I really want to carry as little as possible on this long distance challenge. The days are longer than many multi-day expeditions. With an average of 24 miles a day for the first seven days. However this is to make sure I reach campsites and pass or I’m very close to somewhere I can get a cooked meal. This has mean that I don’t need to carry quite as much food.
A quick list of each piece of kit
Shelter
Tent: Alpkit Tarpstar1
Groundsheet:
Sleeping
Sleeping Bag: OEX Drift
Sleeping Mat: OEX Flux
Cooking
Cooker: OEX Hero
Gas: MSR 110g
Food & Drink
Energy
Protein
Drinks
Survival
Tools
Toiletries
First Aid & Medicine
Technology
Clothing
The Backpack
Shelter Kit
Ensuring I stay dry at night is vitally important. The tent for this adventure needed to be lightweight and hold up in wetter weather, it is happening at the unpredictable beginning of the British Summertime.
There are three main components that make up the shelter that I’ll be using, an outer tent, an inner tent and a ground sheet.
Tent: Alpkit Tarpstar
I’ve used the single bedroom in the Tarpstar 2 and I’ve found that it works best for, the central pole doesn’t feel in the way. I’ve even added some carabiners so I can hang my hiking clothes up over nights. There is a hook inside the room section too so you can hang a lamp. My head torch works pretty well for this. Once I had replaced the three AAA’s my little OEX led light shone a pretty bright light around the tent.
Inside the room itself there is plenty of space for most of my gear along with my bed set up. Due to the pyramid shape of the tent the corners are a little tight inside. You don’t want anything to be touching the outside fly. I was able to strategically place a few items of clothing and other bits which pinned my sleeping mat in place.
There is lots of space on the other side of the tent to keep my pack. Well for this night that was packs. As I had unloaded most of my gear to make some adjustments to my loadouts. It’ is nice though’s great that even with such a lightweight tent I’m still able to have a separate living and sleeping space! Alpkit have really made an amazing tent here.
Sleep Kit
There are three main components that make up the shelter that I’ll be using, an outer tent, an inner tent and a ground sheet.
Sleeping Bag: OEX Drift
The sleeping bag is 2 seasons and last year my experience in Scotland was a lot colder than it is now. With a warmer climate this handled late spring in the Highlands pretty well.
The Drift is compact both in it’s pack away size and when it’s in use. I’m 5’10’ and about 12 stone, so I’m not exactly tall and big. It is just enough space for me. I also tend to sleep a little like a vampire when I’m in my tent. There isn’t a lot of space if you’re more of a restless sleeper.
It does however work for me, it weighs less 740grams which is pretty low for a sleeping bag. Then it packs down to a tiny size, so it takes up hardly any room in my pack. That does mean at this moment I am also prepared with a OEX Sleeping bag liner too. Not a massive one, but it does help to add an extra layers of warmth if I need it. I am imagining on summer camping trips this year I might even just go for the liner. When those hot summer nights kick in I might just have to go and find a mountains with a bit more of a breeze to go sleep on!
Sleeping Mat: OEX Flux
The Flux mat is amazing the air pocket pattern allows for a comfortable night whilst not requiring hours of blowing it up. I will admit I didn’t use the bag they provided. Instead opting for my all powerful lungs to inflate the pad. I do not recommend this though. The air we blow out has a lot more moisture in there and as such it can lead to the build up of dampness and mildew inside the mat itself. I’m sure that there is a knack to using the pump bag, I’ve just not quite found it yet!!
Cooking Kit
There are three main components that make up the shelter that I’ll be using, an outer tent, an inner tent and a ground sheet.
OEX Hero
I’ll be looking at very little cooking over the time of my challenge. With planned meal stops along the way and a small collection of rations mostly for during the hiking itself. I will have a couple of just add water meals with me.
The quick boil functionality of this cooker means that I won’t be waiting long for my morning coffee either.
Food & Drink
With planned trips to pubs, and takeaways along with paths that pass supermarkets. I won’t need to carry a lot of food.
Energy Boosters
I’ll include SIS Energy gels, including a few of the added caffeine editions to top up my energy. I’ll also be carrying a few rolls of Cliff Chews which help to improve pace on tougher ascents. Then I’ll have the Cliff energy bars for further top ups.
I do plan on saving a lot of these for the hilly and mountainous days, although I’m sure some will get consumed before that. You do have to watch with these things though, they can have a laxative effect which is not what you need near the start of a 25 mile day.
Proteins
I’ll be carrying a couple of packs of jerky, mostly because I like it and also because it does pack quite a punch for a light weight little pouch.
I won’t just be carrying meat, I have my own trail mix that I like to mix up which has a healthy proportion of nuts and mixed dried fruits.
Drinks
Coffee, I’ll be carrying an assortment of Taylors coffee bags, one for each morning. I’ll also have a tube of instant coffee and some handy sweeteners too.
I’ll also be carrying a Robinsons Mini bottle of cordial and ten SIS Isotonic tablets. They really do help with your legs muscles the only times I’ve ever had much pain on a second morning is when I’ve not consumed one of these the day before.
I’ll also be carrying some hot chocolate sachets, they’re pretty stuffed with calories for the size and it’s a nice way to relax whilst settling down in the tent.
It would be a lie to say that I’m not also going to have a small hip flask with a little rum in there. Kraken goes down nicely in a hot chocolate. It’s almost assured I’ll consume a few pints of ale along the way but I will be making sure to never have more than two drinks in an evening.
Survival Kit
So this is more of a list of all the bits I’ll be carrying to make sure I can keep going. So it’s includes tools, toiletries and any medical or first aid bits.
Tools
- Compass
- Swiss Army knife: Adventurer
- OEX Head torch
- Amazon special torch
- Foil Blanket
- Emergency Poncho
Toiletries
- Drywash
- Aleo vera Gel
- Mouthwash
- Toothpaste
- Toothbrush
- Floss
- Roll-on deodorant
- Daily Contact Lenses
First Aid & Medicine
- Lifesystems: Expedition Max Repellent
- Lifesystems Tick Spray
- Tick Tweezers
- ActionFast Spray on plaster
- Blister patches
Technology
I love reading, but a book would add a lot more weight than I would like. I often keep myself entertained by reading or writing on my phone. However I am going to have to work hard to keep my devices charged so an eReader which is much lighter than a book, or an extra power pack, is a perfect little addition to my kit. Added bonus I’ve loaded it with maps and information about the different areas I’ll be traveling through during the hike.
With AllTrails, OSMaps and Garmin versions of the route all downloaded ready to use even offline I will also be carrying a couple of traditional paper OSMaps.
It will be a requirement to carry a couple of power packs to keep my phone and watch going. Although I’m staying at campsites I do find that most don’t have charging facilities. Luckily I can carry two of these and keep my phone going for seven full charges.
Clothing
One of the places where it’s actually easiest to save weight is with the clothing I’ll be carrying, so…
I won’t be wearing much…
This is also the dry bag I won’t be packing until the night before I set off. Taking on this adventure in June does mean that I’m probably going to be hit by multiple weather patterns.
So I’ve got the clothes I’ll be wearing on day one, with a spare hiking moisturising hiking t-shirt, a mind charity t-shirt, two spare pairs of socks and a spare pair of boxers. I will also be throwing in a pair of swimming shorts, my plan is to sleep in these. although they could be worm for hiking short distances on the hotter days and also opens up the idea of maybe getting a wild dip in along the way.
The backpack
We can’t forget what I’ll be carrying it all in either…
Osprey Kestrel 48 S/M
I fell lucky with this one, I managed to pick up a bargain a couple of years ago. My first large backpack, cost me a mere £85 brand new from Osprey. It is slightly different to the current model in offer.
The back panel has more of a multidirectional ridge pattern to the foam that makes up the Airspace system. New models seem to have adopted a flatter foam pattern.
The pack includes a side opening zip so you can access the bottom of the pack without having to remove every item in the way. I have only recently discovered that the zip on the left is actually a separate pocket. I have yet to decide what I’ll keep in there.
Well that’s all the gear I’ll be carrying but one thing that I though might be handy to add…
Packing a hiking backpack
When packing up a backpack for a multi day hike there are a few things you have to consider. You need to take care to balance out and position the weight correctly. Then making sure that things are accessible in the order you’re likely to need them.