What is "fast & light" backpacking?

What is "fast and light" backpacking?

Fast and light backpacking, or "fastpacking" is the newest trend in backpacking. It's more than just cutting the handle off your toothbrush. It's a complete system for lightening your load, which in turn allows you to backpack greater distances with relative ease. You may be pleasantly surprised on your first fast and light trip if you've suffered under a traditional backpack while hiking 6-10 miles per day.  It's much easier to cover 10-20 miles per day when your pack looks more like a daypack, and only weighs 10-15 pounds (excluding food).

One of the keys to fastpacking is to look at your total system, not just one component.  I have a "fast and light' backpack that weighs under 2 pounds empty, and my standard guiding pack which weighs over 7 pounds empty. I could save 5 pounds by always using the lighter pack, but it would burst at the seams if I tried to load it with my traditional backpacking gear.  When I am using the light pack, I also bring a lighter shelter (if any) a lighter sleeping bag, and a simpler kitchen.

Another key to the fast and light system is to look for multiple uses for the same items. My lightweight backpack has no padding or frame, so I roll my sleeping pad in to a cylinder and place it in my pack. The sleeping pad gives my pack padding and a structure to help carry a load. 

Why carry tent poles in your pack and trekking poles in your arms? Many fast and light shelters use trekking poles in place of traditional tent poles. Are you going to be camping in a wooded area? If so, you might be able to leave all the poles at home and tie your shelter to an overhead branch.

How bulky and heavy is your sleeping bag? You can save several pounds as well as a significant amount of space in your pack by using a sleeping bag stuffed with 800 fill down, rather than less expensive down or synthetic fill.

Your clothing should be a system as well. Are you bringing a clean change of clothes on your trip? Why? It's extra weight and will be just as dirty as your original clothes soon.  You won't hear me complain about clean underwear, but multiple pants and shirts are too heavy to bring.

Think about the weather you are likely to encounter and prepare for it, but don't go overboard. Think about the coldest, wettest situation you'll be in, and plan your clothing to just take care of that situation with no spares. If you are wearing all your clothes, including jackets and you are slightly chilled at night, then you have the perfect system. If you are comfortably warm, and you have an extra fleece jacket to use as a pillow, you've brought too much.

For your personal mess kit, do you need more than a bowl and a spoon? What are you going to eat that can't be eaten out of a bowl and with a spoon? I bring a cup for coffee on some trips. Other trips the bowl does double duty as a coffee cup, too.

Do you need a full size water filter? Can you get by with iodine tablets to treat your water? Along those lines, do you need to carry 2 liters of water? I've spent most of my life telling people to make sure they have at least 2 liters of water, but there are some times when you don't have to carry so much. On the Rae Lakes Loop, for instance. On this trip, we hike right by water for most of the trip. So why carry  4.4 pounds of water (the weight of 2 liters) to a lake? Why not treat one bottle of water, and drink it as soon as it's ready.  You can fill up with more whenever you run out.

Fast and light packing is more than just buying lightweight gear though.  You need to be resourceful. Can your 40º sleeping bag keep you warm when it's 30º outside? What if you filled a bottle up with hot water and slept with the bottle in your bag? Would that keep you warm enough? What about your food choices? Are you bringing food that is quick to prepare, requiring less fuel, resulting in a lighter load? In the Sierras, can you use a tarp instead of a tent? Can you use that same tarp as your rain jacket? We get the afternoon thunderstorm in the Sierras in summer, but not much rain outside of that. How much gear do you need to bring for an event that is unlikely to happen? You should be prepared, but not go overboard.

One of the beauties of developing a fast and light system is how saving a pound really saves more than a pound. By carrying an 800 fill down sleeping bag our load is lighter and smaller. A smaller, lighter load requires less backpack to carry it, so we can save some more weight there. By having a lighter and smaller pack we can wear lighter trail shoes, adding to the weight savings of the system.

With experience you can develop your system and fine tune it for your personal style. For most people the more they get out in the woods, the less they feel they need to bring. I am reminded of my third favorite quote, "Experience is lighter than gear". Our experience teaches us how we can best develop our system, which reminds me of my second favorite quote, "Experience is a cruel teacher- she gives the exam before the lesson". It's true. You might figure out that you need a heavier jacket by being cold, but you'll be better prepared for the next time.

Fastpacking isn't for everyone. But if you want to try to lighten your load, get a little farther down the trail and a little more resourceful, give fastpacking a try. It may be the most fun you've ever had in the woods.

And let me know if you have any questions.

Richard Bothwell

Outdoor Adventure Club