How heavy is your pack? As a young buck (not so very long ago, thank you), I suffered from the common delusion that size was everything. Like many before me, and many still, the larger my pack and heavier my load, the more pronounced my swagger. Of course, the line separating swagger and stagger was a very thin one indeed. Thankfully, it didn’t take me too long before I realized that it wasn’t the size of the pack that really mattered, it was what you did with your load that counted when hiking pleasure was the goal.

And so, I learned that light is right. I’ve also discovered that it’s suddenly very cool to have the smallest pack of the group so that fellow trekkers oooh and ahh over the wisdom, or lack thereof, surrounding your choices. And therein lies the problem. All this trailhead pontification and stove-side debating is downright silly. It’s as if the word ultralight has just been created to describe a new phenomenon, even though there’s nothing new about the need to carry less at all.

photo by chris thompson

Decades ago, and already well into my downsizing phase, I regularly backpacked with “freaks” who’d go so far as to trim inches off the handles of their toothbrushes, cut labels out of underwear, slice excess packaging off freeze-dried food and tear borders off the maps they used. As they were busy shaving ounces from their lives, I’d wrestle with my own weight dilemma: Was the one pound can of coffee sufficient or should I pack another? Should I go with the one pound brick of havarti cheese or opt for two half-pound variety packs containing both havarti and edam.

As if I didn’t have enough to think about with my coffee and cheese needs, some idiot had to go and toss math into the mix. My beloved backpacking beatniks continually reminded me that I shouldn’t be carrying more than 25 percent of my body weight. At 158 pounds, that gave me an allowance of a mere 39.5 pounds in my pack and for a trek of more than three days. That simply wasn’t enough. I began contemplating gaining weight prior to trips just so I could carry more.

It wasn’t until years later that I came to realize—in a moment of clarity induced by several days of claustrophobic
suffering inside a wet bivvy sack that left me feeling like a soggy filling in an undercooked burrito—that packing light comes down to one thing: making the decision to be as unprepared as you want to be. Nothing more, nothing less.
At times, a 50-pound pack loaded down with a chair, extra thick sleeping pad, a three-person tent (for more room even though only two are hiking), a few books, a journal, a flask of wine and an assortment of the best trail-suitable delectables and coffee the imagination can conjure up is going light. There is something truly civilized about firing up an espresso maker at 10,000 feet while watching the sun rise over distant peaks and reading poetry. I’ve witnessed ultralight denizens—who had derided my decisions the day before—soak their fast-packing shoes with drool as they watched me sip a steaming hot cup of cappuccino while baking cinnamon bread on the stove.

Of course, if I’m in my fast and light mood, the get-up changes. I pack not for the enjoyment of camp, but for maximum pleasure while moving. My pack is small and streamlined. I plan for loads more suited to periodic running or jumping from boulder-to-boulder. No stove and no tent, only a tarp. The sleeping bag is light, and my pad is as thin as possible. Food is all dried fruit, bagels, dried meat and the odd Clif bar or two. I camp because I have to, move because I want to.

So, before you get all swept up in this ultralight phenomena that’s buzzing through magazines and chat rooms these days, remember this: Light is right, but there’s no need to get all worked up into a lather about it. Carry only what you need for the mood you seek in your outing. Sometimes that will be mere ounces, sometimes many pounds. Oh, and if you ever find out who came up with the 25-percent-of-body-weight theory, point that person out to me. I’ve got a very heavy leather boot I want to plant somewhere.

Last Updated: Feb 24th, 2006 - 14:18:11
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