Ditch It! – What would go?

If one can afford to ditch an item, it indicates to me that the item didn't fit into the whole concept of "essential" to begin with.

The whole process starts with essential items and then moves on to finding lighter versions or options for those items, finding multi-use items to turn 2 items into 1, and paring down consumables to remove excess, all while remaining safe, warm, comfortable and fed.

When you reach that point, realistically there shouldn't be ANY piece that "you use" that you could afford to get rid of!

My cookset. It's small and lightweight (500ml pot, BGET esbit stove and homemade Ti cone). About as minimal as it gets but I find myself leaning more and more to no-cook meal options. I just might try leaving it home next time I hit the trail.

I agree, my kit is to the point that the only thing in could get rid of would b a stuff sack, but I'd have to replace it with a trash compactor bag anyways. I finished this years PCT pretty darn light and with ONLY the essentials. My umbrella is an essential for the tent/tarp doorway and the rainwear. Then again I might consider ditching the iPod, NAH!

My pack is so minimal that if I ditched something it would be something I NEEDED. So i agree with the above poster, if you have something to ditch, then it's probably something you don't really need..ditch it!

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Let me propose two alternative questions:

*What piece of gear did you most recently ditch?

*What is your least satisfactory piece of gear (that you determine you need, but have not yet found/bought/invented a better version of)?

I most recently ditched the little battery operated neoair inflator (formerly know as the Camptek inflator, i believe). Pulled the batteries out when my husband needed batteries for something. Then packed it, went to use it…. then realized I could blow up the pad just fine w/out!

My headlamp is my most disliked gear item at the moment. That will change shortly.

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Gloves as I can pull my hands into my sleeves or use socks. Probably won't though.

I guess my ti bowl, since that's my only "luxury item". Sure beats eating out of a mug or bag, though.

The kitchen sink. It was a rough trip without it!

But really… I usually ditch various things on every trip just to challenge myself and experiment with being even more minimalist:

On my trip last weekend with lows near 36F and highs in the breezy upper 50's, I ditched:

-gloves
-insulating camp jacket (just had a thin fleece in case I needed more warmth while hiking)
-rain pants (often do this in forest where wind won't be a big problem)
-stove (often do this anyway, using fire instead)
-trekking poles (long gone anyway, unless conditions are rather slippery)
-first aid: all but ibuprofen, blister tape
-repair kit: except for Tyvek tape and duct tape
-inflatable mattress (probably not again ;)
-pillow (probably will do again)
-tinder
-lighter: just used firesteel
-any shelter which has to be pitched: I used a military GoreTex bivy bag instead
-the group! (an accident, as I arrived too late at the trailhead)

Having only the firesteel and no carried tinder was a big challenge since I forgot to collect natural tinder along the way, and I was very exhausted near sunset as I arrived at a suitable place to camp. There were no pine or birch trees near camp. Those would've provided excellent tinder. I tried paper from the map margins, a small piece of paper towel I found in my food bag, bark scrapings from various dead sticks, dry leaves, sugar, and pretzels. It was then after dark. I remembered that I had brought some jute twine to use as cheap, natural cordage in case I wanted to get bushcrafty around camp. It took the spark, but went out very quickly. I then decided to sacrifice my cheap green headnet which I never use and hate anyway. Placing the jute twine and paper on top of that, the fire ignited and continued to burn. I was thrilled about the fire, and happy to finally ditch that annoying green head net!