Light, Lighter, Lightest

If things keep going on like this my backpack will have negative mass and will be carrying me! ‘Lead balloons’ will soon actually exist! In fact they were first imagined ‘in 1670 by the Jesuit Father Francesco Lana de Terzi, sometimes referred to as the “Father of Aeronautics“, who published a description of an “Aerial Ship” supported by four copper spheres from which the air was evacuated’. Neat idea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airship

Of course in reality the spheres would collapse, but we are almost ready to make spheres using graphene scaffolding which is strong enough that they can be evacuated (and refilled) to control lift – so the same may well occur with backpacks, ie backpacks with lift! It’s a wonder you cannot buy a helium lift-assist kit for heavy backpacks already. Of course they might be a bit bulky!

PS: It is somewhat of a surprise that helium actually exists anywhere on earth in that it is light and energetic enough to escape earth’s gravity – and so what does exist should be conserved for more serious purposes than party balloons! The truth is that it is created by radioactive processes deep in the earth and is trapped in certain structures in the crust (such as a few Texas oil wells whence most of the earth’s supply comes). Given that it is a super-conductor at low temperatures and may have all sorts of other strange properties (eg as a solid!) we probably should conserve it somewhat more than koala bears (which are as common as wombats around here)!

Gossammer Gear have long been pioneers in ways to reduce your pack weight. I have posted about various of their products over the years including their carbon fibre hiking poles, backpacks, Airflow Sitlight Seats Polycro Ground Sheets and so forth.

Here are some really nice lightweight ideas I found there today in their Accessories section:

These micro dripper bottles are even smaller and lighter than their earlier ones. These little guys only weigh 1.95 grams each and hold 3 mls so they are ideal for eg a small quantity of iodine or insect repellent. You should add them to your collection of small is beautiful ideas such as this and this.

This ultralight (3.5 grams) toothbrush for only a dollar deserves to join your war on weight: https://www.gossamergear.com/collections/accessories/products/toothbrush

Some natural silk floss sachets at US3.99 have to be a ‘must’ – and you could use them for fishing.