Skills

A natural part of walking in the wilderness (which in the UK usually means mountainous terrain) is having available to you a set of skills that are at least sufficient for the conditions and the terrain that you are going to encounter and that you can still use when tired and confused and cold and wet.

In the wilderness environment - even one that appears benign such as the Brecon Beacons - the most important thing that you have with you are the skills and the knowledge that you carry.

These skills can be broken down into a number of distinct areas. It is however fair to say that in reality they do overlap. If you are a bad navigator then you will need to draw more often on other skills. If you are a fantastic navigator you are less likely to get lost.

When you move into Ultralight backpacking what you are doing is in general replacing heavy equipment with lighter equipment which requires more skillful use. Part of this skill is in knowing what your own attitude to risk and planning is and knowing where your limits lie.

If you are an ultra-cautious person who hates getting wet then in the first year of going ultralight a tarp might be a step too far.

• Pack Diet - lose those pounds
• Tarp Knots - get knotted.
• Ultralight First Aid - how to decide what to take
• Hygiene Essentials - a tour of travel bottles and basic health (not emergency) essentials
• Mountain Lite - Going light in the mounains
• Hydration - Why, How and How much
• SUL - Sensibly Ultra-Light !
• Navigation - how to navigate regardless of weather or terrain
• Clothing - how to choose clothing for the conditions
• SOS - planning for the unexpected
• Stealth Camping - wild discrete camping
• Ultralight Photography - take good pics with less

Hydration

Water is essential for life - even more so than beer. There are lots of 'official' guidelines about how much to drink and how often. How much of those guidelines are relevant to you as a hiker and how can you stay healthily hydrated and still not carry excess weight. More...

Mountain Lite

After lots of playing around with kit combinations and endless hours spent with kitchen scales and a sewing machine I have come up with some practical combinations that work in typical UK mountain conditions and are both safe and light. More...

Sensibly Ultralight

Going light is about making sensible choices about what you want your kit to do and what weight you are willing to carry. Going light does not mean going stupid. More...

Navigation

This is a very big topic. Since this is a site that focusses on Ultra-light hiking my navigation tips will be based largely on the correct use of map and compass and less so on using a GPS (even the nice watch ones). For the type of walking I do I like to go off the beaten track and to go out when the weather is unpredictable. My focus therefore is always on navigation in bad conditions when visibility might be very poor. Because of this I tend to plan routes and landmarks accordingly. More...

Clothing and Footwear

The clothes you choose can mean the difference between a pleasant trip and a nightmare survival exercise. Choosing the right type of clothes and the right fabrics for the conditions that you expect is also a great way to reduce the amount of weight that you carry. You do not need to spend vast sums on designer gear if you know what you are buying. More...

S.O.S

Emergencies happen. Accidents happen. Most of them are preventable. For the rest a good set of basic skills and a few minimal pieces of equipment are all that are needed.

In an emergency situation one of the key early decisions to make is whether to seek shelter or seek help or both. This decision could be a life-or-death one. It has to be made with the full knowledge of your current situation and the tools that you have available to you. If you did not pack them they are of no use. More...

Stealth Camping

There is something quite special and primative about camping far away from civilisation under a clear night sky full of stars. It's just unfortunate that for most of England and Wales it is illegal. It's not in the same league as murder but still...

So, Stealth Camping exists as a concept to give you skills to camp in the places where your presence might not be welcome. It allows you to experience the wilderness even if technically you are not allowed to do so. More...

Ultralight Photography

Many people like to take photos of their trips - as do I. However camera kit was never really designed to be light and after spending hundreds of pounds saving pack weight you can accidentally load it up again with camera kit. It doesn't have to be this way if you know what you want and plan accordingly. More...