Ultralight backpacking equipment

You can make ultralight backpacking equipment yourself, or you can buy it from a specialist retailer who caters to serious outdoorsmen (and women) who enjoy getting the maximum camping fun out of camping gear that's got the absolute minimum weight.

Regular hikers and backpackers tend to wear leather boots because of their extra ankle support, which minimizes the chances of your twisting an ankle when you're 18 miles or so from the nearest paved road or telephone. Ultralight backpackers, on the other hand, find they can move faster and tire more slowly when they are wearing canvas jogging shoes. So it is a matter of walking pace and of your own personal preferences when you are out on a trail someplace remote.

Think multiple duty for everything you take with you. Instead of a waterproof groundsheet or tarp, you may elect to use an army poncho as a raincoat and as a shelter. Instead of a full roll of toilet paper, ultralight backpackers take maybe half a roll instead, and they leave the cardboard tube in the center of the toilet roll at home! A lightweight plastic trowel is used to dig a hole to squat over. And be sure to shovel the dirt back over it when you finish! As far as toilet tissue goes, a little bit can help you with your fire lighting, too. But only light camp fires where it is allowed, and in a clear area where it is safe to do so... where the fire cannot spread.

Don't carry a full bar of soap, it's too heavy. Take half a cake, or a small courtesy soap scrounged from a hotel or motel. Likewise, use a small tube of toothpaste or one that is almost used up. Don't take a large towel to dry yourself, you're not using some hotel spa bath, so a small hand towel will do the job fine.

Some ultralight campers go to extremes to save weight, such as sawing off half the handle of their toothbrush. Most get by with a large metal mug to do all their cooking in and eating from. And "sporks" — a form of combination fork-and-spoon - were invented for this kind of use. The eating knife is your folding pocketknife, of course. The genuine Swiss Army knives are really excellent, and should last you a lifetime.

Almost all camping lanterns are ridiculously heavy. Some of the new LED gadgets are pretty good, but I'd take an LED lantern that straps to a headband or hat, a small penlight flashlight or even an old-fashioned candle. Candles are great for starting a campfire or cooking fire with damp kindling, but don't light fires anywhere unless they are expressly allowed.

Instead of a regular camping tent, ultralight backpackers cut the weight and bulk of their shelter system by using a non-tent system. (Check out my articles on using tarps, bivy bags or camping hammocks elsewhere on this site.) Down sleeping bags are the lightest, but some people get by without those too.

When those are too heavy, some campers get by with an army poncho liner or a Space Blanket and a couple of plastic garbage bags. Remember though, the camping gear you need for a mild still night is totally different from what you will need to stay warm and dry in a storm.

So do plan your ultra-light camping trip to suit the expected weather, and have extra survival gear just in case you're up some mountain when the weather turns nasty on you. Unprepared hikers can die from exposure (hypothermia) in a cold, wet and windy environment, and phoning for a rescue - assuming your cell phone reaches anybody — could land you with a hefty bill to pay that amounts to tens of thousands of dollars!