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Backpacking: Is it Better to Pack Light or Pack Heavy?
In the world of backpacking and outdoorsmanship – for lack of a better term – there are a few schools of thought. One of the most popular ideas for backpackers is that packing light not only reduces the weight on your back, but makes everything simpler when it’s time to set up a camp. Another school of thought feels that extra weight is worth the extra convenience. And yet another school believes that you should be able to survive with a flint, a knife, and the clothes on your back. Who’s right?
If you want to learn more about yourself as a backpacker, you’re going to have to tackle two different ways of learning: experience and experimentation. You never learn anything unless you actually do it, and in order to do something, you’ve got to take a leap of faith and actually experiment.
For those of you light packers out there, how many times have you actually gone backpacking without your light equipment? Is there better equipment out there that improves the quality of life you have when you’re backpacking?
For the heavy packers, have you tried packing light? What was the experience like? Answering these questions will help you find out exactly what kind of backpacker you are – and what’s more you’ll finally have evidence to support your philosophy.Some people believe that packing light for hiking and backpacking is a great idea. But they don’t think it’s because you should pack light, it’s that you should pack next to nothing at all! Survivalists are people who enter the wilderness, striving to learn how to live by their wits and skills alone (with perhaps a tool or two). Although this skill certainly isn’t easy to learn, it can be easy to maintain with experience.
What kind of backpacker or hiker are you? Are you able to point to an experience in your life where you can definitely say “This is why I know the other way of doing it is wrong”? Have you given another way of doing things an honest try?
If you want to backpack more often, you should learn the many different skills that come with backpacking, not just a specific way of doing things. After all, isn’t the fun of backpacking the novelty of creating new experienced and seeing land you’ve never seen before? Why not blaze a few new trails?
Photo Credits: thechosenrebel
