Ultralight Backpacking

I've spent years compiling my ideal lightweight backpacking gear setup, & I've made a list to share with you. Read on & take a peek inside my 12-pound pack.

“There seems to be a miscommunication, that UL just means driving up miles but what it can mean is including so many more people.” JPD began our conversation talking about conceptions of UL as exclusive and elitist—we both had several stories of our gender and gender expression being an issue in the wider outdoor community.

The easiest way to lighten your pack isn’t to buy new gear, but to leave a few things you already have behind.

I've spent years compiling my ideal lightweight backpacking gear setup, & I've made a list to share with you. Read on & take a peek inside my 12-pound pack.

Some of the best moments in my life happened when I had the very least. Whenever I stress about money or work, I remind myself of that. When I was spending a majority of each year backpacking, hitchhiking, or cycling, people would ask me if I was a self-made millionaire or a trust-fund baby. I’d laugh it off and assure them that living like a hobo was dirt cheap. I used to have a motto back then: “A dollar saved is a mile hiked.” I’d see something I wanted to buy and think, "is it worth 200…

Trimming your gear to the ultralight necessities takes some ingenuity. Make it easy with this ultralight backpacking gear checklist.

Many backpackers carry closed-cell foam sleeping pads because they're lightweight and don't fail lik

The best ultralight backpacking gear from Decathlon. If you're looking for tested and affordable lightweight gear, Decathlon is worth a look.

With gear lighter than ever, it's time for ultralight backpackers to stop using the ten-pound baseweight as their cutoff.

To show you how backpacking gear lists can evolve, here's a list of items I stopped using as my preferences, skills, and experience level changed.