What article would you send to a total newb?

Short and sweet:
https://dalesjournal.wordpress.com/2015/03/12/ultralight-backpacking-basics/

Is that your blog Dale? That is a great overview article, nicely done.

Yeah, that's my blog. Learned it all here, no joke.

Hey, Dale: Very nice and succinct overview!

Who knew? Is it possible to put a link to your blog in a signature? Lots of other good stuff in there.

That and Mike Clelland’s video will go a long way toward introducing folks quickly to basic UL concepts. We know there’s ultimately a lot more to it than that, but, as with any other topic, there’s no need to eat the entire enchilada in one big bite. :^)

We have a site dedicated to encouraging people to go backpacking. Tons of info…no commercial activity at all:

https://sites.google.com/site/backpackthesierra/home

Look it over and take your pick:
General info for you to look at
Mike Clelland(NOLs instructor and author, his books are very good),he has some great free videos on lightening up be sure to watch(his clothing system,the entire contents of his pack,water treatment and part 1 and 2 on the dinky stuff for ideas),this is an article he wrote The fastest way to backpack weight loss ,this is pmags Lightweight Backpacking 101 and The Frugal Backpacker – The $300 Gear Challenge .These are some other articles and videos for you to check out

Backpacking for Cheap: Gear for the Gearless

Backpacking Checklist (Gear List): 3-Season, 3-Day

Lightweight Backpacking 101: An Introductory Manual for Lightening Your Load Today (1st Edition – August 2001)

Cheap Ultralight Gear List

Oregon Field Guide: Ultralight Hiking

Lightweight Testimony: Lighter, Farther, Faster
Jamie Shortt talks about his progression and shows his gear list for each stage, Lightweight Testimony: My Journey into Lightweight Backpacking
CleverHiker Light weight Basics
CleverHiker Trail Skills

Andrew Skurka has a very good website with trips and gear lists for you to check out, here is a talk he gave at google
Ultimate Hiking Gear & Skills Clinic
His book is worth checking out also
The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide: Tools & Techniques to Hit the Trail
You can get little repackaging containers(like the ones you see in Mike Clelland uses in his videos) many places including your local stores and pharmacy but here are some examples
USPLASTICS
USPLASTICS
Ultralight Designs
GossamerGear
MountainLaurelDesigns
You could make toothpaste dots like Mike C. shows or there are Archtek Toothpaste Tablets so only bring exactly what you need in a snack size bag for any given trip instead of a whole tube and THESE are good for little thing like pills, toothpaste tablets ect. so you are not packing a whole bottle(you can also get them very cheap at most pharmacies) .

Serendipitously, a family friend asked me for some basic advice and ideas on getting started.
I sent her to pmags too; there are certainly other fine references, but Paul puts out a lot of stuff that makes sense to me and is freely available.

The particular article I sent her to, however, was this one:

http://www.pmags.com/backpacking-a-beginners-primer

I liked Andy Skurka's hour long youtube presentation he did for Google. He's a pretty funny and charismatic speaker while delivering a good presentation.

If someone's a total newb to a subject I'm not sure how much they'll absorb until they try it. So I'd identify a 1-2 pager first, then an indepth resource if they actually care.

Something from golf digest ;-)

Thanks for all the input! I ended up going with the one-two punch of PMags articles—the Beginner's Primer plus Lightweight 101. The primer is great for total noobs to know what to bring so they don't die, but I felt that even brand new hikers could use a little more on lightweight techniques. The Lightweight 101 article fills that void nicely. It hits the major points, gives easy-to-try examples, and doesn't get bogged down in minutiae.

Paul, my boonie hat is off to you!