Comfortable and safe are vital! Anyone can go out into the mountains with a tiny amount of gear and suffer — you need to be warm, well-fed and ready to deal with safety issues. Ultralight camping should be delightful, not stressful. The challenge is to succeed with only the gear that’s absolutely needed.

The first-aid kit is a good metaphor for your lightweight camping mind-set. It would be foolish to travel without one, right? But what is truly required? What can you effectively improvise? There is a blurry line between TOO heavy and TOO light. You can still go out in the backcountry with a very light pack and be comfortable and safe (see tip 55).

Excerpt from Ultralight Backpackin’ Tips by Mike Clelland