Starting out?

If you're a complete beginner I'd be a bit wary of going too light.  Vey light is great on paper, but on the ground it requires a fair bit of experience to tell you where to draw the lines, and without that experience of how far you can push yourself, when conditions are such that you want to change plans etc. it's quite possibly best to have a bit more insurance, which in turn means a bit more weight.  For which purposes, for backpacking rather than day-hikes, I'd say a frame would probably be more comfortable.

Also the case that some of us carry more weight not just for insurance but because we like what the thing does more than we dislike the weight of carrying it.  Cooking gear/food is an obvious case, where dehydrated glop and gear to boil water is lightest and nicest to carry, but some Real Food and more elaborate cooking can really make a meal a pleasure in itself in a specail place rather than something you just have to eat for some energy.

I would suggest start off small.  In your first post you're planning 5 days treks already: start with a short overnighter and get your camping experience in somewhere where you can bail if it goes wrong, plus some experience of walking with loads.  Reading up on approaches and methods is good and is certainly something one should be doing, but it's no substitute for personal experience.

Pete.

Don't obsess too much about the weight of your rucksack. There are lots of packs around that weigh about a kilo that carry nicely. Just concentrate on comfort and to a lesser extent required features, as folk have already said.

I use my Crux AK47 for everything from Scottish winter days through overnighters to multiday trips and even with a pack weighing about 1200g my baseweight is rarely more than 6kg unless I'm carrying winter hardware.

The Villain is nice if you get on with it. I have the smaller Jirishanca and love it but couldn't get on with the Villain fitwise and sold it.

I did 3 days on the grey Corries/Ben Nevis ridges last week my pack was about 12kg including water but very comfortable it is the older Osprey Aether 60.

A couple of points, I could have lost 1.5-2 Kg off the weight.  I took too much food (as usual) and too many clothes, for some reason I ended up with 2 spare sets I think because I partly packed in Guernsey and finished packing in Scotland so screwed up!

The duvet jacket was very welcome camping at 700m though. 

My kit is a mixture of pretty light (Laserlite tent, Cumulus s/bag, Caldera Cone Stove) and not so light (Exped Downmat, Paramo outer wear)

There is not much water on the Grey Corries so I carried a fair bit and filled up at every opportunity.

At the end of the day you will end up changing gear and making bad choices, I have several tents, sleeping bags and rucksacks.  Which ones I use depend on what I am doing.

Enjoy the journey.

Steve D

I was thinking of going to the Peak District, and spending some time at Fieldhead Campsite, this site is near Hope Train Station, and I can be back in Manchester within the hour if anything goes wrong. My idea was to use this campsite as a base and explore the well trodden paths for a few days. Does this sound reasonable as a first step?

Stephen

use this campsite as a base and explore the well trodden paths for a few days. Does this sound reasonable as a first step?

Absolutely!  Have fun...

i think a framed pack will be better. go try every one on that you can find and pick the comfiest one e.g. i find the exos uncomfortable.

just as you have spent too many years in front of the tv so i have spent too much money finding stuff that i really like because i was initially too impatient.

if you are travelling by car and staying at a camp site then weight isn't really an issue as all you'll carry for the day is waterproofs, food and drink and so you'll gain some understandign of what you like and dislike about your pack so possibly a cheap one may be the better first purchase  - look at the classifieds on here and ebay. then load the pack up as if you were overnighting but just for a day walk and see how you get on with the weight and the pack and shoes and clothes and...well...everything. getting used to things and forming your own views on what you like and would like will mean you will spend your money wisely (that's the theory !!! cough!!)

as far as pack size goes there are different versions of what is what too. you may choose to pack everything into a pack that is just the right size. you may decide topack everything into a pack that has room to spare - after you've cured yourself of taking stuff "just in case" - which is my referred method. i just put my sleeping bag in the bottom and let it compress itself with the other stuff on top. the extra space also means i can take some "proper" food like eggs without breaking them or put an extra camera lens or two in. the weight differentials between pack sizes isn't really that important as you just wouldn't notice it that much if at all.

> Reading up on approaches and methods is good and is certainly something one should be doing, but it's no substitute for personal experience.

Indeed.  Especially with items such as clothing and sleeping bags, where there is so much variation in how people feel the cold.