Ultralight Backpacking Gear Lists

 

Building a better list

Gear lists are like opinions. Everyone has one. Or rather everyone should have one. Tossing gear into a backpack, willi nilli and heading off into the wilderness is a recipe for disaster, in more ways than one. Backpacking trips take planning, especially ultralight backpacking trips. The first part of that planning starts with understanding where you are going, what the weather, temperature range and terrain will be like. Only when you know these criteria will you be able to put together a list of gear that will keep you comfortable, warm, dry, safe and well fed under those conditions.

There is no such thing as one perfect list. If you have one list for ALL conditions you are probably carrying too much gear. I personally am a list nut. I'm not sure how many lists I have. Simply because I keep updating them with new equipment and new criteria. I have mine broken down even further with criteria like bugs/no bugs, water availability and difficult or easy route finding. All of my criteria determines what I pack and what I leave at home.

All of the gear lists presented here are just food for thought. Please don't just read my gear list, buy everything on it and then run out into the woods. My list should never be your list. Everyone's personal gear lists are built from varying degrees of experience, comfort level, cost, durability and if you are hiking by yourself or with others.

So have fun with it. Put together a list and test it out. Sooner or later you will begin to realize that lighter is better and there is gear in your pack you don't need and can just leave at home. As you are building your list, please don't utilize the "just in case" mentality. For example "I know it is only going to be 40° tonight but I better bring my 0° sleeping bag, just in case." It is a quick way to add unnecessary, heavier equipment that you don't need. A good example of this is along the Pacific Crest and the Appalachian Trails there are what they call "Hiker Boxes" where hikers leave behind food, fuel and equipment that they no longer want or need with the hope that someone else will need it or find a use for it. The farther down the trail you go the more discarded stuff you find in these boxes. And most of it is gear that hikers have decided is just too heavy to carry any longer. They are thinking to themselves "what the heck was I thinking bringing that" as they palce it in the hiker box.

Happy packing!