How to lighten your backpacking load #backpackinggear

First, I want to say that we are by no means ultralight backpackers BUT since our first backpacking trip we have already lightened our weight so much by doing the following:

*Gear matters, unfortunately it can be expensive but investing in a lighter weight tent and pack have made the biggest difference in our set up! We have slowly been upgrading our gear over the last few years.

*Water, if you know there will be a lot of water sources along your route you don’t need to fill up 3 liters of water before you hit the trail. Honestly we just started doing this, but we will only fill up a liter or so at a time and just stop for a quick break and use our water filter when we start running low!

*Don’t over pack. Bring the necessities such as layers and a rain jacket but you probably won’t need multiple outfits! We plan our clothing around the highest and lowest temperature, not everything in between.

*Luxury items, we try to limit our luxury items (extra things that are not a necessity). Occasionally we will bring a beer or wine, but most often we both have a book, I carry all of my camera gear (it’s around 9 pounds) and Joey always packs a backpacking pillow!

*After your trip take note of what you have used and what you haven’t, if there is something that’s not a necessity that you didn’t use you probably won’t need it!

Have you ever struggled with having way to heavy of a pack?

#backpacking #backpackingadventures #backpackingtips