Swamp Yankee,
There’s really only one way to get at a real sense of your pack weight, and that’s to list it systematically so you know what you’re carrying. Without that, you’re shooting in the dark. I’d suggest Chris Ibberson’s Gear Weight Calculator as the best tool for the job (it’s freeware, written by a hiker.) Get it as a tool to find your base pack weight. Most people count everything except food, fuel and water in that (which means it varies slightly depending on season.) List everything, down to the smallest item (and their stuff sacks too.)
Once you’ve done that you have the baseline. From there, you only really have two options to cut weight: get lighter gear or take something out. People usually assume that lighter gear will mean a lot more money, but it doesn’t need to be that way. Your big three (as Bruchko says, pack shelter and sleep system, including the pad) are the prime places to cut, but there are other things you can do too. Take a look at one of the ultralight backpacking sites (Onestep’s is a good place to start) for ideas on cutting down without cutting out. You can also go to that gospel of ultralight, Ray Jardine’s Beyond Backpacking.
Don’t try to copy what he or anyone else says, though. You’ll find that some things can be cut or lightened for your style of hiking and others can’t. I can’t hike with the standard ultralight pad, for instance, since my arthritis would pretty much kill me every morning without a pretty cushy sleep platform. I carry a 22oz insulated air mattress as a result, but only a 17oz bag and 24oz pack because these give me the function I need at light weights.
It’s a process, cutting pack weight. I’m down to 14.3lbs from about 19lbs when I really started to look at what I was carrying and will doubtless cut more in the future (I have my eye on a Hennessy Hyperlight hammock right now that would cut both my shelter and sleep system weights.) That’s how it goes. The most important thing is to be comfortable with what you carry and not give up function that you need. There’s no way to cut weight and meet that criteria with out this (admittedly rather obsessive) process.
Strategic
