Among ultralight backpackers, a gram weenie is someone who weighs gear with almost comic precision, trying to trim every possible gram from a pack. The habit can mean cutting a toothbrush in half, trimming foil blister packs around individual pills, or drying out moist wipes at home and rewetting them on the trail. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “On Long Through Hikes, “Gram-Weenies” Trim Even the Edges of Things to Save Weight”
I learned a slang term from fellow hiker Jill Richardson recently, and that is gram weenie.
But that’s G-R-A-M and then weenie, like a hot dog, gram weenie.
I don’t know what that could possibly be. I hesitate to guess.
This is a person who is obsessed with reducing the weight of his or her backpack.
Yes.
I know that moment.
Yeah.
Because if you’re on a long hike, you know, a through hike going hundreds of miles, that backpack can get really heavy.
And so there’s this whole group of people who try to cut down every single way they possibly can.
And they buy little scales, you know, like a postal scale.
And they do things like cut your toothbrush in half or take a child’s toothbrush.
Or say you’ve got medication that’s in a foil, a little foil thing with the little blisters.
You cut them out around the little foil.
It’s like the weight limits for spaceships, right?
Where they weigh every screw.
Exactly.
Here’s another tip.
If you want to reduce the weight in your backpack, you take moist wipes with you in little packets.
But you take them out at home and let them dry out overnight, and that makes them a little less heavy.
And then when you’re camping, you add a little bit of water.
I love that.
They’re called gram-weenies.
Gram-weenies.
But I get the motivation, right?
Oh, totally.
But if I’m ever packing for a trip to Mars, I’m hiring these people.
