Sunday, March 30, 2008

Lightweight Camping Gear Can Lighten Hiking Load

If you are planning on taking an extended walk in the woods, that is hiking for several days, it is a good bet that you are thinking about the weight of your pack and are looking to buy some lightweight camping gear. This is probably a good idea since spending several days with an overweight pack can be annoying, if not painful.

While you are out pricing the latest lightweight camping gear and realizing it is going to cost you a fortune to replace everything in your pack, instead of thinking about replacing all of it, consider replacing only what you will need on your trip. Think about that 20-pound propane stove and tanks that will fit nicely into the side pouch of your pack as well as the six-pounder that only weighs about four pounds. Perhaps building a small fire and using a metal grate that weighs mere ounces and takes up almost no room will suffice.

More than anything else, your budget is going to dictate what lightweight camping gear you buy and what older, heavier items you leave in your pack. But your common sense, as well as experience will tell you what you carried last time without using and what you can leave behind on this trip.

Start Lightning Pack By Weeding Out The Weight

For most, a 30-pound pack will be the maximum they want to lug on their hike, but even that may be more than necessary. For exceptionally long backpacking trips, lightweight camping gear will be almost a necessity as the further you go, the heavier the pack will begin to feel. Start with only items that are necessary, based on your experience, and weigh them, looking at alternatives that may not weigh as much.

A first aid kit may be considered by some to be a non-essential item, as is a water filtration system, but you have to ask yourself if you are willing to take the chance of taking your hike without them. There are water bottles with self-contained filtration systems that can reduce the weight of your lightweight camping gear and take only the first aid supplies you believe you will need.

It is not unusual for people taking their first lengthy hike to take everything they own regardless of the weight of the pack. Once they return they look through their equipment and start to weed out what they realize they do not need, eventually forming their own pack with their lightweight camping gear.

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