Adventure packing

Generally speaking, you should be able to keep your pack to below 40lbs. This is for a 1-2 night backpacking trip in the summer, where you're not carrying more than 1 days supply of water. If it's heavier than that, the tips below is what helped me get my pack weight down to a reasonable level.

Many of these things don't seem heavy or big individually, but it all adds up.

• Check the weather and take only what you need for the conditions. If the forecast is 80s and zero chance of rain, you don't need a raincoat.

• Pack only what you know you'll use. Leave the "just in case" stuff at home. You don't need spare batteries for the headlamp.

• Ditch the tent bags. All the different pieces of the tent come in their own little bags. By the time you add them all up, there is almost as much bag weight as actual tent weight. You can leave those bags at home.

• Don't bring heavy cotton things like jeans, sweatshirts, or towels.

• Opt for lighter weight food and drink like dehydrated meals instead of cans of soup and liquor instead of beer.

• Bring food that you can eat without cooking. This drops a ton of weight/space from your pack because you only need a spork, if that. I'm a big fan of mixing "Tasty Bites" (google it) type pre-made Indian/Thai food with some kind of pre-cooked rice. Total cost of meal ~$4-6 in the international section of almost any grocery store. A little heavier than dehydrated food, but not enough to offset carrying fuel and cookware on a 1-2 night trip. If you don't like Indian food, you can use some Tuna or other protein source from a plastic baggie.

• Go through your first aid kit and remove anything you don't know how to use or have too many of (do you really need 50 band aids?). Put a small quantity of any medicine you might need into a ziplock bag instead of bringing a whole bottle.

• Travel size toiletries.

• Seriously consider the necessity of anything steel like big knives, axes, cookware...etc.