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SHOP PRODUCTSOutdoor Life: Ultralight Backpacking Hacks You Can Find at a Gas Station
Tips for some of the best gear for ultralight backpacking might already be in your home.
Outdoor Life: Ultralight Backpacking Hacks You Can Find at a Gas Station
Last updated:
January 20, 2025
| 5 min read
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Tips for some of the best gear for ultralight backpacking might already be in your home.
Watch videoOutdoor Life: Ultralight Backpacking Hacks You Can Find at a Gas Station
Ultralight Backpacking Hacks You Can Find at a Gas Station
Sure, it’s expensive to achieve that elusive sub-10 pound base weight. But trimming a few pounds off your kit is shockingly affordable. You can spend less than $20 at your local gas station and trim more weight off your backpack than spending hundreds of dollars on a Dyneema ultralight tent. Here are the top ultralight backpacking hacks for saving weight while saving your wallet.
Smartwater Bottle
For years, there was an obvious tell for the likes of ultralight thru-hikers versus traditional weekend warriors. One group was carrying a trusty Nalgene (or two) in their backpack’s side pockets. The other had bedraggled smartwater bottles. Occasionally, it’d be a Vitamin water or Gatorade, but the slim profile — often with a Sawyer mini sticking out the top — of the Smartwater bottle was the most ubiquitous.
Laura Lancaster
Hi, I‘m Laura. I’ve been editing and writing for nearly twenty years, covering everything from developing a seismologist’s first book to telling the story of my first deer hunt.
Ultralight Backpacking Hacks You Can Find at a Gas Station
Sure, it’s expensive to achieve that elusive sub-10 pound base weight. But trimming a few pounds off your kit is shockingly affordable. You can spend less than $20 at your local gas station and trim more weight off your backpack than spending hundreds of dollars on a Dyneema ultralight tent. Here are the top ultralight backpacking hacks for saving weight while saving your wallet.
Smartwater Bottle
For years, there was an obvious tell for the likes of ultralight thru-hikers versus traditional weekend warriors. One group was carrying a trusty Nalgene (or two) in their backpack’s side pockets. The other had bedraggled smartwater bottles. Occasionally, it’d be a Vitamin water or Gatorade, but the slim profile — often with a Sawyer mini sticking out the top — of the Smartwater bottle was the most ubiquitous.
Laura Lancaster
Hi, I‘m Laura. I’ve been editing and writing for nearly twenty years, covering everything from developing a seismologist’s first book to telling the story of my first deer hunt.
Ultralight Backpacking Hacks You Can Find at a Gas Station
Sure, it’s expensive to achieve that elusive sub-10 pound base weight. But trimming a few pounds off your kit is shockingly affordable. You can spend less than $20 at your local gas station and trim more weight off your backpack than spending hundreds of dollars on a Dyneema ultralight tent. Here are the top ultralight backpacking hacks for saving weight while saving your wallet.
Smartwater Bottle
For years, there was an obvious tell for the likes of ultralight thru-hikers versus traditional weekend warriors. One group was carrying a trusty Nalgene (or two) in their backpack’s side pockets. The other had bedraggled smartwater bottles. Occasionally, it’d be a Vitamin water or Gatorade, but the slim profile — often with a Sawyer mini sticking out the top — of the Smartwater bottle was the most ubiquitous.
Laura Lancaster
Hi, I‘m Laura. I’ve been editing and writing for nearly twenty years, covering everything from developing a seismologist’s first book to telling the story of my first deer hunt.
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