Ultralight Backpacking Versus Traditional Backpacking

Home
>
Outdoors
>
Ultralight Backpacking Versus Traditional Backpacking

Ultralight Backpacking Versus Traditional Backpacking

Contrary to what many think, ultralight backpacking is not just about the freedom to hike more miles or to take your whole pack up the mountain with you. It is also about comfort and safety. Backpackers with heavy loads work too hard and threaten their joints too much. Challenges may add to the experience, but why suffer more than is necessary?

The Disadvantages Of Traditional Backpacking

Lack Of Freedom

You can't easily take a side trip up that hill, just to see what is there. If you do it without your pack, you have to go back the same way to get your pack.

It's A Hassle

Putting on and taking off your heavy pack quickly becomes a chore. You start leaving it on even during rest stops, just so you don't have to deal with it.

It's Tiring

Backpacking is clearly more tiring with a heavy pack, and you probably won't enjoy yourself as much when you are tired.

More Injuries
Sprained ankles, blistered feet, sore muscles, and back and knee problems are just some of the common consequences of too much weight on your back.

Slowness

More weight equals slower progress, which means less access to wild places (you can't go as far on your four-day trip), or it means less time to for enjoyable activities, like a swim in a mountain lake, or a relaxing evening in camp.

More Dangerous

More injuries, and the inability to move quickly when a storm is coming or an emergency requires you to get to a road, means that backpacking can actually be more dangerous with a heavy load. Add to that the possibility of bad decisions due to tiredness.

The Ultralight Backpacking Alternative

Done the right way, ultralight backpacking gives you more freedom, more comfort, more safety, more enjoyment and less suffering than traditional backpacking. It allows you to move faster, but notice that I say "allows." It doesn't require it. It just gives you the option. That's more freedom.

I have yet to meet or hear about a person who has tried lightweight backpacking for a while, and then gone back to a heavy load. I'm not saying it is for everyone. Bad ankles may require heavy hiking boots, and bad habits may require a big pack to satisfy them. But even a backpacker who needs a pillow and big rectangular sleeping bag, can find these in lighter forms.

You just can't understand the sense of liberation felt by a convert to ultralight backpacking, until you try it yourself. When I, with my eleven-pound pack, walk past overloaded backpackers struggling up steep trails, I remembered being in their place, and I know I am enjoying myself more now.

Misconceptions About Ultralight Backpacking

Lighweight Backpacking Means Sacrifice

Not so. Bring your favorite camera! A lighter load means you can stop to use it more easily. If you leave behind the things you don't need, and bring a lighter backpack, tent, and sleeping bag, you can more easily bring that telephoto lense or whatever is really important to you.

Lighweight Backpacking Is Less Safe

The opposite! Bring all the safety items; a sleeping bag, first aid kit, shelter, water purification, etc. Just bring lighter versions. A light load makes you less likely to lose your balance and fall, or to otherwise injure yourself. It also means faster response to iffy situations.

A note about safety:

It is lagely a matter of knowledge and experience. A trained survivalist will always be safer backpacking with no shelter than a neophyte with the best tent. Learn a little about how to use you equipment properly, or to read the sky for comimg storms, and you can go lighter and safer.

Lightweight Backpacking Is Less Comfortable

Is it less comfortable to have 18 pounds on your back than 50? Is it less comfortable to have an ultralight sleeping bag if it keeps you just as warm? I stopped getting blisters (totally) when I started using running shoes instead of hiking boots. Cut the weight on your back by twenty-five pounds, and you can add back a heavier coat, if that is what you need to be comfortable.

Lightweight Backpacking Is Expensive

Ultralight sleeping bags are expensive. Almost everything else needed for ultralight backpacking can be found for the same price or cheaper than traditional gear. There are many sub-three-pound backpacks under a hundred dollars, for example.

Bottom Line:

Try it. The first time you are fifteen miles into the day, and you realize that you can easily run up that hill-just to see what is there, you'll know you made the right decision.

Steve Gillman is a long-time backpacker, and advocate of going light. His advice and stories can be found at The Ultralight Backpacking Site. (http://www.the-ultralight-site.com)

In The News:

Gunmen release 27 teenage boys who were kidnapped from boarding school in Nigeria
Sat, 27 Feb 2021 09:29:00 +0000
Pupils kidnapped from a boarding school in Nigeria alongside members of their family and teachers have been released, an official has confirmed.

After US airstrikes in Syria, Biden warns Iran of consequences for supporting militia groups
Sat, 27 Feb 2021 09:46:00 +0000
American airstrikes in Syria show that Iran can expect consequences for supporting militia groups threatening US interests and personnel, Joe Biden has warned.

Myanmar's UN ambassador fired after making salute in support of anti-coup protests
Sat, 27 Feb 2021 14:37:00 +0000
Myanmar's ambassador to the UN has been fired a day after making a three-fingered salute in support of anti-coup protests - as he called on nations to use "any means necessary" to reverse the military takeover.

Auckland faces seven-day lockdown after COVID case detected
Sat, 27 Feb 2021 11:27:00 +0000
New Zealand's prime minister has announced the country's biggest city, Auckland, will go into a seven-day lockdown after a COVID-19 case was detected.

Arrests made after hundreds gather for anti-lockdown protests in Dublin
Sat, 27 Feb 2021 16:49:00 +0000
Police have arrested a number people after hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters gathered in Dublin.

tikatoshop.it

Erfahrungen mit Pallhuber Wein
Agen Bola SBOBET Terpercaya

Travel in comfort and at your leisure with CT Airlink Limousine & Car Service for top quality private transportation and exceptional customer service. We operate Sedans, SUVs & Vans for CT Car Services to covering all Connecticut airports including Car Service from CT to Newark Airport , Mohegan Casino Uncasville CT, Foxwoods Casino Mashantucket CT, Manhattan Cruise Terminal NYC, Brooklyn Cruise Terminal NYC and Bayonne Cruise Terminal NJ. CT Airlink hire licensed and friendly chauffeurs who have in-depth knowledge of the Areas.