Friday 13 March 2009

I’ve got my ticket and I’d like to see em come try and take it back!

I did something good at some point, I must have. I don’t know what or when, but whatever or whenever it seems the Gods like it and in return they have granted me early leave for the hills. What a result! I just hope they haven't got their records wrong and claw it back later!

The original plan was to head out next weekend but something came up and so that plan was scratched. Instead though I've managed to squeeze some time out of this weekend and I'll be heading to Grasmere on Saturday morning. I’m pretty flexible on the exact route as I’ve never been around the Langdale Pikes but I’ll be heading out from Grasmere with a view to a short circular of around 11-12 miles with a wild camp.

So the bag is packed and all that remains is to decide on food. I've got a dehydrator now but with the antics in the kitchen etc I've not really had time to experiment so I think it will be the usual stuff. I'll definitely be making up a sweet Bannock Bread mix for afters though as its worth its weight as treat.

This is another solo trip so I'm trying to keep the weight down. Normally Paul and I would take half of the tent each so with the whole tent this time I've decided to save 115g by leaving the tent footprint out. In addition I'm swapping my F1 lite stove and titanium pot setup for the MiniBullDesign mini atomic, small 16oz pot and the larger Ziploc container from the Gramweenies Kitchen (24oz??). This lot saves me somewhere around 150-200g and my small sleeping mat saves another 140g. I'll never get it down to the low 8kg mark I usually take but its looking like it will end up somewhere around the 9.4kg mark including food and water.

Unfortunately I've added a little more weight to the pack by bringing the new Canon Ixus which weights in at 180g or so, where normally I would use the camera on my N82. I can live with the 180g but then I've got a small Lowepro weatherproof bag for it that adds another 120g. I think I'm going to have to study Colin Ibbotson's pages on making a sub 20g DIY lightweight camera bag for the next trip!

As usual I'll try and post my final kit list (time permitting) tonight and I'll be posting from the hills if I can get a signal.

7 comments:

Nigel Gray said...

Interesting to see your kit-list. Just starting to plan my first wild-camp of the year in April and am looking for a new pack. Am I right in thinking your GoLite is 49 litres?? Do you find you have plenty of space or could you go smaller?

There's an interesting thread on pack sizes for wild-camps on the LFTO forum, with some guys reckoning on using 30l packs! Was originally thinking Osprey Talon 44 or Exos 46 but then wondered if I should set my sights lower!

Marcus said...

Hi Nigel,

No worries I'll try and post it before the weekend. I had a slight chance of plan on Saturday afternoon due to the wind being quite.....persuasive and so I didn't spend the night on the hill - which was disappointing.

My GoLite is 49L and there's plenty of room for my gear. I think I could definitely go smaller but more importantly I could go lighter.

The GoLite is a very comfy pack but is 1050g. The ULA Conduit is still 50L but weighs less than half of this at approx 480g. For me there is a fine line between a a comfortable load carrying pack and the lightest.

I prefer to have some extra room in the pack rather than go right down to 35L (for example) and have to cram all of my gear in........ but I would like to save some weight though. Have you looked at the ULA gear?

Nigel Gray said...

Hi Marcus, when you get chance will you be posting your kit-list??

My OMM The Villain 45 has just arrived - it looks tiny out of the packaging and I've yet to try it with my gear. I know it's gonna tell me I need to buy a smaller lighter sleeping bag. Your Cumulus Quantum 350 looks good (but expensive) with Alpkit Pipedream 400, ME Xero and PHD Minim 300 also on the radar.

Marcus said...

Hi Nigel.
Sorry for not posting the table. I had some probs in the formatting (as usual) and never went back to it! I'm away doing the yorkshire 3 peaks this weekend so will try and post it before then.

I really like the look of the new villain, let me know how you find it, perhap a review?

My cumulus bag was a bargain towards the end of the last season and can't fault it now i've sorted the hood. I think you can get it cheaper than a minim 300 too? However the pipedream is the one to beat on weight/price/warmth ratio.

Is your trip this weekend?

Marcus said...

Hi Nigel,

I didn't think it worthy of a separate post on on my weights list so I'll provide the link below instead. Like my previous posting of a similar list, I've had to save the file as a jpeg so you can view it reliably. Hopefully it works:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/photo/DD0lsZi6EEh82r5b0L4Mpg?authkey=Gv1sRgCMq0ueqT2PaAJQ&feat=directlink

How are you getting on with the trip planning?

Nigel Gray said...

The cheapest I can find the Cumulus is 200GBP whereas the PHD Minim 300is 129GBP in the sale or 149GBP for the drishell option. Looks to pack smaller than the Pipedream too, so think the credit card will be out shortly!

Marcus said...

Hi Nigel,

That minim is a bargain - what are you waiting for?! I got my cumulus quantum for £160 in the big adventure store sale and thought that was impressive. Only thing to think about is if 300g of fill is enough for the seasons you will use it in - you can always supplement that with down clothing in extreme cold.