Backpacking Light - How to

1. Analyze your current equipment kit
A computer spreadsheet and a postal scale provide one cornerstone to the foundation for lightening your load. This will help you calculate the weight cost of your gear selection.
2. Only pack what you need
It's ok to carry luxury items but don't take everything with you. Backpackers like to carry luxury items such as camping mats, binoculars, books, self-inflating pads and electronics.. Carefully select a few key items for a particular trip. Some luxuries never get used at all because they're not applicable or you just don't have the time.
3. Base your gear on the season and weather
A really warm down sleeping bag is not suitable in summer. Not all clothing, shelter and sleeping bag are suitable for every season.
4. Buy lightweight equipment
Lighter alternatives are usually available as long as you can afford them. The first place to look is in the "big three" - sleeping bag, pack, and shelter. When choosing an ultralight backpack, make sure it can handle the whole weight of your gear.
5. Look for multi-functional equipment.
Treat your backpacking equipment as a system of components that work together. The ability to recognize synergistic relationships between your gear, or to select gear that performs multiple uses, is a key skill in reducing your pack weight and increasing the level of simplicity in your approach to lightweight backpacking. The classic example of ultralight multi-use gear: the poncho-tarp, which serves as both shelter and raingear.
6. Choose jackets and sleeping bags with down fill insulation.
For the same amount of warmth, down is far lighter than the best synthetics. The main disadvantage with down is that you need to be careful not to get it wet because they don't provide insulation when they do. Replacing your synthetic sleeping bag with a down alternative can save you as much as two-and-a-half pounds.
7. Windbreaker as an alternative to heavy coats
Wind shirts from GoLite, Montane, Marmot, and Ibex now weigh less than 3 ounces. Adding windbreakers to your clothing system can provide you with better warmth and comfort if you wear the right base layers underneath. This bottom line is that a windbreaker extends the comfort range of your clothing system.
8. Sharing your camping gear
Hiking with a friend, you can pool resources, especially shelter and camp stove. If you're creative enough there are many things you can share to keep the pack weight low.
9. Improve your outdoor skills
The better you are at backcountry hiking and camping, the better you are able to make do without modern camping equipment. Facing challenges, and working through them, can allow you (over a period of years, probably) to comfortably reduce weight of your first aid and emergency kits, clothing, food, and other items. It helps if you attend backpacking clinics, survival courses and and first aid courses.
10. Use smaller sized portions
You don't need a whole bottle of shampoo to last you the whole trip. You only need a small amount so it's better to have them in smaller bottles to save on weight and space. The goes for you other camping supplies as well including food and spices.
Reducing Your Backpack Weight in Stages
Gradually reduce your pack weight over a number of hikes rather than in one go. Find out on a hiking trip which gear you can live without. Since gear is more of an individual preference, it's better to take it one step at a time