You can’t create a good ultralight system by simply going to your favorite camping store and buying the lightest and best gear! Sure, you can buy the lightest cook pot, the lightest stove, the lightest drinking mug, the lightest tent, the lightest raincoat, the lightest backpack cover, the lightest multifunction tool, and the lightest or best backpack…..and still your gear will be overweight for Ultralight Backpacking! Why? Because there are two keys to creating an Ultralight Backpacking system that have nothing to do with buying light weight gear!

First, you need to focus on reducing the weight of the whole backpack, not just the weight of each separate piece of gear. The best ultralight backpacking gear is a system, with each piece of gear optimized to work within that system. In order to do this, most of your gear should be designed to perform multiple functions. This is an important way to save weight.

The second key is to develop ultralight backpacking skills. This includes knowing what gear you can do without and knowing how to do more with the gear you do carry. This is not about sacrificing comfort! It’s about learning how to stay comfortable with less.

Here are some examples of the kinds of integrated gear that Ultralight Outfitters has designed, and the kinds of ultralight backpacking skills we intend to teach.

Our PonchoTent is both a Tent and a Poncho. The poncho will keep you and your pack dry while walking in the rain, and the tent is all you need to keep the rain out at night. It is lighter than you could ever get with a separate tent, raincoat and backpack cover, but it needs some extra skills and tips to get the most out of it. The instructions we include with each PonchoTent teach how to find the best places to pitch the tent, the best knots to tie it up with, the best place to carry it in your pack so it is handy as a poncho, and the best way to dry your poncho while walking after it rains.

Our Cook Stove and cook pot fit together to create an insulated drinking mug. Together, they provide everything you need to cook and serve hot food…. all in one. Our complete instuctions teach you how to cook with the stove and how best to pack it up, but there is much more to cooking and ultralight backpacking. In this blog, we’ll provide food ideas, show you how to do meal planning, and give you tips that makes shopping easier. We’ll even explain how this ultralight cooking system works when camping with kids and teens. (They love it, and it’s educational.)

Ultralight backpacking is just this simple. Use well-designed Ultralight Outfitters gear that works together in a system, and learn the skills to stay comfortable and safe with your gear. Stay safe, have fun, and enjoy!