6 Tips To Greatly Reduce Your Camping Backpack

“Camping,” an act, hobby, exercise, adventure or even an escape. Whatever you choose to call it—has been a tradition that has been practised by early men as a way of life, before it trickled down to something we now do as a form of retreat.

We live in an age and time of technological developments and advancements where people barely find time to stay in touch with nature.

It is more than essential that we as humans try to find that connection from time to time in order to stay mentally and physically attuned to mother nature.

Because trust me—there are a lot of hidden gems to it, but unfortunately, that’s not the main focus of our article today.

A lot of folks are always coming up with different excuses for not going camping. You most often hear something like; it is dangerous, what if it is a rainy adventure and I catch a cold, what about bacteria, or the most popular one—it is a lot of parking to do.

But what if I told you that there is a system or should I say tips that have been around for a while, that helps you in packing light and at the same ensuring that you have a very memorable camping experience!

Obtain a scale

A scale is the first thing you want to be gunning for, before beginning to pack anything you are going to be needing for camping.

It is essential that the importance of a scale is not overlooked, as this will form the bedrock of everything you will be packing for your camping.

Whether you are already used to camping or you are an aspiring camper, this is the most crucial tool that you will need in order to reduce the weight of your camping bag greatly.

Why is this important, you say? Well, it is vital, because the weight of every single thing you will packing is crucial, plus the weight accuracy you should aim for, for each item that will be going into your camping bag should be around a tenth of an ounce.

Comfort and safety

Generally speaking, anyone can go out into the mountains with a little amount of equipment and suffer.

It is relatively easy to catch a cold, go hungry, or be ill-prepared. You need to be warm at night, ready to deal with safety issues and be well fed.

Super light camping should be fun and not stressful. The trick is always to equip one’s self with only the necessary gear that is absolutely needed. A good example of such contention is usually the first aid kit.

It would be foolish to travel without one, right? But what size and what things in your first aid box can effectively be improvised?

There is always a blurry line between too heavy and too light, but no matter, it is still very possible to have a lightweight backpack and still have a comfortable and yet a safe trip.

Inspect everything

This is a very important point to factor in when planning for a camping trip. You don’t want just to throw things into your bag. You want first to weigh it, document it, brood over it, ponder on it and if possible meditate over it—wink

Only after this careful evaluation has been done, can you confidently decide if an item is worthy of coming along with you on a camping trip. Here is a good example of what you should ask yourself before undertaking such activity.

Will I be fine without these?

Is there a less heavy option?

Can this object serve more than one purpose?

Can I use an alternative and get the same results?

Invent your own stuff

It is always fun to play around with homemade designs and then put them to efficient use in the camp. According to experts, the often lightweight gears or tools can be made by repurposing the use of certain material or tool.

A simple water bottle is as humble and as lightweight as it gets, plus it is essentially free. Another good example is an aluminum cat food can which can be converted into a lightweight alcohol stove.

Always try something new

Many folks out there are often comfortable with just doing the same things over and over again. What is the fun in that? remember there is a saying that goes; “variety is the spice of life.”

It is beneficial that you ply yourself towards gradually and consistently increasing towards attaining greater efficiency, comfort, and lightweight, every time you go camping.

You should endeavour to challenge yourself with every outing, even if you try something and it doesn’t go as planned. So what?—At least you would have learned one way that thing isn’t gonna work. So basically, try new things.

In conclusion: Simply take less stuff

The easiest way to reduce the weight of any item going into your backpack to zero is simply NOT to put it into the backpack. But as simple as this may come across to you, it is often harder to do in practice as we most often lean towards being over-prepared than underprepared.

There might be an item, or a bunch of them for that matter that you always have for some reason had with you, and it might have become an ingrained routine or habit just to toss them in, whenever you are packing.

Always try to be self-aware whenever this happens. Ask yourself if you are clinging to a routine, or if you have a sentimental attachment to those items?