Anyone who has trudged up the last few hundred metres of a Lakeland pass in horizontal rain knows the feeling. Your legs are fine, your lungs are fine, but your shoulders are aching and every step feels like wading through treacle. Very often, the culprit is not fitness but a rucksack that has quietly grown heavier over the seasons — a spare flask here, a "just in case" jumper there, a camera you never actually use.
The good news is that trimming a pack is one of the cheapest performance gains available to a walker. You do not need to spend hundreds of pounds on ultralight kit. You simply need to be honest about what a typical British hill day actually demands, and ruthless about what it does not. A pack that weighs around 5–7 kg including food and water is perfectly achievable for a three-season day out, and the difference on steep ground is remarkable.
Every hill walker should carry the core safety items, but the traditional list was written with heavy kit in mind. Modern versions are far lighter.
Notice what is missing: spare trousers, a second fleece, a flask of soup, a full tool kit. Most of it stays in the car.
Water is the single heaviest thing most people carry. One litre weighs a kilogram, and it is tempting to set off with three. On a British hill day you are rarely more than a couple of hours from a refill, so carry one litre and top up from a trusted stream or a café at the start. If you genuinely cannot resupply, carry what you need, but weigh that decision honestly.
Food is similar. Aim for around 1,500–2,000 calories of dense, non-fuss food: oatcakes, nuts, dried fruit, a decent sandwich, a couple of cereal bars and something salty. Leave the tinned goods, the heavy fruit and the three-course picnic at home. Eat little and often rather than stopping for one enormous lunch, which is kinder to your legs on a long ascent.
Beginners often pack for every possible weather eventuality. Experienced walkers dress for the day and carry one spare layer. Start in a wicking base layer, add a light fleece or softshell, and keep the waterproof shell on top of the pack rather than buried inside it.
A single spare insulating layer and a spare pair of socks are usually enough. Spare socks are worth their weight — wet feet on a long descent are miserable. Leave the spare trousers, the second fleece and the "nice top for the pub" behind; a clean dry base layer will do the job.
How you load a rucksack matters almost as much as what goes in it. Heavy items — water, food, stove if you carry one — should sit high in the pack and close to your spine. That keeps the mass over your hips rather than dragging backwards on your shoulders.
Then adjust the straps properly. Loosen everything, put the pack on, tighten the hip belt first so it sits on the crest of your hips, then the shoulder straps, then the load lifters. Most of the weight should ride on your hips, not hang from your shoulders. A well-fitted 8 kg pack feels lighter than a badly fitted 5 kg one.
Once the big items are sorted, shave grams from the rest. A lightweight plastic mug beats a steel thermos. A small folded sit mat beats a foam roll. Decant sun cream, hand sanitiser and repellent into tiny bottles. Take one small dry bag for essentials rather than three. Carry a soft water bottle rather than a rigid one once it is empty.
Finally, do a pack audit after every walk. Empty everything onto the floor and ask which items you did not touch. If the answer is the same three things after several outings, they belong in a drawer at home, not on your back. Do that for a season and you will climb hills you used to dread — with a grin rather than a grimace.
The Swift Stile shares practical, down-to-earth guidance on uk countryside walking and rambling for readers across the UK.
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