A good friend of mine went backpacking last weekend with me. We've been on a lot of trips together and, God love him, he'd pack a kitchen sink if I didn't restrain him.

On this trip though, he went as light as he could allow himself and he did pretty good. He left his stove at home and agreed to use the Cat Stove I'd made. He carried a lot less clothes, did a lot better on food even though he still brought way too much, and he left countless things at home that I've seen him haul before.

As for me, I carried about 27 pounds going in, and that's the lightest I've gone so far. I'll weigh the food and fuel I didn't use and adjust again, but for what we're dealing with here, that's not too bad.

As for my buddy, I've been try to share lessons I've learned here with him since I've joined the forums and he's finally getting it. He had a ton of fun and didn't wear himself out lugging a ton of stuff. This time I mentioned, several times, that I was "Going Light" and wouldn't be helping to carry anything, and that may have helped prod him a bit too wink

While we were there I shared a "Mountain House" freeze dried dinner with him and he was pretty stunned by how much he liked it. I tried giving him a couple dinners for the trip but he would take them. He said he would next time and said he'd keep a few in his car and boat, with a Cat Stove, to boot. He did bring oatmeal and dried fruit for breakfast though. I've seen him carry a skillet, bacon, eggs, and potatoes for breakfast before, so this was a huge improvement.

On the way out, for the first time, he was telling me how he'd be going over what he brought and trimming off some weight for our next trip. And he mentioned that he was surprised that he wasn't sore.

This was one of our toughest bushwhacks ever, the only difference is that he's learning how to backpack lighter. He probably dropped ten or twelve pounds off his pack weight from our last trip, and he could probably do half or more of that again with just a bit more thought, and I think he probably will too. He's starting to get it.

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"You want to go where?"