Over the years and through many “pack shakedowns” I’ve gradually taken a more lightweight hiking approach. The shift to ultralight hiking boils down to this — more comfort while hiking, less comfort while camping. When you’re on a long trail for months at a time, you’ll want to calculate your rough ratio of time spent hiking to time spent in camp. If you find yourself putting in more miles and spending less time at camp, you may want to transition to more lightweight backpacking set up. I highly recommend staring with your “big three” — pack, tent, sleeping bag. These three items are the bulk weight of what you carry on your back. Evolving from a sleeping bag to a quilt and a smaller footprint carbon tent meant I could finally fit my items into a 36L ultralight pack. From there it becomes a process of elimination. Layering becomes my clothing motto. Every item in my pack has two uses, and if I’m not using it daily, I send it forward or ditch it all together. Depending on the trail I may even ditch my cook system and go with cold soaking. Every hiker knows there are two inevitable things that will consume your mind out in the wilderness— what gear you can eliminate and, of course, food.