Lightening the load -any tips?

[jonnoh]

I'm going on my first 2 day expedition next week which involves a night of wild camping in the Cairngorms. We have a light-weight 2 man tent (2 of us walking) and will be taking in a few munros, namely An Socach, Glas Tulaichean, Beinn Iuthern Mhor and Carn Bhac. We are both relatively fit and have covered big distances in the past but without such potentially large packs. I think we've got it sensibly covered and won't be taking anything unecessary but just in case anyone can lighten the load with any advice or top tips that may have escaped us...?? It would be great to hear some thoughts.

[rocket-ron]

do they in a day. That will save you carrying camping gear

[jonnoh]

do they in a day. That will save you carrying camping gear

Thanks Rocket Ron. We had considered that but part of this trip is to get a bit of experience of wild camping etc to prepare for even longer expeditions.

[mrssanta]

don't take spare clothes just sleep in what you are wearing.
but have clean socks back at the car.

[brodiedillon303]

I'm going on my first 2 day expedition next week which involves a night of wild camping in the Cairngorms. We have a light-weight 2 man tent (2 of us walking) and will be taking in a few munros, namely An Socach, Glas Tulaichean, Beinn Iuthern Mhor and Carn Bhac. We are both relatively fit and have covered big distances in the past but without such potentially large packs. I think we've got it sensibly covered and won't be taking anything unecessary but just in case anyone can lighten the load with any advice or top tips that may have escaped us...?? It would be great to hear some thoughts.

a few months ago i did the whw carrying 30k plus took me around 7 days. 6k plus was food as i wanted to be self sufficient. since them ive looked at all my kit not just what i was carrying but what i was carrying it in. ive got the equipment down to around 10k now. this still includes some luxuries i dont yet want to give up. i looked at my gear and asked 'do i really need that' ; 'can i substitute it for something else or can another item do several jobs'. a bit late in the day for you to replace your gear with lighter stuff but you can still make savings grams add up here and there 'till you make a substantial saving. Look at your gear do i really need the item. Look at what your gear is wrapped in for example does your sleeping bag need the heavy stuff sack or can you replace it with a plastic bag. is your tent pack made up of lots of little stuff sacks. do you need them. do you need walking poles. I dont use them myself new fangled ponsy items if you ask me though some people swear by them and can tell you all the scientific benefits. how much food. do you need for two days. also look at what you are carrying on your person. do you really need it all. packaging for you food can it be substituted.. go through your kit as often as you need and discard. you will see something new each time you think about it. Good luck

[Slogger]

A good thing to do, is to lay out all your intended gear, food etc. Then take out items that you don't REALLY need.
It can be difficult the first time, but you will learn a lot and eventually only take the essential items.
When you come back from a trip taking only the bare minimum and have used EVERYTHING, or could have done with slightly more, you will have got it right.
On my multi day trips, I take sufficient money to be able to purchase items en route, should the neccesity arise, rather than start off carrying what may be unnecasary.

[mrssanta]

share your toothpaste. It's amazing how three of us from the same family can end up with three tubes of toothpaste. shocking!!!

[Johnny Corbett]

Get your mate to carry all the heavy gear

[DEADEVEN]

share everything-gas,food,cutlery,stove,toothpaste,wipes...etc
dont carry 2 of everything that can be shared
really think about ounces cos they soon add up

[Rudolph]

The previous posts have covered a lot of good stuff so here maybe are some extra bits of opinion.

Two approaches - take only the minimum and make sure that what you take is the lightest possible.
Depends how much money you have to spend - its easy to get sucked into spending money on ever lighter stuff.

For example, a normal 65L rucsack is heavy even when empty. If you can get rid of volume you should be able to use a (large) day sack. which will be much lighter.

Lots of possibilities - but some more info on what you will be taking will be helpful - what tent, sleeping bag (if any) and mat and stove will you take.

Also what will you do for food - it's easy to take to much. My thought would be to take an adventure food dried meal for the evening (the pack is smaller than Mountain house), muesli /oat based snacks and some peperami . babybel for the days. Add a very light meths stove and a Ti pot for heating the water in the evening. Anything beyond that is a luxury which I always appreciate at some time.

Finally decide how you'll cope if you get cold and wet. Some people will accept they'll get wet and deal with it by moving fast and using a light windproof and quick drying base layer. Others will carry waterproofs and extra layers, hats. gloves etc. . My own choice is to walk with a light wind proof and base layer but have a down jacket for when I stop at night. Makes a good pillow too.

You'll find out what works for you and you are quite right to be going for a one night trial first of all.

[basscadet]

All these tips are very valid, but at the end of the day, you have to get used to carrying extra weight, no matter how light you get your pack, if you havent carried full gear before, it will take it out of you.. You'll ken what I mean when you're trying to get up the scree on the steep side of Lutharn Mhor from Carn Bhac

I feel like I should restress the not taking any clothes thing.. All you need is what you are wearing plus something warm for the evening.. Winter I take my buffalo shirt, in summer I just take a fleece.

And dont do what I do - spend all my wages on the lightest of gear, only to then chuck 5kg of coal on top for a fire

[jonnoh]

Get your mate to carry all the heavy gear

Now that idea I like!!

[jonnoh]

Thanks very much for all these brilliant suggestions and its great to get advice from folk who are more experienced in these matters.

I am certainly going to take all those ideas on board and will deffo return to this topic to let you know how it went - and confirm the agony of the trek up the scree of Beinn Iutharn Mhor!

[killy9999]

For me there is no difference in equipment for 2 day trip and for 7 day walk (except for the food supply). If you start doing more camping trips then I suggest to invest in light equipment. This can be very expensive but if you can afford it it's definitely a good idea.

Rudolph is right about the food - it's very easy to take to much. You could easily save weight on food by not taking things that have water in them. E.g. take beef jerky instead of canned meat. In general, avoid taking cans.

[magicdin]

Pack your rucsac in the house with everything you think you need.
Lift rucsac on to shoulders and feel the weight
Take rucsac off and unpack all the items you now realise you don't really need.