How to make it easier for yourself to pack for a hike?

Weigh everything

The main rule: if you can save at least 50 grams, it must be done. This applies to everything: clothes, equipment, cosmetics and any part of camping equipment.

Pravilo osobenno aktual'no dlya tekh, u kogo uzhe bol'shoy pokhodnyy garderob i polnyy shkaf snaryazheniya. Yesli vy nikogda ne vzveshivali veshchi, mozhete sil'no udivit'sya, uznav, chto u dvukh pokhozhikh flisok raznitsa v vese 200 gramm, a termokruzhka iz nerzhaveyki tyazheleye obychnoy titanovoy kruzhki na 150 gramm. A ves skladyvayetsya iz melochey. Poetomu vsegda vso vzveshivayte i sravnivayte — chto legche i luchshe podoydot dlya konkretnogo pokhoda, tomu i mesto v ryukzake. The rule is especially true for those who already have a large camping wardrobe and a full wardrobe of equipment. If you have never weighed things, you may be very surprised to learn that two similar fleeces have a difference in weight of 200 grams, and a stainless steel thermo mug is 150 grams heavier than a regular titanium mug. And the weight comes from the little things. Therefore, always weigh everything and compare - what is easier and better suited for a particular trip, that's the place in the backpack.

Choosing a light sleeping bag

All modern outdoor gear manufacturers are fighting for lighter weight, so new gear is lighter than old gear by default. If 10 years ago a conventional sleeping bag at a comfort temperature of zero degrees weighed two kilograms, now it can weigh less than a kilogram. This is because technologies are improving, new lightweight materials and insulation are appearing, and it is becoming easier for tourists to live - in every sense of the word.

Light sleeping bags are always more expensive than heavier models. This is especially true of down - down sleeping bags are lighter, but also more expensive than synthetic ones. But even with a limited budget, it is better to buy a good light sleeping bag and save on something else, such as clothes or dishes. The sleeping bag will last for many years and lighten the backpack by a kilogram, and titanium dishes and other small things will give a minimal gain in weight.

Choose light clothing

Travel clothing is also getting lighter every year. Do you remember what you went to before? Tarpaulin jackets, bolognese pants, woolen sweaters... Now a membrane jacket can weigh 150 grams and protect against rain as well as a tarpaulin, only it also breathes. Fleece weighs 300-400 grams and warms no worse than a woolen sweater, which takes up half a backpack. A “down sweater” - a thin jacket with down or synthetic insulation - weighs the same 300-400 grams, but is twice as warm as fleece and allows you to do without it at all. Thermal underwear plus such a jacket - and that's all, for a simple summer hike in low and medium mountains, warm clothes are no longer needed.

Choosing light dishes

Sometimes tourists manage to take enamel mugs on a hike, which weigh like a complete set of tourist dishes. And if you take the choice of dishes seriously, you can assemble a set of mugs, bowls and spoons with a total weight of about 100 grams.

The lightest dishes are made of plastic and titanium. The heaviest is stainless steel. Plastic utensils are cheaper, titanium ones are more expensive, stainless steel is somewhere in between. Thermal mugs are heavier than regular mugs. Whether a thermal mug is needed on a hike is a matter of personal preference, but it has more disadvantages than advantages: you can’t put it on the burner, you won’t warm your hands on it, and again, weight.

And finally, the spoon. Tourists used to saw off the handles of aluminum spoons to save a few grams of weight. Now there is no such need - in tourist shops you can buy a folding titanium spoon, which does not take up space and weighs almost nothing. An alternative to it is a plastic spoon (but not a disposable one!) Or a spoon-fork: on one side a spoon, on the other a fork. This is an easy and budget option with one drawback - such spoons break easily. A titanium spoon will not do anything even if you sit on it, so it makes sense to spend more, but it will last for many years.