A Scout’s Campfire

Lightweight Backpacking 101 - A Must Read Article

November 3rd, 2006 spryken

Backpacking Light has a great introductory article on Lightweight Backpacking, Lightweight Backpacking 101: An Introductory Manual for Lightening Your Load Today.

The article covers the why and the how of moving to Lightweight or Ultra Lightweight backpacking.  The article is split into 9 parts:

1. Basic Concepts
2. Equipment Primer
3. Clothing
4. Cooking Equipment
5. Trail Food
6. Water Treatment
7. Miscellaneous Essentials
8. Nonessentials
9. Ultra-Light, Ultra-Cheap

Looking over the areas covered you can see that all aspects of backpacking are covered.  Even the “Nonessentials”, you can have fun too.

I encourage everyone considering backpacking to read this article, especially our Boy Scout Leaders.  I have seen some Boy Scout Leaders (not in my Troop) continue to backpack the way the Boy Scouts did it when they were Scouts.  I have also seen new Leaders carrying enough weight to supply an entire patrol.  We, as Leaders, need to learn new techniques and pass these on to our young charges. 

Lightweight backpacking is less physically exhausting and can make the experience more enjoyable. 

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