As mentioned in the Rucksack article, as you gain more experience in the award scheme you start to become more ruthless with what you put in your pack. Items start to look less essential after four days of carrying them on your back! Of course there’s going to be a minimum amount of equipment that you’ll have to carry personally and between the rest of your group but here are some handy tips on how to cut down the weight of your pack.

• Use as many dehydrated foods as possible. Water is often easily available and there’s no point carrying it soaked up in your supper. We’ve seen groups carrying potatoes for food; they obviously had more strength than us.
• Carry as much water as you need to keep yourself comfortably hydrated and no more. There’s not as much need to carry as much water if you’re following a stream for 10km in mild weather as you would if you were walking across mountain tops in the height of summer.
• Make as much use out of the items you carry as possible; look for a mess tin small enough to comfortable drink out of. Make efficient use of your fuel by setting up your stove in a sheltered area.
• Don’t bring non-essential items you’ve never used on previous expeditions and don’t expect to use this time around. Common sense really. If you took a pack of cards on the last expedition only to find your group didn’t enjoy playing, don’t bring them again.
• Think carefully about the equipment you take. It’s important to bring enough tent pegs and very wise to bring some spares as well but don’t just pack every tent peg you’ve got without thinking about it.
• Unnecessary packaging: remove items from boxes and pack them in freezer bags instead.

You can get carried away with expensive specialist lightweight equipment but it’s not affordable, necessary or often desirable for award participants. An awareness and some thought into what you put into your back is all that it takes to save extra weight on your feet and make expedition even more enjoyable.