by Ray Jardine
A classic backpacking manual. Jardine invented an integrated system for backpacking very light, with a pack weight of about 10 pounds (not including food and water). So, for a 5 day trip you might start with 8 pounds of food, and often carry 2 liters of water, and your total weight would be 22 pounds, and go down from there.
I adopted his system. I bought some of the gear, fabricated some (including making my own sleeping bag and tarp with a sewing machine) and have been very happy since then. It has truly made hiking fun again for me. Jardine is very controversial on hiking blogs and such but I can say his methods work very well for me.
