Appalachian Mountain Club - Delaware Valley Chapter

Going Ultra-lite is key to backpacking after injury

by Terry McAdams

Medical statisticians tell us that 80 percent of Americans will experience in their lifetime back pain severe enough to cause at least a temporary disability. Those of us who have already experienced it know it just ain’t fun - particularly if we are backpackers.

Most of us over forty or so were introduced to backpacking in the days of heavier equipment. A forty-five pound pack for a two or three day trip was de-rigueur. Sixty pounds or more was the standard for longer or colder trips. Heck, packers felt proud of their big, heavy packs and felt a bit above those car-campers who carried those cute little day packs.

After a back injury-induced ten-year break from backpacking and then spine surgery in 1997, I dug out my old equipment and went on a few short overnight packs last fall carrying the usual forty-five pounds. I didn’t even stop to consider that my pack could be significantly lighter without sacrificing comfort and safety. A recurrence of my old back pain, as well as a sobering health bulletin from Johns Hopkins Hospital about some of the hazards of carrying heavy backpacks, caused, no, forced me to rethink pack weight.

Conversations with other club members and a few magazine articles and books convinced me that going the ultra-light route was worth a try. After a few months of research, a lot of shipping equipment back and forth and a few trail trials, I settled on a new set of gear that weighed, with food and water for two or three days, just 23 pounds! By adding about four pounds of cloths and food, I can even do some winter trips.

So how did I get my pack so light? Well, I started by examining each and every item in my pack, as well as the pack itself. The greatest weight savings were in the pack and rain gear (minus three pounds each), the sleeping bag, tent and sleeping pad (minus two pounds each), and the stove and light camp shoes (a pound a piece). After that, the weight savings were measured in ounces - I even bought a little postal scale to check.

Things like substituting a single-edge razor blade for a three -ounce knife, and cutting all the labels out of the gear and stapling them to index cards to save them were little tricks that all added up to several more pounds saved. The result is a pack that weighs about as much as a full winter day-pack with snowshoes and is a joy to carry

And what about cost, comfort and convenience? Since I had made lightness and comfort the priority, I expected to spend as much as $2000. Surprisingly, I ended up spending only $587 to replace nearly all my old gear. Without getting into brand names, the gear I selected was generally not the most expensive or newest technology. I did order, try and return things like a $400 down sleeping bag and a $350 single-wall tent. I’ll gladly share my equipment list if you email me.

terry.mcadams@dep.state.nj.us.