8 Tips on Cutting Down Backpack Weight
The weight you carry on your back can easily turn a freeing adventure into a torturous nightmare where you keep scolding yourself for packing too much. The trick is to know exactly how to optimize your essentials and then packing them in a way that they won’t pose as an unwanted obstacle on your trip.
Here are the top 8 most handy ways you can cut down backpack weight without foregoing the things you will definitely need.
Weigh Your Items
This might seem like a drag but it is super helpful. When picking and choosing your gear compare them by weight. Put items of the same function on the scale one at a time and pick the ones that is lightest. This will make it easier to narrow down your choices between two of the same acceptable tools.
Downsize Necessities
You know those travel size bottles for toiletries? Use the same rule here. Depending on the number of days for which you will be gone decide how much of toothpaste, soap, and toilet paper you will require. Packing an entire bottle of shampoo or tube of toothpaste is just wasting the space and adding unnecessary weight. Look up some handy hacks on how to downsize them more efficiently. This could be as simple as cutting your tooth brush in half.
You can downsize the food you carry as well. For example, pack the same amount of energy bars as many days you will hiking.
Dump Paper
Before you become one of those people who carry a guide book with a hundred tabs everywhere, just download the e-version of it so that you have everything you need on your phone and do not need to carry the extra weight of information pamphlets and guides. If you want to write something, do it on your phone too.
Although we’re recommending you to follow this guideline, ensure to still keep a paper copy of a map. This can be useful in life and death situations where your phone decides to run out of battery.
Picking the Right Food Items
Pick the food items that are nonperishable and have around 125 calories per ounce. Some likely options include cashews, dark chocolate, shortbread cookies, peanut butter, and olive oil.
These items provide some good energy value for your body’s increased demands.
Choose wisely
Put everything that you describe as your hiking clothes, shoes, and gear and lay them down on the floor. Now one by one pick one of each item. Now, these make up what is absolutely necessary. Now pick two of what you need more of depending on the days such as clothing. You will soon realise that packing by everything you own is not the most efficient method.
Skip the Toilet Paper
Many seasoned backpackers will tell you that a roll of toilet paper has tons of substitutes. You can spend some extra money and get a compact and easy to pack box of wipes, or you can skip it all together and use water or leaves. Sometimes smooth river rocks can also do the trick
Buy New Gear
In general it is usually the case that lighter, high quality gear is generally more expensive.
Thanks to advancements in technology and manufacturing processes, you don’t need to go out breaking an arm and a leg to get the best equipment.
Consider weight, cost, quality when selecting gear and look for the optimal selection that fits your bill. Don’t forget to sell or donate your old gear as they say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure
Switch to Collapsible Bottles
Instead of carrying litres of drinking water or an empty bottle that takes up space opt for carrying a collapsible bottle that you can fit in when empty. If you know that it will be hard to find clean drinking water consider getting a filter bottle which you can use to drink out of a nearby source of water.
You’ll thank your back in the long run for doing this.
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