Chat with a thru-hiker made me rethink my whole approach to gear weight

I was at REI in Phoenix last week, grabbing some snacks for a weekend trip, and I started talking to this guy who just finished the Arizona Trail. He told me his base weight was under 8 pounds, and I laughed thinking he was exaggerating. Then he pulled out his pack and let me handle it - I swear it felt lighter than my lunch bag. My base weight is pushing 18 pounds after three years of tweaking. I realized I've been hauling all this extra crap like a heavy tent and extra cookware that I never even use. He said the trick was leaving behind the "what if" items and just trusting your gear to do one thing well. Has anyone else here cut their base weight down hard and actually felt safer on trail?

3 comments

3 Comments

wilson.joseph28d ago

My buddy went from 20 pounds down to 9 after thru-hiking the PCT and said he slept way better not worrying about his back hurting every morning lol.

riley_wood8428d ago

Bet that lighter pack made a huge difference for his joints too, @wilson.joseph.

kimr7428d agoTop Commenter

Read a study a while back about how pack weight affects sleep quality on long trails. Apparently carrying less than 10 pounds lets your body recover way better at night, less cortisol or whatever keeping you wired. Sounds like your buddy figured that out the hard way by ditching half his gear.