Probably the most fussed-over question of thru-hiking is how to make your pack as light as possible. It is the subject of endless discussions, features heavily in excel-spreadsheets (shudder!), and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a gear review that doesn’t take weight into consideration. For my own most recent gear list, read here.

For good reason. When you are hiking for weeks or months on end, the extra weight on your body is of paramount importance. It can make or break your hike by causing injury or discomfort. After a while on trail, your pack will start feeling like it’s part of your body – providing that it doesn’t feel like you’re strapped to a Volkswagen Beetle (#CherylStrayed).

Note that this guide is about baseweight. That is the weight of your gear excluding consumables - aka food, water, and fuel. Keep in mind that these items will add quite a bit of weight to your backpack, which is why keeping your baseweight low is paramount.

When we talk about pack weight, we usually operate with three broad categories.

Ultralight: baseweight below 4kg

Lightweight: baseweight below 8 kg

Not lightweight: baseweight above 8 kg.

Of course, there is such a thing as stupid light. I have heard stories of people bringing half a sleeping bag or neglecting to bring essential items. Needless to say, this is dumb. You should always take the gear you genuinely need, including emergency items like a first aid kit and a personal locator beacon/satellite phone. Never compromise on safety.

cut weight where it counts

Most ultralight gear is very expensive. You can pay literally hundreds of dollars more to save a few ounces here and there. It isn’t realistic for everyone to buy every single top-of-the-line gear item. Most hikers end up with a combination of ultralight gear and “traditional” gear at a slightly higher weight. So how to prioritise?

Your heaviest items (in addition to the backpack itself) will nearly always be your “big 3”, aka your tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad. This is where you stand most to gain by investing in ultralight versions of these. An ultralight pair of rain pants can save you 70g, but an ultralight tent can save you 2 kg.

Ultralight tents are usually single-walled, which cuts a huge amount of weight (at the cost of increased condensation). My ZPacks Duplex 2-person tent has lasted me 8 years and weighs 500g. For your sleeping bag and pad, make sure you they are warm enough for your trip, but as light as possible for that range. For sleeping bags, this will usually mean down over synthetic, and buying the right size so you don’t carry extra material. NOTE: temperature ratings are different for men and women! If there’s only one temp rating, this will be for men. Women need warmer bags. Many hikers also prefer quilts to sleeping bags as they are lighter and provide more wriggle room (I’ve never used a quilt so can’t comment). Sleeping pads can be well insulated while still being light, comfort is priceless!

For an in-depth guide to choosing your big 3, read here.

Grams matter

I recall with horror a conversation I overheard on the Te Araroa trail a few years back. “Donald” was going over his gear and lamenting how heavy his pack was.  Another hiker, “Dora”, cheerfully told him to not leave any of his extra items behind, as they only counted for 3 extra kgs. Let me be very clear: 3 kgs is insane. 3 kgs is nearly an ultralight hiker’s entire baseweight. If you are carrying 3 kgs of unnecessary gear, you need an intervention. Call me.

Counting grams can seem ridiculous at first and entails a mindset shift for most people. But trust my 9 years of thru-hiking experience, grams do matter. Shaving 100 grams here and there adds up to a lot of weight in total, as the utter bliss of eating through a week’s food supply neatly illustrates. I used to think people who cut their toothbrushes in half were crazy, but now I do it for all my hikes (partly also as a ritual). If you carry a book, carry a slim one and not a hardcover of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Don’t double up

Probably the most common mistake I see hikers make that adds to their weight is carrying multiple versions of the same item. I’ll make an exception for undies (although you can wear them inside out for a day) and socks, but other than that, you need one of each gear item. That means one t-shirt, one mid-layer (aka a puffy OR a fleece), one long-sleeve that can double as base layer and sun protection, one shell layer. It means don’t carry extra sets to sleep in / alternate. It means don’t carry shorts and rain pants and fleece pants and shell pants. Our friend Donald above carried three of each. Tsk tsk. I’ve also seen women bring swimwear on warmer treks. Suffice to say, I am sure your underwear would gladly accompany you into a clean lake to freshen up.

Useless items you should ditch now

• Anyone who has actually hiked for a week or more in the wilderness knows that you stink. The people you hitchhike with will discreetly roll down their windows, but you know as well as them that the eau de feet & dead body is you. There is nothing you can do about this, so don’t bother trying. Ditch your deodorant. It’s heavy and it will not save you.

• Next up on the stinky train is detergent / soap. One of the guiding principles of all outdoor activity is Leave No Trace. This means that you should leave any nature you visit exactly how you found it. Importantly, the LNT principle applies to water sources such as lakes and streams. In other words, no washing your clothes, body, or dishes with chemical cleaners, including “biodegradable” ones.  Easy solution: You don’t have to carry detergent or shampoo on your hike, you can just mail it to yourself in your resupply box to use in town.

• I keep coming back to our friend Donald, who carried an awful lot of big repair kits. The man had a backup for just about every conceivable scenario. Two extra shoelaces. A replacement for every single buckle on his backpack. One comprehensive repair kit for his tent (bigger than my whole first aid kit), another for his clothes. Sigh. Unless you are crossing Antarctica, you will be in town regularly. Stuff like this can be fixed. If you want to bring a repair kit, stick to some dental floss that can double as any kind of rope, and wrap some gorilla/duct tape around your trekking poles – it can be used to fix almost anything. For repairing delicate items like sleeping pads, you normally get a couple of tiny pieces of repair tape with the pad when you purchase it, and that is enough.

• There is no denying that large multitools look very handy. I mean, who knows when you will need a large knife to… cut something big? Yeahno. For most people, a small scissors and tweezers in your first aid kit is all you will ever use. If you must carry a knife (one that doesn’t scare other people), you can get ultralight foldable blades that don’t require you to also bring the corkscrew and letter opener.

• Weather inappropriate items. Going for a hike in Death Valley? I think you can safely skip rain pants. I am aware that this point is somewhat controversial. You need to be prepared for sudden weather changes. I have been very cold in the middle of summer in both California and New Zealand – locations that are otherwise baking hot at that time of year. However… there is room for negotiation here. I confess I have not carried rain pants on any hikes since the West Highland Way in Scotland in 2016. No rain gear keeps out the rain if it rains for long enough, and shorts dry out quicker. I have merino long johns to wear once I have reached a hut or set up my tent. Hikers use lots of creative solutions in low-precipitation areas, such as rain kilts, trash bags, and plastic rain ponchos – the kind you buy for 2 quid.

Pack light, but also right

Lastly, there are two big additional factors that determine how your pack feels to carry. The design and model of the pack, and how you distribute the weight inside it. Personally, I find ultralight backpacks with no frame or back ventilation unbearable. I carry an Osprey Aura 65L, which looks enormous compared to ultralight packs as it has a really bulky and stiff frame. But that pack basically carries itself. The anti-gravity system makes it super comfortable to carry up to 12 kg, the ventilated back keeps me cool, and the big hip belt keeps my pelvis stable (I have an old horseback riding injury). I’ve tried smaller and lighter packs, but immediately sacrifice comfort for the slightly lower weight.

Weight distribution inside your pack is also important. Anyone who has ever carried a bear canister knows how uncomfortable a top-heavy pack feels. Rule: put your heaviest items in the bottom of your pack or close to your spine. Keep snacks, sunscreen, and blister pads conveniently stored near the top, but try to keep the upper 1/3rd of your pack as light as you can. This will distribute weight towards your hips rather than your shoulders.

HAPPY LIGHTWEIGHT HIKING!

Enjoyed this post? You might also like my guide to injury prevention and 10 tips for a successful thru-hike.