Ultralight on a Budget
You don’t have to be a mythological Extreme Ultralight trail god with a base weight under 3 pounds to understand the advantage of lightening your load. reduced pack weight can directly correlate to less muscle and joint strain, reduced fatigue, and longer miles achieved on your hike. It’s often expressed as ‘less grams = more miles’ or ‘lighten your pack to lighten your step’. In principle, I agree with both, there is certainly an added physical advantage to reducing you pack weight. How you get there is a whole different thing.
Many dedicated Extreme Ultralight and even the novice Ultralight enthusiasts compromise on comfort and sometimes safety to achieve their weight goals. To this I say, DONT BE A FOOL! You should never jeopardize your safety for something as trivial as being able to brag on your way to the emergency room that your pack was only 1,100 grams and you’ve been brushing your teeth with dirt and pine needles for the last 3 months on trial but it’ ok because when your diet is only oatmeal and peanut butter you don’t need to worry about keeping your teeth…
The other nonsensical trend is to spend an obscene amount of money to achieve similar results. If you are willing to spend $6,000 on the latest and greatest Ul gear, you can easily drop into the 10–12-pound Ultralight category while maintaining some creature comforts. For enough money, you too can sit around the campfire in your comfy chair and brag to your hiking buddies that you have achieved your Ultralight goal as well.
Before you decide to refinance your house or take out a personal loan to finance your goal Ultralight snobbery, here are a few simple low budget ways to help you lighten your pack without emptying your wallet.
Stop worrying so much about waterproofing. A Ziplock bag is often just as effective and lighter than a custom dry bag, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone put their bits and bobs in a zip lock then into a larger gallon bag only to then stuff that into a dry bag before putting everything into their waterproof pack liner. I’m all for redundancy but if you want to shed some quick weight, leave the stuff sack dry bags at home and stick to only 1 zip lock. if you need an added layer of assurance, a trash bag liner is budget friendly and often easier to handle than an actual pack liner.
Simplify your hydration plan. Nalgene bottles are great on a cold night. They can be filled with hot water and stuffed into your sleeping bag to bring an additional source of comfort and warmth but 90% of the time they are just added weight and wasted money. next time you’re headed out, leave your Nalgene at home and opt for a Smart water bottle instead. They are a fraction of the weight and cost. Not to mention that despite the negative publicity, they are not a one-time use bottle. I’ve been using the same 2 bottles for over a year, and they are still going strong.
Build your own first aide kit. Store bought kits are big, bulky, and full of things that you’ll never need or use. Building your own kit will allow you to personalize it to your specific needs and eliminate any waste associated with a generic kit. I mean who really needs 20 Ibuprofen and 30 large bandages for a weekend backpacking trip?
Look for items that can serve a dual purpose. For example, your backpack stuff sack can double as a pillow by putting your puffy jacket or spare clothes in it and sealing the end. This will let you leave the pillow behind and I’d add, a stuff sack full of clothes is closer to a real pillow than a small plastic pillow filled with air.
After each hike, I recommend spreading out all your gear and sorting it into 2 piles. one for the gear you used and the other for the gear you didn’t use. For the gear you used ask yourself if the gear was effective and good or does it need to be replaced or improved upon. For the pile of gear you didn’t use, the question should be ‘Do I need to bring this next time?’
There are numerous low budget simple adjustments that can easily shed 2-3 pounds off your base weight almost immediately. So, before you pull out your credit card or decide to risk your safety in the name of Ultralight success, take a few minutes to review what you already have and ask yourself ‘Does it work? Do I need it? Will I want it?’
At the end of the day, no one can tell you what’s right for you. Hike your hike and let them hike theirs.
Happy Hiking!
