The Ridgeway - Ultralight 2008: The Plan

This year I am planning to walk The Ridgeway. The idea is to use it as a shake-down test for a lot of the kit that I have been designing over the winter and based on the results from last year.

The Ridgeway is a route that is easy to navigate and 'safe' - although it is exposed at times it is easy to get out of the exposure and there are lots of villages along or near to the way.

The route, weather and bail-out options have a large impact on what kit I take with me.

Food and Water

Food and Water will probably be the heaviest things that you carry and are one of the easiest areas to trim weight from - if you know what your limits are and can plan accordingly.

I've looked at the OS maps for the area and the latest Harvey strip-map which shows all the useful supply points on it. I've annotated the map with some colour-coded stickers so that it is easy for me to see the distances between supply points without having to get stuck on the details of exactly how far. It's enough to know that water is 3-4 hours away as opposed to 1 hour away.

As part of the planning I look at my own current levels of physical and mental fitness.

For instance, if I get to a supply point and find the shop is shut am I OK with that? Am I comfortable hiking on an empty stomach or is it going to be an issue? The answer to that question determines how big a reserve of food I carry.

The same goes with water. How much do I drink? How do I react to mild dehydration? What will be my expected consumption rate under expected conditions? How often can I resupply?

In fact, I'm confident that by looking at the map I will be able to resupply on water at least once every day.

I already know that if I am mildly dehydrated I'll be OK, able to think and so on but a bit pissy. Likewise when I'm running on empty for food I can hike for a day or so but it will be slow, I won't enjoy it and my judgement will be impaired - I WILL make mistakes.

I already know how much water I will consume in various terrains and various weathers. I already know that I dress in a way that minimises water-loss through sweat.

Putting these things all together suggests that for food I should plan to have a reserve food supply equivalent to around 1/2 a day. That reserve is sufficient to maintain judgement, it will not meet my calorie requirements. So, my reserve will probably be around 1500 calories in high-carbohydrate/high-fat foods. It's enough for a comfortable 12 hours or a tolerable 24 hours.

For water I know that my direct water intake over 24 hours will be around 1.5-2.5L in addition to any water already in the food I eat and in addition to drinking at water supply points.

I already know how I react to mild dehydration when well fed and when hungry and so I know where uncomfortable becomes unsafe for me.

On that basis I will plan to carry between 1 and 2L of water between supply points. I'll carry more if the risk of a supply point miss is high or if the weather is warmer and so on. I'll have the capacity to carry 3.5L which gives me plenty of options if the weather is unseasonably warm. The extra capacity has a weight penalty of under 20g.

It's always better to be safe-wrong rather than dead-wrong. Ultralight is never supposed to be ultra-stupid.

Shelter

Last year I played around a lot with tarps and bivy bags in various conditions. There is nothing quite like the thought of another night sleeping under a hankerchief in the rain to make you appreciate a bit of luxury.

For this trip then I'm planning to take a tarp/tent which is the Mk 2 of the original DIY tent. The tent (below) is overkill in terms of utility but will give me a comfortable night if things turn rough.

The tent itself is not a wonderful piece of construction - it's the result of chopping around a previous prototype several times and really needs to be rebuilt from scratch. It's also shown here quickly pitched. However, it is functional even if fabric tension is poor in various places - and functional is what counts. When the design has been proven properly I'll consider a Mk3....

The rear of the tent has been changed to be two equialteral triangeles. This gives better wind-shedding at the back in rough conditions and an extra peg-out point.

The front has been changed to be more of a half-hex shape and has a side-entry zip. The front has a rough caternary cut to to it because the fabric was different to what I expected - it had stretch in it that the original did not. The front shape gives a dramatic increase in porch space and greatly improves wind-shedding.

You can see from the pictures that the tent is pitched clear of the ground. Airflow under it is good. It can be sunk to ground level if required.

I've moved to use internal carbon fibre poles mainly to save weight and increase the pole strength. Again, it is about making the tent much more able to survive high winds in comfort.

In very mild weather the tent is still capable of being pitched as a flat tarp - front and rear have been designed to allow this.

The additional fabric required on this tent added about 50g over the original design and the new poles shed around about 50g. Obviously this tent uses a few more pegs but that's deliberate. It now uses 5 V stakes as opposed to the 2 used previously. That's 2 for the guys, 2 for the front beak and 1 for the rear beak.

The weight penalty of this tent over last year's tarps is about 50-100g depending how you measure it. But that penalty has bought me a lot of extra comfort for bad weather.

Sleep Systems

I'll be taking a SilNylon based bathtub floor that has been modified to include a pertext top over about 1/2 its length. The pertex is there to help stop dew forming on the sleeping bag base. I know that without it a sleeping bag may absorb 50g or more over the course of a few days due to dew and sweat if it doesn't have a chance to fully air-dry and so I expect the weight of the pertex top (at 80g) to be compensated for by lower water absorbtion rates in the sleeping bag and add a little windchill protection to the bag. The pertex also gives me more options for sleeping under the stars if the weather looks reasonable or if I have some natural shelter. [The tent design above also allows pitching as a diamond tarp!]

I'll be taking a thick foam mat. It weighs around 280g but will insulate me well and be comfortable below freezing. I sleep cold and know that insulation is important for me.

My sleeping bag will be a 3-season bag. I already know that I can be comfortable in it without clothing to around 0-5C and much lower with clothing. I prefer not to sleep in clothers and just carry more down. There is something like a 100g weight penalty over my 2-season bag but that 100g is all down. At the start of the season (despite a few winter overnighters) I also know that I sleep a lot colder than at the end of the season...

Pack

I've done a lot of analysis from last year to work out what factors were causing me tiredness during the day. My conclusions were that a big factor was that my Mk1 Ultralight Pack was just not very good for my balance.

Technically, load transfer was happening in all the right places and the load was stable and so on but I worked out that in terms of balance it sucked. What's critical about this is that compensating for the pack's affect on my balance resulted in more tiredness and the need to wear boots rather than trainers.

A lot of the analysis is in ultralight load carrying including the first prototype of the Mk2.

As a result of this the Mk2a pack has concentrated almost exclusively on being balance-neutral so that in biomechanical and balance terms the pack has no effect on my body (apart from the additional weight). One surprising side-effect of this was that it only has a token waist-belt and that belt is only about load stabilisation rather than load transfer. The belt is worn loosely and my hips are free to move around under it.

The result of this is that the pack carries light and allows me to move quickly and easily over various terrains without thinking about it.

Now, I have to say that it's taken my muscles a while to get use to the pack because obviously it is carrying different to any other pack that I've used. The payback of this work is in less fatigue, more comfort and lighter footwear.

The pack will be combined with an ultralight front pouch that will carry nick-nacks, nav aids and on-trail food.

Footwear

Now that my CoG is the same with or without the pack (or pretty damn close) it means that my posture is about the same with or without the pack. This means in turn that the load transfer and distribution through my feet is th same - which means that my feet can work 'normally' and don't have to compensate much for the load.

The result is that I can at long last comfortably wear trail-running shoes instead of boots almost regardless of the roughness of terrain (peat bog is the exception of course). My feet are more comfortable, less tired and less liable to injury.

Afte a lot of faffing around I've settled on using a pair of Bridgedale X-Hale Trailhead socks which include Merino wool. I've tried liner socks, lightweight hiking socks and various other things but these seem to be the best compromise.

Cooking

Last year I was using an MSR Pocket Rocket which is a wonderful stove but Gas does carry an up-front weight penalty. Since then I've done a lot of playing around with cookers and design and measuring fuel efficiency and so on. For this trip I've just about finalised on using an Esbit/Hexamine stove.

It's simple and fuel efficient. I can consistently boil 200ml of water in 3-4 minutes using 5g of fuel in realistic conditions compared with 15g and 6-8 minutes for alcohol stoves and 3-5g and 3-4 minutes for Gas.

Most of all though I'm looking for something really simple and consistent with nothing that can break or go wrong.

I'm tempted to take a backup alcohol stove that will burn just about anything that I can find. The Esbit stove (20g) also acts as a platform for the alcohol burner (12g) and is used together with an ultralight windshield (11g) and a Titanium cup (30g).

Everything packs (by design!) neatly into the mug and it all slips inside a tiny stuffsack. Some Esibt tabs can also be stored (wrapped) in the mug.

I do own a vere nice BPL Titanium Esbit Stove which weighs in at only 10g. However, in the UK the easiest hexamine tablets to find are those that are copies of the military stoves and they are about 1" square and weigh 28g each. To fit them onto the BPL stove requires cutting them into quarters. I'd much rather have a stove that can just take the fuel as it comes...

Overall then I can have a very nice little multi-fuel cookset that will work well in lowland conditions and weighs in at around 80g complete.

A generous fuel budget for me would be based on around 4-6 cups of water per day (2+2+1/2) which suggests about 30g of fuel per day for Esbit as opposed to 90g for Alcohol and 20g for Gas.

For a week's trip the weight of the fuel containers has a big impact as does the weight of the cookers.

OBTW, Esbit/Hexamine can be reluctant to light. I've found that a fragment of cotton wool pad works well as a primer as does a few drops of alcohol. I'll be taking a small bottle of alcohol purely for priming. Probably 40-80ml.

I'll carry more fuel than I think I need on this trip because the marginal weight will be so low.

I plan to eat at least one hot meal a day at a pub or something if I can and will have cold food the rest of the time. I know that I'm happy with this on shorter trips. The odd pot-noodle might also make it into my pack on some days. I probably won't carry a Spork this time around.

I will however continue to carry a Flatworld Mug that continues to work very well.

Trekking Poles

I'm not carrying any. By addressing the reasons for using them, I've removed the need for them.

Wet-Weather Gear

Based on the success of the Ultralight Waterproof Kilt Mk1 I've incorporated it into some new rainwear. I've created a knee-length anorak that has no front zip, no hood and is made in SilNylon with some extra vents.

The result is waterproof, comfortable and very light. It's saved me at least 150g.

Instead of a hood I've simply replaced my cold-weather hat with a water-resistant cold-weather hat.

The anorak is complimented by a pair of thigh-length SilNylon chaps. These affix using a toggle to either the anorak or to my normal walking trousers (which have a loop sewn onto them at the shorts zip).

A Montane Windshirt will provide protections against wind and light showers. It's one of my favourite pieces of kit.

All this stuff has already been field tested....

Walking Clothes

I'll be wearing a Merino Wool Icebreaker T. I already know that this can be worn for a week without becoming smelly and so I won't be carrying a spare.

I'll be taking a Rohan shirt which is relatively heavy but comfortable in hot and cool weather and again won't smell much after a lot of use. This will be complimented by a Kathmandu Fleece top which again resists smells well and will be warm in the evenings.

Most of the time I expect to be wearing an ultralight walking kilt. It's exceedingly comfortable and that extra ventillation takes care of a lot of potential hygiene issues. There is also a very simple DIY walking kilt pattern. I expect to go commando if the weather allows it.

I know that I am comfortable wearing the kilt down to around +10c but that some terrains or weather and especially in the evening will require trousers and so I'll be carrying a pair of Kathmandu cordura zip-offs that are comfortable and tough.

I'll probably be carrying two spare pairs of socks - one for walking, one for sleeping and the same goes for underwear. Underwear will be a pair of Icebreaker 150 Boxers and some M&S Real Cool Action briefs. I do own some Patagonia performance briefs but found that for me chafing was a real issue.

You may have noticed that I've chosen clothing that won't need to be washed all that much - it allows me to carry less clothing and do less washing - which means less soap.

Navigation

The Ridgeway is a well defined path. I'll be taking a Harvey Ridgeway Map (1:40,000) a small guidebook, a compass (habit) and a transport map of the Ridgeway. I'll also be taking a fragment of road-map that covers the area around the finish so that I can find a route to the nearest suitable transport hub.

The guidebook gives shop and pub opening hours and should help to avoid wasted detours for supply.

Misc

A small lanyard that I always take that contains a whistle, a compass and a light (Photo Freedom this year) and weighs in at 1oz. This lanyard is my in-case-of-serious-trouble kit.

I'll be carrying a small medical kit that takes care of the foreseeable.

Luxury Items

Since I'm expecting to make some use of it I'll be taking a Petzl Tikka Plus rather than the Petzl e+ that I usually use. The extra 40-50g in weight gives me greatly extended battery life and the ability to hike through one night if I want to. It's alao a lot easier to find batteries for.

Last year I carried a Nikon Coolpix L6 camera, a Motorola F3 phone and a small Asda FM radio.

For this trip I'm planning to take a Sony Cameraphone and probably the charger for it as well. I know that the phone will last for a week easily unless I make/take many calls but that the FM radio on it will eat batteries.

I might take a pocket FM radio with me just to make sure that I maximise the phone battery life. The charger weighs in at 65g, the radio at 50-100g (for something decent) and so that is quite a lot to add on when the camera-phone only weighs 155g. Still, it'll be lighter than what it replaces.

Summary

The total pack weight is planned to fall in at under 5Kg with food and water adding up to an additional 3Kg onto that. The typical pack weight should be around 6.5Kg and I already know that the pack carries comfortably with 9Kg (which has been my training pack weight).

All the kit I'm taking with me has been field-tested at least on overnighters and all of it is built on experience of previous trips. There have been several guiding principles for kit selection.

1. Efficiency - I want stuff that does at least one job exceedingly well.
2. Simplicity - "some assembly required" really annoys after a while.
3. Lightness - I want stuff that is light for what it does.
4. Durability / Strength - I hate playing nursemaid to overly delicate kit.
5. Learn and improve

A lot of the kit I'm taking with me this year is much tougher than last year. Some of it is lighter, some of it is heavier.

I have spent a lot of time thinking about and designing out points of failure - for example the stoves have no moving parts.

Last year, when using a very small tarp in the rain I managed to bend a tent-pole. In order to get out from the exceedingly low pitch of the tarp in the rain I had grabed onto the tent-pole. Even though it was 10mm Aluminium I still bent it (and then unbent it). It would not have happenned if I had a shelter that was easy to use in bad weather. The new tent design reflects this.

Last year the gas stove worked well but I found it a faff to day-in-day-out disassemble and then reassemble the thing and to find a piece of ground that (even with folding feet) would provide a stable platform for it given the height. The stove designs for this year are based on low-profile tripods which are inherrently stable.

The Alcohol stove is spill-resistant and easy to fill and light. Trying to get a Vargo Triad to be stable, filled and lit in a peat bog, in the welsh mountains in a gale is not fun. Likewise, the Vargo Decagon seemed to be a bit of a prima-donna. Since I have to buy all my kit retail - just like everyone else I really care....

There is slightly more home-made stuff in my kit than last year. This is just an iteration. I've tried to find the most suitable stuff for the job at a reasonable price. Sometime that has meant making it and sometimes buying it.