By Michael Lanza
The fact that you opened this story means you already recognize a simple backpacking truth: Reducing the weight in your backpack will make this activity feel like an entirely different and far more enjoyable experience. But how do you navigate the transition from heavier to lighter gear—what should you replace first, second, and so on? This story will guide you through the most logical progression of steps to a lighter backpacking gear kit—and more comfortable, happier days on the trail.
I’ve learned the tips shared below as someone who began backpacking when gear was much heavier—and who has spent more than three decades backpacking many thousands of miles all over the U.S. and around world, including a quarter-century testing and reviewing countless packs, tents, boots, bags, and other gear as a past Northwest Editor and lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine for 10 years and over a decade (and counting) for this blog.
If you have older gear, these steps can help you slash your base pack weight—which includes your gear and clothing but not food and water—potentially by 10 pounds or more. You will also significantly reduce your gear volume, allowing you to use a smaller, lighter pack. If you’re a new backpacker buying your first gear kit, use these steps to prioritize your gear purchases and focus on going as light as you can afford and that is practical for you.

As I write in my story “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” which delves more specifically into my approach to managing gear weight, my evolution toward a lighter pack was driven by comfort, but also emerged from a gradual rethinking about why I’m out there: It’s not about having stuff. It’s about experiencing a place.
The steps below are ordered beginning with the heaviest gear items because they offer the most potential to reduce weight and bulk. And like many stories at The Big Outside, part of this story is free for anyone to read, but reading all of my tips in this story requires a paid subscription to this blog.
Please share what you think of my tips or your questions or suggestions in the comments section below this story. I try to respond to all comments.
Want to see my top gear picks? See my review of “The Best Backpacking Gear.”

Step 1—Your Tent
For most backpackers, their tent is the heaviest and bulkiest single piece of gear they carry—making it the item where you can make the biggest dent in gear weight and the logical first step in creating a lightweight or ultralight kit. For example, switching from a two-person tent weighing from three to five pounds to a more compact one tipping the scales at two to two-and-a-half pounds slashes your shelter weight by as much as half. And even dropping a pound or close to it makes a significant difference as a percentage of your total base weight.
For many years, I have used two-person, three-season tents around 2.5 pounds or less and rarely found any need to use a three-season backpacking tent that weighs more than about three pounds. If you can afford just one immediate, major gear purchase, start with a new tent.
See my picks for “The 10 Best Backpacking Tents” and my stories “5 Tips For Buying a Backpacking Tent” and “Ultralight Backpacking Tents: How to Choose One” (both of which require a paid subscription to read in full, as do other stories offering gear-buying tips linked below) and all backpacking tent reviews and an ultralight backpacking tent reviews at The Big Outside.
Bonus tip—Using an ultralight tent that pitches with trekking poles sheds the weight of tent poles. And ditch the ground cloth.
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Step 2—Your Sleeping Bag

A bag usually represents not only one of the heaviest items in your pack, but also one of the bulkiest—which means that switching to a lighter bag or an ultralight quilt will drop ounces and greatly help you downsize your backpack.
But many backpackers, regardless of the vintage of bag they own, tend to choose one rated for the coldest temperatures they think they might encounter—and then proceed to use that bag in significantly warmer overnight temps on the vast majority of their backcountry nights.
Don’t get a bag rated for conditions you rarely encounter—get one for the temps you usually encounter, which for many backpackers most of the time are lows above 40° F on summer trips. For some people, that may be a 30-degree bag, for others a 20-degree, depending on how cold you sleep. On the rare frosty night, either wear more layers to bed or eventually buy a warmer bag for those occasional, chillier trips.
See all reviews of sleeping bags and ultralight sleeping bags at The Big Outside and my articles “Pro Tips for Buying a Backpacking Sleeping Bag” and “10 Pro Tips for Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag.”
Bonus tip—For maximum warmth per ounce and packability, get a bag stuffed with 800- or 900-fill-power down (or a higher fill rating).
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See more weight-slashing tips in my story “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.”
See also my “10 Tips for Spending Less on Backpacking and Hiking Gear” and “5 Things to Know Before Buying Backpacking Gear” and all reviews of backpacking gear and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside.
Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my stories “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be,” “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” and “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-book versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”
I think the next piece of gear many of us need to reconsider is the water filter, which weighs a lot more than a steri pen or aqua Mira.
Yup, good suggestion, Tom, thanks. Both the Steripen and Aqua Mira work well, though I’ve seen the former fail on rare occasions and the latter technically requires waiting hours before drinking the water (which I’ve never done, without any negative consequences). But they both also are best for clear water sources. If the source is somewhat silted or murky water, as found in some desert streams, for instance, a filter helps clear that out.
Totally agree with your comments. Worth respect to tents I love my Tarptent Aeon Li. It’s DCF. Tarptent specs say weight is 16 oz. (includes stakes) but my scale says 19 oz. I’m pretty OCD about caring for my gear and choose to carry a Tyvek ground cloth, though the manufacturer says I don’t need one. Carrying a ground cloth still gives me the option of cowboy camping if the opportunity arises. You are absolutely right about endeavoring to use a smaller pack. I have the ULA Catalyst and ULA Circuit. In my AZT thru-hike this year I took the Catalyst when in retrospect the Circuit would have sufficed. I tended to pack more stuff (that I didn’t need) in the Catalyst.
Thanks, Alan, for sharing your experiences. I like having a ground cloth for sleeping under the stars, especially in an environment where you’ll be on dusty dirt.
Don’t forget your own weight! Most of the weight will come from our own bodies. Way cheaper to reduce that then the marginal gains from equipment.
Well, yes, that’s true.
You kind stated the obvious if you live below the 47th parallel. But what about the Canadian Rockies?
Hi Paul,
Well, I don’t think all the information in this article is obvious to all who read it. I believe your question about the Canadian Rockies is intended to suggest adapting your gear kit to specific places, seasons, and weather, and yes, that’s true, a point I delve into more deeply in my story “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking” (linked above, too).
Still, the Canadian Rockies have a summer season that’s a bit shorter than but otherwise similar to summer in neighboring Glacier National Park (photo above) and the U.S. Pacific Northwest (photo above from Rainier’s Wonderland Trail), and I saw conditions more severe in the first week of August on the Wind River High Route (photo above), where most of the 96 miles we backpacked were between 10,000 feet and 12,000 feet and we used ultralight gear, than I’ve sometimes seen a month later in the Canadian Rockies.
So yes, these tips can be applicable to north of the U.S. border, but yes, you certainly should adapt your gear kit to your circumstances.
Thanks for the comment.