Hi ,this list is meant to assist any one just about to buy stuff and and at least consider light gear. I am 61,5ft 7in and about 10 stone ,retired and I think a recent Ex marathoner and triathlete and considered this approach to preserve my limbs.I have been able to do two summer long hikes in the Alps and in the US and have flung quite a bit of stuff along the way and honed this list having met loads of other long distance hikers.I have been ok at a few degrees below zero at night but have worn just about everything. I have no wish to continue the debate about the merits of lightweight hiking,each to their own.
SHELTER & SLEEPING 67 oz
3oz ground cloth, 7oz Pertex bivy sack 26oz Rab sleeping bag 6 oz silk sleeping bag liner 5 oz sleeping pad 20 oz Silnylon tarp /titanium stakes
* 10 oz rain poncho/tarp * 64 oz 1 person Tent ( *could replace tarp dependant on season)
EXTRA CLOTHES 49oz
6 oz 2pr thin synthetic socks,
2 oz camp shoes(made out of insoles)
2 oz silk gloves
4 oz silk long johns and T shirt
12 oz Paclite jkt
7 oz pertex rain pants
4 oz short sleeved shirt
12oz Rab Vapour Rise Jacket
PACK 20 oz 16oz Golite Breeze 1 oz bin liner packcover
1oz bin liner/pack liner 2oz 4 stuff sacks
COOKING 34 oz
Titanium cook pot and foam cosy/* frying pan cook/eating utensils insulated cup pop can stove & fuel matches, lighter, candle
* Long trips only
MISCELLANEOUS 8 oz first-aid kit ,bandana /camp towel toilet paper ,toothbrush/powder, Ibrofen, stomach pills,compeed ,bug protection, OTHER ESSENTIALS 28 oz sewing kit sun glasses sun block, lip balm space blanket plastic whistle,signal mirror, camp soap , maps, map case notepad & pencil duct tape headlamp, flashlight extra batteries, monocular,mp3 player,ziploc freezer bags,water purifing liquid
Thanks for the kit list, Stuart. I love reading about what other people carry, and getting ideas :)
Um... can you do it all again in metric, though? I've forgotten what ounces mean in the kit context!
(Just joking about doing it again!)
What tent do you use? I'm always on the lookout for light tents.
I see you only take thin socks. What sort of footwear do you use?
What you and I take is not enormously different in many respects, although your pack is lighter (I take the 1.3kg Osprey Atmos - at 49g, 3 times heavier than your Breeze) and I need a heavier sleeping mat to be able to sleep (InsulMat Max Thermo - 22g - more than 4 times heavier than yours (what is yours?)). Then again, I don't carry ground cloth, bivvy or sleeping bag liner (I know you need the bivvy when you don't take a tent), so that saves me a bit.
My waterproofs are marginally lighter than yours, though :) (Unless it's winter, in which case I'm using Paramo.) I have Berghause Paclite jacket and trousers.
How do you find the pop can stove? I have a 3.4oz Primus Micron, which I find easy and efficient, as well as light and very small to pack away. I've read about the pop can stoves, but they always sound slightly less convenient than the Micron/similar.
What food do you tend to take? At the moment I eat a lot of Beanfeast/Smash, but I'm going to dry my own when I get a dehydrator.
have you ever batchelors pasta and sauce pw? its on special offer,buy one get one free at morrisons at the moment. i have bought enough to last all summer and autumn as well as the beanfeast and smash i have been buying all winter. all bought on special offer.have 4 carrier bags full!wife thinks i am mad.;0)
It's an interesting list Stuart. I'm in the process of trying to get lighter and am setting a target of halving the weight of each item of kit as I replace it, although looking at your list, I could be much more aggressive on this !
Also struggling a bit with the imperial measures ! (Checking the kitchen scales: 100g is about 3.5oz or put another way each ounce is approx 28 grams I think). Which is funny (at least to me) as I generally feel much happier with them in other contexts, but when hillwalking it's all grams, kilos, metres and kilometres now.
Thanks for the tip, Ray - I'm camping this weekend so I'll get some of the Batchelors kit and report back :)
As for the conversions <guilty secret>, I use the freeby Backpacking Gear Weight Calculator available here, and at the click of an icon it's possible to convert between metric and real weight measurement :) It's a truly excellent programme: checkit out
Never mind PW, I'm the metric maid round here!!! And as for burning, surely that's for metric martyrs? And I'm going to have to run off to a conversion site too - I think the last time I used ounces was when buying bacon at the butchers ;-)
I got some good digital ones from whatsitcalled, Morph. That chain where you go in an fill in a slip and they bring it to you. Can't remember the name. (Old age creeping up.)
Well blow me, sorry about the the weights.I must get out more .I use a great little backpacking package which configures back and forth metric and Imp.You can download this from backpacking .net or Google backpacking gear calculator. In answer to questions my tent is a Pro action one person tent I only use this in GB mountain conditions were stormy winds are likely,mostly I tarp and look for sheltered spots . In answer to questions I use low trail shoes currently Meindle and two pair of Bridgedale thin socks .My foam mat is only a Millets job which I cut down to two thirds body length and tapered ,if its cold I put the space blanket and any spare gear under my legs for more insulation.I have made several pop can and wood stoves out of various cans.I usually use a pop can stove and get on well with it but you can only boil up food.
Shirl. Over the weekend I was in the Lakes, wild camped . Weather conditions varied, some wind, snow, ice, hail, sleet etc. The tent I was using was the new Henry Shires Rainbow tarp tent, really a single skin jobby that has the bonus of being midge proof. Light, very easy to put up, roomy for one, stable and can actually free stand if you use your treking poles instead of pegging down. Obviously it has limitations, but it certainly has cut down on the weight factor. With cold weather gear, re a down vest and spare top, two days food, fuel and nibbles, I still brought the weight down to under twenty pounds. That includes my weight penalty, re, a spare change of clothes to travel in and a book. Food I am still experimenting with, ie, drying my own, pasta sauce is good dried, ditto rice, mince, fish etc.
Impressive, Dawn! There's no doubt that cutting down on tent/tarp weight can make a very significant difference.
I always think of single skins tents as being a potential condensation trap, but obviously that depends upon how windy it is. How have you found that tent in that regard?
So far there has been no condensation problems, there is a lot of ventilation. The bathtub floor is joined to the walls by a skirt of midge netting. On calm nights the whole front can be left open. Again, there is there is a screen of midge netting that prevents the wee beasties from entering the tent. At the moment I am waiting to hear from the one and only Podcast Bob, about the new Omm sack that Cameron McNeish has been raving about. Very light but rugged. After my experience with a Golite I am wary though. And Cameron, if you are reading this, you are a bad influence, all this going on about light weight. It means I am currently yet again overhauling equipment. Oh, and I have caused raised eyebrows with Brasher, having worn their boots in conditions far and beyond their design range. Even a couple of time with light crampons. Mind, I have to agree with you Cameron.
