You cut the handle off your toothbrush, you paid $600 for a lightweight tent, you even pulled the cardboard tube out of the center of your roll of toilet paper. And yet, your backpack still weighs 45 pounds. Lugging a heavy pack can ruin the best of weekend backpacking trips. BRO’s panel of experts developed five easy steps to shed pack pounds on your next backpacking trip.

Meet the Experts

Vesna Plekanis has seen people do some stupid things in the woods. As co-owner and guide for A Walk in the Woods, she specializes in making city folk comfortable deep in the wilderness. “There’s an inverse relationship between pack weight and your level of enjoyment,” Plekanis says.

As a gear buyer for Footsloggers in Boone, N.C., Jesse Optikar understands gear obsession. “People love conventional backpacking gear, but it’s not always the smartest choice,” Optikar says.

Joe Moerschbaecher knows what you need and don’t need in the backcountry. As owner of Pura Vida Adventures, a guide service that offers backpacking clinics and multi-sport adventures all over the world, he spends more days in the woods than in his home. “We recently went on a trip for 10 days with no food drops and we had our packs at 35 pounds total.”

STEP 1: ENFORCE RESTRICTIONS

Optikar likes to limit himself before he sets foot on the trail by the size of his pack. “If I bring a big pack, I’m going to fill it up.” Having a smaller pack forces you to decide what items are most important, allowing you to shave weight by ditching unnecessary items.

STEP 2: BE REALISTIC

“One guy showed up for a guided backpacking trip on the A.T. with a machete,” Plekanis says. Hiking in the Southeast, you should be prepared for rain and temperature changes, but it’s not a bushwhack through the Congo. Be realistic about the challenges you’re going to meet. Do you really need to carry gallons of water when you could purify water from a stream?

STEP 3: LEAVE THE COMFORTS OF HOME AT HOME

“A lot of people cram in electronic equipment, but won’t think to bring a compass and map,” Plekanis says. The idea of backpacking is to get away from civilization, so leave the distractions at home. A deck of cards can be fun, but do you need your Ipod and the blender?

STEP 4: DON'T BE A FASHIONISTA

Don’t expect to change your clothes every day. Sure, it would be nice to have a freshly laundered set of jammies to slip into each night in the woods, but clothing makes up some of the heaviest items in your pack. “People pack too many clothes,” Moerschbaecher says. “You want warm stuff to wear at camp, but think of your sleeping bag as an additional piece of clothing that you can wear around the camp.”

STEP 5: MAKE SMART CHOICES

The primary way to cut weight is with the shelter. “Rather than using a conventional tent, a lot of people are switching to tarps,” Optikar says. It’s the difference between carrying a six-pound tent and a sub-three-pound tarp. Also, look into the new integrated cook systems from MSR and Jetboil, which save weight and pack space. “And choose a down sleeping bag rather than synthetic,” Optikar says. “The warmth to weight ratio is better with down. People are worried about getting their down bags wet, but moisture isn’t much of an issue. Normal condensation inside a tent will roll off the down bag.”

-Graham Averill