These lightweight backpacking tips and techniques are options or ideas, not recommendations. I tend towards the extreme side of ultralight backpacking, and if you do not know yourself or your skills, some of these techniques will get you into trouble.

A great example of this is the "natural mattress" that allows you to leave your sleeping bag behind. With this technique, Ive slept with no pad, and only a five-ounce sleeping bag liner, on a night when it was near freezing. It took fifteen minutes to collect enough bracken ferns to build a two-foot thick mattress, but it was relaxed and warm.

You can utilize leaves, pine needles, dead grass or dry bracken ferns. All you do is make a pile big enough to set your tent or bivy sack on. This could damage the enviroment in some areas, so make use of common sense, and collect only DEAD vegetation. Also, scatter your materials in the morning, so they will not smother the plants underneath.

An important point here is that you have to know your enviroment, so you understand youll be able to find proper mattress materials. Otherwise, you could have a very cold night or worse. Also, gloves make it easier and safer to collect the ferns or grass. Try this first near home.

Knowledge Reduces Weight

Learn certain backpacking techniques, like the one above, and you might carry a lighter sleeping bag, less clothing, and even less food. Wilderness survival understanding can help you reduce weight, but it also lets you travel the wilds more safely.

Learn which berries are edible, and you might eat as you hike and bring less food. Ive eaten half of my calorie needs in the form of berries on some days in the wilderness. During a hike to Grinnel Glacier in Glacier National Park, my wife and I ate nine types of wild berries.

Researching the climate, and timing can help you reduce weight. You may leave rainwear home, for example, if youre in the eastern Sierra Nevadas in September (bring a garbage bag for emergencies). I sometimes plan trips to coincide with the full moon. I enjoy taking up at four in the morning and hiking by moonlight, and since Im up and moving at the coldest instant of the night, I might get by with a lighter bag.

Money Reduces Weight

Money will buy you lighter gear, and expensive backpacking gear is commonly of very high quality. I didnt enjoy paying over $200 for my sleeping bag, but Ive never yet been cold in it, and it weighs just 17 ounces.

Concentrate on the the larger items. A sawed-off toothbrush could save you 1/4 ounce, but a lighter shelter may save you pounds. Consider small things last. Buy dual-purpose items, like a poncho that might double as a shelter. Drink soup and tea from your pan, and you wont positive need a bowl or cup.

Leaving Things Reduces Weight

This may be the tough part of lightweight backpacking. Ask of every merchandise ; Can I get by without it? Stoves arent necessary if you bring ready-to-eat food. You dont positive need a change of shirt or pants on a three-day trip. If youre not sure you will be happy as a minimalist, go back to the funds solution. Start replacing your things with the lightest alternatives you can buy. There are many ways to go lightweight backpacking.