My base pack weight went from 18 lbs to 11 lbs after one shakedown hike in the White Mountains
Two summers ago I did a 3 day loop in the White Mountains with a base weight around 18 lbs and I was miserable on every climb. Last month I did the same loop and my base weight came in at 11 lbs, and it felt like a completely different trip. The big change was the shakedown hike I did in between with a guy from a local hiking group who literally made me dump everything out on a picnic table at a trailhead in Lincoln, NH. He picked up my cook pot, my extra layers, my 3 liter bladder, and just shook his head. I cut the bladder down to two 1 liter bottles, swapped my heavy stove setup for a tiny canister one, and left behind about 4 lbs of stuff I never touched anyway. The weird part is I did not buy much new gear, I mostly just stopped packing for fear. What finally clicked was realizing I carried the same 5 lbs of clothes on every trip whether it was 40 degrees or 75. Curious what single item people here cut that made the biggest difference in their pack weight?