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 allow you to hike longer distances more comfortably, and to simplify packing/unpacking at camp (which saves time for more hiking and relaxing). Pack weight means different things to different people but for this purpose I'll be referring to something called "base weight." Base weight is how much your backpack weighs when it contains everything you need for a multi-day trip excluding water, food and stove fuel. Since the amounts of these latter items vary in different situations, backpackers tend not to include these weights so that we can more readily compare apples to apples. Hiking in Colorado also requires that we consider the cold nighttime temperatures encountered at high altitudes—even in summer. Because of this we usually carry an extra layer or more of warm clothing than someone who is, say, desert hiking near sea level in mid-August. Also, the information provided here does not apply to winter hiking and camping, which is a different, much heavier beast altogether. Everyone’s solution to lightening their base weight is different as we all have differing ideas of what is considered “essential,” and everyone has different levels of comfort and safety. You are the only one who can ultimately make those decisions. How do you determine what is essential and what is not? I would suggest that before carrying any item with you on a backcountry trip, consider it deeply. Lay every item you are thinking about taking with you on the living room floor. Stare for an uncomfortable amount of time at each item and really think about whether you will need it or not. Ask yourself if it a luxury item or a necessity. Another important question to ask: are you able to make the distinction between luxury and necessity yet? Experience will help you better answer that question. Carrying lots of luxury items with you makes your base weight increase back-achingly fast. I hear lots of people say things like, “Well this item doesn’t weigh anything,” (it does!) or, “But I NEED this item.” You may think you need an item—and you may be right--but if you carry it on your next trip and it turns out you didn’t need it then you might be better off without it. Bringing just a few but-maybe-I’ll-need-this type of items add up quickly and before you know it your pack is several pounds heavier. You may have figured out by this point that meaningfully lightening your load is not just about buying lighter gear to replace your heavy gear, it is about evaluating what you honestly need to have with you. As you become more experienced you will find that fear of the unknown has less influence on you. The most experienced hikers don't necessary carry the lightest item, they often don't carry the item at all. The flip side of all this is something called “stupid light.” Stupid light is not packing enough for your abilities in given situations. When in doubt, err on the side of safety. After enough time you will be able to make educated decisions on what and what not to bring. Let experience be your guide. I will say that over the years my pack weight has reduced significantly. I’ve done a fair amount of hiking and discovered for myself what I “need” and don’t need. I look forward to hearing about items you thought you needed but ultimately did not. For this series I will be posting about the items I bring on a typical five day backcountry hiking trip in Colorado in summer. Sometimes I bring a luxury item or two (like a book or StickPic) and sometimes I don’t, but rarely will my pack’s base weight vary more than eight ounces. One final note: the items that I’ll be posting are essentially my pack list. I would never recommend that anyone immediately go out and purchase the items on this list. They are merely examples of what works for me. A given item may not work for you because of practicality, specific need, price point, or whatever. For example, some of the items I carry are quite expensive but I justify the cost because I use them so much. Does someone who is going to take one backcountry trip need to buy the same ultralight $600 tent that I own? No way! That would be crazy. I’ve got no fewer than 90 nights sleeping in that tent, though, so it’s worth it to my back, legs and feet AND my wallet. Ok, here we go… LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD, Part 2 of 8 Some things to consider as you evaluate your pack: • “Your pack weight is directly proportional to the sum of your fears.” –Warren Doyle (credited with hiking the entire Appalachian Trail more times than anyone else) • It’s as much about what you do not take as what you take with you • When you pack your backpack focus on the hiking and not the camping. Consider the camping merely as something that happens between the hiking periods and your overall experience will be much greater.  Often you are hiking until late in the day. You get to camp, set up your shelter, make dinner, go to sleep after the sun sets, and wake up with the sun. You might be awake for only two to three hours of your time in camp. Don’t punish your hiking effort with the weight of luxury items you’ll be too tired to use and enjoy. A lighter backpack makes it much easier to hike more miles. • You don’t need a chair, you just need a rock or felled tree trunk. • You don’t need a fork, spoon and knife, you just need a long spoon. • You don’t need a frying pan, you just need a pot to boil water in (and for some hikers, not even that…more on that later) • When buying new gear, spend the majority of your dollars on your sleep system and shelter. These expensive items are the most important things you will carry, so buy once/cry once. • Consider multi-functionality of gear o As an example, I use my trekking poles for:  Hiking—when used properly poles help noticeably in uphill, downhill and flat ground hiking while reducing joint stress and increasing speed and stability  Tent structure (my tent is designed to be used with trekking poles versus standard aluminum segmented poles, so my tent weight is significantly reduced)  Duct tape holder—duct tape is a great tool for temporary fixes on most anything. I wrap about four feet of it around one of the poles so I don’t have to carry a roll of it in my pack.  Can be used as a selfie stick (see StickPic luxury item)  Path clearing through plant-dense or wet parts of the trail  Etc. o Another example: you can use the humble bandana as:  A sweat rag  A water pre-filter (removing silt and heavy particulates, like bugs)  A refreshing respite on a hot day when dipped in cold water and placed on the head or used as a choker  A mouth dust guard when worn like an old west bandit  A napkin  A pot holder  A way to remove dew and condensation from your tent/shelter  A tourniquet or bandage  A sponge  Wow…so many uses o In summary, if you can use an item in multiple ways, it reduces the amount of stuff you need to carry • You are going to smell bad o There is nothing you can do about this. It’s part of the charm. Don’t waste your effort carrying deodorant or perfume. Everyone smells like buttholes and armpits after a few days on trail. Get used to it. • Don’t bring more clothes than you really need o One set of hiking clothes (plus an extra pair of undies and socks) o One set of sleeping clothes  There will be some crossover between the two, like your puffy coat: it’s great on the trail on a cold day and it’s even better/cozier in your sleeping bag at night. Another excellent example of multi-functionality! o Some light weight rain gear.  In summer it rains frequently in the Rockies, but it’s usually only for 10-15 minutes. Don’t bring heavy duty rain gear. You probably won’t need it. Keep it light. • Carry only the water you need (plus only a little extra for insurance) to the next water source. o This does not apply to bushwhacking or trail-forging. This is for a known trail with known water sources, which is where most of us spend our time hiking. o Why carry four liters of water (that’s 8.8 pounds for us Americans) for the next four miles when you can carry one liter (2.2 pounds) and get more at the next water source? It may seem like more water supply stops will slow you down but I have found the opposite to be true. When I am carrying less water weight I can hike faster and with less pain (especially hiking up steep mountain trails) because I am carrying 6.6 pounds less! (More on this in the Cooking and Hydration post.) • You do not need to carry a firearm. Please do not carry a firearm. Carry a teeny tiny Swiss Army knife instead because the only thing you are going to need to defend yourself against is the determination of the plastic wrapper around that block of cheese you packed to not open easily. • Avoid excessive use of stuff sacks. I use four: one for my tent, one for the packpack cover, one for clothes and one as a ditty sack. My clothing stuff sack doubles as a pillow at night. • When feasible, buy gear from small companies that were started by hikers o These companies have created products out of need that was not being met by the large, established companies and--while sometimes costing more money up front--usually create products that are higher quality, last longer and perform better, making them a better investment. o Some excellent companies to look into:  Z-Packs  TarpTent  Enlightened Equipment  ULA  Gossamer Gear  Hyperlite Mountain Gear  and many others—research is half the fun! LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD, Part 3 of 8 Pack, Shelter + Sleep System -Backpack: ULA Circuit (extra straps and water reservoir pocket removed) -ZPacks backpack cover (optional) -Tent: ZPacks Duplex -Sleeping bag: ZPacks 20 degree Fahrenheit (no stuff sack) -Pack liner: trash compacter bag -Sleeping pad: Thermarest NeoAir XLite, regular size (no stuff sack-use rubber band) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As I mentioned on an earlier post, you should invest the bulk of your money on this part of your kit. Your backpack should a simple affair: the top closure should be a rolltop; there should be some mesh on the back in which to stuff rain gear, a cat hole kit and whatever else you want for quick retrieval; two side pockets; the hipbelt should ideally have pockets on them to keep small things like snacks and sunscreen, etc. Remove the water reservoir pocket if it has one as you won’t need it if you use water bottles as your water solution. And you should be using water bottles (e.g. Smart Water bottles), not a reservoir (like Platypus) for several reasons that I’ll address when we get to the Cooking + Hydration post. Unfortunately, most mass market backpacks (e.g. Osprey) have tons of bells and whistles that are unnecessary and heavy such as extra pockets, zippers, brains, extra compartments, buckles, etc. These packs are usually 4-5 pounds and cost the same as an indy brand. A backpack cover is an optional item for packs that are not completely waterproof, like mine. I carry one but I probably don’t need to since I keep everything inside my pack waterproofed by stuffing my sleeping bag, clothes and electronics inside a trash compactor bag. The backpack cover will only keep most of the rain off your pack (it will still sneak down between your pack and your back), but it does keep the pack from absorbing water weight if you are caught in a big rain. If you keep your pack in your tent at night you may want to take along a backpack cover to keep it as dry as possible. The one I use is made of a fabric called Dyneema (formerly known as Cuben fiber) and it weighs one ounce. The covers that come free with most Osprey packs weigh a whopping 4-5 ounces. Ouch! If you have an ultralight pack made of Dyneema you don’t need the backpack cover since your pack is made of a waterproof material. Dyneema packs—such as those made by ZPacks or Hyperlite--will probably have a shorter lifespan than other materials, however, since they give way to abrasions more readily. There are a lot of tradeoffs in the decisions we make. My ZPacks tent is probably my favorite piece of gear. It is also the most expensive. It is a 2 person Dyneema tent weighing 23 ounces including the stakes (I use 6 shepherd hook stakes and two small MSR Groundhogs). My trekking poles are the structure of the tent so that keeps the weight down. It houses me, my wife and my dog very comfortably. I wouldn't trade it for anything. This type of tent is single-walled and not a freestanding tent like most of the mass market options such as Big Agnes or REI tents. Freestanding tents are what the casually camper imagines in his or her mind when he thinks of a tent. They are usually double-walled (meaning there’s usually a somewhat elaborate system of tent poles involved and a rain fly over the body of the tent—essentially making it a two-part tent) and can be easily relocated even after being assembled. The downside of a freestanding tent is that if you need to pitch in the rain you have to set up the body before finishing with the rain fly, so you’ll probably get lots of water inside before you are finished. They are also substantially heavier. Non-freestanding tents are usually a one piece construction and so you can set them up in the rain and not get any water inside. But once a non-freestanding tent (like my Duplex) is pitched you would have to take the whole thing down to relocate it. Also, since the stakes are part of the structural component and they have to be stuck into the ground, they are not good for pitching, say, on top of a massive boulder. You would have to tie the guy lines to small rocks (instead of staking the guy lines) to erect the tent. I’ve done that before, though, and decided to consider it a charming challenge instead of a roadblock. I will say that is a rare occurrence and shouldn’t deter you from looking into a non-freestanding tent. Many people claim that double-walled tents handle condensation better than single-walled tents. I have not found that to be the case and I am a neanderthalic, mouth-breathing, snoring, condensation machine. You do not need a ground sheet. Most mass market tent manufacturers recommend that you buy one, which makes sense because it helps their bottom line. As long as you clear your tent site of pokey things like sticks and pine cones you will never need one. I once pitched my tent in a poorly chosen low spot and woke in the morning after a big rain and discovered that a shallow pool of water had formed around and under my tent. Not one drop of water had come in through the floor. If for some paranoid reason you still want a ground sheet then buy some Tyvek or Polycro but I’m telling ya’: you’re wasting your effort carrying something you don’t need. I know some fine people/bad ass hikers that use a hammock and tarp setup as their shelter. This option looks fun and is quite versatile when hiking in areas with trees but I don’t have any personal experience with them so I’m not going to talk about that here. For camping in Colorado--because we have very cold nights even in summer--I highly recommend a 20 degree Fahrenheit down sleeping bag. Wearing thermal uppers and lowers, warm socks, a beanie and a puffy down jacket while sleeping in your bag will keep you warm down to the high 20’s, which—despite the bag’s rating—is about where it starts to get chilly. I prefer down fill to a synthetic fill because of its compactability and warmth to weight ratio. Just don’t let it get wet. If you hike in very damp areas, a synthetic bag may be your best bet, but I’d still chance it, personally. Don’t bother with a liner bag—they’re just an extra thing to bother with. Get the right bag the first time and bring the right clothes and you’ll be golden. Do not use the stuff sack that the sleeping bag comes with. If you keep your bag in the stuff sack it does not neatly fill up all the nooks and crannies in your backpack and instead creates a lumpy, awkward mass that is difficult to pack around. My sleeping bag gets stuffed in the bottom of my liner (see next paragraph). It fills in all the available space neatly and the items that are placed on top it get smushed into it so there is no wasted space, creating a smaller overall backpack profile. Inside my backpack I keep all the things that are not allowed to ever get wet in a trash compactor bag: sleeping bag, clothes, ditty bag (containing electronics, headlamp, small med kit), book, etc). An outdoor Hefty bag would work too, but the compactor bag resists puncturing much better, plus it’s white so you can see what’s in your bag easily. It’s great and weighs/costs a fraction of purpose-built liner bags. Once everything is in there I’ll twist the top and tuck it so it won’t come undone. On top of the compactor bag I’ll pack things that won’t be compromised if they get wet, like my food bag and sleeping pad. My sleeping pad is the yellow Thermarest NeoAir Xlite. This is the industry standard inflatable. Ditch the stuff sack it comes with and keep it wrangled with one of those thick blue rubber bands you find around grocery store asparagus. If you can sleep on your back throughout the night you might be interested in the closed-foam accordion style Thermarest Z-Lite, but man is that ever a bulky beast (the benefit is that you can cut it down to weigh less and you do not have to inflate it). I toss and turn all night and I find the Xlite to be really comfy and it can fit in my backpack easily so that is what I prefer. The slightly heavier NeoAir XTherm inflatable model might be better for you if you get really cold at night (it has a higher R-rating which refers to its ability to keep cold from transferring from the ground to your body), but I’ve never felt a need for it. Your mileage may vary. Do not buy an air pump or bellows or whatever they are called. Use your lungs like everyone else. One quick final note: on especially cold nights you may have to breathe a few more breaths into your sleeping pad in the middle of the night to re-inflate it a little because the ambient temperature may cause the air inside to contract (as opposed to heat expansion). The first time I noticed this I thought I there was a hole in the pad. There wasn’t. It was just physics at work, doing its thing. Next post: Packed clothes LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD, Part 4 of 8 Packed Clothes -ZPacks Dry bag/pillow combo (fleece-lined on one side for sleepy town) -Base top—Patagonia thermal -Base bottom—Patagonia thermal -Underwear—Under Armour boxer briefs, one pair -Extra hiking socks—Darn Tough, ankle height, one pair -Wool camp socks, one pair -Beanie -Gloves—Brushtail Possum down from ZPacks -Mid layer—LL Bean wool pullover -Puffy jacket—Mountain Hardware Ghost Whisperer, hooded, down -Rain Jacket—Mountain Hardware Plasmic -Rain Pants—Outdoor Research, model unknown, but pretty lightweight Packed clothing is pretty much what it sounds like: the clothes I carry in my pack when I’m hiking while the weather is nice. These items, in addition to what I am wearing while hiking (to be covered in the Items Worn post) allow me to be comfortable in almost all conditions. One quick caveat: I am writing these posts from a male perspective. I realize that women have different needs in some categories and I encourage you to use these suggestions as a jumping off point for your own research. When choosing clothes to take with you on a backcountry trip, try to avoid cotton clothing items as they are very difficult to dry out when they get wet, whether from rain or from sweat. Avoid baggy clothes as the extra material could cause chafing. Synthetic or wool-based clothing are great options since they tend to dry quickly, are moisture-wicking and are quite durable. Synthetic materials do tend to hold on to odor better, though, but that’s the trade-off for the other positive aspects. When I first started seriously hiking I’d pack some flip flops, an extra t-shirt, maybe some extra short pants, but I eventually abandoned those things because it just wasn’t worth it to carry. Remember, it’s not just about keeping the weight down, it’s about simplifying. You’re going to be dirty in the woods no matter what you do. I can fit all the carried clothes in my Zpacks dry bag/pillow, which is about 9” x 16"...smaller when the roll top is closed. It’s a tight fit but it all somehow gets in there. It’s a clever thing, made of Dyneema with a roll top and buckle to secure it closed. Turn it inside out and one of the sides has a layer of fleece sewn to it. I fill it up with any clothing I’m not sleeping in, cinch the roll top and now I have a comfy, fleece pillow on which to rest my head/face all night. Much better than my old nylon dry bag. Do I even need the dry bag since all my packed clothes are safe in the compactor bag? No, but I do like some sort of pillow at night because I am soft and prefer it, and this was the best thing I could find as a solution. The thermal tops and bottoms I wear almost exclusively in camp. Sometimes, on a particularly cold morning I’ll start out in them under my normal hiking duds until I warm up, then change out of them. I try to make a point of not sweating in them though, since they are my default pajamas/base layer and I like to keep them as clean as possible. If I can keep them clean then my sleeping bag stays clean (oil-free) and the down can do a much better job of staying lofty and keeping me warm. As far as underwear goes, I just carry just one extra pair. They are a 6” length boxer brief that fit snugly and reduce chafe on the inner thighs by covering exposed skin. As with most base layers, go synthetic and moisture wicking for best results. I take only two pairs of underwear on any hiking trip: the the pair I’m wearing and the pair that is packed. I’ll switch them out each day. If they become particularly unpleasant while on trail I’ll rinse them in a creek (hopefully downstream from anyone trying to filter water) and hang them from the back of my pack to let the sun dry them while I hike. The other pair….well, they are just going to be wet for a little while, but since they are made of synthetic materials it usually only takes about 20 minutes to dry out while hiking. Another option is to take a break while they dry out on a tree branch or a warm rock in the sun. This works for any item of clothing you need to clean in a pinch—but please don’t wash anything containing down. Wait until you get home for that project. (It’s a running joke in trail towns that when you see someone walking around in full rain gear on a perfectly sunny day that they must be a long distance hiker. They recently got off trail and every bit of clothing they have is spin-cycling at the laundromat. Their poorly-fitted rain gear is all they have to wear; they look like they just stepped out of a RUN-DMC video.) Same deal with the one extra pair of hiking socks. Make sure they are a warm weather, synthetic or wool blend and switch them out each day, rinsing them clean-ish when they get too stiff. I prefer ¼ crew socks—ankle height—but wear what you like. Putting on my camp socks are the one of the greatest parts of my day. Nice and thick, clean because I only wear them at camp (I never hike in them), and super cozy…I feel like a new man putting these on after a grueling day of physical punishment. They are winter socks. Pure wool, I think, and so thick that I can’t comfortably lace up my trail runners while wearing them. I love them. The beanie. Whatever you like. I wear mine at camp, while I’m sleeping (if the temperature warrants it) and often start the cold morning hike wearing it. I have nothing much to say about a beanie that you don’t already know. Gloves. I have a pair of Brushtail Possum down gloves that I purchased from ZPacks a few years back. I’ve tried liner gloves (too thin and don’t retain heat well) and thicker gloves that were just too bulky and I like these best as they keep my hands quite toasty. They are not waterproof, but they don’t need to be. I could probably get them wet and they would be fine since they are actually more like wool than anything else. They call them “down” gloves but they are more like a soft underfur. The Brushtail Possum is considered an agricultural and conservation pest in Australia and New Zealand. I feel bad about using an exterminated animal for gloves and don’t really want to talk about this anymore. My long sleeve LL Bean mid-layer is something I only take when I know I’ll be spending an extended time at higher altitudes (like the Collegiate Peaks area or the Sierra Nevada) or in the shoulder seasons when nighttime temperatures can drop uncomfortably low. I do not take this item in summer for any section of the Colorado Trail before Twin Lakes (coming from Denver) if that helps you make a decision. I tend to sleep pretty warmly though. If you sleep cold, bring the extra mid-layer. For a puffy jacket, get the warmest, lightest jacket you can afford. There are lots of good ones out there. Down is preferred because it the warmest, lightest and most compactable. I prefer a hooded model since, when paired with my beanie, it keeps me extra toasty. A hood is going to cost you about an extra ounce, but I feel it’s easily worth it. Rain gear. I use a jacket and pants. They’re light duty and no good for bushwhacking, but that’s not where these get worn. The pants are kind of neat in that they stuff into their own pocket, keeping them nice and tidy. If you want something really lightweight, absurdly inexpensive but not very durable, look into Frogg Toggs. They feel like crepe paper but are quite effective at keeping the rain off you. Some people use a rain skirt and I think that is a smart idea. The only down side I can see is that the bottom of your legs will be exposed so they might get wet and chilled, especially if it is windy out. Your shoes and socks are going to get wet no matter what probably a third the weight of rain pants (maybe an ounce or two?) and compacts down to a very small size. I have seen a few ponchos out there on the trail, too. They are a smart, light, compactable item that covers your entire top half and backpack all at once so no water can creep in between your pack and back. Wind could prove an issue, though, since they are very open at the bottom and tend to flap around wildly in windy conditions. I keep my rain gear on the outside of my pack, stuffed in the mesh on the back of the pack. This way they are quick to get to and, when I’m finished wearing them they can drain there, away from anything that should stay dry. Next up: Worn Items LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD, Part 5 of 8 Items Worn -Sun Hat -Sunglasses -Shirt: Columbia Silver Ridge, long sleeved -Pants: Columbia Silver Ridge, convertible -Underwear: Under Armour 6” boxer briefs -Socks: Darn Tough, ankle height -Shoes: Alta trail runners -Watch: Casio Pro Trek -Trekking poles: REI carbon fiber/duct tape This category is comprised of the items that you are wearing and actively using while hiking. These items do not count as part of your base weight since they are not in or on your backpack. I highly recommend that you wear a hat that provides good protection from the sun, especially at our higher Rocky Mountain altitudes, where we have one mile less of atmosphere filtering out the sun’s cancer-causing wrath. I wear one of those SPF hats that have a 360 degree brim with good venting around the top that effectively dissipates heat. It also has a chin strap that can be tucked up into the hat. The chin strap, while corny, has on many occasions kept my hat from flying across the mountain range on a windy day. I only use the strap when it is warranted. The cool kids tend to wear fun trucker caps with the nylon mesh backs. I will get a nice sunburn on my head wearing one of those since I have noticeably less hair than I used to, so I have to resort to the pragmatic, dorky look. When I am hiking in the desert I like to wear a Buff around my neck for even more sun protection. In Colorado I don’t use one, though. When you choose sunglass, choose a well-fitting pair that doesn’t slip down your nose and has both UV and polarized lenses. This will protect your eyes and make super sunny or cloudy day views much more enjoyable. I tend not to spend much on sunglasses since I lose them or break them occasionally. I might be more conscious of them if I spent more money on them, though. My shirt is a long-sleeved Columbia Silver Ridge model. It has SPF built in and I love it. The sleeves can be rolled up and secured so they won’t unroll, which is nice. I have found that when it is hotter and sunnier than usual that I am actually cooler with the sleeves rolled down. The fabric is that good. It has a collar that extends up higher than most and provides a little more sun protection than other shirts. I like this model also because it comes in tons of colors and prints. I prefer prints because after a few days of sweating and getting dirty, the prints camouflage the filth better than a solid color. My pants are also from the Silver Ridge line. They are convertible pants, meaning that the legs can be zipped off, so I only have to carry the disembodied legs in my pack when I am in short pants mode. My wife calls them “schlongs”…a hybrid of “short” and “longs.” Good stuff. My only real problem with these pants is that they are a little baggy when the legs are zipped on. They could be improved if Columbia constructed them with less material. They really flap around when it is windy and get on my nerves, but I can deal with it since I really like the idea of only having to carry one pair of pants that do the work of two. Many people have a pair of long pants and pair of short pants. That works well, too. Whatever floats your boat. Underwear and socks are the same as the Packed Clothing. No difference there. I prefer to wear a watch. It is a digital watch that has just the right amount of functionality for me, is tough as nails, and goes out with me on every big hike I have done. It tells the time (duh), has a stop watch, a thermometer, a barometer, altimeter, lets me know then the sun and moon will rise and set…all sorts of fun stuff. My phone does most of this, too, but I’m a watch guy. I also carry a phone like everyone else, but I love having a watch. You may or may not. To each his/her own. Shoes are a fun and touchy subject. Most long distance hikers have forgone boots all-together. We have learned that a lightweight, breathable, non-waterproof trail runner is—by far—the best way to go on maintained trails. Here is my argument for that. Historically, boots have been what you wear when you went hiking. They are strong, provide good ankle support and foot protection, and are durable. Because of this they require a long, uncomfortable breaking-in period. Hikers wear boots when the trail is not well-maintained or their pack is 35+ pounds and their ankles are trying to buckle under the terrible weight and need that extra support. Hikers also wear boots because they are simply what people have always worn when hiking. Enter the trail runner: a lightweight, highly breathable footwear option that allows you to cover long distances in relative comfort. If you can get your pack weight down to a reasonable weight, there is absolutely no need for the extra ankle support. With your pack weight down you can also cover more miles in a day with much less fatigue. Here’s another thing: foot and ankle blisters can be the bane of a hiker’s life. Blisters form in the presence of three things: heat, friction and moisture. If you can remove any one of these elements then your chance of forming a blister is greatly diminished. Boots tend to be waterproof (or at least less breathable than trail runners). If your feet get wet because of rain or a creek crossing or just simply because of perspiration, boots will take a long time to dry out since their construction is so thick and robust. Wet feet are a leading contributor to blister formation. Trail runners—specifically NON WATERPROOF trail runners, which are the ONLY kind I wear in the regular hiking season (and I almost never get blisters)—are so breathable that your feet will be dry in most cases in under a half hour of hiking…not only from the drying warmth of the sun, but because of the heat generated by your feet, too. Moisture easily evaporates through a meshy, porous, breathable trail runner and so one less blister forming factor has been removed from the equation. Breathable trail runners also allow for a robust heat regulation. Keeping your feet cool in hot conditions is an important part of blister mitigation. With regard to friction, trail runners don’t need to be broken in like boots do. They are good to go from the first step. Because of this you want to make sure they fit well when buying them at the store. Chances are that if they don’t fit well in the store then they will give you problems down the trail. Make sure they fit properly. A pair of trail runners will be good for 500-600 miles of hiking. Boots may last longer, but the small foot tragedies that you have deal with along the way certainly don’t make it a worthwhile metric for me. My wife’s feet were a train wreck in boots. She, like many of us in the old days, bought into the when-hiking-you-must-wear-boots philosophy. When I started wearing trail runners I told her how great my feet felt in them. We bought her some waterproof trail runners (as a bridge from boot life to trail runner life) soon after but sadly her feet didn’t fare much better. We realized the waterproofing was keeping her feet from ventilating properly. When we eventually got her into some non-waterproof trail runners her feet became some of the happiest around. What about hiking shoes, you might be thinking…a nice middle ground between boots and trail runners. I’m not against hiking shoes. I like them when I’m hiking 14ers or on a trail that isn’t so well-maintained. But for the trails where I am covering lots of miles in a day, they seem unnecessarily bulky and heavy. One more thing to point out: there is a design being implanted by some companies in trail runners called Zero Drop. This means that the shoe is designed to keep your heel at the same height as your forefoot, just as if you were walking barefooted. Some people like it and some don’t. It felt immediately comfortable and natural to me so I now use them. The Alta brand is huge in the distance hiking community and with good reason. I encourage you to try some on next you are shoe shopping. Trekking poles. I love ‘em. They help push me along the trail, whether going up or down a mountain or along flat ground. They also are the support structure for my tent and so are an important, multi-functional part of my kit. Additionally, I roll about five feet of duck tape around one of them so I don’t have to carry any in my pack. My poles are adjustable, made of carbon fiber, have taken tons of abuse and are still going strong. They weigh under a pound together. Don’t get the twist-locking kind as those mechanisms are clumsy to secure and easily breakable. Buy the flip-lock type. Adjust them so they are shorter when hiking uphill. Adjust them so they are longer when hiking downhill. When hiking on flat ground your forearms should be parallel to the ground. You can also just keep them at a good overall length if you don’t want to be bothered. Your arm motion should be natural when using poles. By that I mean as your left leg moves forward, your right arm should move forward simultaneously. The tips of the poles should be lightly planted in the earth and should not extend ahead of your feet. Push against the pole as you walk past it so that you are propelling yourself forward. This takes some of the effort off your legs and can add up to some significant energy savings over the course of a day. The straps are not there to make sure you don’t lose them; they are there relieve your hands of the work of tightly gripping the poles. Your grip should be light and not an energy expending death grip. Adjust the loop length of the straps so that your hands enter them from the bottom and your palms can rest on top of them. If the straps are properly adjusted, when you let go of the grip and push downward your hand should remain at the exact same height they would be as if you were gripping them without using straps. This is a difficult thing for me to describe with words so if that was unclear please watch some videos online. Next up: Cooking + Hydration LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD, Part 6 of 8 Cooking + Hydration -Food bag—15 liter capacity, roll top -Bear hang—rock sack and 50 ft of line -Stove—MSR Pocket Rocket 2 -Cookset—Snow Peak titanium Mini Solo pot, cup and lid -Pot cozy—homemade -Spoon—Sea to Summit, long -Lighter—just one, a mini Bic -Towel—small, microfiber- -Water bag—Evernew, 2 liter -Water bottles—Smart water, 2 ea -Water filter system—Sawyer Squeeze, water scoop, Zip-loc baggie -Stove fuel—110 gram canister This is a fun category and one I have really enjoyed developing strategies for over the years. When it comes to cooking on longer trips, you won’t be making campfire stews and s’mores and big American breakfasts of bacon and eggs. It’s highly unlikely you will even be making a campfire. 95% of the time you will simply boil water on your stove and rehydrate a freeze-dried dinner or some ramen noodles or Idahoan instant mashed potatoes so feel free to ditch the sponge, dish scrubby and dish soap. I should note that I usually make hot food only at dinner. Once in a while I’ll make instant coffee and/or oatmeal in the morning, but not if I need to cover big miles. My cook kit is compact, lightweight and no-fuss. I keep it in a 15 liter, waterproof, roll-top food bag, which I use as my bear hang. To hang the bag at night (including all my garbage from the previous days, which is contained in a one gallon Zip-loc freezer bag, or a smaller Zip-loc from one of my previous dinners) I use a draw string rock sack (the rocks are gathered at camp) and 50 feet of line to chuck over a tree limb from which to suspend my food bag before I go to bed. I bought mine from ZPacks so the bag is Dyneema and the line is a thin waxy one that doesn’t catch on bark and branches, unlike paracord. Any old small bag and line will do, though. My cookpot is titanium, which is expensive but very, very light. The pot came with a cup and lid. Sometimes I take the cup, sometimes I don’t. They all nest neatly together. Inside the pot I keep my bear hang kit, a 110 gram fuel canister, the stove, one mini Bic lighter, and a small microfiber towel with dimensions about 10” x 10”. The towel I wrap around the stove (I ditched the protective plastic case it comes with) to reduce any rattling of metal against metal. I also use the towel as a pot holder and for wiping the pot dry after use, but you could just as easily employ your bandana for that. Ditch the plastic container the stove comes with. Hugging the pot I have a homemade pot cozy, which I made from instructions thoughtfully provided by Erik the Black’s hiking website: https://blackwoodspress.com/blog/6582/ultralight-backpacking-pot-cozy/ . An asparagus rubber band holds everything together. Depending on your level of pre-hike preparation, you may be interested in something called Freezer Bag Cooking. This is what I do. I cook and dehydrate my dinners and store them in a one quart Zip-loc freezer bag (it is important to use a freezer bag since the regular-duty Zip-locs will melt when boiling water is poured into them). I then boil water at camp, pour the boiling water into the dehydrated meal, seal it up, squish it around, place the bag in the pot, lid it, place the lidded pot in the pot cozy, lid the cozy, wait 15 minutes and dinner is served, still piping hot thanks to the insulative properties of the pot cozy. The one quart Zip-loc—by virtue of sheer chance—is perfectly sized to fold over the circumference of my particular pot, so I can eat right out of it and not get one drop of food on my cookware. I use a long spoon to so I can reach the nooks and crannies at the bottom of the bag without getting any food on my knuckles. If you don’t dehydrate your own food and prefer the freeze-dried Mountain House style meals, a long spoon is essential. Those bags are deep! To boil two cups of water at the altitude we tend to hike at in Colorado takes about 2 minutes 15 seconds. This means that a 110 gram fuel canister—which is the small one—has enough fuel to boil your water 13 times. I’ve done the experiments and can confirm this. (Note: your stove may be less efficient, but you can certainly count on at least 10 boils.) That means that the small fuel can is more than plenty for a five day hiking trip, even if you make coffee or oatmeal in the morning. The only reason I bought the MSR Pocket Rocket 2 is that it fits neatly into my cook kit since it folds down absurdly small. I used the original MSR Pocket Rocket for years and it is still going strong, but it just didn’t fit in there with all the other stuff. It broke my heart to replace something that worked perfectly fine, but I do like the fact that everything is in one place and I don’t have to fish around my food bag for an errant stove. The survivalists will tell you that when it comes to gear and redundancy that “two is one and one is none.” That is paranoiac crap. I’ve used the same tiny Bic lighter for three years and there is still plenty of juice in it. You do not need waterproof matches in a handsome carrying case, a flint and some firestarter as backup. Just carry that one little lighter. If it gives you trouble, invert it and give it a shake. Usually it lights right up and will at least get you through your current leg of the trip until you can replace it with another. Or, you can borrow a light from a neighboring hiker or passerby, since in this scenario we are on a well-traveled trail. Worst case option: you cold-soak your meal for an hour, eat a little later than your planned on, and get on with your day. Don’t let paranoia increase your pack weight. Let what actually happens be your guide. Cold soaking, as mentioned above, is pretty much what it sounds like. Some hikers are so dedicated to reducing pack weight that they take no stove or fuel at all. They anticipate their dinner time an hour or two before—usually while still hiking, before reaching camp—and put their meal (freeze-dried or dehydrated or purchased or whatever) in a plastic container with a very secure lid (the most popular is a Talenti gelato container), add cold water and let it all shake and soak in their pack until they’re ready to eat. This method does require some planning ahead, but it will easily let you shed a pound or more from your pack weight, not to mention some bulk that may let you graduate to a smaller-volume, lighter backpack that doesn’t require as much energy to carry, allowing you to hike longer distances. See how that all works so symbiotically? That said, I enjoy a hot meal at night, so I carry the weight. Water/Hydration. There are several solutions to gathering and filtering water. Mine is only one of many options, but it works exceedingly well. I’ll say also that the system I use is great for trails where you know the water situation. The Guthook app is a great tool for determining real time trail conditions on trails like the CT and the major national trails. Users are constantly updating trail conditions, including water flow at rivers, streams and lakes. If you are using only paper maps you may want to consider carrying more than the minimal amount of water, since conditions may vary from season to season. Play it safe in this case. But if you know the current conditions, I recommend taking just the water you need—plus a little bit extra for insurance. Don’t carry a full day’s worth of water if you know there is a flowing stream five miles ahead. Carry a liter and a half, or so, and make it there quickly instead of slow-hiking those miles burdened with an extra six pounds of water. If you aren’t carrying a map (paper or digital) or just don’t know what is coming up in the next few miles, ask a passing hiker coming from the opposite direction what the water situation is like. I recommend ditching your traditional bladder, hose and bite valve. These things are great for short dayhikes and occasions where it is not too critical to monitor how much water you have but not very efficient when you are trying to carry just what you need. How much water do you have left in your bladder after eight miles of steeply graded mountain trail in August? I wouldn’t have any idea if I carried a bladder, so at the next water source I would need to empty out most of my pack and pull out the bladder to make that determination. That’s not very efficient. Plus, the bladder/tube/bite valve system is quite heavy when compared to the method most hikers use on long trails. What most distance hikers do is carry a couple of light, durable Smart Water bottles and an extra water bladder (no hose or bite valve). At a water source you can make an instant determination if you need to gather more water or not just by looking at your reserves. My bladder is dedicated to dirty water, meaning water that has not been filtered. I fill up the water bladder, then attach my Sawyer Squeeze water filter to it and filter into my Smart Water bottles, which never contain unfiltered water. I’ll keep those bottles (or bottle) handy in my pack’s side pocket for easy access and take a drink whenever I need one. Some people fill their Smart Water bottles with dirty water and attach the filter directly to the mouth of the bottle and drink though the filter. I prefer the other way so I can take huge, greedy gulps if I feel like it. My bladder is a brand called Evernew and it is a two liter model. This brand’s threading fits perfectly on the Sawyer Squeeze. I believe Platypus uses a proprietary threading and so doesn’t fit perfectly, allowing dirty water to seep into your clean water as you filter. The bladders that come with the Sawyer Squeeze used to be unreliable and would leak after the first few uses. I hear that has been addressed and the seals have been fortified, but I can neither confirm nor deny because I have stuck with the Evernew brand. With my bladder and two Smart Water bottles I can carry four liters of water, which is usually sufficient for long, waterless carries or dry camping where there is no nearby water source. If I am anticipating longer waterless stretches I’ll either carry another bladder or another bottle. The Sawyer Squeeze is a great product that you can use for about 600-1000 miles before it gets too clogged to work efficiently, even with frequent back flushing. The Sawyer Mini filters water excruciatingly slow. I prefer to pay the one ounce penalty and go with the Squeeze. I carry my filter in a small Zip-loc bag along with a little scoop made by cutting the bottom third off of a an old Sawyer water bladder. The weight of the scoop doesn’t even register on my gram scale and it folds flat for easy storage. I use this scoop when I need to gather water from a shallow, still pool or a stream that flows so slowly I cannot dip the mouth of the Evernew into it to fill it up. I do not carry the back flush syringe that comes with the Sawyer. Usually I can go five days without noticing any sort of filter flow issue. On longer, multi-week hikes on big trails, you can usually find a syringe in a trail town hiker box. I’ll borrow it to flush out my filter and then return it. One less thing to carry! I carry the filtering system in the rear mesh of the backpack for quick, easy access. Next up: Survival + Hygiene LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD, Part 7 of 8 Survival + Hygiene -Ditty bag -Headlamp and batteries -First Aid/Miscellaneous kit -Toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, small Zip-loc -Reading glasses/homemade case -Chapstick -Sunscreen -Sport tape -Body Glide anti-chafe -Small pocket knife -Map (optional) -Compass, Suunto Clipper (attached to pack) -Bug head net (optional) -Toiletry Zip-loc bag (“Deuce of Spades” trowel, tp, sanitizer) -Bandana Many of these items are from the 10 Essentials list you see everywhere. The ditty bag I carry is just a super light stuff sack I had laying around. A one quart Zip-loc would do the job just as well. Inside the ditty sack (which I store in the compactor bag within my backpack) I keep things I don’t need quick access to: my headlamp, first aid/miscellaneous kit, toothbrush/paste and reading glasses. Each morning I remove the batteries from my headlamp so the on button isn’t accidentally depressed during the day, draining the batteries. Also, about batteries: only bring what you need for the headlamp. Do not bring extras. Unless you do lots of night hiking you will only need the headlamp for about 30-60 minutes a day, if that, since dusk often signals bedtime. A set of batteries will easily get you through a few weeks or months only using it that much. If your batteries do go dead, just use the flashlight function on your phone. Some headlamps are now powered by a charging bank. That seems like a good idea. My first aid kit is absurdly small because I’ve never needed anything more than a band-aid or safety pin or some Pepto pills. Don’t carry one of those pre-made, over the top med kits that weight a pound or so. You are not going to need all the heavy, bulky junk in there. Some of those kits are complete enough that you could perform major surgery in the forest. Are you a surgeon? I’m not. If something terrible happens I would do exactly one thing: get off the trail and seek medical attention. If I am going to have to do that anyway why carry all that stuff? My first aid/misc kit weighs two and half ounces and is plenty for both my wife and me. Here’s what is in it: a couple of sterile alcohol wipes, some backup water purification tablets, 6 Pepto pills, 6 Advil, a backup Smart Water bottle top, 5 feet of thin paracord, a safety pin, 6 Band-Aids, 3 small gauze pads, 5 packets of 0.5 gram antibiotic cream, 3 packets of 0.9 gram rash cream, earplugs, inflatable sleeping pad repair patches, 6 inches of Dyneema tape (for tent repair), a water bottle cap adapter that makes the back flush syringe irrelevant, and a little plastic tick remover. I keep all that in a half-sized Zip-loc bag. That’s all. That’s more than I will ever need, most likely. Also in the ditty sack: Cash and credit card, a Zip-lock containing my toothbrush, travel-sized toothpaste and dental floss (cut your brush in half if you’re feeling UL) and finally, some beater reading glasses and a carrying case I made from a cardboard tube of toilet paper wrapped in duct tape. It sounds silly but it is still going strong after five years and weighs only a half of an ounce. In my hip belt pocket I keep some Chapstick, a travel-sized bottle of sunscreen, and a travel-sized thing of Body Glide, which is a great product that runners use to keep chafing from forming between the thighs. Also in there is the lightest pocket knife I could find. I really only use it for opening packages of cheese and for cutting sport tape. Sport tape (or Leukotape) is terrific stuff. When I feel a hot spot forming on my feet I’ll stop immediately and apply a square of sport tape on it. This will keep it from forming a blister. I keep the tape on for the remainder of the trip or segment. It is very adhesive and stays on for days. Sport tape is a miracle for those who tend to regularly get blisters. I don’t keep any sort of blister-specific materials like moleskin with me, just the sport tape. With trail runners there is an excellent chance you won’t even get blisters at all. If you are hammering out 20 mile days multiple days in a row, though, all bets are off. The rolls of sport tape right from the store are far too big for any one hike so I remove the ink refill from a cheap plastic pen, cut a 2 inch section from the hollow body and wrap a few feet of tape around that. Clipped to the back of my pack I keep a bug head net. I don’t carry bug repellant at all. If the bugs are bitey I’ll roll down my shirt sleeves, wear long pants and drape the bug net over my hat. This really only happens at camp once I have stopped moving. If it gets really bad and the little jerks bite through my shirt, I’ll put my rain jacket on. Clipped to my pack’s shoulder straps is a little Sunnto clip-on compass the diameter of a quarter. I rarely need a compass but that’s because I primarily hike on well-maintained trails. If I do I need one I use the one on my phone first. I keep my bandana secured to my shoulder strap, too. I went over all the benefits of a bandana in post #2 so I won’t go over that again here. Use maps on a trail-by-trail basis. There are times when it’s smart to have a map and there are times when an app on your phone is all you need. Know when each is appropriate to use. Also, a map and compass won’t do you much good if you find yourself in a situation where you need them but don’t know how to use them. Look into learning about map and compass skills (or orienteering) when you find yourself with some extra time. It is well worth it. And fun, too. GPS or SPOT locater beacon device: Personally I do not carry one of these. Most modern phones have GPS in them and are able to give you your location, if not on Google Maps then on one of the many hiking or gps apps, even in airplane mode. Guthook and Gaia apps are both excellent choices and I’m sure there are several others that I don’t know about. If you prefer to take a SPOT device with you you won’t hear any argument from me. It’s up to the individual and their families to make that decision. Finally, the toiletry bag. In a one gallon Zip-loc I keep a trowel, some toilet paper and a travel-sized bottle of hand sanitizer. I keep it in the mesh on the back of the pack for easy retrieval. You can carry wipes if you like, but despite what the packaging says, they are not biodegradable (at least, not in any reasonable amount of time). It is a conscientious practice to pack those out with you. A dedicated Zip-loc would be a good idea for that. Next up: Luxury Items LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD, Part 8 of 8 Luxury Items -Phone, charging cord/plug, headphones -Portable phone charger, charging cord -Sit pad -StickPic Luxury items are the things we can do without, but to be honest who goes anywhere without their phone anymore. It is such an integral part of our lives—almost an extension of ourselves, like a limb—that to consider it a luxury item doesn’t seem right. It’s got our maps on it, we communicate with it, it is our camera, our Walkman, we take notes on it, have the internet at our disposal…I really should move this item to the Survival category. Nevertheless, I’ll keep it listed under Luxury Items if not to remind me of the old days when we were mere primitives, rolling around in our own filth, grunting like apes. If you take a phone with you and depend on it for navigation and all the other fun things it offers, you’ll need to bring a cord and plug on trips where you stop in trail towns to resupply. I take a plug with a double USB port so I can charge both my phone and the battery bank at the same time. The battery bank I use is the Anker 10,000 mAh. It is a very popular model among thru hikers. It has an excellent weight to power storage capacity ratio. When fully charged this bank has enough juice to recharge your phone 4 or 5 times, which you probably won’t need over a five day hike, but if you have other devices that require charging, this should still give you what you need. Except for my phone, which I keep in my shirt pocket while hiking, I store all my electronics in—you guessed it—a Zip-loc bag. I keep that bag in my ditty bag, which is safe from moisture in my compactor bag, so nothing is going to get these things wet. A closed cell foam sit pad is something I don’t like to hike without. It is simply an accordianed square of foam that you can place on the ground or a log or a rock that offers a little comfort and keeps your pants from getting unnecessarily dirty, especially when it has been raining. If you carry a foam sleeping pad you won’t need this item, since your sleeping pad doubles as your sit pad. My advice if you are interested in purchasing a sit pad is to buy the most brightly colored one you can find. I have left three of them behind over the last five years because they didn’t stand out against the background enough. A StickPic is a clever device that is secured to the pointy end of your trekking pole that allows you to clamp your camera to it, turning it into a selfie stick. It’s great for taking group shots or making videos. I take it with me about 50% of the time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` So that’s it. That’s everything I’ve got for you. Some people would look at my pack list and say there is way too much stuff in there. They’d be right, but I this is where I am comfortable. My base weight is around 12 ½ pounds currently. It’s a little heavier than I would like but I don’t really want to give up much more. I started much heavier several years ago. We all did. Don’t get too upset if you can’t get your base weight down quickly. You will figure out what you need and don’t need over time. Slowly replace or ditch items after researching and thinking about them. Ask other hikers what they like and don’t like about a certain item. Let your budget be your guide. You can always upgrade later. And of course don’t forget that the least expensive way to lighten your load is to not pack an item at all. The main thing, though, is that you are out there having fun…enjoying nature…soaking in the trail. There is nowhere I’d rather be. I know for a lot of you it’s the same. That’s why I’ll see you out there.