Introduction: reduce the weight of your backpack
For this article, we will use the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) 11-day hike. We did it in section due to knee issue and overloaded backpack.
The first time, we packed lots of things and gears. That in the end we wouldn’t even need. When we came back, we striped our pack and weighted every item we had. My pack had 17.5kg and Tina’s had 13.9kg. Which is way over the top limit of 13kg for such a hike. Let’s say that it wasn’t enjoyable carrying those packs!
The second time, we dropped our packs weight to 12kg for mine and 9kg for Tina’s. Now that was super enjoyable, and we didn’t even feel the pack anymore.
That’s how we did and how you can reduce the weight of your backpack
Table of Contents
How to Reduce the Weight of your backpack – Couple Hiking
Various items
The first time I had in my pack: iPhone charger, Huawei P20 charger, Micro USB cable, sewing kit, Tent, sleeping mattress repair kit, Osprey 1L Pouch, vision glass and pouch, wallets, House & Car keys, Pouch, Passport Alex, Passport Tina, Passport cover Alex, Passport Cover Tina.
All of them weighted 0.853kg. Here is what I changed and how you can reduce the weight of your backpack:
- Gave the iPhone Charger to Tina
- Remove the Micro USB cable
- Remove the sewing kit
- Remove the vision glasses
- Remove the wallet and took only CB and cash
- Remove the house key
- Change the pouch by a plastic bag
- Remove the passports cover
By doing this, I dropped the weight to 0.314kg.
Tina didn’t have anything for this section, so she was by 0kg the 1st time and 0.047kg the second time (iPhone Charger)
If you want to reduce even more:
- Remove the Tent, sleeping mattress repair kit
- Remove the Osprey 1L Pouch
You are now at 0.270kg.
Sleeping Gears
The first time, I brought: Sleeping bag 1°C + Compression bag + Storage net x1, sleeping liner + case x1, Head torch x1, Microfiber towel + case x1 which weighted 1.518kg. The only things I changed here was that I did not bring my sleeping bah storage net that if forgot the in my sleeping bags the first time. That dropped the weight to 1.468kg.
For Tina, she had: Sleeping bag -5°C + Compression bag, Sleeping liner + case x1, Head torch x1, Microfiber towel + case x1 which weighted 1.804kg. The second time she reduced to 1.719kg by removing the headtorch. One for 2 is more than enough for a summer hike.
If you want to reduce the weight of your backpack even more:
- Tina would have to change her sleeping bag to the same as mine.
She would then be at 1.231kg.
Snacks
During our first time, I didn’t have any, so I was at 0kg here. The second time I took some from Tina and was at 0.347kg.
Tina had the first time 2.137kg of snack with her. That dropped to 0.395kg the second time! In the TMB, you go through town quite often so you do not need to bring so much food or snack as you can buy it along the way.
Healthcare
In the first hike, I carried: Nail cutter x1, Wet wipes x1, Travel shampoo x2, Travel soap x2, Toothbrush x1, Toothpaste x1, Toilet paper x1, Sun cream x1. The top of that was 0.679kg.
The 2nd time:
- Half of wet wipes
- No travel shampoos
- No travel soaps
- Toothpaste was taken by Tina
- No suncream
That reduce my healthcare gear weight to 0.176kg.
To reduce the weight of your backpack even more:
- Remove the nail cutter
- Remove the wet wite
You would be at 0.092kg.
Tina was carrying Travel shampoo x1, Travel soap x1, Toothbrush x1, Toilet paper x1, Sun cream x1. The second time she:
- Switch the Shampoo by hard Shampoo
- Switch the Soap by hard Soap
- Remove the toilet paper
- Added the toothpaste.
She went from 0.222kg to 0.212kg.
Medicine
During our first TMB, I brought a small pouch with medicine weighting 0.087kg. The second time I didn’t.
Headgears
I had Cap x1, Hat x1, Sunglasses + pouch x1 for a total of 0.227kg.
To reduce the weight of the headgears, I removed the hat and reached 0.181kg.
Tina did exactly the same.
Chest gear
The chest gear will really be about how comfortable you are with wearing the same stuff days after days. Some hikers would wear a t-shirt 5 days or more. But we prefer to change every 2 to 3 days. And when the weather if nice, we washed our stuff at night.
The first hike I had: Merino t-shirt x5, Down jacket x1, Rain jacket hard-shell x1, Rain jacket soft-shell x1 for a total weight of 1.711kg.
The second time:
- I removed 1 Merino t-shirt
- I removed the Rain jacket soft-shell
I was then at 1.387kg.
To go even further to reduce the weight of your backpack:
- Remove one more Merino T-shirt
You reach 1.254kg.
Tina had the first hike: Merino t-shirt x3, T-shirt x2, Down jacket x1, Shirt 1x, Bra x3, Rain jacket hard-shell x1, Rain jacket soft-shell x1, Pyjamas x1.
She then:
- Remove 1 t-shirt
- Remove 1 shirt
- Remove 3 Bra and took only 2 bracers
- Remove the Rain jacket soft-shell
- Remove the Pyjama.
The went from 1.622kg to 1.007kg. If she would remove the regular t-shirt, she could even go to 0.898kg.
Legs gear
Let see what I got the 1st hike: Hiking pant x1, Hybrid hiking short/pant x1, Swim short x1, Underwear x8, Belt x1, Rain over-pants x1.
And what I changed:
- No Swim short
- No Rain over-pants
- Only 5 Underwear
That made me carried 0.721kg instead of 1.877kg. I could also only have brought one hiking pants to get to 0.641kg.
On tina’s side, from carrying 1.068kg made of Hiking pant x1, Leggings x1, ¾ Pants x1, Underwear x8, Rain Poncho. She carried 0.571kg by:
- Removing the ¾ pant
- Removing 3 underwear’s
- Removing the rain Poncho
She could get to 0.393kg by removing the legging.
Foot gears
I had Merino socks x1, Regular socks x4, Hiking boots x1, Hiking sandals x1 weighting 2.175kg. I dropped to 1.809kg by:
- Taking 3 merino socks
- Removing all regular socks
- Replacing the sandals by flipflop.
2 Merinos socks could also do the job for a total of 1.746kg.
Tina went from 1.402kg of Merino socks x2, Regular socks x2, Hiking shoes x1, Hiking sandals x1 to 1.008kg by replacing the sandals by flipflops.
Removing the regular sock would have brought her to 0.941kg.
Others
On top of all that, I still had with me: Battery bank x1, Tripods x1, Swiss Army knife, Leatherman multi tools, Hiking pole x2, Water pouch 3L x1, Water bottle x1, Gel, TMB Guidebook x1, Map x1 which is an additional 5.047kg.
Here I reduced to 2.941kg by:
- Removing the Leatherman multi tools
- Only carrying 1 to 1.5L of water
- Giving the water bottle to Tina
- Removing the Gel
- Removing the guidebook
You could even reduce the weight of your backpack to 2.477kg here by removing the battery bank and the map.
Tina, on her side had Battery bank x1, Yoga Mat x1, Earphone x1, Essential oil pouch & cream, Hiking pole x2, Water bottle x1 for an extra 2.959kg.
She reduced to 1.442kg by:
- Removing the battery bank
- Removing the Yoga mat
Backpacks & Pouches
To organised all of that I Had: Backpack 65L x1, Backpack upper hood, Rain cover, Compression bag L – Clothes x1, Compression bag L – Sandals x1, Compression bag M – Underwear’s x1, Compression bag M – Others x1 which represented a total of 2.590kg.
I got it down to 2.534kg by removing one of the pouches.
You could reduce the weight of your backpack to 2.299kg by not bringing the upper hood of the pack!
Tina had Backpack 65L x1, Backpack upper hood, Rain cover, Compression bag 12L – Cooking x1, Compression bag L – Clothes x1, Shoes bags x2, Compression bag S – Others x2 which represented 2.9494kg.
She made it down to 2.213kg by:
- Removing the pack’s upper hood
- Removing the shoes bags
- Removing 1 compression bag
How to Reduce the Weight of your backpack – Couple Hiking + Camping
If like us, you will be camping along the trail you are looking at some additional weight.
My camping gears were the first time: Pillow + case x1, sleeping mattress + case x1, Sitting towel, Tent Bag x1, Picks x12, Tent x1, Rain cover x1, Tent pole Structure x1, footprint x1. A total of 3.201kg.
I changed:
- No sitting towel
- Picks x12 given to Tina
- Tent pole Structure x1 given to Tina
- footprint x1 given to Tina
And were by 2.001kg.
Tina had Pillow + case x1, sleeping mattress + case x1 for 0.587kg and ended up with 1.624kg.
She is carrying more here but that makes the weight distribution between both of us better.
How to Reduce the Weight of your backpack – Couple Hiking + Camping + Cooking
If you want to cook along the trail you could be looking at some add gears:
- Gas bottle 1x
- Camping gas heater + lighter 1x
- Cutlery set x2
- Bowls, Pant, Cup set x1
- Kitchen clothes x1
This represent 1.074kg plus the food you will be cooking.
How to reduce the weight of your backpack even more
In our minimalism list, we could even lower the weight by changing our 65L packs by 40-50L one. This would drop around 1kg per pack!
Also, you could switch to lighter shoes/boots. Even though you do not carry them on your back they still represent additional weight on your body. But that depends on what you prefer.
Sum-up: reduce the weight of your backpack
This is the complete list of gears. Remember that you will be carrying some on you:
- Alex: 2.462kg (Merino t-shirt x1, Hiking pant x1, Belt x1, Underwear x1, socks x1, Hiking boots x1, Swiss Army knife, Hiking pole x2)
- Tina: 1.684kg (Merino t-shirt x1, Bra x1, Hiking pant x1, Regular socks x2, Underwear x1, Hiking shoes x1, Hiking pole x2)
That gives us a total for a Couple Hiking:
- 1st Time: 14.302kg + 12.252kg
- 2nd time: 9.397kg + 7.112kg
- Minimalism: 7.315kg + 5.318kg
Couple Hiking + Camping
- 1st Time: 17.503kg + 12.839kg
- 2nd time: 11.398kg + 8.736kg
- Minimalism: 9.316kg + 6.942kg
Those are approx. number and are based on our gears. Yours might differ a bit.
“You won, this time. But you are as big as you are ever going to get. And I’m still growing.” – Sir Edmund Hillary
