What have you done to lighten up your gear? What changes have you made to take less with you? Our group would like to try a trip next year going in the lightest possible.

I’d recommend looking at video’s from backpackers and see what applies. Dan Becker, Backcountry Exposure, Rob Pelton, Midwest Backpacker, among many others show great tutorials on just this & apply it to canoe country. For example, topquilts, UL tents, freeze/ dehydrated food, and limiting your fishing tackle play a huge factor. Without knowing what you have currently, I’d just recommend the above name backpackers youtube vids as a starting point.

For us, the easiest way our group cut weight was using a Lean3 and going the topquilt route.

Lightest possible = $$$$$

That means probably replacing just about everything you have. Is that actually what you want? Or just lighten the easy stuff and stay within a budget?

The easiest ways to lighten loads are the heaviest items. Tent, sleeping bag (if you do both of those) the canoe itself you could get a carbon one with carbon everything. Lighter stove, lighter cookware, limited dishes, cut out a pan or something from the usual list. Lightest tarp if you take one at all. When do you stop cutting weight due to sacrificing trip enjoyment?

cyclones30: "the canoe itself you could get a carbon one with carbon everything."

FWIW, Northstar and Nova Craft's carbon canoes are a hair *heavier* than their lightweight kevlar. However, so far, carbon gunnels, thwarts, yoke, seats is still universally lighter. Canoe may not be the most bang-for-buck on weight reduction if they're already using something remotely lightweight though.

What comes to mind for me for reducing weight first is not bringing things that aren't necessary in the first place--it doesn't get lighter than 0. I see a lot of people who pack lots of ultimately unnecessary and redundant stuff. Leave the hatchet home. Does one really need two pots and a cast iron pan AND cups AND bowls? A lot of people pack a lot more clothing than they need as well and don't plan good layering combos to make the clothes they do bring as adaptable to changing conditions as possible.

After that, I also do jump the larger items where an upgrade can usually mean even more than just lighter weight. Most people have a decent canoe, so I skip that, but tent, sleep insulation, tarp...even one's packs themselves can be things that get better in more ways than one, including being lighter in weight, when upgraded.

Changing the food situation can be a place to shed a lot of weight for people who pack heavier foods, but I hesitate to go there because that seems to be something fewer people are willing to compromise on.

The easiest way is to leave unnecessary things behind. As I have taken more trips ironically I’ve started to bring more and travel slower/less. Maybe things will turn back the other way at some point in the future.

The next easiest thing is moving to all dehydrated/freeze dried foods. This has provided the biggest benefit on our trips. The longer your trip the more this will help.

When it comes down to replacing equipment you will need to spend some serious cash to drop a couple pounds here or there. If money is no issue this makes sense. If it is, justifying the expense can be tough.

I bought some new cookware, a mug, and a stove, all made from Titanium. Light and very strong. Works great for boil and dump dehydrated foods.

When you weight everything that a tent sleeping pad, and sleeping bag weight you will be surprised. Then weight a hammock with goose down an under quilt, and a goose down cover quilt. The weight saving is astounding!

Switch out for a Kevlar canoe, and carbon fiber paddle.

Look into the Sea to Summit E-vent waterproof compression bags. I own 4 of these and recommend them. They are very light and can be loaded with clothes and into a lightweight pack for portages.

Only take two changes of clothes. Everything should be made from nylon or polyester. At camp you just jump in the lake with your clothes on. Then hang on a line to dry. Put on the other set of clothes. Repeat

Plan with everyone beforehand so you don’t have 4 water filters, 3 axes, 5 cameras. Everything adds up to weight.

Limit to one fishing rod and a small tackle box. That’s a tough one for me.

Leave ten to twenty pounds of belly fat at home.
Locally sourced and sustainable, also inexpensive.

The ideas already noted all make good sense: go over what you currently bring and remove the items that aren't used as well as redundant gear. If you want to reach deep into your pocketbook you can always upgrade gear and shave a few ounces here and there. But at the end of the day you're traveling by canoe and not on foot, so with the exception of portages here and there the weight of your gear is something that we may overthink when compared to the comfort that you get when you ultimately arrive at your destination. Perhaps another way to look at the equation is that there are times when you can subtract by addition. Adding two strapping and energetic teenagers to the trip who can carry more weight on those portages is one solution to the weight of your group gear (although the food pack may need to grow exponentially) and it has the added advantage of exposing a new generation to the outdoors.

Jillpine makes an excellent observation as well that much of the extra weight that is carried on those portages isn't in our packs but rather is hanging over our belts!

UL tripping is something that sounds great to many people, but lots of people (me included) find some sacrifices not worth the weight savings when canoeing. I always like to focus on things I can try with a small 'cost' of changing my mind. I'd hate to spend thousands on a UL gear only to find I hate UL tripping and have an expensive stuff I never use.
I'd consider things in this order, similar to what other people have recommended:
1. Leave things at home/avoid doubling up. Try a trip with no hatchet and see if you like it. Make sure you do a shakedown with other trippers to avoid two of something. I like to do this at the trail head, the night before, so you can see other guys things. Scaling back fishing gear is #1 for many of us.
2. Food is the easiest thing to dial back. Moving to dehydrated saves tons of weight. I started dehydrating my food a few years back and it is all we eat now. Quality is better than before. Also, it is super easy to try it for one trip and go back to lugging in steaks and frozen foods if you miss them.
3. Everybody values things differently. I use a spreadsheet and a food scale to calculate the weight savings per $ of replacing gear. But I also consider the 'value' of the item. If you love having a chair, it has a ton of value to you, so bring it, ounces be-damned.
3. If you're purchasing new gear, buy things you're likely to take every time, that are better gear than you own now. That way even if you ultimately like 'heavy' tripping, you would still choose to take the new kit. If you buy a hammock and you aren't a hammock person, it stays home. If you buy a better, lighter headlamp, you're likely to take it anyway.

1) Listed all my gear and the weight on lighterpak.com That allowed me to see my total weight and set a goal.
2) I did a combination of replacing old gear with lighter versions of the big 3: canoe, tent, and paddle. Then I looked at my various meals. I cut out some of the heavier (and more complicated meals). The 3rd step was to slowly replace some other gear like raincoat, in-camp shoes, various toiletries, clothing, etc. with smaller or lighter versions. It was a lot of little weight changes that added up to a lot.
3) I used a lot of UL backpacker blogs and videos to figure out what would work best for me.

Solo trip 2020: total gear/food/clothing weight = 100 lbs (base weight 28 lbs)
Solo trip 2021: total gear/food/clothing weight = 75 lbs. (base weight 23 lbs) (and that still included luxury items like books and watercolor set)
Moose Lake Border Challenge (that got cancelled) I was packed and ready with total weight of 72 lbs. (base weight 19 lbs)

Note: my base weight is everything EXCEPT canoe, pfd, paddle, yoke, consumables, clothes on my back during the day

Clothing and miscellaneous is where most people can drop a lot of weight. I bring one set of clothes (boots, socks, shorts from convertible pants, underwear, t-shirt, bug shirt, hat, sunglasses) for during the day. I bring one set for night (silk long johns, 1 pair dry underwear, 1 pair dry socks, dry shoes, t-shirt, puffy vest, zip on legs for my convertible pants). This is for a 2 week trip. For toiletries I bring a tiny toothbrush and tooth powder, small amount of floss, mini sunscreen for lips, mini foldable hairbrush, my contact lenses and solution, .5 oz. sunscreen stick, and a tiny container of hand lotion (0.5 oz). My total toiletries kit weighs less than 8 oz.

Food is all freeze-dried meals except some cheese and salami for lunch. Stove kit is an alcohol stove, titanium pot, plastic food jar (acts as my bowl and soaking jar), titanium spoon, and 8 oz. of alcohol.

Make sure you have evenly spaced gear for the number of portage trips you want to do....

This doesn't apply to single portages, but if you double (or triple or quad) portage, make sure you don't go back for a 5 pound bag... there's nothing worse than having to go back for a single small backpack because you just couldn't get it on the two trips across the portage..... but if you are making you second trip across with gear and barely have much weight, then you can add luxuries. I find 3 bags and the canoe each one taking a single trip across.

It's a mindset shift instead of actually getting lighter gear.... Worse case scenario is you spend a ton of money on lightweight stuff, and still end up making a second trip across carrying next to nothing.

I personally find the single portage unnecessary, which allows me to have a light load and luxuries, because I can spread it across multiple trips.

Clothes and Food are your biggest, cheapest weight savings. Reduce food or use lighter dehydrated. Go 2-3 days per day outfit, then have clean to sleep. Use lighter weight performance materials instead of bulky cottons and wools. Also eat your heavier meals first if traveling frequently.

Lose the fancy water bottles and use Smartwater ones from the store.

Use gravity filters vs pumps and keep accessible while traveling so that you can refill rather than carry more water than you need.

As mentioned, leave the hatchet or axe at home. Heavy and dangerous. Opt for a folding saw instead.

Look for 1lb or greater savings if replacing gear first. For example, my REI Flexlight Air chair was a over 1lb lighter than the Amazon one I first used. A well used luxury item.

Limit your pack size. We currently use around 60-65L packs I believe. It helps you make the tough decisions when filling it up.

Lastly, try doing 1-1/2 trip portages if traveling with a group rather than Singles or Doubles. Develop a timing for a pace per rods and you can estimate the halfway point well on any portage. First pair go all the way with canoes. Second pair goes half way (say 7 minutes) and drops packs. First pair grabs packs halfway while the second group finishes the full portage with the second pair of packs.

Few more ideas.
Muscles are heavier than fat - don't exercise.
Pants are unnecessarily heavy - just bring g-strings and plenty of bandaids and DEET. Same goes for shoes vs. sandals.
One iPhone can replace GPS, compass, camera, binoculars, maps, reservations and flashlight! I also use it prior to the trip to make a picture of my Last Will and Testament.
On a lighter note: I'd first decide on areas where safety, efficiency and comfort are more important for me than weight, like rain gear, camping chair, folding saw etc. For these items the saving in weight are not worth the gain in suffering. Then I'd slowly replace everything else with high quality ultralight options, which by some coincidence happen to be also ultra expensive - starting with the heaviest items first, e.g. canoe, tent, paddles and so on...

I’d say our biggest weight savings, without loss of function we’re switching to Big Agnes sleeping bags with no fill on the bottom (similar to a quilt), inflatable BA or exped pads, and a non-freestanding tarptent. If anything, all of these items were better than our previous stuff.

You could also switch to Ursacks. But I realize that’s not likely.

Figure out the smallest bag you think you can live with, then go one size smaller. I've found that no matter what size pack I take, I always seem to fill it up. If you have a 120L bag, you are going to take 120L worth of stuff. If you have 70L bag, you are going to take 70L worth of stuff.

Pay attention to the Ultralight hiking blogs and Youtube videos. A lot of what those folks do to save weight is absolutely crazy from my perspective, but they also have a lot of clever innovative ideas which can be adapted to canoe camping. I've saved the most weight with a new quilt, tent and cutting back on clothes. I can take a base weight of less than 20 lbs and still have quite a few "luxury" items.

ockycamper: "What have you done to lighten up your gear? What changes have you made to take less with you? Our group would like to try a trip next year going in the lightest possible."

The topic has little to do with my decision to lighten up. But much more on what you and company will accept to do.
Also some info on the trips planned and what you currently use would have been helpful.
But a direct reply to the question. I travel solo often 100 miles per trip over 10 days. I take 2 sets of clothes 1 worn 1 packed and do laundry on the trip, add to that a minimal rain jacket and down sweater fleece gloves and balaclava. Food is all a mix of air and freeze dried and I do not eat a lot. My shelter is a solo tent that weighs well under 3 pounds, sleeping gear is down and an insulated air mattress. A 60 liter pack that weighs 3 pounds and a daypack for food, cook gear, fuel, tarp, chair. Total weight in packs is around 48 pounds, 2 ZRE 8 ounce paddles a solo yoke and fly-fishing gear. Camera and lenses from less than 2 pounds to a large digital body and lenses at 8 pounds. I'm often asked about carrying a gun and I do not that's a 3 pound saving right off the top.
Light and ultra light do not need to be expensive is spite of many opinions. Most all my gear is sourced used, or old version reduced price.

butthead

Thanks for all you ideas! I have learned a lot

We are doing some of the things suggested all ready:

Everyone is in lightweight hammocks with underquilts
We bring only dehyrated foods
We use Platypus gravity filters

We need to work on:

bringing smaller, lighter packs with far less stuff in them
Cutting back on clothes that we bring
Cutting back on the electronics to just the iphone to use as gps and camera
fishing pole and one tray of lures per person
lighter weight camp chairs

Our biggest area I realize in weight is that we need to lose the two burner stove, number of pots, collapsible table for the stove and miscellaneous camp kitchen gear. Will look at stepping back to a jet boil and one GSI style pot set for group of 4 to cook on.

Thanks again

I would never rely on one navigation source. There is too much at stake. A paper map is a necessity. Tripped for years with a map and a backup.. no phone.

Things ought to be able to do double duty in many cases. Dressing in layers is key. Our first trip we had too many clothes including sweatshirts. Wow were they heavy. Now we have a weatherproof layer an insulating layer and undergarment that is wicking and a hat. One set of clothing for day and another for night ( damp sweaty clothing doesn't help sleep)

Now I like to take pix and love to be able to use some photography skills and get shots of wildlife. Your trip may not have those aims but I had so many trips with brown lumps and black lumps. Its much nicer to be able to see pix of moose( lump 1) and loon ( lump 2) taken with a superzoom camera. The extra pound I can live with.

For warm weather bring only what you NEED especially with the cooking gear. To go light use a pocket Rocket type stove. Use one small pot to heat water for food that needs only hot water. Clothes are an other cheap weight saver. Bring only what you wear and ONE change of clothes for camp. For shelter I bring a Tarp Tent,35 degree Down quilt, and Sea To Summet UL pad. No tarp. I don't bring axe or saw. I'll break small branches for a fire. My big splurge is a Helinox Zero. chair.Keep an eye on the little things they add up weight wise. Here's my stuff for a week

This year, as an experiement one guy brought a Kelly kettle. It worked suprisingly well. Boiled water really fast, large capacity, and ran on twigs.

I am looking at the idea of using the Kelly Kettle to eliminate the Jet Boil, propane tanks, and the personal cook set as it comes with its own cook set. As a backup I could always thrown in an Esbit stove.

I already bring a lot of the gear you have in your photo with the exception of I bring a 1 lb hammock, an underquilt and top quilt (both down).

I think the areas we really need to look at to lighten up are the amount of kitchen/cook gear we bring (this year for 6 men we brought a two burner stove, table, and two GSI cook sets). Based on everyone's input, we could save a lot of weight reducing camp sizes to 4 guys, and bringing a Kelly Kettle, or a Jet Boil and One cook set that would handle 4 guys.

We are already as light as possible on food as we use only dehydrated foods. Although I can cut this back by doing "one pot" meals with no side items.

Everyone does a good job on limiting clothes and water bottles (only bringing one). Might look for a lighter group tarp that an pack into a smaller bag.

The problem with relying on a Kelly Kettle with Esbit as a backup as neither of those are safe in a fire-ban or otherwise dangerously dry conditions. I recommend isobutane canisters instead of propane. Propane requires much heavier canisters than butane/isobutane. My stove choice is Kovea Spider. They're so small and light, it isn't uncommon for me to bring two on trips where two could be handy. They work great, have great control, good burner size, and pot supports that support everything from very small to my 10.5" Fry-bake pan.

thanks, I like that idea.

We used the Kelly kettle this year as an experiment and it worked really well. Even with all the rain, there was no problem finding enough dry twigs. It boiled water as fast as a jetboil and seemed stable.

As a backup, in case of a fire ban, the Kovea Spider and a can of butane would be a great idea.

Has anyone tripped on just a twig burning stove?

Our food pack is always the heaviest. This past year we evened our the weight by putting some food in our lighter packs . We did this only while portaging. Was just my husband and myself but it helped . We also packed less food than in the past. We try to keep food simple. I can cook fancy food at home. Lol. Mostly freeze dried with extra rice and dried chicken to supplement.

We did one trip with a Littlbug Senior. With easy to find bits of wood, it burns great and hot. The problem I found was getting it to simmer. It is sort of like cooking on a fire grate but you can't make the fire on one side and move the pan to the other. We did bring an alcohol burner and wound up using that for some of the cooking. I also got tired of the soot on the pots. The next trip we went back to gas stoves. If our cooking style only needed high heat to boil water, then I would probably like the Littlbug better.

ockycamper: "thanks, I like that idea.


We used the Kelly kettle this year as an experiment and it worked really well. Even with all the rain, there was no problem finding enough dry twigs. It boiled water as fast as a jetboil and seemed stable.


As a backup, in case of a fire ban, the Kovea Spider and a can of butane would be a great idea.


Has anyone tripped on just a twig burning stove?"

We sometimes will depending on season. I got the idea from Jon/ Erin & their podcast. I highly recommend watching these guys if you haven’t already. All Jon ever uses is a real fire & his kelly hobo stove.

Kelly Hobo Stove

We have two Kelly Kettle Ultimate kits. Both have the hobo stove, a cook set with pan and lid, a grill set with handle, 2 cups, 2 plates and a base support.

This year we experimented with it for boiling water.

Let me know if anyone has done a full trip with one of these. It would eliminate a cook set, stove, and the cans of propane.

Our biggest area we need to lighten up in is the camp kitchen. We already bring dehydrated food, a gravity filter, ultralight chairs and hammocks.

However our kitchen for six guys was a table, two burner stove, propane for the stove, and a GSI pot set.

Based on everyone's input we may try a Kelly Kettle set (we have two already), and a Kovea Spider with one can of fuel as a backup.

The other area to lighten up would be our group tarp. We are using a 12x12 Kelty Noah tarp.

The GSI Dualist set has served me well for years. So long as you don't mind your cup being like a bowl it's a well executed compact set that can hold a fuel canister, pocket rocket stove, and lighter if you do it right. Boils enough for 2 dehydrated meals too.

On that note, the dehydrated meals in a bag like Mountain House can potentially help with your weight savings. Mainly in that you can focus on only boiling water instead of multiple pots for prep or bowls to eat from. Also saves on any cleanup materials too and unnecessary scents in camp. Bring some foil squares for cooking fish and forego any frying oils or shorelunch. Get the group together one afternoon and each bring a different flavor to sample. Next year we may even go from having 2 pocket stoves and two pots for 4 guys down to one pot and burner (with a BRS backup). Some meals take twice the time to sit after the hot water is added so a little coordination allows us to all eat at the same time but with one pot boiling 2 batches.

Tarps, we do a Noah's 9 for 4 guys and it has sufficed for your average rainfalls that aren't severe. Keep a second on hand as a wind block as needed. Cooke Custom Sewing (CCS) is the gold standard for tarps around here. But if that's too steep, I'd recommend lighter or more efficient tarp accessories like Zing-It or "Dutchbling" from Dutchware (wasps, fleas, etc from dutchware.com). This video was helpful as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqlFP8C_z10