Alternatively, get a smaller, lightweight portable charger.įood: Bring dehydrated, lightweight foods like granola, dried fruit, instant noodles, and oatmeal. This saves valuable battery life - allowing you to keep that bulky portable charger at home. Also, keep your phone on airplane mode with location services turned off. Use an e-reader app on your phone instead of bringing a book. Share the load! Split tent weight, water filters, stove weight, and other shareable items with a friend! Some items in backpacking are easily shared, and this is a great way to save weight! Also, I always pack fresh undies, but otherwise, I don’t usually bring multiple pairs of clothing. You only truly need a change of clothes after three or four days (but be sure to pack a multiple pairs socks - to prevent blisters and to keep your feet feeling fresh at camp). Backpacking is a stinky sport, embrace it and practice smart backpacking hygiene principles. This includes pesky water which weighs a whopping 2.2 pounds per liter! Here are a few handy hacks to reduce your backpacking pack weight. Ideally, your pack should weigh between 20-35 pounds for an overnight excursion in mild temperatures (think lower-elevation mountains where you may need a jacket and hat at night). Want a full list of everything I recommend to take backpacking with you? Download our free backpacking packing checklist below! GRAB MY FULL beginner BACKPACKING PACKING CHECKLIST! Food weighs you down in a hurry, so avoid taking cans, glass jars or moisture-laden foods that not only weigh a ton, but you also have to pack out the trash. Invest in a simple backpacking cook set and leave the kitchen sink at home (or better yet, share a backpacking stove with a friend and split the weight!). There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, ultra-lightweight gear costs a pretty penny, but you’ll want to be well aware of how much you’re carrying.įorget big, heavy (and bulky) items you won’t need such as a pair of binoculars or a heavy camera. Not only are you adjusting to carrying more, but you’re carrying heavier versions of a stove, sleeping bag, and tent. Often times as a beginner backpacker you don’t have all the latest ultra-lightweight backpacking gear. When you carry your house on your back, it’s easy to get carried away (no pun intended). Overpacking is the most common beginner backpacking mistake. Except… I didn’t know which gear was most important to invest in, and I had absolutely no clue what the best brands or products were. I began saving as much as I could, and made a trip to REI to buy “all the things” on the list of backpacking gear I would need from a list that my friend sent me. Then the next few months involved a lot of planning and preparing. My intense curiosity and questioning to my new California friend, didn’t go unnoticed, and he quickly invited me to join along (as they had an extra permit to spare). However, that year I moved to California, I was determined to make it the year of saying yes to things that scared me and that were unfamiliar and backpacking fit the bill perfectly. I didn’t know anything about backpacking! Zero. I almost die a little thinking about that question now because Half Dome is probably one of the best hikes in Yosemite, and maybe one of the most iconic hikes in the United States. First, what did he mean he won the lottery, and second, what was Half Dome. So here we go, I had just recently moved out to California, and one of my new friends at work was telling me all about how he had just won the lottery for Half Dome permits. Also, this story is a bit of a treat to share with you guys because I didn’t even really touch on this fun story in my about me page because I didn’t want to make my “outdoorsy origin” story too long. Spoiler: I was a total rookie beginner backpacker, I had barely even done much long distance hiking up to the point of my first backpacking trip. Mistakes are certainly a big part of how we learn, and we should never be so afraid of failure and mistakes that it prevents us from taking action toward our backpacking goals, but this list might just help you avoid a few rookie (and often too common) mistakes beginner backpackers tend to make their first time backpacking.įirst, let me start off by telling you about my first time backpacking. These common but avoidable mistakes are an essential part of your backpacking 101 foundation, so to speak. Consider this list of common backpacking blunders and backpacking tips as your introduction to backpacking basics. Welcome friends, I’m super stoked to finally share this with you.
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