Mountain-Lite

Going ultralight does not have to mean that you make any compromises on safety or security. What it does mean is that you learn to make intelligent choices about what kit you take and how rugged that kit has to be.

If you look at many adverts for outdoor clothing and equipment you will see some brave traveller halfway up a snowswept Himilayan mountain in Jacket X that you are going to buy for a summer walking trip in the Brecon Beacons. Clearly what you are about to buy is engineered way beyond what you actually need.

If you go to the other extreme and try to strip every ounce/gramme from your kit then you may end up with some lightweight kit but you may also end up with some very fragile kit - but not always!

Some American manufacturers can sell you packs and tarps and even bivy bags made of exotic substances such as spinnaker fabric and dehydrated fairy wings - all of it fantastically light but not all of it safe for some mountain conditions.

With a bit of intelligence what you can do is strip weight from your pack in some areas where weight is not buying you any benefit and leave weight in your pack where there is great benefit. Overall your pack weight will drop a lot and you will be just as safe and well-equipped as you were before.

Sometimes when I look at my pack I ask myself "Where did all the weight disappear from?" I'm still carrying the essentials I need but each one weighs less than it used to. It all adds up.

So, let's look at different pieces of kit and examine the decisions that I made...

Pack

The Super-ultralight-Packs made of Spinnaker fabric are not going to be suitable for any rough treatment whatsoever. If your walks involve forging through dense forests or scrambling then maybe they should be avoided.

However, for the type of walking that most people do - which is just that walking; there are lots of packs that are available that are certainly tough enough - even if they do appear flimsy when compared with your 1000 denier cordura pack.

These days unless I am carrying climbing gear (spiky!) I will use either an OMM 25L pack which weighs around 550g or a GoLite Jam which weighs around 650g (in my size). Both of these packs are a lot lighter than any of my old day sacks!

More interesting is the fact that the GoLite Jam is made of Dyneema which is incredibly tough as a fabric - certainly good enough for an occaisional climbing pack. All you need to know about dyneema is that it is used extensively to make webbing straps (slings) for climbing in situations where your life depends on it and it will be abrading with rock. If I can trust my life to Dyneema I think I can trust my kit with it.

Based on my own experiences with ultralight packs I am currently constructing a new pack that I suspect will be about 400g for a 40-45L pack. It will contain a mix of materials - chosen for where they are used and will also have a 'proper' padded back system.

Also on my To-Do list is to sew two vertical pockets into the interior of the jam pack so that it will accept two carbon fibre rods. This will give the pack an internal frame for a weight gain of about 30g. When I am using the Jam it is sometimes too big for my needs and can collapse in the middle. The rods should prevent that and make it behave more like a 'proper' pack.

Shelter

I have used a tarp above the treeline and in the wind. It was not fun.

After much experimenting over the last year or so I have come up with a couple of shelter systems that I use based on where I am camping.

For lowland camping I tend to use a tarp with some form of groundsheet. If the weather forecast is good I will not bother to pitch the tarp and just sleep on the groundsheet in the open air.

For camping in the mountains I have chosen to use a system that is 'bomb-proof' and can be used as a shelter anywhere.

That system consists of a lightweight (but fully waterproof bivy bag) and a small tough micro-tarp that is designed for wet and windy conditions. The bivy bag weighs in at 480g and the tarp at 140g. The two together give me a comfortable shelter in rough weather. The bivy bag is heavyish because it is tough.

My bag is homemade as is the tarp (plans will follow one day) but you can buy Goretex bivy bags that are 500g or less for a reasonable price and you can also buy micro-tarps or solo tarps that are light and tough.

If you add in a few titanium tent pegs and use your trekking pole then the result is a shelter system that weighs in at around 650g and will survive just about anything that you throw at it. To try and get the same sort of performance in a tent would involve 2-3 times as much weight.

Incidentally, SilNylon (Silicone-elastomer coated nylon) is sufficiently tear resistant that you could just buy a 2.5-3m length of the fabric and sew by hand some reinforcing patches and tie-out points. Leaving it unhemmed might look untidy but the fabric is so good that a hem is more cosmetic than functional.

Sleep Systems

This year I have moved back to using a Multimat instead of a Thermarest. It has saved me over 300g in weight and of course will not puncture. It is sometimes not as comfortable as a Thermarest would be but there is plenty of soft ground in the mountains. However the most important thing is that it is very warm. I have often found that Thermarests can feel cold outside of the warmer months.

For a sleeping bag I have moved over to down. It is still early days for me and down but I am convinced that warmth/weight ratio is unbeatable and that in practice down does not suffer much from moisture issues - just protect it from the rain.

I have now slept several nights in the open air with just a down sleeping bag and found it both to be comfortable and dry without any issues concerning morning dew.

Cook Systems

The most frightening thing I have ever done is to try and light a small alcohol stove that was balanced on a rock on soft peat and at the same time try and shelter it from the prevailing ridge wind. I now carry an MSR pocket rocket with tripod legs to stabilise it.

There is one alcohol cooker that I have used in windy conditions safely - a classic Trangia.

My choice of cook system is basically down to one that is reliable, can cope with some wind and is relatively stable on uneven ground (which is the only ground around). That leads me to a gas stove or an old-skool army Esbit stove (often sold as Picnic stoves). Esbit may be smoky but weight-wise it compares well with gas and it is certainly robust.

Rainwear

If the conditions are very good (guaranteed no rain) then I am more and more often just taking the Montane Featherlite Smock for wind. If I am expecting rain then I have a Montane 200 jacket.

If you are still a hardcore Gore-Tex person then Gore-Tex Paclite has proved to be a very good material at a low weight - providing that you do not get a feature-rich jacket and this year Mountain Equipment are producing a jacket with a new Gore-Tex material that has a weight of under 300g for a jacket.

You may think that durability is an issue. Time will tell. So far my £40 featherlite smock has seen far more action than any other outer layer that I possess. The Montane 200 Jacket may not be as tough as a 3-layer Gore-Tex jacket but if it costs 1/3 as much then I can afford to replace it 3 times as often and still be ahead.

The bottom line is that you want rainwear that will work in harsh conditions - which rules out some but not all of the ultralight stuff. Even so there are a few ultralight options around and there are certainly light options around. You could budget 400-500g for a jacket and have a very suitable piece of equipment.

For legs I tend to use only a light pair of waterproofs if anything. Only in the heart of winter would I worry about heavy-duty rainwear.

Clothing

I tend to buy 'standard' pieces of clothing but choose the lighter versions. I've not yet sold my soul to Montane or Go-Lite in this area.

For walking trousers I tend to buy light syntethic-based trousers and rely on a windproof or waterproof overtrouser to provide extra warmth if necessary. The combination weighs less than buying a thicker trouser.

Footwear

On my easter trip to the Black mountains I only took trail running shoes with me. The shoes were a poor fit for me but in principle I am convinced that trail running shoes are viable for many conditions - at least for me.

I have to say that I own a very nice pair of leather boots and if I am planning a trip with lots of rain or I know that I am leaving the path and going cross-country especially if that country is peat bog then I still think boots are essential.

For the rest of the time - where I am following a 'path' then I am equally convinced that light footwear is ideal. My feet feel much better after a day walking in lightweight fabric boots or trail shoes when compared with boots. That extra weight does make a big difference.

My first exposure to trail shoes here was a disaster from the viewpoint of blisters but was a success in all other respects. I have on that basis bought a new pair of trail shoes, some new light socks and will plan to move over to just trail shoes for many trips.

To move over to trail shoes is a big step for lots of reasons - not least of which is the psychological support that is given by "I am walking, I wear boots".

The next time you are out for a walk take a look at the ground you are moving over in reality and ask yourself how much different it is from a walk in your local park or your local area of open grassland - where you wouldn't normally wear boots.

Also consider how much of an impact Pack Weight has. If you suddenly put on 10Kg in fat overnight would you start wearing walking boots to do your weekly shop?

When I am halfway up a cliff and balancing on one corner of one foot I have no ankle support whatsover. I do OK. What I do have is feet that are used to not being supported and have muscles that can cope - through training.

The Romans travelled all over britian in just Sandals. Sure the rain annoyed them and they wished they had Gore-Tex but they did OK...

Lighting

A Petzl Tikka Plus is now more than adequate to get you off a hillside on a typical night. At 78g it is a no-brainer. A keyring torch is fine for low-level stuff but if you have to come off a mountain it is not going to happen.

Summary

You go lightweight in the mountains and still be safe. Removing weight does not have to remove safety or comfort. You do not have to do it in one go. You can chip away at your pack a bit at a time until it is half the weight it once was.