One of the big attractions for me in long distance hiking is the logistics: all that planning and gear. My current base weight (everything in the pack less food and water) is just a bit shy of 18lbs.  May not sound like a lot but I eat about 1.5 lbs of food and day and need 3-4L of water, or more depending on the hike. Food and water weigh a lot and really cannot be reduced much. Its not at all hard to end up with a pack weight well over 30lbs and that’s a lot to hurq up 2000+ feet and 15 miles every day.

The best way to reduce weight is to reduce base weight.  So, I spend a bit of time tinkering with what goes in the pack, and looking for lighter-weight alternatives or things that can do double or triple duty. All this means I spend a lot of time planning what goes in the pack.  A few days ago I saw a great post on Facebook for a guy who laid out all his gear. It looked like modern art and I decided to do the same thing. Cool, eh?