Stripped Down: Community Tips

Hiking shoes

Comments moderated by Mike St. Pierre

Thanks so much to our community for providing so many good tips & tricks to lighten your load. We’ll be expanding some of these into blog posts in the upcoming weeks.

  • From Charles Greenhalgh via Instagram (@daily_maple): Use a very large poncho. It provides protection from rain, but breathes really well and covers your pack and your legs to the knees. It can also serve as an emergency shelter. Charles has waited out hailstorms on the trail and made lunch under his poncho.
  • Thanks to Chris (@snow_slog) who advised us via Instagram to take a smaller pack than normal because it forces you to pack less. This brings to mind something I often tell my customers; I recommend you buy your pack last. By purchasing all your necessities first, you can figure out the lightest, best options for you. And then buy a pack that reflects those purchases. Buy a big pack from the get-go, and you’re just going to fill it, often with unnecessary stuff.
  • Tammy McGuire told us that hiking, as anything else, is built upon basic principals. Keep everything basic. We love it! Less gear equals more adventure. The more you know the less you need.
  • Jordan Manley told us: “It’s simple. Train yourself to need less. Share more. Minimize redundancy. Most people seem to bring way to many clothes.” We couldn’t agree more.
  • Ryan Ward Campbell’s “weigh everything” is absolutely in keeping with the right way to go light. We’ll expand on this in a future blog post.
  • We appreciated John Roslak’s comment to “Ziploc bag everything,” though we encourage you to buy our ultralight and much more durable cuben fiber stuff sacks ☺. We also agree with his advice that you should buy a light puffy jacket instead of bringing a bunch of extra layers. I bring a small, down jacket to stuff it into one of Hyperlite Mountain Gear’s stuff sack pillows, which doubles as a regular gear organizer stuff sack.
  • Jacob C. Anderson told us that he packs two cans of tuna despite the weight, because then he can leave his stove, fuel and pot behind. We assume this is for short trips. Not to mention, the tuna can doubles as a stove if you have denatured alcohol. Just remove the lid of the tuna can and fill with denatured alcohol and light on fire. You’ll need to build a pot stand around the can to support your pot but, this works really well in a pinch. I’ve had to use this technique several times on trips due to the fact outdoor stores selling fuel canisters were closed by the time we were ready to start a trip.
  • And finally, our favorite tip came from Ted Schiele via Instagram (@s.ted): “I only wear socks when I’m hiking!” Though, no offense, Ted, we kinda hope we don’t see you on the trail wink emoji

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