| Packing for lightweight backpacking can be | | | | Clothes: dry, dry, dry! Keep your socks and |
| challenging. Some people put a lot of work into | | | | undies dry. Stuff the dirty clothes back into bags |
| making their own sleeping gear and shelters. Other | | | | so the dirty clothes don't gunk up the clean |
| people don't mind splurging on the newest and | | | | clothes. Squeeze all the air out and the bag helps |
| coolest gear (hey, who doesn't love new gear | | | | keep your clothes more compact. But, really, I'm |
| toys?). One cheap and easy way to lighten and | | | | all about the dry stuff. |
| organize is to make extensive use of zip lock | | | | Gear: Zip locks are an easy tool to use to keep |
| bags. | | | | things together when they belong together. For |
| Foods: it's easy put foods into zip locks. The | | | | example, your little toothbrush and toothpaste |
| baggies keep the food dry and organized. I often | | | | belong together in a bag. Keep them clean and |
| group a meal together into a single large bag | | | | separate from everything else. T.P.? Darn right, it's |
| which makes it easy to pull out a whole meal | | | | in its own zip lock. Sunglasses? Bag 'em up. |
| snack all at once. The bag then also serves as its | | | | PS. I know they're not the most environmentally |
| own trash container. I even put ground coffee | | | | friendly, but I've always gotten my own silly |
| into the little half-height snack bags. A couple of | | | | satisfaction from squeezing all the air out of the |
| quick searches can lead you to some tasty zip | | | | baggies. |
| lock bag recipes. | | | | |