As a newbie I was having trouble fitting all my gear into an 80 litre rucksack! After today's hill walk and a lot of tips, idea's and suggestions from Stephen M, I have just packed for tomorrows walk and wild camp and have managed to fit all my kit into a 35 litre sack!!!
You wont believe how small we got our Packs when we did the Saunders Mountain Marathon, knowing you are going to have to run with the thing really inspires you to keep the weight down.
That was a one off though, I would prefer a little more comfort for a regular back pack.
Back from the wild camp, 'report' can be seen in the Southern Ireland thread in the Meets and Partners section.
OK, I'll do a sort of newbies kit report.
The sack, a Lowe Alpine Walkabout 35 performed OK. The inside of the pack was wet but for most of the walk in (4 hours) the rain was on my back so it was to be expected. My shoulders hurt today at the end but I suppose that's common to everyone?
The tent, a Vango Spectre 200, performed really well. This was the first time I'd used it and was impressed. It was noisy in the winds, which were really strong, but never gave any hint of failing - it also stayed bone dry in the rain. I love the little storage areas at both ends of the tent, which are accessible by zipped doors. The porch is small and the tent is quite heavy at 2.5kg, but it's a price I'm willing to pay for such a good bit of kit. Not bad for a tent which cost me £65!
The sleeping bag, an Alpkit Alpinedream 500, was OK but I wore socks, tights, t-shirt, soft shell jacket and a hat to bed so perhaps I need something a bit warmer... The mat, an Insulmat Max Thermo, was great, really warm and really comfy even though it was a bit wet.
Cooking kit was a Pocket Rocket, nice and quick at bringing water to the boil, an Alpkit Mytymug and a GSI insulated cup which all did what they were supposed to do. The best bit of kit over the weekend however, was a Travel Tap from Backpackinglight. I'd collect dirty, crappy water from a stream/puddle/whaetever, and once it was filtered it was as clear as crystal and tasted great. How cool is that?! It got me out of the mire as well because there was no taps or bottled water shops on the hills lol! If you don't have one yet, buy one - it's great!
Clothing-wise, a Lowe Alpine base layer kept me relatively smell free. I wore a Rab Vapour Rise soft shell jacket in the tent and to bed - nice and warm, and packs down really small. The Alpkit Belay Jacket was just fantastic, really warm and packs down as small as the Vapour Rise. My waterproofs eventually let a bit of water in, but after all the rain we had, it was to be expected. Ooh, my boots - Asolo Powermatic 200 - performed really well. My feet didn't get wet and I had not one blister. I had wanted to change them as I always got blisters but I didn't this weekend. I think part of the reason for that was I wore Thorlo socks, not cheap crap which I had wore before.
I used Exped dry bags of various sizes to pack my kit into but unfortunately they all let a small bit of water in so I'll have to look into that because I wasn't really happy getting into a damp sleeping bag and eating soggy food!
The Expeds was the reason I could get all the gear into a 35 litre sack, they compress down to almost nothing which is great.
So that's my kit report, feel free to comment/suggest/ridicule!
Thanks for the report. There may be several reasons your shoulders hurt, could be the straps on your pack were too tight, the weight was too much for the pack. Does your pack have tension straps to pull the top of the pack into your shoulders? There is sure to be a name for them but I don't know it. If you have them, play around with them maybe more/less tension will make the difference.
Your shoulders shouldn't hurt, ache maybe from unaccostumed exercise but not hurt.
I tightened the hip belt as much as I possibly could to take the weight off my shoulders. The pack does have tension straps, one set just on the shoulder part and another set a bit further down the straps. Perhaps I had those tensioned wrong? Thinking about it, perhaps it is just an ache - every part of my body is aching this morning, especially my legs! My shoulders only started to ache near the end of the hike yesterday...
Next time I'm out, I'll have a fiddle with the straps to see if it makes any difference. Thanks for your post.
I had to do quite a lot of adjusting of my Deuter pack on my first Scottish hike as I hadn't used it before. I would certainly play around with those tension adjuster straps, but do it before you go out for your next hike!
Check the Exped sacks too - I've never had a problem with mine. You can fill them with water to check they don't leak. And make sure you fold the tops over several times before closing the buckle bit.
You may have been a bit cold in your AD because you were damp - if there's room, perhaps the belay jacket would be better in the bag rather than the VR jacket, or draped over the bag like a blanket.
The sleeping bag, an Alpkit Alpinedream 500, was OK but I wore socks, tights, t-shirt, soft shell jacket and a hat to bed so perhaps I need something a bit warmer... The mat, an Insulmat Max Thermo, was great, really warm and really comfy even though it was a bit wet.
Sounds like you sleep very cold - thats lots for this time of year. If any of the clothing was damp, it could have had a chilling effect IMO.
Like Kate said - the belay jacket may have been a better option for bed.
Re the dry bags leaking etc. For 25 years, if it's likely to be wet at all (i.e most of the time!), I've lined my pack with a 'tough' bin liner/garden waste bags (slightly crinkly plastic but the tough version not the heavier 'soft' black polythene bags - they get holes too easily and are relatively heavy).
Lighter than any pack liner - , cheap and replaceable - (weight wise you can afford to take 2 - one for putting wet gear inside or dry gear outside/ or porch 'groundsheet etc.).
Anything needed for the walk, and shelter stays above the bin liner (with rolled top) in the pack, so no rain can get at your sleeping gear.
I think you're right when you say I sleep cold Mole, however, it was pouring with rain and the wind was atrocious; it had been like that for the five - six hours before I went to bed, so I was a little cold anyway! Also, like an idiot, I kept my damp boxers on so that had an effect too. We also camped at about 500 metres so it was chillier than normal.
I totally forgot to line my pack, I normally use a recycling sack, which are tough enough, but was rushing before I was picked up...
Better to be nekkid and dry than prudish and damp!
If you find you sleep cold, you may eventually want to think about getting a warmer bag - a (sale price) PHD minim 400 might be worth thinking about - it's what I use most of the summer. But there are other things you can do as well, such as having a hot drink before you go to bed, running around to warm yourself up before getting into your sleeping bag (though I realise that wasn't really an option for you!), wearing the belay jacket in your bag can be more advantageous than using it as a blanket if the bag's not too close a fit as it can also reduce the amount of dead space in the bag that has to be warmed by your body heat - I often have my insulating jacket on top of me inside the bag rather than wearing it, as then I can move it over a part of me that's feeling chilly, usually (being a girl) my hips.
Ah, it was nothing to do with being prudish Kate, tbh I just couldn't be bothered to take my boxers off after the damned walk in! I'd had a hot chocolate before I went to bed but it was that cold and wet the effects of that drink soon wore off.
I'll take a look at the PHD bags, which online shop would sell them at a reduced price? Next time I think I'll take your advice and wear the belay jacket in the bag, it's warmer than the VR...
PHD only sell directly. They have 2 sales a year, one should be coming up in the next few weeks. The prices'll make you faint after Alpkit prices, but it's top kit and at sale prices actually good value given its quality.
Wearing a belay jacket in the bag trick worked for me at new years... I used my pipedream400 & ME compressor jacket while wild camping by Llyn Cau on Cadair Idris in -10 to -15 temps.
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C B does impressions too? Fab!!!
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I'd had a hot chocolate before I went to bed but it was that cold and wet the effects of that drink soon wore off.
