Lighten Your Pack for Under $40
You’ve tried the free options to lighten your pack and you still want to go lighter. You don’t have the funds, or desire to spend said funds, on a lighter tent or sleeping bag/quilt. You can still shave some ounces by spending less than $40 (per item).
Switch your tent footprint to Tyvek
This is one of those items that might be free, but might not. Not everyone uses a tent footprint but if you do and it’s the manufacturer’s footprint it is too heavy. Tyvek is an effective ground cover for your tent. It’s super light and super cheap. Sometimes you can score it for free if you ask some construction workers nicely. If you don’t have nice construction workers around, you can buy a roll of it off of Amazon and then sell what you don’t use on used gear pages. It’s a heavily sought-after product and you can for sure get your money back by selling what you don’t use.
Rain poncho vs rain jacket and pack cover
If you’re like most people, you’re carrying a rain jacket and a rain cover for your backpack. Carry those items if you’re expecting rain. If you’re not expecting rain opt for a lighter option such as a poncho. I have a generic poncho when I’m not expecting rain. For less than $10, I saved about 0.75 pounds between leaving a cover/liner and my full rain jacket behind. The poncho is great because it will cover me and my pack in case of an unexpected shower.
Switch to a lighter cook set
This is where I start to wade in the gear-hate-mail waters. Your cook set can weigh a surprising amount. I am a huge fan of the BRS stove since it weighs less than two ounces as compared to something like a Jet Boil that weighs close to a pound. It is a fabulous budget option that hangs out in price around $20. Now, the BRS stove isn’t without problems- it’s less fuel-efficient than JetBoil, MSR, or Soto stoves. This translates to needing more fuel and waiting longer for water to boil. Note- the JetBoil includes a pot in the weight but for the other brands you will need a separate pot.
With that, switch to a titanium pot! You can score a TOAKS 550ml pot under the $40 limit.
The BRS stove and the titanium pot together would weigh 5-7 ounces, that’s less than half a pound!
Use an appropriate sized fuel canister
Getting a large fuel canister is often overkill. I go through one to two 4 oz. canisters per season since I just boil some water. Carrying the smaller ones saves some weight (albeit consumable weight). They’re pretty inexpensive so if you have a big one you’re carrying and need to shave some ounces, pick up a small one!
Get a lighter headlamp
It may seem goofy but if your headlamp is old, it probably weighs too much. My old Field and Stream headlamp weighed 6 ounces. For $20 I picked up a new Black Diamond one (don’t ask which one, I went with something cheap that had a red light) and weighed 2 ounces.
While an ounce here and there might seem trivial, 4 ounces is a quarter of a pound. When you add it all up you’ll be surprised how much you can lighten your pack by making simple swaps and assessing what you really need.
I am a total gear head and love talking about gear and making suggestions so if you want help reach out! Drop a comment, send an email, a DM on Instagram, or Facebook. Send a pigeon. I’m here for you.
