Lighten Your Load
LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD, Part 1 of 8 Hi everyone. I hope you are all well. As many of you know, each year I host at least one “Lighten Your Load” meeting in person to help new and existing members of our group find ways to make their hiking experiences more enjoyable by giving pack weight reduction tips. Since we are unable to do that because of our current situation I’m using this downtime to post some information about it here. I'll approach this over eight posts, focusing on principles and specific areas of your packed gear such as cooking/hydration, sleep system, clothing, miscellaneous items, etc. Feel free to ask as many questions as you would like. Your questions will fill in blanks about things I may forget to address and will undoubtedly help someone else, so please don’t be shy. First things first: Why would you want to lighten your pack weight? There are many reasons but here are some major ones: to increase your enjoyment, to reduce pain in your back, legs and feet, to allo