Comfortable and safe are vital! Anyone can go out into the mountains with a tiny amount of gear and suffer — you need to be warm, well-fed and ready to deal with safety issues. Ultralight camping should be delightful, not stressful. The challenge is to succeed with only the gear that’s absolutely needed.
The first-aid kit is a good metaphor for your lightweight camping mind-set. It would be foolish to travel without one, right? But what is truly required? What can you effectively improvise? There is a blurry line between TOO heavy and TOO light. You can still go out in the backcountry with a very light pack and be comfortable and safe (see tip 55).
Excerpt from Ultralight Backpackin’ Tips by Mike Clelland
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So what’s in your first aid kit?
I actually beefed mine up in some ways (and pared it down in others) from a pre-made kit. I focused on things that are most likely to screw me up, like abrasions, blisters, thorns, and repetitive stress injuries, and altitude sickness. So I have a lot of ibuprofen and Tylenol, leukotape on release papers, good small scissors and tweezers, and blister bandages and band aids. Being a woman, I also packed meds for UTI and yeast infections, totally not included in any med kit commercially. Gloves? Gone. Irrigation syringe? Gone. Useless plastic tweezers? Gone.
I actually beefed mine up in some ways (and pared it down in others)
That sounds right, adapating it to your actual needs! 😀
About 5 years ago my first aid kit was a gallon ziploc my partner prepared. It had boxes of band-aids, bottles of pills, bags of lozenges, multiple packs of moleskin, a fabric bandage, rolls of tape, a roll of antacid, etc. Whenever we would go on a hike, short or long, we’d pack it automatically. It weighed well over a lb and after reviewing it critically I realized there was lots of duplication and that I didn’t know what some of it was even for. I’ve managed to downsize that thing to a quart-size ziploc for use as a couple, but when I go solo I carry 20 ibuprofen, 3 Sudafed, 2 Loperamide and tweezers in a tiny baggie. I also carry a patch or 2 of leukotape, a needle, floss and mini scissors and one Ibuprofen PM per night. In the last 3 years I’ve used all of it at least once except the Sudafed and Loperamide (🤞). Additional risk mitigation is choosing the right trips at the right time of year and appropriate preparation.
Mine comes in at about 250g fully loaded, which will suffice for two people for three days of harsh luck. I could probably still reduce it a bit but I also don’t want to think too hard about modifying it when we hike with friends; and I have given stuff away on the trail before.
Mine comes in at about 250g fully loaded
As always Andrew Skurka has a well-researched and reasonable take on first aid kits, it’s the one thing he refuses to list a weight for.
I have given stuff away on the trail before.
Same here! I’ve given away leukotape, ibuprofen, ibuprofen PM, floss and needle and repair tape and gotten ibuprofen donated to me when I was suffering in the Sierra.
hmmmm. I should probably get some decent tweezers and scissors. I also need to replace my benadryl. It got wet and I never refilled it.
Thank you for posting this list. I’m comforted to know that I was already doing most of what was listed here, but worried that I left out a few essentials.
