I'd always wondered how to get my backpack lighter. I am on the short side of average height in the U.S., being five feet, four inches tall, and in my early adult life, I weighed 125-130 pounds. The general rule at the time was that your pack should be no more than one-third of your body weight. Yet I had to carry a tent, pad and sleeping bag all sized for an average man; my pack usually hovered around fifty pounds, and when I was the leader responsible for a group of teenagers, with the larger first aid kit, emergency paperwork, educational readings, and all else added to my load, I would sometimes be carrying fully HALF of my body weight! I'm strong, but ten miles is a looooong way carrying that much weight.
ARTICLE OUTLINE
# WORDS: 1010
# PHOTOS: 2
Member Exclusive
A Premium or Unlimited Membership* is required to view the rest of this article.
* A Basic Membership is required to view Member Q&A events
Discussion
Become a member to post in the forums.
Companion forum thread to:
Testimony: How I Fell for Lightweight Backpacking
I enjoyed your article, Elizabeth! Was that the muffin! man with the BPL decal?
Elizabeth
Interesting series of articles outlining how different beginnings end with the same conclusion : when you can lighter is better .
My biggest incentive was simply that it was an excuse to get more gear, nevertheless it works.
Thank you for your lovely pictures , although at least one with a tent in it would be nice.
( or in my case about 25 of them…)
Franco
Thanks for the inspirational read. I just broke my ankle (fibula) about a week ago, and was crushed to hear how long it might take before I'm back to 100%; 6 weeks for the bone to heal, up to 8 more weeks for the physical therapy. My only saving grace right now is it is still winter here in WI, so by the time my ankle is ready to go, the weather will be ready too! Your break sounds much worse than mine…no surgery needed here. Non the less, I've just finished weighing all my gear so I can figure out where to lose the unnecessary weight in my pack. Amazing how all that "stuff" adds up so quickly!
Become a member to post in the forums.