By Emylene VanderVelden and Ryan Jordan
Introduction
How to choose lightweight backpacking gear is an individualized and challenging skill.
When purchasing and packing gear, lightweight and ultralight backpackers can be prone to gram shaving for the sake of gram shaving. But don’t overlook the role of comfort, durability, safety, and aesthetics in backpacking equipment, either.
Your development as a backpacker can occur when you progressively and intellectually process gear selection in a self-aware and intentional manner. Lack of intentionality in gear selection can lead to pack weights that are heavier than they need to be and gear that may not be optimized to your style or application (e.g., environment, weather, season).
A best practice for how to choose lightweight backpacking gear requires some cognitive finesse and is valuable for beginner and seasoned backpackers alike. No backpacker has ever mastered the art, and we all can make constant improvement.
We wrote this article to provide one example of a comprehensive framework that you can use as a model for selecting lightweight backpacking gear. Adapt it to your needs.
Part 1. How to Choose Lightweight Backpacking Gear: The Core Process
The process that we invoke to build our “kit of lightweight backpacking gear” focuses on the central tenet that
A hiker’s core needs are identified first; then a functional (i.e., performance) system can be designed; and then the equipment components of the physical system can be selected to serve the goals of that functional system (which in turn meets the hiker’s core needs).
Let’s illustrate this with a case study by which three different lightweight backpackers have three distinct perspectives on identifying their equipment needs. We’ll use their trail names to protect their real identities.
Talus Tom: the Gear Head
Talus Tom is a gear head and owns one of everything. He’s a hardcore mountaineer, a financial analyst, has a degree from Cal, and thinks thru-hikers are wandering hippies who just can’t get a job.
He already owns a variety of shelters, but missing from his arsenal is a real tent (whatever that means). Thus, Tom needs a tent.
Tom can tell you, from memory, who makes tents that weigh less than two pounds, what materials they are made from, how many stakes they require for a taut pitch, and what the usable interior volume is for each model down to the nearest tenth of a square foot.
Zero Drop Zoë: Maslow’s Protégé
Zero Drop Zoë is more practical about how to choose lightweight backpacking gear. She studied Maslow’s hierarchy in college. Thus, Zoe needs a shelter.
Zoë has tattoos and piercings, and she meditates. She’s not super geeked out on the technical details of shelters like Tom is, but she knows what types of shelters are available: tarps, pyramids, single wall tents, double wall tents, bivy sacks, hammocks, and the assorted hybrid shelters that keep popping up on the cottage manufacturer’s websites. Zoë has thru-hiked the PCT, and she’s seen all types of shelters.
Sedona Sam: In Touch With Nature, Not Gear
Sedona Sam is a bit more in touch with his inner needs but quite out of touch with the state of the market. Sam needs a comfortable night’s sleep.
Sam knows that there are tents and tarps, but isn’t aware of much else. He read a blog post once that told him how to sleep warm under a tarp, so that sounds good to him. He read another one that said that a double wall tent provided the most comfort and that one also sounded good to him.
Sam has no idea that pyramids exist outside of Egypt, and isn’t aware that hammocks are used for anything except lounging and playing the guitar in the Keys like he saw in that one Kenny Chesney music video.
A Trichotomous Chaos
Tom has identified his equipment (a sweet tent), Zoë has identified a function (a useful shelter), and Sam has identified his core need (a restful sleep).
Are you a Talus Tom, Zero Drop Zoë, or Sedona Sam?
If the three of them formed a little committee and put their heads together, we are willing to bet that they’d be able to help each other out. All of their perspectives are useful.
But by themselves, they may have trouble figuring it out.
Sam has identified his core need: he wants to sleep comfortably, and is off on the right foot (even under the influence of a Sedona Vortex). But he may decide to buy an apartment at the Waldorf, or have a Peyote campfire in the evening, to meet that need. Sam knows his need but doesn’t know exactly how best to meet it in the context of a backpacking trip.
Zoë has identified her functional need: she knows she needs a shelter. She’s pretty inspired by Sam, and she wants to sleep comfortably, too. Sam got her thinking that she not only needs a reasonable shelter to sleep comfortably, but she may want to consider her sleeping pad, sleeping bag, pillow, sleep clothing, earplugs, evening meal, and a short isometric routine before bedtime to warm up on those chilly nights.
Tom has identified an equipment need: a tent. Originally, Tom thought Sam was cracked because he was from Sedona (he also had a little bit of a crush on Zoë, so he upgraded his gear needs to a two-person tent and a promise to God). But in the end, Tom realized that he may learn something by spending a little time in a Vortex and listening to how thru-hikers manage to walk thousands of miles in a row with so little gear.
In summary, we have discussed the three processes that comprise our framework for selecting lightweight backpacking gear:
- Identify your core need.
- Design a functional gear system that meets that core need (see #1).
- Select the lightest equipment available to perform that function (see #2).
In the context of what’s been presented so far, we may identify the core need as “a comfortable night’s sleep.” The functional needs may include:
- Warmth (shelter, sleeping, clothing);
- Body posture comfort (sleeping pad, pillow);
- Noise reduction (a non-flappy shelter, earplugs);
- Biting insect resistance (some type of enclosure).
Then, with additional research, we can formulate a more intentional process for how to choose lightweight backpacking gear.
Let’s dive in and apply the framework in more detail.
1. Core Needs
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Discussion
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Companion forum thread to: How to Choose Lightweight Backpacking Gear: A Process Model Based on Core Needs, Functional Systems, and Equipment Components
James, these are excellent points. I completely understand the back injury stuff. My back feels better backpacking than it does sitting or lying around, provided I keep my pack weight down. I have L5 disk damage with a cracked vertebrae. Walking takes pressure off but adding a backpack adds pressure. I have all my camera equipment on the front attached to my pack straps, it makes for a nice balance being as my camera equipment weights in around 3lbs.
This winter I will be researching ways to drop my pack weight about three pounds to get my pack weight to a solid 8-11 lbs with the camera in. Should be an entertaining experiment.
Kudos on an excellent article that drew me right in.
Unfortunately Emylene I suffer at the other end of the weight spectrum as most of my stuff is currently 2XL. Weights listed for each size would be helpful but unrealistic. I use Skurka’s 13 Core Items philosophy myself and have taught it to my relatively un-entitled Boy Scout Troop. ;-)
As a gentleman of, ahem, a portly stature, my nod to comfort is that I hammock camp whenever and wherever I can. I know that won’t ever take me into the UL realm, but I am enjoying tweaking my systems to get lighter and smarter every trip.
Keep up the excellent work and discourse!
John
I have a couple of contacts with some gear manufacturers and have suggested listing the weight of each size. I think that will come, it’s just a matter of time. I’m tempted to try hammocking but the weight and my back give me pause on the idea.
I like the 13 Core as well, excellent teaching material for scouts. Much like the ten essentials has been for the mountaineering clubs. All very valid methods. In someways this article is about tayloring your own method more than a concrete ‘pack this’ gear list. The case studies give some insight into the style of UL you might like and people who do that style of packing.
I can see that.
Backpacking certainly isn’t (or shouldn’t be) ruled by a set of edicts. If you read some of the negative reviews and associated comments on Amazon about MC’s book, it’s clear that for some, rules are very important. On BPL, I think it’s more common to see how people challenge whatever limitations are placed before them, and study the solutions they find to work around them.
Emylene,
It is specifically because of my back problems that I hammock. I can’t sleep more than 6 hours on my back without waking up with horrible pain and stiffness in my lower back. As I wear a CPAP at home and haven’t invested in a smaller, lighter one for camping yet, ground camping is more hassle than I like.
As a case in point, at summer camp this year I started in a wall tent on a cot with my Alps inflatable lightweight pad. Two nights of tossing and turning and I went from afternoon naps only in my ENO Doublenest with whoopie slings and ENO Dri-Fly to sleeping every night in it and spent the rest of camp blissfully slumbering with minimal snoring and a much less achy back.
I will ground camp if necessary, but hanging is my absolutely preferred way. I highly recommend Shug Emory’s YouTube channel for excellent and humorous videos on the subject.
I’ve also introduced the Scouts to BPL and Mike Clelland! with varying degrees of success.
Give it a whirl and see if it works for you.
John
No pressure points in a hammock. Try it, you might never go back.
KT, I * have* tried it. Nope, it doesn’t seem to work for me. Diagonal sleeping was the best by far, but it still woke me up with a cranky back. The slight curve was enough to bother my back.
Wow, Emylene! Trying to get down to 11 pounds in winter was something I could never do. My lightest base weight was just under 15 pounds in winter without camera equipment. Good Luck! ‘Corse I always planed on -20F as the low. I am guessing you live in a warmer area. Snowshoes alone were almost 3 pounds. And a 2 person, two skin tent was 4#11. I guess anything under 20# is good, though.
James and KT good to hear both your thoughtson hammocks. I’ve been running with an Exped Down mat which has been an excellent experience.
Haha and James I meant I would be doing my gear research for shoulder and peak season this winter. I live near the Canadian Rockies -22 to – 40 F are normal lows. The nice thing about winter is I don’t bother packing DSLR cameras. It’s too bulky in the cold, most of the time my batteries die before I even get to use them. I pack a decent little Sony Cybershot in my chest pocket in the winter.
I haven’t done a winter trip since my accident and this year isn’t looking good. I dislocated my knee a couple weeks back. Doctors are saying I need to let it rest and heal for another two to five months before I strap on snowshoes or skis. Sigh….. Gonna be a long winter for me. An ACL staying in one piece is likely worth it though.
I can’t say as I push light too much in winter or at least I haven’t. I ditch the tent for a bivy, a shovel, candle lantern and a snow cave. It’s warmer so I don’t carry as heavy of layers. I know my base weight is decently light in winter but it’s not as well thought out (or well used) as my summer and shoulder season gear. I’m looking forward to tinkering with my gear and seeing what I can do with it but winter safety is the prime decision making factor. Ok and I hate being cold. Anyone have some good winter systems?
Yeah, ACL problems never really heal. The pain just goes away and what is left gets a bit stronger. My daughter blew part of her ACL in Maine and it still bothers her after a long day of hiking.
Shoulder seasons can be difficult. I usually just take my 10F bag, wear my chukaras with an extra pair of wool socks, and an extra set of heavy marino wool long johns. ‘Corse, I am wearing those, so they really don’t count as base weight. I hate getting stuck in snow storms. But for the few times it actually happens (less than a 10% chance) I just put up with the spindrift.
The same system you are using to lighten you pack now, still works in winter, as HkNewman mentioned. It is just a different temperature parameter.
Great article! I’m definitely a minimalist.
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