Backpacking with a lighter pack will reap great dividends. You’ll hike farther, more safely and happier. Many of your body parts, e.g. feet (especially), legs and back, will thank you at the end of the day.
- Image by Artnow314 via Flickr
Cutting down the weight of your backpack is often an ounce-by-ounce proposition. Taking off a few ounces here and a few more there can result in noticeable benefits. Here are just a couple of tips for cutting ounces.
1. Don’t take liquid products like sunscreen or insect repellent in their original containers. Transfer the liquids to smaller containers that are just large enough to serve for the length of the hike that you are planning. You can find such miniscule containers at drug stores or in travel departments of department stores.
2. Pack tiny amounts of gels and pastes into wide-diameter straws. Here’s how to do it. With both ends open, press one end of the straw into the gel until it reaches the bottom of the container. This will fill a good section of the straw. Permanently close the filled end of the straw, after wiping it clean, with duct tape. Close the other end, the business end, with a strong spring paper clip, the type sold in office supply stores for holding many sheets of paper together.
Make your backpacking lighter and livelier with these weight-lowering tips. Search for other ways you can cut ounces to lighten your backpack.
by Richard Davidian, Ph.D.
Tired of paying full price for outdoor gear?
Click here now for the latest REI deals.
———-
We welcome comments. Please join the conversation.
Please subscribe to our RSS Feed for more great outdoors tips and issues (top right corner).
For Your Backpacking First Aid Kit
Among the World’s Most Prolific Wildlife Viewing – Close to Home
Acquire survival skills quickly with Survival Playing Cards.
Follow me on Twitter for more great outdoors tips and issues.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for sharing this tip. I can see how a straw would be useful for a range of products including tooth paste, spices, salt, pepper and sugar.
I was in an outdoors store somewhere around Carey NC last year and bought some honey sticks. They were straws that contained various flavors of honey. Very nice flavors and a great light weight way of carry the product.
Allan McDonald @
EQUIPnTRIP
Thanks for the additional ways of lightening your backpack load with straws.
What a great idea to lighten the load. This makes those little travel-size product versions look giant.
I dugg some of you post Backpacking lighter as I thought they were handy very helpful
Thanks for the Diggs.