Well start by taking a serious look at all of your gear. What do you really need as opposed to what you want for a comfortable hike?



ClothingDo you carry extra clothes? If you are carrying extra clothes are you carrying extra Pants and shirts that are light weight and made for hiking? Are you taking long pants and shorts or are you taking the new conversable hiking pants.

You can also purchase shirts long sleeved shirts that are zipped for venting and have sleeves that button above the elbow. You do not always need long and short sleeves when one shirt will work in hot or cold weather.

Look for clothes online and see what is available for

your next camping trip. You might be surprised at what you can find and buy the new bug off clothing and eliminate the need for carrying a couple cans of bug spray.

MealsDo you take hikes where there is plenty of water? If so instant rice meals are a great carb fix and will carry easy and with little weight. Instant soups come in a variety of types and you can buy them all in your grocery store with out the high cost of your camping store that sells only freeze dried meals that taste like cardboard.

If you must have your coffee in the morning try buying the coffee bags that you can by in most supermarkets. This will eliminate the need for extra containers to keep it separate from the rest of the foods.

Plastic eating utensils are a must. Non disposable spoons and forks are sturdy and last forever.

Many new meats and fish containers come in the new foil packages and you can add most any thing to rice and have a casserole type meal.

GearTake a close look at all the gear you have and decide if you can buy a combination tool. A fine example of one such item has a whistle, campus, and a thermometer all in one.

Everyone should have a good knife when camping but you should not carry five tools. Multi purpose tools come in a variety of sizes and options. You can go back to basics with a good old Swiss Army knife.

TentsWhen you back pack for several days what is the real need for a tent? Most people need them only for sleep. How much room do you need to sleep? This can be a big weight if you use a tent that is meant for more than sleeping. On one extended trip we used tube tents. A tube tent is not much more than a plastic tube with open ends. We took our two tube tents and put them end to end and slept with our feet in the middle. We used clothes pins for the ends and rocks for the base. Less than one pound each.

LightsHow many flash lights do you carry for your trip? How many batteries do you carry in your pack so you will not be in the dark? Consider the newer solar flashlights that charge an internal battery. You can add batteries for back up and you will have many hours of light without the extra weight. You might also consider the new wind up flashlights incase the weather turns bad. And with that thought in mind you might just consider the wind up radio with weather band if you need weather reports while or that long trip.

CookingYou will need a stove for cooking and the biggest weight problem is not the stove but the fuel. You can buy the new plastic fuel containers that are light weight but you still have the fuel to carry. You might consider learning to cook on your campfire. If you cook on your campfire you can cook the casserole type meal mentioned above in one pot. Where there is water all you need is to be able to boil your water and you're ready to cook.

The best tip of all is to have common sense. Check out your grocery store and try to locate

items that will be light weight and tasty.

Happy trails