Ultralight Backpacking Gear Guide

Choosing Ultralight backpacking gear should enable a backpacker to have ease of movement and enjoyment whilst hiking, backpacking or for lightweight camping trips.

Ultralight Backpacking - Advantages

Prevention of blisters, ease of taking the backpack of and on, less back problems, prevention of sprained ankles and more enjoyment will be some of the benefits found in reducing weight of gear.

Hiking will be made easier and more efficient, allowing us to hike a longer distance much faster.

If backpacking India, for example, you'll be glad you have a lighter backpack weight after about 3000km on buses, India Rail, along with walking a few km's in 35C temperature and jumping in and out of rickshaws. It get's tricky, I know! When backpacking/trekking from the Himalaya's and eventually landing in Kerala, choosing the right gear that is lightweight and practical will change its needs from north to south becuase of the climate which is important to consider.

Hiking can be hard work with heavy pack, however, when we consider reducing weight for hiking we have to make sure we do care for the essentials. We have gone on trips with the very basics, like food and heat, minus even a shelter but this was well planed and we knew destinations for night shelter ( rocks). Other times much more lightweight and heavy duty gear has been needed, so its been all about planning and weighing up the pros and cons of lightweight packing verses comfort and necessities.

We will not go into detail about fastpacking or minimalist's advice at this stage, or differences between lightweight and ultralight backpacking gear. Deciding what category your gear is not important. We want to know what weight we would like to carry overall. Weigh up the pros and cons of taking or buying certain gear or leaving it; complete your backpacking checklist of items to take. Research is our best tool for the gear we need.

We found Joe's ultralight backpacking site offers a wealth of info, even if you wish to shave 10lb-20lb from the pack your carrying. Adventure Alan also offers his personal experience to guide people needing info about becoming an ultralight backpacker.

Resources for Lightweight Backpacking Gear

A GPS for hiking Is an essential piece of equipment for many of us.We take a look at some popular GPS models and provide useful information.

Ultralight Backpacks: or lightweight backpacks is the first place to start considering weight. Lightweight backpacks start from about 3oz (zpacks) then up to approximately 60oz. Although this is the first item on our list, know the weight and items to be carried to make sure the backpack is suitable, especially if your considering investing in a new backpack.

You may also find our review for the best backpacking tents very useful.

We have reviewed our choice of ultralight sleeping bags , knowing a quality lightweight sleeping system is important for the backpacking lightweight diet.

Talking about diets, we promote mountain house foods as top notch grub in comparison to other dried food companies. They can provide a nice break from the trail snacks.