Backpack (10 to 14 oz)

An 11 ounce Mountain Laurel Designs Burn pack in Dyneema fiber holding my 5 pound kit. I used this setup to cover all 100+ mile on the AT in Shenandoah National Park in three days. Trip report is here.

Tips: You’ll likely need a frameless pack of ~40L capacity. Not a big problem since your total pack weight with food, fuel and water is likely to be 10 to 15 pounds. Dyneema fiber packs have the advantage of being nearly waterproof. When combined with Dyneema fiber stuff sacks you won’t need a rain cover. Finally, more parks are requiring hard-sided bear canisters. I have included a section at the end of this post listing the lightest bear-canister-compatible packs as well as bear canisters.

Note: Excellent general purpose lightweight packs like Hyperlite Mountain Gear SW 2400, the ULAOhm 2.0 Pack, and the Osprey Exos 48 Pack, are overkill for the light loads of practical ultralight backpacking. In addition, at ~2 pounds for these packs you won’t make the 5 pound weight.

For more reading: 

• Recommended Lightweight Backpacks (look at the end for the lighter packs)
• The lightest bear-canister compatible packs and bear canisters.

For budget backpackers: The 11 oz Gossamer Gear Murmer 36 Hyperlight Pack is likely your best inexpensive option. Alternatively you can sew your own rucksack for around 8 oz (and I have used such a pack effectively for 7 day trips even with a bear canister!)

Shelter: Tarp, Pyramid Shelter or Hammock (~12 oz per person)

Pyramid shelters work. A 2-person MLD Pyramid Shelter after a storm in the High Sierras.

Tip: To get near a 5 lb base-weight, forget about a conventional tent. Instead, choose from one of the pyramid shelters, tarps or hammocks below. The good news is that Pyramid shelters (and tarps) work! Alison and I used only pyramid shelters for our Alaska and Patagonia trips, and in some dreadfully harsh conditions. For the east coast and other areas with trees, a hammock is our preferred shelter.

For budget backpackers: An 8-12 oz Silnylon tarp, like the Mountain Laurel Design Grace Tarp is one of your best inexpensive options. The MLD Grace Duo tarp in SilNylon comes out to be 6 oz and $80 per person. I’ve used this setup all over the country, at high altitudes and in extreme conditions.

For more reading see:

• Recommended Tents, Tarps, and other Shelters
• 7 Reasons Why Hammock Camping is Fantastic — How To Get Started

Why no tents?

The short answer is they are too heavy to make the 5 lb weight. For solo camping they are much too heavy. But when shared between two people they are closer to making target weight but still no cigar. Here are the details:

• If you are solo camping, one of the lightest solo “tents” is the non-conventional Zpacks Solplex Tent. It’s around 20 oz with 8 solid Y stakes. And the lightest conventional tents are 27 to 28 ounces [a Big Agnes UL1 tent, or the TarpTent Notch]. This is about two to three times the target weight of ~12 ounces for a shelter. In addition, the small volume of solo tents make them very prone to condensation.
• If you are sharing a tent, things are somewhat better. One of the lightest 2-person “tents” is the non-conventional Zpacks Duplex Tent. It’s around 25 oz with 8 solid Y stakes. And the lightest conventional 2-person tents are 31 to 38 ounces [a Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 Tent , or BA Copper Spur HV UL 2 Tent]. Shared between two people that’s 16 to 19 oz per person, above the ~12 oz target for a shelter.

Sleeping Gear and Tent/Shelter (best high Western Mountains & other treeless areas)

The warm and super puffy Hammock Gear Burrow showing the detail of the top and bottom of a backpacking quilt. Note the longitudinal baffles (purple) that do a better job of keeping down over you at night vs. the standard horizontal baffles.

Tip: Buy a sleeping bag or quilt rated for the average low temperature you expect. Then if you encounter unexpectedly cold temperatures (well below average) you can wear your warm down jacket and possibly other clothing in combination with the quilt or sleeping bag to increase warmth. This saves weight and money buy not overbuying your quilt or bag.

I recommend down quilts and sleeping bags. They are warmer, lighter and a better long term value than synthetics. You have to be extremely negligent to get a down bag wet enough that it isn’t warm. Note: Down quilts are cheaper, lighter, and have a higher warmth-to-weight ratio than traditional sleeping bags. As such, they’ve become a staple in ultralight and lightweight backpacking kits.

For budget backpackers:  The standout value is the $139 Hammock Gear Burrow Econ 30 ºF down quilt. It’s one-half the cost and half a pound lighter than a comparable down sleeping bag.

For more reading see: 2020 Buyers Guide to Lightweight Backpacking Quilts

Stoves and Cooking Gear

Tip: To make weight you’ll likely need an alcohol stove system. While easy to use and fast to boil, the highly popular canister stove, the Jetboil MiniMo Cook System, is ¾ pounds heavier than an alcohol stove cook-set. (21 oz vs. the 7.5 oz for the alcohol cook-set with fuel for 3 days shown above.)

For budget backpackers:

• Canister stove – for $12 – $24 you can get a decent stove (Etekcity canister stove) and pot  (Stanco Pot) on Amazon. Total weight is around 15 oz with a 110g fuel canister.
• Alcohol stove – for $34 you can pair the Stanco Pot with an alcohol stove like the Kojin and a potstand/windscreen for about 6.5 oz. And there are any number of light alcohol stoves, do-it-yourself or purchased, that you can pair with a light aluminum or titanium pot.

For more reading see: Best Backpacking Stove Systems

Water Storage and Treatment

Tip: Drinking at the source keeps you hydrated and saves weight! That is, use the Sawyer filter to drink your fill from the springs, streams or lakes you pass. That way, hydrated and full up on water you won’t need to carry more than a prudent amount between sources. This will likely save you many pounds of pack weight vs. a person that is carrying 2 or 3 liters of water.

Budget backpacker: While there is nothing expensive on this list, Aqua Mira is one of the most effective and cheapest ways to treat water. In 20 minutes it pretty much gets everything including viruses (the exception is hard shell organisms like crypto that take 4 hours.). The two bottle pack can last a long time. Repackage into smaller bottles to save weight.

For more reading see: Best Backpacking Hydration – Drink When Thirsty

Clothing in Pack – down jacket, rain jacket, hat and gloves, etc.

Tip: A down jacket and rain jacket keep you warm and dry! As such, they are super important and not a place to skimp. Get a good down jacket or vest in the range of 8 to 12 ounces, and a rain jacket in the same weight range. As noted in the sleeping bags and quilts section, your down jacket and sleeping bag should be viewed as an integrated set. In summary, you won’t regret buying warm, lightweight quality gear.

For budget backpackers: For down jackets look at the 32 DEGREES Heat Mens Down Jacket With Hood or their Down Vests and REI’s store brand jackets can be a good deal, especially on one of their frequent sales.

The REI Co-op Rainier Rain Jacket is an easy choice for a 9 oz rain jacket for $90 and can go on sale for $45! You can also look  at the 5.7 oz Frogg Toggs Ultra-Lite 2 Jacket for as low as $15 for the complete rain suit (jacket & pants) or the more breathable but more expensive O2 Original Hooded Jacket.

For more reading see: 

• Best Lightweight Rain Jackets for Hiking and Backpacking
• Guide to Lightweight Down Jackets and Pants for Backpacking

Clothing Worn and Items Carried (stuff not in pack)

Tip: Bring no more clothing than you can wear at one time. Think of all your clothing (both what you wear most of the day and what’s stowed in your pack) as an integrated and well thought out system. As such there are no “backup clothes.” [Yes, with care you can keep your clothes dry. If you do get them wet you can dry them out. And you can wash them during a trip.]

If I am operating in colder daytime temps, then I will wear my “mid-layer,” like a light fleece or the newer Patagonia Nano-Air or Outdoor Research Ascendant Insulated Hoodie, most of the day. As such, its weight is included here with “clothing worn.”

For budget backpackers: Much of this gear is not expensive to begin with. And much of your usual hiking clothes, or even your everyday clothes may fit the bill. E.g. many nylon long-sleeved shirts work fine. Finally, some particularly good budget items like the $45 Cascade Mountain Tech Carbon Trekking Poles are listed below.

For more reading see: 

• Top Mistakes Using the Layering System | How to Stay Warmer and Drier
• How to use your Smartphone as the Best Backpacking GPS

“Essential” Gear – 1st aid, headlamps, knives, SOS devices, etc.

Cutting tools for around 1 ounce (R to L): Swiss Army Classic, Spyderco Ladybug,  $14 Gerber L.S.T. Drop Point , $4 school scissors

Tip: It’s easy to load up on these small items without realizing it. A number of small weights quickly add up. As such, chose, weigh and include these items with care. Remember to buy things in small sizes and/or repackage them into smaller containers.

For more reading see:

• 13 Essentials for the Modern Hiker – A Realistic “10 Essentials”
• Best Satellite Messenger inReach vs SPOT?
• Best Lyme and Zika Prevention for Hiking
• How to use your Smartphone as the Best Backpacking GPS
• Best Lightweight Backpacking Electronics Gear

First Aid Kit (detail)

Tip: I prefer to assemble my own 3 oz First Aid Kit  (detailed list) as I can do a better job for less weight than pre-packaged ones. But you can also buy a pre-packaged First Kid Kit like one of these. A small first aid guide/booklet (often included in kits) is a good idea.

Note: Most of the injuries I have treated have been scrapes and cuts (abrasions and lacerations) and all I had to do was stop the bleeding (direct pressure, always) and clean it up and dress the wound. I rarely get blisters since I train in the same shoes and socks that I backpack in. Even so, I carry Leukotape Tape and tincture of benzoin to treat hot spots and mild/early blisters.

For more reading see: 

• Why Wilderness First Aid Matters and How to Take a Course

Bear Canisters and Ultralight Packs that work with them

More and more parks are requiring hard-sided bear canisters. These are some of the lightest options to meet this requirement

If you want to hike the John Muir Trail, you’ll need a bear canister and a pack that can hold it. No, you won’t make 5 pounds, but with the options below you have one the very lightest setups possible. You’ll likely save 3 to 6 pounds vs. a conventional pack and bear canister combination.

Tip: Pack the right food and you can get a few more days out of a smaller bear canister like the Bearvault BV-450 above. Not only will you have less food weight (for the same amount of calories), but the smaller canister will leave more room in your pack for gear. What’s not to like?

For budget backpackers: The Bearvault BV-450 and BV500 hit the sweet spot for weight, cost and availability.

For more reading see: Best Backpacking Food | simple and nutritious