Hiking Light Handbook<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, provides the following tips to minimize the load you carry.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Hydration (extra water, and a way to purify water)<\/strong>
Weight water containers and carriers, especially larger ones, before you buy. Use a soda bottle container rather than a heavy-duty backpacker\u2019s bottle for carrying your extra water. (Duct tape can hold it together if it cracks. For purifying water, iodine tablets are the lightest option.<\/p>\nNutrition (extra food)<\/strong>
For extra food choose high-caloric items such as nuts and cheeses. Soup mixes and electrolyte replacement drinks can help replace lost electrolytes. High-calorie energy bars also make good emergency foods.<\/p>\nInsulation (extra clothing)<\/strong>
It\u2019s a good idea to take one more layer than you think you\u2019ll routinely need. It doesn\u2019t have to be a full-fledged storm outfit\u2014it can be as light as a three-ounce wind shirt. In colder climates, take along an extra polypro wicking layer, or a lightweight microfleece vest. Long distance hikers can make their town clothes do double duty for trail emergencies.<\/p>\nNavigation (map and compass)<\/strong>
Choose a lightweight plastic compass. A miniature-sized one is adequate on well-marked trails. Cut unneeded sections and margins off maps (but preserve areas showing side trails and roads in case of emergency; if you use GPS, you\u2019ll need the grid information). Photocopy relevant pages instead of carrying a whole guidebook. Long-distance hikers can put maps and guidebooks for the next section of trail in their resupply boxes.<\/p>\nFire (firestarter and matches\/lighter)<\/strong>
A several-ounce tube of fire ribbon is overkill. Firestarter can be something you already carry, such as cotton swabs (dip them in Vaseline) or old guidebook pages. Birthday candles are also excellent: drip the wax onto some dry tinder and ignite. You don\u2019t have to carry all your firestarter all the time. If bad weather is threatening, pick up bits and pieces of dry tinder as you hike. Look for dry needles and bark (especially pine needles and birch bark, if available.<\/p>\nIllumination (headlamp or flashlight)<\/strong>
Sleek lightweight flashlights are all the rage these days. But most exciting for lightweight hikers has been the development of tiny LED lights, which last for thousands of hours, are small enough to clip onto a key ring, provide enough light to read by, and weigh less than an ounce. Small headlamps with several LED bulbs are now available at tremendous weight and size savings.<\/p>\nRepair kit and tools (including knife)<\/strong>
You don\u2019t need to carry a heavy repair kit. Among the popular multipurpose knives, several brands have come out with miniature versions that pack multiple tools and blades into tiny packages. Duct tape is now available in small amounts so you don\u2019t have to take more than you think you\u2019ll need. Or you can simply wrap some around a pen or hiking poles.<\/p>\nFirst-aid supplies<\/strong>
First, know what you\u2019re doing. First-aid training is more important than first-aid equipment\u2014and it weighs nothing. Second, minimize the contents of store-bought first-aid kits. This is something you\u2019ll need to rethink with each trip you take, depending on wilderness conditions and group size. Evaluate what you frequently use. Minimize amounts of everything you take, either by buying tiny sample-sized portions, or by repackaging small portions into tiny containers.<\/p>\nSun protection (sunglasses and sunscreen)<\/strong>
Within the realm of reasonable budgets, you can\u2019t do much to minimize the weight of sunglasses. For sunscreen, choose waterproof versions that won\u2019t sweat of wash off easily. In buggy conditions, you can double-dip and save weight by purchasing sunscreen with bug repellent. Don\u2019t forget that clothing is also an effective sun (and bug) block.<\/p>\nEmergency shelter <\/strong><\/span>
An emergency space blanket or tube-tent weighs only a few ounces. A large, heavy-duty garbage bag can be used as emergency protection against rain and wind.<\/p>\nAdapted from Hiking Light Handbook<\/a><\/em><\/strong> by Karen Berger (The Mountaineers Books, $16.95 paperback).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u201cTen Essentials\u2019\u2014the ten items that every hiker should carry\u2014is a good basic emergency kit that has stood<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9018],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hiking-articles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openairlife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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