Ultralight Hiking in the UK

Introduction

After completing 3 Long Distance Paths in the UK using ultralight kit and ultralight techniques I've come to the conclusion that I'm still carrying far too much stuff!!!!

The Ultralight movement in the USA is built around the fact that many of their Long Distance Paths pass through population centres relatively rarely and so it's absolutely 100% essential to have a tent or a tarp or something for overnight shelter.

By contrast, in the UK it's much more typical that accommodation (outside of peak periods) is quite easily available. Of the four paths that I've completed - West Highland Way (heavy pack), The Cotswold Way (u/l), The Ridgeway (u/l), and just last week Offa's Dyke (u/l) - it was possible with all of them to arrange B&B or hotel accomodation or something every night whilst covering modest to reasonable distances each day.

The reality is that most people who do these paths in the UK tend to book B&B's and carry a daysack with just the essentials in it. Many will then rely on expensive couriers or taxis or friends to relay luggage between stops.

On The Offa's Dyke Path I would say that 95% of the people doing it were doing so with day packs or 30L B&B packs (no foam mat visible). A small percentage were carrying full 70L packs and looked at me rather oddly with my 35L pack.

I mentally started to run numbers - if I was to stay in B&Bs every night and I was carrying everything I needed for this then what sort of pack weights would I be looking at?

In practice, when I'm on these paths even though I am carrying a lightweight shelter I still tend to stay in B&Bs when available simply because they are convenient and can provide one or two hot meals. On Offa's Dyke I only actually needed to use my tent once. To use it at other times would have required a fair bit of stubborness on my part and doing things like loading up on food and water before looking for a pitch.

From an ultralight viewpoint it makes obvious sense to use food and shelter where available so that you don't have to carry it.

Food and Water Supplies

In the UK the Post Office Closures programme is resulting in lots of remote Post Offices (and their associated stores) closing.

On all three paths that I've done in the last few years I was finding that village stores were simply no longer there. Many had been closed in the last year or two. This meant that picking up food often required long detours.

However, it was also true that even if the store had closed the local pub had usually remained open.

So it makes perfect sense to me to rely more on pubs being their - and a soure of hot food - than to rely on the stores being there. Pubs tend to be much more resilient. This allows me to carry less food and eke out what I do carry.

In practical terms many long distance paths in the UK are well supplied with Pubs if not stores. It makes sense to treat them as a valuable resource.

Safety

Everyone must make their own decisions on what level of safety they want when walking.

For many long distance paths in the UK it is the case that they are not very remote - a village or some sort of occupied property may be within a few miles of the path - and the terrain and weather is not going to be too harsh.

For many paths it might just be simply over-kill to carry a full shelter system when an emergency bivy bag or bothy bag or perhaps nothing at all will suffice.

I will make a special note of the West Highland Way: In recent years there has been a massive industry built around ferrying luggage between B&Bs and on any summer day you will see dozen's of people setting off from each location point with some rather small daysacks. Some I think might be under-equipped.

The West Highland Way passes through some beautiful and tough terrain and can be the source of some very rough weather. On many parts of that route there are no "Plan Bs" or escape routes and if the weather turns rough or you turn an ankle you might well be on your own.

In contrast, something like The Cotswold Way is almost entirely based in rural england and major roads or civilisation are never far away and conditions are not going to be extreme. A daysack might be a perfectly safe and reasonable option.

On Offa's Dyke I knew that some days would have me covering exposed mountain terrain where the weather could be exceedingly rough and so I felt a shelter system was a sensible thing to carry. For most of the days it was not necessary.

Ultralight Comfort

When I did The Cotswold Way I was carrying the absolute minimum that I could get away with. I ran into problems with underwear and socks - in a UK climate they would take more than a day to dry on a typical day.

To be comfortable and hygienic does in fact require me to carry several pairs of underwear and socks so that at least one pair could be aired if nothing else.

I know that most B&Bers like to have some normal clothes to change into - but this doesn't have to weigh heavy - a pair of liner socks instead of slippers, an ultralight shirt and ultralight trousers can easily come in at under 300g in total.

Recently Backpacking Light in America have launched an Ultralight Trekking Shirt and Trousers that each weigh in at around 140g in my size (L and XL). The shirt was worn on the last trip and I was stunned by how well it performed in a wet and drizzly summer climate and on summery days. I regretted not taking the trousers with me....

I wore an Icebreaker Merino T-shirt for most of the two weeks and even then it wasn't showing any signs of strong odour.

I think with a little thought and some ultralight clothing it is possible to do an Ultralight B&B based walk carrying just a 25L pack and very little weight.

Ultralight Scenarios

In order to be realistic with numbers I've taken the actual weights of everything in my pack used on Offa's Dyke. My kit list for this walk was longer and heavier than on previous walks but provided me with a reasonable amount of comfort and safety. It included a Thermarest (sheer luxury at 400g) and a guidebook (heavy but very very useful). At times I wanted the load to be lighter but I didn't want to post back any of the kit.

Everything that I was carrying was there as a result of previous trip experiences.

For shorter trips you can of course carry a lot less. For longer trips you really start to miss the luxuries. My FM Radio was only 70g in weight but helped me to keep in touch with the real world.

Remember, these numbers are all based on actual equipment that I own and actual trips that I have taken - they are heavier than many theoretical lists that you might see that might not deal with cold and wet UK conditions. Each Scenario is explained below.

Ultralight Pack Content Notes

Shelter

My home-made twin-skin tent weighs in at 1Kg. You can buy commercial twin-skins for this weight at a price. A bivy bag can weigh anything from 250g to 1.5Kg but a typical 'alpine' bivy bag weighs around 500-750g.

Cookset + Fuel

This is an MSR Pocket Rocket with Ti Mug, a 110g fuel canister and a few other bits and bobs. Alcohol and Esbit struggle to match it for weight over more than a few days use.

Clothing

Basically a fleece and a kilt (or pair of shorts)

Weatherproofing

A Waterproof coat, chaps, sun hat, sun glasses etc. etc.

BPL Trousers and Shirt

A clean change of clothing so that you don't have to wear walking clothes all the time.

2x Platy + Tablets (water purifying)

A 2L Platypus hydration system (cross-bred with Camelback and Source) and a 1.5L platypus bladder. It's rare for me to carry more than 1L of water but on some days 2.5L is carried and on hot days I might need to consider 3.5L if there is no option for water en route.

Hygiene Etc

Toothpaste, brush, hand gel, lipsalve, potty trowel, travel soap. It all adds up stunningly quickly even at 50g a time.

Medical Kit

Blister treatments, Ibuprofen, Paracetamol, anti-histamine, tape, some cordage, a needle and thread.

Radio / Camera / Luxuries

For this trip I used a separate radio, camera and phone instead of an integrated phone. It increased the weight but gave me better pictures and meant the phone could be used for emergencies without worrying about battery life. Again it all adds up.

Ultralight Scenario 1 - 'Pure' Ultralight

This is basically where my pack was for the Offa's dyke trip. It included a 1Kg twin-skin tent, sleeping bag and so on. I was properly equipped for UK weather conditions and had equipment with me that would work day-in-day-out in the wilderness. I did not need to use B&B or Hotel accomodation.

My U/L kit included things like a camara and other things that are not essential but add greatly to comfort and pleasure on the trip.

Ultralight Scenario 2 - Basic Ultralight

In this scenario I've replaced the Tent with a Bivy Bag and carried a little less clothing. A bivy bag is nowhere near as comfortable as a tent in bad weather but it will provide a shetler.

Ultralight Scenario 3 - Safe B&B

If you had accomodation booked every night then the only thing you might need to worry about are unplanned over-nighters where the objective would be survival rather than comfort. For this I've allowed a Bivy Bag and a foam mat. A Bothy Bag would be a good alternative.

Ultralight Scenario 4 - Min B&B

This is what most people are doing in the real world who don't consider themselves to be "real walkers". I've stripped out shelter from the packing list and shaved the clothing list a little. Most people get everything else they need couriered between stops.

The stunning thing about this scenario is that you can end up with a realistic pack weight of under 4.5Kg / 10lb including food and water.

Ultralight Scenario 5 - My B&B

This is the list that I am currently considering for my next trip (Easter 2009?). It's going to be at least 1Kg lighter than for the last trip.