5 Reasons why you should absolutely go Ultralight
Most people that get into backpacking have a few things in common — they like to hike, they like to camp, and have an urge to combine the two. What many people also do is try to convert as much of their car camping gear over as possible. I am absolutely guilty of being one of those people.
When I talked about this new thing I wanted to do, my brother-in-law told me he had a 50lb pack, and to be prepared for the long haul. I thought to myself, “there is no way my pack will weigh anything close to this”. Boy, did I think wrong. That first pack that I took was 41lbs!
The rule of thumb is that for extended hikes, 20% of your personal base weight (ie how much you actually weigh) is your max. I was slightly over this and imagined it would be okay. 10km of hiking took 5 hours. My body hurt. My feet were blistered. I didn’t even want to take the energy to make dinner because I just wanted to lie on the ground. How did people find this enjoyable?
I’m happy to say that I learned from that.
So what is ultralight? There are a ton of articles out there explaining it, but in brief:
Ultralight Backpacking is a concept defined as bringing with you only what you need, and establishing a baseweight (Total Pack Weight minus Worn Clothing and Consumables — your phone is not worn weight!) 10lbs or less.
My baseweight went from 32lbs down to 9.9. Even the amount of consumables changed. I went from carrying two 1L bottles of water, and a 3L bladder. Now, depending on the trail I’ll bring just the water bottles. If water sources are plenty, probably 2x 700ml bottles.
So let’s get into the 5 Reasons why you should go ultralight.
1. Your body will thank you.
Every step you take, your pack weight adds to the impact on your joints. There’s a reason why people don’t jump doing a barbell squat — that’s bound to have a negative impact. Although a properly fit pack will transfer weight to your hips, over the day hip-belts slide and you’re bound to carry some more of that pack weight on your shoulders. The biggest shift for me was the feeling waking up the next day — no more brutal shoulder, back, glute, hamstring, quad or calf pain. Still feeling the fact that a hike did happen, but ready to move again without wincing when the pack went on.
2. You’ll travel farther faster.
My first backpacking trip took me 5 hours to get 10km. Between a much slower pace, needing to take fairly frequent brakes etc it was slow moving. With the drop in pack weight, it now takes me a little under half the time to do the same distance. This means that if I’m on a long trail, I might be able to stretch out the sites in between. This is super helpful when trying to book, especially during COVID with the spike in backcountry camping — sites that normally I wouldn’t fathom being able to get to on day 1 or 2 I can. This gives flexibility. It also means that I could head to a trail after work and make it to a site with some daylight still left.
3. You focus more on quality.
Ultralight gear does not come cheap — so each investment needs to be thoughtful. Does this item serve the purpose it needs to? Will it serve other purposes as well? I’ll take my cook pot for example. Not only is it to boil water for dinner, it also doubles as my mug. Socks are a big thing too — will my socks last multiple days of rigorous miles, getting wet from sweat, puddles, rain etc, drying out and doing it all over again? I’ve noticed this start to trickle over into other aspects of life as well. Although I don’t use other things as heavily as I do socks on trail, there is care involved in purchasing.
4. You are (usually) supporting small businesses.
Often times, you don’t find ultralight gear in your local MEC or REI. This stuff is made by small cottage manufacturers. Not only are you supporting smaller businesses, but the care that goes into the gear, along with the customer service is incredible. Often time too, a sleeping quilt or backpack is custom made just for you, and if there is something you’d like a little different (maybe an extra loop, or a different material they don’t typically carry for a pack), you can always reach out and see if they can make an adjustment. The people that run these companies care about your experience with their product probably more than you do!
5. Bringing only what you need carries over to other parts of your life.
Lastly, you really learn to bring only what you need. Those three different sweaters? Nope — one fleece will do just fine. That full-sized leatherman you always bring? A Victorinox SD will do just fine. You’ll find this also trickles over in life with the things you have. It’ll challenge you in the way of “Do I really need this?”. Although I wouldn’t consider myself a minimalist by any means, I’ve definitely learned to appreciate less “stuff” and more what I actually need.. which has translated over to several Facebook Marketplace posts of late.
Ultralight is not for everyone. There have been times where I’ve left a warmer quilt at home because it’s twice the weight, and it turns out there was an unexpcted cold front that came through, leading to an uncomfortable nights sleep (or lack thereof). There are times where I would love to have a properly brewed coffee, but I left my aeropress at home and brought instant instead. That being said 9 times out of 10, I don’t use those things I think I’ll need (see: packing your fears), and they just take up space, and add weight. What I can say is that ultralight has made me a more mindful person. Understanding what I need, and what is important. It has also given me the ability to get out more often, and challenge myself to go further. If you are thinking about getting into backpacking, or have already been and want to try it differently… I encourage this change.
I love the outdoors, and sharing my experiences on trail, and with gear. That being said, gear can be expensive! I have included affiliate links to products I use below. Purchasing any gear through these affiliate links helps me buy more gear for me to review for you (saving you the trouble of buying it and not liking it!), and it does not cost you any extra!
What’s in my pack: https://lighterpack.com/r/y3yra5
My Summer Pad: https://amzn.to/3gKbEfX
My Backpack: https://amzn.to/3gJw0pG
My Cookpot: https://amzn.to/3iVsBGY
My Stove: https://amzn.to/3xBpPdS
The BEST Long Spoon: https://amzn.to/3qezWmI
NEW favourite water filter: https://amzn.to/3vJWDQL
