungsten and the Z-packs Duplex is  a whopping 4 lbs 7 ounces.

(And, Mountain Laurel Designs 2-person TARP--weighs just 7.5 ounces--if you want to use a tarp instead of a tent) 

Sleeping Bag (or Quilt)
The Coleman Brazos 30 Sleeping Bag weighs 5.0 lbs.  The Mountainsmith Antero 35 Sleeping Bag weighs 2 lbs 14 ounces. The Big Agnes Buell 30 Sleeping bag weighs 2 lbs 11 oz.  The REI Magma 30 Sleeping bag weighs 1 lb. 4 ounces.  The Enlightened Equipment (Revelation) 30 Degree quilt weighs 1 lb. 2 oz.  The Enlightened Equipment Enigma 30 degree Quilt-- 16.4 ounces.  The Z-Packs Solo 30 Degree Quilt weighs 13.3 ounces.

Once again, we see big differences in what you are getting.  However, when it comes to just the weight, the difference between the Coleman Brazos and the Z-packs Solo 30 is over 4 lbs. 2 ounces.

Sleeping Pad
The Thermarest Basecamp Sleeping Pad (self inflating) weighs 2 lbs. 8 ounces.  Thermarest NeoAir Topo weighs 1 lb. 7 ounces.  Thermarest NeoAir XLite NXT Sleeping Pad weighs 11.5 ounces.  Thermarest NeoAir Uberlite "Summer" sleeping pad weighs just 8.8 ounces. 

The difference in weight between the heaviest and lightest sleeping pads on this list is nearly 2 pounds.

A SUMMARY REGARDING BIG FOUR PURCHASES:
With JUST these four items,  the difference in weight between the heaviest items listed and the lightest items listed in over 15 lbs. That is a significant drop in weight.  Please note:  Not every one of these items will fit every person's backpacking style or preferences. HOWEVER, the weight reductions are  indeed significant and worth noting

The cost is also significant.  If you were to make all of these purchases in one year, you could easily spend $1,200 to $2,000.  That is a lot of money for just four items. However, if you could somehow manage to make ONE major purchase per year (for a few consecutive years) , you could drop 2 to four pounds in pack weight each year (and 10-15 pounds total over a few year period).  That is quite a bit of weight reduction.

CONCLUSION

The focus of this article has been reducing pack weight WITHOUT SPENDING A LOT OF MONEY.  Imagine -- if you reduced your pack weight by 2-4 lbs--just by what you chose to leave at home (and not bring with you) in terms of clothing and gear. Further imagine, that you reduced the total weight of your food by 2 lbs (by simply packing a few ounces less food per day). Finally, imagine reducing your pack weight by 2-4 pounds by packing the lighter versions of stuff that you already own.  You could easily drop 6-10 pounds of pack weight (or more) WITHOUT SPENDING ANY ADDITIONAL MONEY (other than perhaps buying a food or postal scale).

Furthermore, if you were to spend a few hundred dollars and replace just ONE of your "Big Four" items--you could reduce your pack weight by another 2-4 lbs.  If you repeated this for four consecutive years (and replaced one of the "Big Four" items each year, you would have probably reduced your pack weight by 10-15 pounds over a four year period--plus reducing it by another 6-10+ pounds by following the free options that I listed.

Theoretically, you could reduce your pack weight by 20+ pounds--through making only one major purchase per year (and by following the free ideas).  That's not too shabby!