Lightweight Tactics

Weigh everything carefully (a postage scale will work; if necessary, use the post office lobby at night). You might be surprised how much that extra pair of underwear, socks, or long johns weighs!

Make gear lists, and use them when packing. Weigh everything! Make food lists, and use them when packing. Weigh food portions and fuel (if fuel is needed) Take lists with you on the trip, so you can accumulate notes on what is needed or not needed next time.

Eliminating unnecessary items costs no $. Using a sleeping bag wrapped over the shoulders morning and evening can substitute for carrying that additional jacket. (See "Python Parka" below)

Carry no redundant footwear. Wear a fresh pair of socks inside loosely-laced trail footwear around camp, instead of carrying additional camp shoes. For keeping footgear dry while fording streams, consider using plastic bags from the Sunday newspaper over boots, or socks.

Plan on wearing darn everything you brought inside the sleeping bag on the coldest anticipated condition. (One can always do pushups or situps in the bag to warm up if it turns unexpectedly cold). Be sure to eat enough high calorie foods before sleeping to fuel warmth all night. Sleeping nude in a bag just slimes it up with perspiration, lotion, bug repellant, sunscreen, etc, reducing loft, and installing scents interesting to nosy large carnivores.

Don't carry synthetic fleece ("pile") garments - they are far heavier and less compressible than alternative insulation.

Consider carefully the alternatives to heavy, large, failure-prone water filters. (One must carry tablets anyway, as backup in case the filter fails). Iodine has poor shelf life after opening the container. Chlorine Dioxide tablets (AquaMira, etc) are a great alternative.

Carry only one pair of footwear. Change socks often. You can wear them loosely laced with fresh socks as camp shoes.

Tents: consider carefully if a tent is needed. Is carrying the rain fly necessary? Will a single wall tent do? Will a shelter without floor or walls on all sides do? Can hiking poles or local materials serve as tent poles? Will a bivvy sack do? Is just using a mesh bag over the head for insect protection sufficient, saving the weight and space of carrying a shelter?

Share gear where possible when traveling with a group: stoves, tents, water filters, emergency gear, first aid kits, bear hang line, emergency rations, fire starters, GPS, cell phone, extra batteries, emergency locator beacon / SPOT.

If you must carry batteries, use lithium for lighter weight, longer life.

Why carry a knife? Cutting food in the backcountry risks injury; cuts on hands are hard to keep uninfected. Scalpels from first aid kit will do in a pinch.

Linings, thread, and zippers comprise at least half of the weight of most insulating garments and sleeping bags, yet add almost nothing to their R value. Eliminate layers of lining if possible. (Carry one higher-loft garment instead of layering two lower-loft garments?) The concept of layering, as taught by retailers to car-campers and day hikers, is for applications where weight and compressibility are not primary factors.

GoreTex is heavy, expensive, and inadequately breathable for most conditions. It is nearly irrelevant to desert backpacking. Consider lighter weight fabrics and garments.

For some trips, the coldest time is while moving, due to wind chill, crossing ridges, climbing peaks, etc. Leave the wind-barrier layer (jacket, pants, gloves, hat) behind only after careful consideration of weather forecasts.

Become an expert at weather anticipation. Ref: nws.noaa.gov Consider the weight penalty from preparing for unlikely conditions.

Don't carry too much water - it is the highest density item in a backpack (unless one is packin').

Soda bottles re-purposed as backpacking water bottles are lightweight, tough, collapsible, free no $, green-conscious, and enable inspection of the interior for undesirable particles in water. Using different color screw tops aids in remembering which bottle contents are in what stage of purification treatment. Tie a lanyard on each bottle to aid in carrying to/from water source, and to lash empties from blowing away. Pre-drill holes in a spare top to create a shower.

Don't carry too much food. Use lists from previous trips to refine choices and quantities. Calories are the priority - for cookless meals the average density should exceed 100 calories per oz (= 28 grams). Celery may help prevent bowel disease years from now, but it is mainly water, and has no calories, so will just slow one's rate of climb up today's mountain. If using cook-less meals, 1.5 pounds of high calorie food per day is a good starting point.

Choose the lightweight pack last, after you have a good idea of how light and small your gear is. Only rarely will a pack larger than 50 liters (3100 cu in), or carrying capacity of more than 13 kg (30 lbs) be needed; there are plenty of choices weighing less than 0.9 kg (2 lbs).