What's in Your Rucksack? Travelling Light or Heavy?

[Belgian_Hiker]

First aid kit, yes, but the basics

[SouthernUplandKing]

Just a note to SouthernUpland King, on my ML training I used a hoop bivvi and was told I would fail my assessment if I used it then! So I'm now looking at a superlight tent.

Does nobody carry first aid kits!!?? I'm a super lightweight fan but like to be prepared for the unexpected.

Mike

Thanks for that mate, probably will go for the Mtn Hardwear Sprite then or a super light weight 2 man tent. I suppose I do like the extra storage and space.

I carry basic first aid equipment on my day trips. Paracetamol, Plasters, anti-septic wipes, small bandage etc just incase. Normally fits into a small zip-lock bag and weighs next to nothing for what you get out of it. On longer trips obviously you will need more

[Kevin29035]

I used to carry plasters and germolene, less so now. The Sprite tent is pretty good for room. I've seen other guys one-man's and they're like coffins, this is wider at the top with space for items around the head area. Only disadvantage about it is that it takes a bit longer to put up than some tents, and no chance if the midges are swarming.

My brother and I got completely overtaken by midges on the WHW at Glen Falloch last year. His was a simple design that could go up in two minutes, mine took a little longer. (His was £10 from Asda, built for binning at the end of a festival, lasted about 4 nights all in) Midges were crawling on every bit of exposed skin, in hair, eyes, nose, ears, mouth... I completely abandoned trying to get mine up, jumped into his '2 man' (more like 1 and a bit) and spent the night in complete discomfort, walls dripping in condensation and midges ... i see where this is going for the sick-minded - but just laughed at the bad situation and slept until dawn came at 4 or 5. Couldn't walk to Crianlarich that night because his knee was completely b*****d.

Yeah, only thing about the Sprite for me is making sure I have time to set it up.

[SouthernUplandKing]

I used to carry plasters and germolene, less so now. The Sprite tent is pretty good for room. I've seen other guys one-man's and they're like coffins, this is wider at the top with space for items around the head area. Only disadvantage about it is that it takes a bit longer to put up than some tents, and no chance if the midges are swarming.

My brother and I got completely overtaken by midges on the WHW at Glen Falloch last year. His was a simple design that could go up in two minutes, mine took a little longer. (His was £10 from Asda, built for binning at the end of a festival, lasted about 4 nights all in) Midges were crawling on every bit of exposed skin, in hair, eyes, nose, ears, mouth... I completely abandoned trying to get mine up, jumped into his '2 man' (more like 1 and a bit) and spent the night in complete discomfort, walls dripping in condensation and midges ... i see where this is going for the sick-minded - but just laughed at the bad situation and slept until dawn came at 4 or 5. Couldn't walk to Crianlarich that night because his knee was completely b*****d.

Yeah, only thing about the Sprite for me is making sure I have time to set it up.

Going by the video shown on Ellis Brigham website it looks pretty straight forward to throw up ?

My Vango is pretty easy to put up but because of the dome design the poles tend to have a mind of their own, although it does stand up pretty well in the wind and rain. 0.5 of a kilo less and it would have been a great all round summer solo tent, but split between two its ideal for two back packers. Pretty spacey but not overly, nice porch and it took two rucksacks, equipment, boots etc with space left to get in and out. I got alot for £20 for it, really good build quality etc.

[Kevin29035]

Aye he's sped up

[SouthernUplandKing]

Aye he's sped up

Aye, sometimes you forget about that detail Still looks pretty straight forward. Only time will tell if I do buy it

[Tradoch]

Can't believe some people take purification tabs. That's what worm powder's for

Should carry a first aid kit. Do carry some anadins, but that's about it. Tend to be careful. Figure if I actually need a first aid kit I probably need help anyway. Probably not the most sensible of attitudes.

Used to carry the kitchen sink when I was younger. When I carried two sacks, camping gear andmy climbing rack I really knew about it. That's a young bloke's game.

[LeithySuburbs]

Been several years since I did any proper backpacking but have decided to (and acted upon) get back into it even if just 1/2/3 night trips. I did the very sad ritual of weighing all my kit recently . My pack for 3 days / 2 nights was 9-10kg and I could probably go lighter if weather was really good. I won't say heavier for worse weather as I probably wouldn't be doing it .

[Rekrab]

leave the tent use this it's 300g I carry special bivvi poles for it but you can use walking poles if desired and you can achieve the same shelter
along with tarpaulin another 300g
I don't use a thermarest or roll mat
I carry dehydrated or boil in the bag food dried tea and milk, and use Jetboil to heat it
along with some sweets to nibble on during the day
I carry a 750CL Sigg, I camp near water so i have plenty for cooking so I don't have to carry extra water
sleeping bag with Gore-tex bivvi bag over top keeps me warm despite sleeping on the cold ground without it I'd need a thermarest to help stay off the cold ground
don't carry extra clothes don't care about having clean clothes on to much
100's of socks
only thing I carry which might seen a little weird is a pair of sandals or trainers so if we hit a long flat or paved section it's good to get the boots off and give some of the rubbing spots on the feet a rest I find this helps stop blisters
hat and gloves
I wear a fleece
and carry a Soft shell to pop over it in case it gets cold
i've given up on over trousers as the condensation in ridiculous and I get more wet wearing them, I just wear fast wicking trousers that dry as soon as the wind hits them.

MacKenzie

[Kevin29035]

What a cool camp site.

The sandals idea is a brilliant, since last year I take a pair in my bag on a lot of walks. On some of my longer walks I've changed into sandals for the last few kilometres of landrover track at the end. It changes the walk from nightmare to pretty enjoyable, funny what a difference feet make when I'd otherwise I've thought I was totally knackered. Plus hundreds of socks too.

[rogers]

I'll definitely be packing lightweight sandals in the future, especially for putting on during river crossings, got a couple of cuts on my feet last year while crossing at Fords of Avon barefooted.

[rockhopper]

I'll definitely be packing lightweight sandals in the future, especially for putting on during river crossings, got a couple of cuts on my feet last year while crossing at Fords of Avon barefooted.

or try a basic pair of "foam" flip flops - very light and very cheap ?

[islayhawk]

I have all my hiking stuff weighed (too much time on my hands). This includes clothing, boots, trainers etc etc and I have it all entered on a spreadsheet.
When I am planning any trips I use the spreadsheet to calculate the total weight then I start trimming down to get to a suitable weight. I compare advertised camping with what I have to see where I could save weight.
Yes!! I have far too much time on my hands.

islayhawk

[skuk007]

I want to travel light but that little person in my head keeps popping up and saying "Yeah, but what if...".
I then travel too heavy. If I don't put something in I know I'll need it, maybe.

[Astronick]

With lots of information around and many people (including Walk Highland's own Phil Turner and Chris Townsend) advocating lightweight backpacking it seemed silly not to take advantage of this when I was putting together my own kit. I thus invested in decent lightweight gear from the start and have since been honing my list. At the moment my base weight is around 6.5kg and on a typical overnighter I have around 1.75-2kg of consumables including food, fuel and a 500ml bottle of water (which I replenish at every decent opportunity). I carry a very light 1l platypus as a camp reservoir. The beauty of a lightweight setup is that you can still do decent days with multiple tops and not feel you are being held back by the weight of your gear. I have already identified plenty of areas where I could save weight but at the moment I'm focussing on getting out with my stuff and enjoying the Highlands - that future gear list can wait. If you are interested a gear list from a wild camping outing in April can be seen here