Gear: Lightweight Backpacking

If I had a callsign it would be "Gear Boy". Since I'm not a fighter pilot, it's my semi-official nickname. If you're unsure of why this is the case, I refer you back to the above title.

I spent two and a half years working in outdoor retail in Edmonton prior to moving on to other things here in Calgary. During that time I learned a lot more about the equipment I already owned, and a ton more the stuff I didn't own. I immersed myself in the knowledge imparted by the company reps and online resources. Not only was this an opportunity to help myself enjoy my outdoor adventures more, but also to help other people enjoy their experiences.

The single greatest thing I came away from this with is an appreciation for lightweight backpacking.

Have you read my post about our June trip to Kananaskis? Aerin and I carried about 60 pounds total of equipment, clothing, food and water for four days. I'm quite certain a few people we saw on the trail were individually carrying 40 pounds or more for shorter trips. It hurt to see some of the packs people had loaded up with gear for even single night stays at the Forks campground (7km in and 50m of elevation gain). If you look at my Kananaskis post below, you can see that Aerin's pack is relatively small compared to what you'd see most people carrying at a trailhead. Even my 80-litre pack fully loaded for this trip topped out at 35 pounds with water, nor did I have all kinds of extra gear hanging from it as I saw many others have - I actually had space to spare inside.

How does one accomplish this? The answer is pretty easy... money. It costs money to get the right kind of gear for lightweight backpacking. Even with employee discounts I spent a fair bit of my paycheque for many months on new gear. How do you know you're making the right kind of investment in gear with those dollars you allocate purchase your gear? Research. What does this gear do? How well does it do that job? Can it do more than one thing? What conditions do I need to have my gear perform? How much space does it take in my pack? And of course, how much does it weigh? These last two questions are ultimately what you are trying to minimize while maximizing on the others.

And I have only one thing to say about money. Great gear does not come cheap. Or at least very rarely. Rarely have I found something that was inexpensive that I believed did the job better than something more expensive.

Of course, you'll have to weigh the value of the above statement against your own experience with researching and comparison shopping - and you will comparison shop a lot - on the various gear you need for yourself, and then compare that against what your outdoor experience is like before and after your gear purchase.

As time goes on I share about some of the insights and gear I have discovered through my own experiences. Prepare to lighten your load.