What is ultralight backpacking?

                                   

 "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, 

   I took the one less travelled by,

 And that has made all the difference."   Robert Frost.

Firstly let me ask you a question. Why do you go hiking or backpacking? If I asked this question of 20 people I would likely get 20 different answers. It is different for all of us. Think for a moment, why is it that you do it? Some of us love to just get away from the stress and hustle of life, the traffic jams coming home from work, and ironically the little devices that are supposed to make our life more convenient. You know what I am talking about, the phone, the ipad, the internet, the television. Some of us have an innate connection with the wild places that are still able to be found in this busy overcrowded world. Some like the challenge of testing themselves and their equipment in adverse conditions and environments. 

Is it the camping you love or the hiking?

Some of us love to drive out into the country, park the car, walk a few miles and camp by a quiet stream. They like to sit and read a book, or string up a hammock and take a nap. At meal times they love to bring out the cooler, or the BBQ plate and cook up a hearty meal. They use this base camp for the weekend and then pack up and hike back the few miles to the car, refreshed from being out in nature. 

Some of us love to take the steep, windy road, far into the mountains, deep into a wilderness area. Then shoulder a pack with all your essentials and hike for days or weeks or even longer, stopping briefly along the way at tranquil settings to camp. Then early the next morning setting out again to discover new horizons. 

Neither of these approaches are the right or wrong way to backpack. And some of us do both at various times. Most of us however, tend to lean towards one style more than the other. If you find yourself tending to hike more than camp it will only be a matter of time before you start to ask yourself "why is my pack so heavy"?

The recent trend

I have been backpacking for many years and was quite used to carrying up to 30kg (66 pounds) for a weekend backpacking trip. In fact on some of our exploratory expeditions and canyoning trips I would sometimes carry more than 50kg (110 pounds). It wasn't until I started training for the 1000km Bibbulmun Track record in Western Australia that I realised I couldn't hope to beat any records carrying my normal loads. I came across blogs from other backpackers talking about the recent trend in ultralight hiking and backpacking. Recent technology has enabled manufacturers to start making equipment that is stronger, lighter, and in some cases as durable as the old mainstream backpacking equipment. Ultralight backpacking emphasizes the use of lightweight gear as much as possible while not compromising on safety. 

Golite Jam 50 litre backpack

Base weight

The base weight of your pack includes everything that you will carry in your pack on your trip. It includes the pack itself, tent/shelter, rain gear, extra clothing, sleeping bag/ mat, hammock, stove/mess kit, and other small essential items. It does not include the clothing you would wear during the day. It also does not include consumables such as food, water, and fuel.

While there is no hard and fast numbers for pack weights the following is a good guide, remember these are base weights.

Traditional backpacking is where you will be carrying around 15kg (33 pounds) or more. Lightweight backpacking is in the range of 5-10kg (11-22 pounds) and anything under about 5kg (11 pounds would be considered ultralight backpacking. 

This all depends on your size and weight as well. If you are a 5ft tall female that weighs 50kg (110 pounds) your gear will be a lot lighter than a 6'2 male weighing 90kg (198 pounds). Your clothing and sleeping gear will need to be bigger and therefore heavier. I am about 6'1 and weigh about 90kg (198 pounds) and I have managed to get my base weight down to under 3.5kg (7.7 pounds). This works out to less than 4% of my body weight as my pack base weight. This is for my 1000km trip in the Western Australian summer time. 

The time of year, climate, and terrain will also affect the weight in a big way. Obviously camping above the snow line at 14,000ft in mid winter in Colorado will require a lot more gear than at sea level in the tropics in summer time.

Why hike ultralight?

Ultralight gear can cost more than traditional gear. It is often less durable, and sometimes you may compromise on luxury items in order to go ultralight. So then why would you do it? Ultralight backpacking can be a lot more enjoyable. You can go further and faster. That means that your consumables will also be less. If you are hiking 100km and do it in 5 easy days of 20km each, you will have to carry food and fuel for 5 days. If you can hike the 100km in 2 days, you will save quite a bit of weight in saved consumables. It also puts a lot less stress on your body, joints, muscles, and feet. Because of this you bounce back from a long day's walk faster and easier. You reduce the possibility of blisters and sore feet. Your muscles won't be as sore and as a result you will enjoy the experience a whole lot more! 

Ultralight hiking is a process. It requires fine tuning, patience, and tweaking. Make notes along the way and when it comes to unpacking at the end of your trip ask yourself these questions. What did I carry all that way and didn't even use? How much food did I bring home? How can I make it lighter next time without compromising on my safety?

This style of hiking or backpacking is not for everyone. But, if you love to explore and take in as much as you can each day you start to adopt the philosophy of faster and lighter. It does not mean you have to hike like a superman and do 50 miles a day, but at least you have that option. In this regard I find that I feel safer hiking in this way. I also find that when you start to lighten your load, and leave the non-essentials behind, you begin to connect with nature on a much deeper level. You seem to assimilate into Nature itself rather than dragging along a whole bag full of gear to keep you safe from nature. I really love this approach.

If you are thinking about trying out ultralight backpacking, stay tuned. I will be going into it in a lot more detail in future posts.