Ultralight Backpacking

Over fifty percent of backpackers use a manufacturer’s tent footprint under their tent on overnight backpacking trips. They do this to protect the bottom of their tents from sharp rocks and sand that can rip or puncture their tent floors, improve their floor’s water resistance, …

Backpackers are split about 50/50 when it comes to using a backpack rain cover or lining the inside of their backpacks with a plastic bag or backpack liner designed for that purpose. When I started backpacking, I used a backpack rain cover …

Many waterproof and more durable ultralight backpacks are made with Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF) or X-Pac, another high-tech laminate fabric similar to DCF but less expensive and easier to make backpacks with. Below, we explain the tradeoffs between these DCF and X-Pac …

There are three different types of ultralight bug shelters suitable for cowboy camping, sleeping in a lean-to, or underneath a flat tarp: Bivy Sacks Bug Bivies Net Tents While they’re all similar in certain respects, they have distinct differences, pros, and cons. …

The number of ultralight double-wall backpacking tents available today has grown significantly, driven by consumer demand and advances in material technologies. If you prefer a double-wall tent over a single-wall tent because it’s more spacious, warmer, less drafty, and has a separate …

How would you like to eliminate the weight of your backpacking stove and the fuel container (canister, liquid fuel bottle, or alcohol bottle) that you use to carry your cooking fuel on backpacking trips while still being able to boil water and …

When it comes to gear list weight reduction for lightweight and ultralight backpacking, the biggest gains come from lightening the big three, including your backpack, tent, and your sleep system which includes a sleeping pad and sleeping bag or quilt. These are …

Tarps are a great ultralight backpacking shelter option, provided they’re used in a climate where there’s no rain or occasional rain. To clarify, I’m talking about square or rectangular tarps with or without catenary cut ridgelines and sides, and not single walled …

Esbit Cubes are the simplest, lightest, and most reliable way to boil water or cook food on backpacking trips. There’s no extra container weight to carry with Esbit Cubes, like a white gas stove bottle or isobutane canister, and you can even …

Lightweight and ultralight backpackers have a lot of different options available when it comes to picking an ultralight backpacking and camping stove. Here are the pros and cons of using alcohol stoves, canister stoves, solid fuel stoves, and wood stoves. Alcohol Stoves …

If you crave a deep connection with the wilderness, there’s nothing more intimate than sleeping under a square or rectangular tarp. Pitching a tarp takes more thought than setting up a tent because you need to consider what the best setup or “shape” will …

Ultralight backpacking requires an extreme form of self-reliance where backpackers compensate for bringing less gear by having more advanced backcountry skills. While many other backpackers and day hikers have these same skills, “going ultralight,” or the less extreme “lightweight” is more committing, since ultralight backpackers carry less …

Ultralight backpacking tents and shelters come in all shapes and sizes, but each type has advantages and disadvantages for different camping conditions. It’s best to understand these before you waste money on a tent or shelter that doesn’t suit your needs or …

Ultralight bivy sacks are used by backpackers using floorless shelters to protect their sleeping bags or quilts from moisture and their heads from biting insects, as a kind of substitute for the inner tent that you find in more conventional double wall …