Easy & Efficient Mountain Living (The Backcountry Blueprint, Part 3)
As part of The Experience Challenge, we had 1,500+ hunters complete a detailed Hunt Reflection. Their answers inspired this series, The Backcountry Blueprint.
We asked those hunters: In what specific areas do you need to improve your backpacking skills and knowledge?
Using the answers of those 1,500 hunters, this article looks beyond the "how-to" of hunting and focuses on the "how-to" of surviving and thriving in the backcountry.
Here are the 5 common areas that hunters need to improve in their backpacking skills and knowledge…
Reducing Pack Weight
The most common theme in the hunter data was a need to reduce their overall pack weight.
Hunters mentioned 3 key ways they planned to lighten their load:
- Identifying and removing unnecessary gear
- Upgrading gear items to a lighter-weight version
- Being more efficient with the food they pack and consume
Those are all good things. And the order of them is important. The easiest (and cheapest) way to lighten your pack is to carry less.
The less experience someone has, the more they think they need. As Andrew Skurka says, they “pack their fears”. But as personal experience with backpacking and living in the backcountry is gained, each person will learn what is necessary.
Make a gear list before every trip, then after each trip, look back through the gear list and evaluate what you did and did not use. Aside from emergency items, if you take something on a few trips and never use it, ask yourself if it is worth carrying. We call this “3 strikes, and you’re out”.
When it comes to lightening your pack by upgrading to lighter gear, just know that it is possible to spend thousands of dollars to save mere ounces. Don’t get caught in the trap of thinking that every gear item has to be the latest-and-greatest ultralight innovation.
Typically, the best upgrade potential for weight savings will be in your sleep system (shelter, sleeping bag or quilt, and sleeping pad), along with your pack, and your clothes for backpack hunts. You can optimize ounces (or grams!) everywhere, but those are the places we’d recommend evaluating for upgrade potential at the start.
Until you grab a scale and weigh your gear, you may be surprised how much each item weighs. So if you care about your pack weight, learn what each item you carry actually weighs. (Pro tip: get a scale that has a display separate from the weighing surface, so that your item doesn’t block the display.)
For multiday hunts, food does quickly become the heaviest gear category in your pack. And while it is good to optimize for weight-efficient foods to a certain extent, you can definitely take that too far. Any time you try to maximize your calorie-per-ounce ratio, you are increasing fat and making it the primary macronutrient — potentially decreasing protein and carbohydrates to a level that will have a negative impact on your performance and recovery.
Food choices are personal and, like everything else, should be tested. Here are some examples (and recipes) from Mark and Steve on what they pack. And if you want a personalized plan, we highly recommend this planning tool and/or backcountry nutrition course from Valley-to-Peak Nutrition.
Efficiency in Camp & Organization
A common theme in the hunter data was that people felt they wasted too much time on the non-hunting aspects of backpack hunts. This included time spent finding, setting up, and tearing down camp.
In the podcast (above), Steve & Mark discuss why it is so important to have consistent and repeatable processes to become more efficient and maximize hunting time. In addition to discussing what their typical nighttime and morning routine looks like on a backpack hunt, they highlight the overlooked fact that having less gear not only lightens your pack but also reduces complexity, decision-making, and time spent managing gear in the backcountry.
As Mark said, “Have less. Do less. Hunt more.”
Many hunters commented that they spent too much time finding items in their pack, so they planned to increase their pack organization by using "dry bags or stuff sacks to categorize gear so they aren't digging through their entire pack for small items.”
While some level of structured organization is important, our experience has been that a well-designed pack will provide essential organization and security for small items, and that adding additional stuff sacks reduces packing efficiency and also adds complexity of packing/unpacking all of these “packs within a pack”.
Consistency is as important, if not more important, than “compartments” when it comes to storing, finding, and quickly accessing your gear.
As an example, see how we load our packs for a multiday backpack hunt…
Mastering Layering and Temperature Regulation
Many hunters identified a need to manage their "micro-climate" to stay dry, warm, and generally more comfortable — allowing them to hunt more effectively.
To do this, you need a combination of the right clothing layers, paired with the knowledge and experience to know how to layer strategically and effectively through different temperatures and conditions. This is a skill that comes with experience, so be intentional about testing clothing systems throughout the year, in a wide variety of conditions, and on a wide variety of activities. Don’t wait until your hunt to figure out how to stay dry and comfortable in changing temperatures.
The most common mistake is to start the day or start a hike “comfortably warm” in cool temperatures. On those frigid mornings, everyone wants to be warm, but it doesn’t take long to start moving and go from comfortable to warm to overheated. If you don’t start cool before you move, you’ll soon sweat. Instead, purposely begin your day or hike dressed with minimal layers and feeling cool, know that it won’t take long for you to become warm as you start moving.
For more technical know-how on clothing and layering, check out this podcast with John Barklow. For examples of the clothing layers we use on backpack hunts, check out The Clothing Layers You Need for Backpack Hunting, and Clothing Selection & Layering Strategies.
Water Management and Hydration
Hunters commonly have problems staying hydrated and fueled during extended backcountry hunts. Their major concerns were finding and filtering water efficiently and hydrating with electrolytes to prevent cramping.
There was a big focus in the hunter data on water filtration methods. They debated whether to use a pump-filter, a gravity filter, a squeeze-style filter, chemical treatments, UV treatment, or something else.
We have tried all of those options, and here is our preferred method to filter and carry water…
To learn more about understanding natural water sources and the risks of untreated water, we have a great podcast on Backcountry Drinking Water — Risks & Treatment.
For electrolyte supplementation, you can find countless products, as well as conflicting research and data on what is recommended or needed. Realize that this is a personal issue, in part because some people truly do sweat more than others, and also because the composition of an individual's sweat (electrolyte loss) can also vary.
Before you subscribe to the idea that you have to have an electrolyte supplement, be sure to make sure you are drinking enough water in general, and also packing and consuming balanced foods on your hunt (see nutrition resources above). Part of a supplement’s effectiveness may be the added flavor, which helps you drink more water in general. We certainly wouldn’t argue that fact when it comes to the packets of Wilderness Athlete Hydrate & Recover that we bring on our hunts.
Comfort and Sleep Quality
Hunters noted that poor sleep leads to physical and mental fatigue on backcountry hunts. To improve their sleep and hunt more effectively, these hunters focused on finding the right combination of sleeping pad and sleeping bag/quilt. Additionally, they emphasized a need to improve their ability to find, improve, or create backcountry campsites that offered level surfaces to sleep on and protection from the elements.
In the podcast (above), Steve and Mark discuss their tips for getting better sleep in the backcountry — detailing the gear and strategies they use. This is a great topic, and one that we haven’t yet created a video on, so we will be sure to do that soon.
In short, the things that have made the biggest difference for our sleep quality are…
- Choosing a sleeping pad with a proper R-Value
- Using a quilt instead of a sleeping bag, which offers more comfort and versatility
- Taking the time to improve the ground below our sleeping pad (removing rocks, roots, debris, etc) and also leveling the area as best as possible
- In the evening, purposely wait to empty the bladder until just before going to sleep
- Occasionally using sleep-aid medication
How can you become more comfortable and capable in the backcountry?
All of the insights from this Backcountry Blueprint series come from the 1,500 hunters who completed a detailed Hunt Reflection. We would encourage you to take the time to complete your own hunt reflection. You will undoubtedly learn insights by reflecting on your experience…
THE HUNT REFLECTION — VIEW or COPY
To view the entire Backcountry Blueprint series, visit: https://exomtngear.com/blueprint