Black Mountains Easter Trip - Kit analysis

Background

65K, 1600m up, 1600m down 2+ days, 2 nights, 2 ridges, too bloody hot!

On this trip I wanted to do several things that I had not done before:

• Walk two ridges in the Black Mountains from end-to-end.
• Bivy out on a ridge at least once
• Backpack unsupported with only lightweight gear but suitable for mountain use.

This was a dry-run for later in the year when I want to do one or two longer walks. It is also I think the only way to find out which bits of kit are still too heavy or unnecessary. It takes a couple of days and a couple of mountains to decide whether or not a piece of kit is worth its weight or is just a weight around your neck.

My total pack weight was a heavy dry weight of 6.1Kg with food and water bringing the total to a maximum of 9.4Kg. The bulk of that extra weight was water. Since I was planning to spend most of two days on the ridges the only place I could resupply with water was at either ends of the ridge - unless I descended.

I was expecting several days of clear blue skies and warm weather. What I got was several days of clear blue skies and warm weather with peak daytime temperatures of 15°C and 21°C and almost no wind. Amazing!

I thought it would be useful to concentrate on why I took the items that I did rather than on just what I took.

What and Why

Pack - GoLite Jam (Large)

This pack is a generous 40L pack made of 100% dyneema. It is tough and light and comfortably large enough for all my gear plus food and water. It is comfortable for the loads carried although 10Kg is at the upper end of the comfort range.

It has two outer mesh pockets that I use for water bottles and a single large outer pocket that I use for all my during-the-day or during-the-night things that I need to be immediately available.

Sleeping Bag - Mountain Equipment Snowline 750 !!!

The dry weight of this bag was 1695g and the weight at the end of this trip was 1753g. Clearly, it had taken on some water ove r the trip.

This bag is EN certified to -17°C for men. Naturally since nighttime temperatures were between +5 and +8&degC; it was a little too warm. HOWEVER it was only slightly heavier than my synthetic bag that I knew would be too cold. I bought this bag for winter use and as a test to see how well down really worked. I also worked on the basis that for me manufacturer's stated temperature ratings have been hugo award winning in their optimism. This bag seems to be as warm as stated. ME suggest it has an upper working temperature of +10&degC and that does seem realistic. At +5&degC the bag does feel very warm and so I suspect it will cope with sub-zero temperatures well.

I was planning to use the bag in a bivvy bag and knew that this could generate a lot of moisture which in theory would impact on the down performance. In practice it didn't seem to make much or any difference . On day 2 I slept outside of the Bivy bag and the outside of the down bag was just as damp as on day 1. This bag has a waterproof breathable inner and outer and so it is fine for use in hostile (to down) conditions. I weighed the bag at the start and at the end of the walk to see how much moisture the bag contained.

I have now inhaled deeply and orderd another sleeping bag with a much lower certified rating (-7&degC instead of -17&degC) and 600g less in weight. My early conclusion is that manufacturers have a tendency to use eskimos for their test subjects with one or two rumoured exceptions. The EN rating system is standardised and independent. I am I think convinced that down is so much better than synthetic that it may not be worth bothering with synthetic at all if you can afford it. A good down bag costs at least twice as much as a synthetic bag but if you are carrying it and using it outside of summer it is probably justified.

Sleeping Mat - Multimat Nato

This is a closed-cell foam mat that is 55cm wide and weighs a claimed 300g. I have trimmed it into more of a Thermarest Prolite shape so that it fits better into my home-made bivy bag. Outside of summer I find that a Thermarest Prolite 3 is too cold for me and that even the normal Thermarest is not warm enough. This mat is rated for 5-season use and is a little softer and thicker than your average mat.

After years of trying different styles and different mats I have come to the conclusion that outside of summer what I need is a wide and well insulated mat. With the narrow mats I do tend to roll off them in the night wheras with the wider mats I stay put.

This mat has been trimmed so that the top 85cm is the full 55cm wide and then the rest of the mat tapers to 40cm. This reduces the mat weight to 250g.

In use I find the mat comfortable on most ground and the level of insulation is what I need. It is not as comfortable as a thermarest for all ground but if I am wild camping most of the ground that I sleep on is naturally soft anyway and so it is not an issue. It is also now more than 300g lighter than my thermarest...

Shelter - part1: Home-made Bivy bag

For mountain use I work on the principle that it is always possible to find somewhere to put a bivvy bag even if you cannot pitch a tent there. In addition to that I know that in winds that would flatten a tent you will be safe and warm in a bivy bag.

The bag I use is a homemade one that is 'heavy' in lightweight terms but 'light' in mountain terms. It weighs in at 480g and has a 4oz PU coated nylon base and a waterproof breathable Pertex Aquabloc top. It is a generous cut (slightly less so than the 650g bag it replaces). All the seams are taped.

The bottom line then is that it is 170g lighter than the bag it replaces and just as suited for the conditions. The bag proportions have been designed for me and to allow my winter down sleeping bag to fully loft and to give me some wriggle room. The Aquabloc appears to be much more breathable than the goretex-wannabe bag that I use and is still waterproof. The bag is designed to withstand any conditions that I might experience in the mountains - even if it is the only shelter that I have and even if I cannot find a good place to put it. The design I used is very similar to the Mk 1 design here.

Under similar test conditions the goretex-wannabe bag had pools of moisture inside it and the DIY bag had only slight signs of moisture. More interesting was that there seemed to be no significant difference on the down bag between using and not using the bivvy bag.

Shelter - part2: Home-made Micro-Tarp

I like to use my bivy bag with a micro tarp. The tarp provides a shelter from the wind and allows me to create a little bit of space that will stay dry and relatively draft-free. This allows me to keep kit dry and provide an area for cooking. In the very worst of conditions it provides a small emergency shelter that would keep me safe. See here for pictures.

For mountain use I find that a small tarp and bivy bag work well together. The combination of the micro-tarp and my lighter bivy bag is still about the same as my original bivy bag and so I have gained a lot of flexibility, comfort and safety for only a 20g weight penalty.

Cookware - MSR Pocket Rocket, 125g canister and Snowpeak Ti Mug

This seems to be my current favourite combination. This time out I also took a lid for the mug and this made a big difference to fuel usage. I also use a set of tripod legs that attach to the cylinder which provide essential stability. Finally I use a flatworld folding cup for drinks and a Spork for a utensil. The total weight of this cookset may be more than an alcohol based equivalent but I do like the speed of boiling and I do like the stability (with the legs) of the whole setup.

I find the ability to prepare a hot drink quickly is very powerful for peace-of-mind when you are cold. When out walking it was really cool to be able to set up the stove and have a hot coffee for lunch using only my body as shelter from the wind.

The overall combination does seem to becomming one of my favourite pieces of kit. Of couse what I have done is to adapt my cooking requirements to my choice of stove and cookware rather than the other way around - which is what I used to do.

Total fuel use was 35g which was for (ISTR) 2 potted snacks and 7/8 cups of water which is a total of 1.6L of water - this equates to one or two boils at night, one at lunchtime and two cups of hot drink in the morning. 35g is about 1/3 of a 110 fuel canister and so this suggests to me that a 196g full canister would be good for a week. with a slight risk of no hot drink on day 7. For a week with a trangia I would budget at least 0.5L of fuel and a Sigg flask - which weighs more.

Navigation - Ortlib A5 case + Map + compass

This combination seems to be the one that I use whatever the weather. The Ortlib A5 case seems to be very robust and I find it a handy size for 1:50,000 maps. On a linear walk I did need to reposition the map in the case a few times. When I am not using the map I clip the case (see review) to either my belt or a side compression strap on the pack - where it doesn't flap around in the wind too much. Adding the small carabiner to the pouch has vastly increased the usability of it.

I alwasy ensure that I fold a map so that it is orientated in the same way within the case and ensure that the side which is not being used for navigation is obvious - by having visible map folds. In that way if I am only checking the map from time to time it is easy for me to find roughly where I am on the map without much thought.

Footwear- Montrail Mountain Vapour trail-running shoes and Coolmax liner socks

In this trip I broke the one sacred rule - "Never take untested kit on an expidition". I paid a high price for breaking that rule.

The shoes themselves are a light 900g with a Goretex XCR lining, a well-designed sole with good torsional rigidity and a well designed lacing system. They are a fantastic shoe - for someone else! I bought them in a sale at "Snow and Rock" for half price and thought they were a reasonable fit. I was very, very wrong.

The basic issue for my feet was that the width accross the toes was just slightly too narrow so the toes were not able to spread fully under load. Also under load some of the toes it would appear just about touch the front of the shoe. The net result is that I had more blisters than I have ever had before - generall between the toes plus I had two massive blisters on the inside edge o each heel. The heel blisters suggest their might be an issue with how the footbed sits. All the other blisters are just signs that the shoe was the wrong shape for me. I walked for at least 50K with these blisters just getting bigger and bigger.

However, I really liked how the shoe moved with my foot and allowed me to cover ground naturally. I am definitely sold on the idea of trail shoes as an alternative to boots in many types of terrain but not this pair. Fortunately for me Snow and Rock do a buy-back scheme for shoes and boots. If you cannot get on with the shoes/boots and they cannot get them to fit for you then you can get 1/2 your money back. In my case that was £21. It's an expensive way to relearn an old lesson. I have now used shoes, sandals and various boots for hiking and will probably write about the merits of each sometime.

Extremeties - Polartec gloves (30g) and a cheap balaclava (38g)

I was expecting it to be cold at night and first thing in the morning. These items were taken so that I could still do stuff around the camp such as cook and eat and still be warm before getting into my sleeping bag. This worked well. What I didn't take and badly wish that I had was a sun hat and sun cream. Neither item was taken because I did not expect the temperature to be so warm or the sun so strong.

Rainwear - Montane Windproof smock and pants

In the UK we have had a week of dry weather and were forecast another week of dry weather. In these conditions I decided that rain in the mountains would be very unlikely since there would not be enough moisture in the hillside or in the air to generate clouds. In these circumstances I felt that not taking a proper waterproof was safe since I already had some very good emergency shelter with me and I could use the tarp as an adhoc poncho if really required. None of my backup options would be as good as the gear I would have taken for wet and windy conditions but it did save me around 300g over the alternatives and it was safe for me to do so.

The Montane windproof smock has proved to be excellent as a windproof and most of the time tha is all I seem to need. During the day if the temperature drops or the wind picks up I can wear the top over whatever my current outer-wear layer is and at night what I tended to do is to change from my daywear into a wicking base layer + micro-fleece and this top until such times as I was ready to fully settle into my sleeping bag.

Worn - JackWolfskin Trekking/Travel trousers and Peter Storm Sunshirt

The trousers although lightweight were still too warm for the conditions. They were also too tight around the thighs in the heat as well. They were fine when I bought them but I have put on some muscle and fat since then. The trousers are a great lightweight synthetic trouser but if they don't fit they are no good to me which is a shame. I don't know whether to retire them or keep them for thinner days. I do have a pair of zip-offs but much prefer to wear either shorts OR ordinary trousers since I find the feel of the zip on the legs annoying. I think I will investigate baggier trousers and running shorts worn commando in the hot weather.

The shirt is a light synthetic shirt with an SPF 30 rating.

Carried - Microfleece Top and Wicking T-shirt

The microfleece was only for evening and cold weather use. The T-shirt was taken to wear in warm weather and as a wicking layer with the fleece. The T-shirt did see some daytime action.

Food + Large Aloksak

My food for hiking is very simple. I call it "The Butterfly Diet" it consists of lots of calorie-dense foods that are rich in starch, sugar, fat and salt. I also include some nutrient rich foods such as dried fruit and nuts together with some stimulating things such as chocolate bars and dried Coffee (for hot drinks). I don't bother to buy expensive heavy and low-grade camping food and instead just buy ordinary food from the supermarket.

These days it is easy to buy and find the food that you need - it has little red labels on it. Since you are expending lots of energy and sweating a lot foods which are high fat, high sugar and high salt are all just ideal. I plan to supplement my trail food with food bought fresh on the day from shops that might be enroute or the occaisional pub meal.

I do not worry too much about trying to get a good nutritional balance, I worry about getting enough calories. For a period of a few weeks it does not matter if your diet is not balanced. A healthy body can cope perfectly well.

I also plan to carry around 1500-2000 calories a day of food with the plan to supplement this with food bought on an adhoc basis. I budget on burning a little bit of body fat every day.

I need to do a major topic on this. It is very difficult to create a balanced nutritious compact and lightweight diet that will provide 4500-6000 calories a day in anything that resembles 'normal' food. High fat and high sugar foods become essential. It is also very difficult to eat and digest 4500-6000 calories of food a day if a lot of that day is spent exercising.

It is better to take too much food than too little - until you learn how your body operates and can detect accurately when you are lacking in food or water. As a general rule if you eat when hungry and stop when the hunger fades you will eat enough food.

Hydration - 2 Platypus + 1 Source

I could carry a total of 3L of water split between a 1.5L, 0.5L and 1L bottles. Two bottles had sports spouts and one had a screw cap. The Source bottle has a twist cap and the Platypus had a Pull cap. Twice I lost around 1/3L of precious water from the Platypus because the cap was not locked firmly in place when I thought that it was. The twist cap of the Source bottle worked much better than the push-pull cap of the Platypus.

I carried 3L because that is what I know to be sufficient to see me through a full 24 period if the sun is not too hot.

On the first leg of the journey from Pandy to Hay-on-Wye I started in the evening fully hydrated and was carrying 2.5L of water. This was sufficient for the overnight stop and to see me into Hay. On the return leg I was carrying 3L of water to give me an extra margin for safety.

I was carrying purifying tablets but the ridges have no sources of water so if I wanted to stay on the ridges I needed to carry sufficient water.

In each case the 2.5L and 3L was sufficient to see me between water sources. The amount of water I chose to carry was based on the expected weather plus knowledge of how much water I typically require plus about 0.5L as a safety margin.

With the loss of water due to carelessness by me it was just enough and I was very glad to be able to resupply at the chosen points of Llanthony Priory and Hay-on-Wye.

Incidentally, if I know that I have limited water available I do dress slightly differently - to minimise sweating. I dress in such a way that I feel slightly-cool/comfortable rather than slightly-warm or warm. The cost of this might be that I burn a few more calories and that I need to put on a windshirt or extra clothing when I stop. In practice I can stop for 5-10 minutes without cooling down much.

Personal Hygiene - Toothcare, Alcohol hygiene Gel and Aloksak 225g!!!

I guess I should have weighed it all first!!! The toothpaste was 80g and was a full tube. It contains enough for several weeks so it would have been better to throw at least half of it away for a cost of 40p and a saving of 40g. The toothbrush had been chopped in half (11g) so that it fit into the bag.

The 100ml alcohol Gel (110g) was taken so that I could wash hands and vitals without using water. When in the wilderness I operate with a simple concept - my hands are 'dirty' unless I know that I have just cleaned them. This means that when I handle food I do so in a way that assumes my hands are dirty and avoid touching the food directly. The gel was generic stuff bought from a chemist in the smallest bottle I could find...

It would have been sensible for me to decant about 1/4 of the gel into a small Nalgene bottle and save myself 75g in weight.

Toilet Regime - Trowel + Paper (in Aloksak) 100g

Somethings really are essential. The trowel is a cheap plastic one from B&Q. It works. For paper I choose to use kitchen towel and budget on one sheet per movement - plus some spares!!! I keep the paper in an Aloksak so that it stays dry. Dock leaves are a traditional alternative to paper but are not available in the mountains.

Luxury Item - Garmin GPS 157g

The GPS was taken as a luxury item. I wanted some definite objective metrics on how much ground I actually covered and how fast I did it. There was no need for the GPS as a navigation tool - conditions were perfect and visibility was in excess of 10 miles. Even without a map it is hard not to navigate in those conditions.

It was nice to be able to pinpoint my location to the nearest 10m but it was not necessary and I do not need a GPS to navigate - especially in conditions this good.

The bottom line was that I spent as much time thinking about the weight of the GPS as I did about its benefit.

Luxury Item - Leki Titanium Trekking pole 228g

I took the pole because I was expecting some rough ground on one of the ridges (they can be quite boggy in places) and as a contingency if I needed extra stability with the shoes. Since I was using well trodden paths I never actually needed the pole to act as anything other than a tent pole. There was one time when climbing up to Lord Hereford's Nob that I thought it might be useful but I didn't think so enough to bother to unclip it from the pack. After two days of carrying it I badly resented the weight compared with a simple tent pole which would have been 100g lighter. I think in the future the pole might still get packed from time to time for XC use but I just don't see the point for walking on paths.

Luxury Item - Padded Sit Mat 93g

What was I thinking? There was no need for it.

Luxury Item - Camera + Case 223g (less with Lithium batteries)

Canon Coolpix L6. This is a great little 6Mp digital camera that runs forever on two AA (Lithium/Alkaline/NiMH) batteries. I ahve been using it for weeks to take all the pictures for this site and it was only on this trip that the batteries died. The only issue that I have had with it is that the on button is not recessed and so the camera can switch itself on whilst in the case and jostled around. I've made a mental note to create a switch cover for it.

Luxury Item - Mobile Phone in Aloksak 124g

I take a phone with me "just in case". The phone I take is an O2 branded Nokia which has a massive battery life of 9 hours talk time. I could leave the phone switched on for a week 24x7 and still not have a flat battery. In reality I never leave the phone switched on when hiking - I'm on holiday.

Luxury Item - Comments

All these little luxuries add up. 157g + 228g + 93g + 223g + 124g - 100g (tent pole) = 725g. That's the weight of a tent or a bivy bag!!!

My personal choice is I think to carry a phone and a camera and leave the GPS and the Leki at home. This will save me 370g.

Summary

Food and water are essential. I had about 1000 calories of food left at the end of the trip which for me is a healthy 1/2 day reserve. Water was all gone.

In terms of weight I could easily shed 1Kg from my load by using a lighter sleeping bag (due RSN) and by leaving at home some of my luxury items so that something around a 5Kg base weight was both safe and viable for mountain conditions.

I would not take less food than I did and I would not carry less water than I did given the options for resupply were so poor.

If I wanted to be really extreme I could use a summer-weight down sleeping bag (say 500g), wear all my clothes and shiver a little. I personally prefer the benefits of a warm night's sleep.

It is going to be worth me reviewing my shelter once more. In the conditions that I had the tarp as a windshield was very important but the bivy bag was not needed. I think it would be viable IN SOME CONDITIONS to replace a bivy bag with just a small 2x1.5m (or less) square tarp and pitch it inside the wind shadow of the micro tarp. I would not be comfortable doing this at many times of the year or in some mountains especially if high winds were expected. No doubt I'll test the concept under safe conditions.