The heaviest items in your backpack are water, food, and fuel. They're called consumables because you use them up as your trip progresses, as opposed to "base weight" which measures the weight of non-consumable items like a backpack, tent, unworn clothing, a sleeping bag, and other items that you'll carry your entire hike.
Given the effort that people spend reducing the weight of their base weight by buying lighter weight gear, it's a wonder that more attention isn't paid to reducing consumable weight, given that it's often heavier than all for your other gear combined. If you're taking a hike where every once counts, shouldn't every once count?
Common Consumables
- Water
- Food
- Fuel
- Toothpaste
- Soap
- Hand cleanser
- Bug dope
- Chapstick
- Sunscreen
- Toilet paper
- Wet wipes
- Butt paste
- Foot salve
- Spare batteries
- Leukotape
- Drugs/Pills
Here are some tips to reducing the weight of the consumable items in your backpack:
Water
Water weighs two pounds per liter. Camel up at water sources (drink extra) to reduce the amount of water you need to carry between them.
Calculate the distance to the next water source – a map helps. Carry only as much water as you need or a little in reserve, except in cases (like the desert) where it's prudent to carry more.
Food
Don't carry more food than you can eat. You'd be surprised how many people do this. You're not going to starve to death on a backpacking trip.
Carry fatty, high calorie foods like potato chips (smashed up to save space), olive oil, coconut milk, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans. etc to reduce your food weight, while still eating nutritious foods.
Combine multiple servings into one package instead of carrying many individual servings. This can cut down on packaging weight and the amount of garbage you have to carry out.
Prepare your own dehydrated meals instead of carrying heavier prepared foods.
Stove Fuel
Carry a collapsible wood stove to cook with wood you find on the ground, instead of carrying a Jetboil and a fuel canister, or an alcohol stove and a fuel bottle full of alcohol.
Go stoveless when conditions permit, and rehydrate food in a jar as you walk.
Bring Less
Repackage all creams and gels into small plastic bottles or tubs so you're not carrying the entire amount in the original packaging. This includes sunscreen, bug dope, water purification drops, butt paste, hand sanitizer, toothpaste, etc.
Pre-cut strips of leukotape blister prevention tape and attach them to release paper Don't bring the entire roll.
Eliminate
Reduce or eliminate the amount of toilet paper you carry. Use natural materials (leaves, sticks, rocks) instead.
Wash yourself with soap and water, not wet wipes or other moist towelettes. This will eliminate packaging that you need to also carry out as well as the water weight they contain before use.
Replace all of your electronic devices with ones that can be recharged with a USB battery pack. Get rid of all of the spare batteries in different sizes that you carry.
Full Skin Out Weight
Full skin out weight or FSO as it's sometimes called, includes your gear's base weight, the weight of your worn clothing (not usually counted in base weight) and the weight of your consumables, combined. While discussing base weight is a good starting point for comparison between hikers, the only weight that really matters is the full skin out weight of what you have to carry when you go hiking or backpacking. So, don't forget to give some thought on how to keep the weight of your consumables down to make your FSO more manageable.
Written 2018.
See Also:
- Ultralight Cooking without a Stove or a Fuel Container
- How to Stay Clean on a Backpacking Trip
- How to Pack Leukotape Blister Tape in a First Aid Kit
The post How to Reduce the Weight of Your Consumables appeared first on Section Hikers Backpacking Blog.
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