This is a companion to the previously reviewed Allen and Mike's Really Cool Backpackin' Book--- same droll cartoonist, different author: Don Ladigan, teacher of light backpacking at the University of Oregon.

The revolution started by Ray Jardine in his Beyond Backpacking (2000) continues. Every year sees drastically lighter and cleverer gear, and the savvy to match also grows apace, as you'll find in this book. "Ultralight" even has a definition now: it's when your pack and everything in it (except consumables such as water and food) weighs 10 pounds or less. Backpacking becomes a jaunt instead of a slog, and that liberates the whole experience.

How about a luxury breakfast with minimal kitchen gear and zero clean up? See the example below...

-- Stewart Brand

Lighten Up!
A Complete Handbook for Light & Ultralight Backpacking
Don Ladigin
2005, 99 pages
$10
Available from
Amazon

Sample excerpts:

Boil-in-bag Cooking

If you want to cook an omelet but don't have a frying pan, you can always use the boil-in-bag method of cooking. Put the eggs and other ingredients into a plastic freezer-storage bag, close the bag securely, and heat the bag in boiling water until the eggs are no longer runny. When it's done you can eat the omelet directly from the bag with a spoon. This method makes no mess and generates few cooking smells to attract animals.

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