3. Repackage Your Food Ahead of Time

Food contributes a lot of weight to your hiking pack and takes up a ton of space. There’s very little you can do about the former, but you can ease the latter by repackaging all your hiking food before you hit the trail. 

A lot of the “space” taken up by prepackaged food is just air, so by taking food out of its original packaging and packing it in resealable plastic baggies, you can save a lot of space. If you have the ability to vacuum-seal the bags, that’s even better. Repackaging also offers an opportunity to portion out your food and avoid carrying more than you need. 

4. Sleep With Your Water Bottles

When backpacking in chilly weather, the last thing you want is to start your day by taking a big drink of ice-cold water (or worse, having to thaw out water that has frozen overnight). You can avoid these issues by keeping your water bottles with you in your sleeping bag while you sleep. Just make sure they’re tightly sealed and leak-free. 

If you want to score some extra hiker bonus points, fill your water bottles with hot water before you go to bed. Then, not only will you keep your water warm, but it will keep you warm as well. 

5. Time the Sunset

Most of us would rather not reach camp after dark if we can avoid it. If you’re getting close to the end of a long day on the trail and aren’t quite sure how much daylight you have left, there’s a simple trick to time the sun as it sets. 

Hold your hand out at arm’s length, with your palm facing you, and align the bottom edge of your pinky finger with the horizon. Each finger represents about 15 minutes of daylight, so you know that when the bottom of the sun touches the upper edge of your index finger, you have about an hour until sunset. 

6. Make a Lantern

The beam from your headlamp can be a little harsh. Create a gentler ambient light by wrapping the headband around a translucent water bottle with the lamp facing inward. It’s much more pleasant when you’re reading in your tent or chatting with your hiking buddies after dark.