Black Mountains trip 06 Oct 2006

After my last trip into the Brecon Beacons I decided to review some of the kit that I was carrying for winter backpacking.

The main changes were:

• Replace the Berghaus Arete 45 with the GoLite Jam to save 700g
• Replace Saunders tent with homemade tent to save 800g
• Replace Leki Makalu trekking pole with Titanium Leki pole to save 120g
• Replace Thermarest Prolite 3 with my very old Karrimat to save 140g

I then ended up 'spending' those weight savings on some extra food, a surprisingly heavy book and a GPS all of which left my pack about 600g lighter than before.

My original plan was to wander totally off the beaten track around the Black Mountains and camp wherever I ended up.

However, after wading through a rather treacherous couple of miles of peat bog making full use of the Leki pole for stability I decided to return to the beaten track. I'd much rather leave bog snorkelling for the extreme sports enthusiasts...

The weather was a little grim with lots of wind and rain but the mountains themselves were as beautiful as ever and did include a couple of herds of wild horses.

From the kit list below you will see that my base pack weight at 5.9Kg is not quite hitting 'ultralight' territory and is still far away from Super Ultra Light (SUL) but even so, it would still be possible to lose 1.2Kg for a spend of less than £100 by leaving a few things at home, taking a cheap camping mat and replacing my Gore-Tex jacket with a lighter one. After that the weight savings become much more difficult.

Of course, during the summer it would be very easy to drop the pack weight by an additional 1+Kg by taking a summer-weight sleeping bag, a small tarp and groundsheet and leaving behind cold-weather clothing.

The bottom line is that whilst it will not always be possible to achieve a base pack weight of below 5Kg or even 2Kg it is possible to get close during the summer by choosing carefully what you take.

Going Ultralight does not have to involve spending huge sums of money.

The Jam pack costs about the same as the Berghaus Arete but is less than half the weight.

I can buy a cheap camping mat from Argos for £5 that is not as comfortable as my Thermarest but is 400g lighter. I can replace my Gore-Tex jacket with a lighter one for £80. I can carry a £2 10g Spork instead of a knife-fork-spoon set and so it goes on. Careful choice of kit makes all the difference. It is only when you are chasing those last few grammes of weight does the cost start to creep up.

My Kit List