Shed Dweller's Moments

A New Year. A New Start

2012-01-04T10:32:00.000Z

A new year full of new opportunities… Well it is for me. As with a lot of other people I’ve had a quite a cut of hours from my full time job. I’m one of the lucky ones as I’m still in work and with a lot of belt tightening I’ll get by. I’m still in the process of finishing off the cottage that I purchased last summer but come late spring I should have time to get sewing again. With the extra time I now have, I want to start and try to put some of the things I’ve made into production and perhaps in time, leave my current line of work and create gear on a full time basis.

In true cottage style I’m starting small and trying to grow things organically. I won’t be in a position to make anything for sale until the late spring at the earliest. I don’t want to commit myself to making gear for people when I know I don’t have the time to fulfil orders.

What I do want to know from you good people in the next couple of months is what you want to see developed in 2012? I’m thinking of just doing one or two lines to start off with. A summer quilt and perhaps a tarp or two? But I’m willing to be persuaded. If you do have any thoughts of what you would like to see developed, even if you’re not in the market to buy, please leave a comment below and/or tick a few boxes above. Oh, and Happy New Year!

Quick Update

2011-08-25T20:53:00.000+01:00

Due to the purchase of a new (150 year old house) and the subsequent making moment (complete renovation) I won't be sewing, blogging, walking or doing much outdoorsy stuff until 2012 when hopefully I will be doing MYOG SUL Pennine Way trip during the summer some time.

Hendrik's Ultralight A-Z - The Video Guide To Lightweight Backpacking

2011-07-20T09:35:00.000+01:00

Another quick heads up to a project that's originated on Kickstarter for the lightweight backpacking geek amoung us. A video guide to everthing ultralight just here...

Hendrik may be known to a great deal/all of people who read this blog, but just in case you've not heard of him, or what he is up to then perhaps you should click the link above and find out. It's something that if (fingers crossed) it gets off the ground will benefit the lightweight backpacking community now and into the future. Remember the more people who get into our little hobby the more gear people will make for us....

Mini Cat Cut Tarp

2011-07-18T22:15:00.000+01:00

After having a night on the moors a couple of weekends ago under a tarp I got to wondering... Do standard size solo tarps really need to be as big as they are? I always tend to use a bivi under a tarp to keep wind blown rain off the sleeping bag/quilt. So if I use a bivi why don't use a smaller tarp to keep direct rain off and save a bit of weight in the process.

I've also been looking into making stuff with Cuben Fibre, mainly tarps and stuff sacks. It's not cheap stuff. In fact it's very expensive and you also need bonding tape and different techniques to manufacture than the sewing of conventional fabrics. The material comes in 54" wide rolls and therefore any conventional sized tarp will need twice the length of the tarp in raw material to make. This means that unless you can get Cuben cheap (if you can, I'll be your best friend) you can't buy the material for less than a finished tarp in many cases. But if you could make a tarp by cutting the two sides from a single piece of cuben you half the cost of a finished tarp, albeit a much smaller one.

After having a trawl around the internet it would seem that Mountain Laurel Designs make exactly such a tarp. I want one, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money getting a tarp that would end up being too small to practically use. So I thought I's make one just to get to grips with the size and to see if I liked it. So I set to work...

As always when making new things, the measuring and making the pattern takes up the majority of the time. The whole "Development" part of the process took one evening. The dimensions were worked out on paper then some cheap material was tacked to an 8' X 4' sheet of ply and this was taken into the garden. Using a spirit level I levelled up the edge I was working on strung a piece of heavy string between each end and when I got the curve I wanted I went over with a spray can and hey presto... A nice cat curve was transfered to the material. All edges of the tarp have a cat curve. Then the usual cutting with the soldering iron, sewing the ridge line, then the 10 tie out points, the exterior hem and finally the grosgrain pull outs. The finished product looks like so

The pitch was restricted by the rabbit hutch. But first impressions were favourable. My first tarp was an 8' x 5' flat tarp, so I'm used to squeezing into a corner to avoid wind blown rain. You would definitely need to use a good bivi under this tarp if the wind was up. But for a summer overnighter or weekend trip a tarp of this size is more than adequate. The fabric used in this one is pretty heavy and I wanted a prototype to play with rather than to try and make the finished article. The re-enforcement patches are spinnaker as it resists holes being pulled in the fabric, which this black stuff is prone to do. I will hopefully get a bit of use from it this summer, the seam will need to be sealed first though.

I think a higher flatter pitch is needed for non windy days to maximise coverage. I see no reason why one edge can't be pitched down to ground, making a mini lean to if conditions dictate. I will be putting a couple of pull out points, mid panel on each side which will result in a very stable little shelter. Even with 0.75oz cuben I reckon it would come out around about the 100g mark (sorry for the imperial/metric mash up). A true mentalist lightweight bit of kit. If this summers outings go well with the prototype I hope to build a cuben one over the winter.

I also think that to be a truly useful bit of kit a beak would need to be employed as it's only 8' long. More stuff to play with!

1.95kg Overnight trip.

2011-07-10T08:45:00.001+01:00

On Friday night I escaped to the North Yorkshire Moors for a sneaky overnighter. It was a rainy night but as I left the car the rain stopped and I enjoyed a rain free evening until I got back under the tarp just after midnight and the rain cam down for most of the night.

A quick kit geekfest video was taken just before I packed up which I share with you now.

Elephants Foot Bivi Bag.

2011-07-05T23:04:00.002+01:00

I had to bow out of the TGO this year but I was up until a month before going with my friends Seth and Tom. Tom had just purchased a brand spanking new PHD minim 400 with a dryshell outer to keep the moisture out of the down.

They were both sharing a Go-Lite Hex 3, with no inner just a floor that I had made for them. A single skin shelter with two people in can suffer a lot with condensation. Tom was having issues with soaking his new bag at the foot end even with the dryshell outer so he asked me if I could come up with a solution. And here it is...

The green fabric is a two layer waterproof breathable fabric. I have not a clue what it is but it is alright on the breathable stakes. I got it to make overmitts with, and the prototypes (coming soon) worked well. The black strip is Pertex with a drawcord around the top to stop the bag coming off. The pertex strip is there for two reasons. Firstly if you can put the drawcord above your knees it doesn't have to be on that tight and therefore compression of the down is minimised. Using Pertex for this last bit reduced the weight of the overall item. Secondly the green fabric although breathable is no where near as breathable as the Pertex. Having a semi sealed sack of this fabric around the foot end of your bag could lead to condensation issues. The Pertex panel gave the bag that extra needed air flow. Tom reported back that it worked well, no issues with condensation even in the damp cold conditions that they faced. The only issue was that I made it to fit me not taking into consideration that Tom is a couple of inches taller. Therefore the draw cord was a bit low for him.

I don't think that something like this would suit everyone, I can think of another blogger who can destroy a footbox in down quilt with moisture without enclosing it in a membrane fabric bag!

At 84g and a small pack size it wasn't a great extra burden to carry and resulted in Tom's bag staying dry for the duration of what was a very wet couple of weeks.

I know a lot of people use their waterproof draped over the foot of the bag to keep the damp at bay. As I'm as not as tall as Tom I don't tend to have problems hitting the end of the shelter so I can just use a thin Pertex bivi without issue. I'm not sure how well a wet waterproof would have worked over two weeks so perhaps Tom made a call using this?

Luna Sandals

2011-07-01T23:30:00.001+01:00

I like wearing Sandals and I like going barefoot. I hate wearing shoes in the summer as my feet run hot. I was made aware of a forum dedicated to minimalist shoes and started having a sniff about at the beginning of the summer looking for something that I could wear for work and also perhaps use for a camp shoe for backpacking. Toe Salad was duly poured through and I came across Luna Sandals.

Not only do these look cool to my delight they also sold all the component parts to MYOG, You can choose the sole material, the upper sole material (the bit your feet are in contact with) and the laces. I went for the 6mm trail nubby sole, the tan suede uppers and the half inch elasticated Equus laces. The primary use for these sandals was for leisure and work. I did take a few photos of the construction process but with the death of a laptop I only have a few remaining.

The process is quite simple, basically trace round your feet to make a template, glue the sole sheets and the uppers together with the glue provided. Use the templates to cut out the base of the sandal.

Punch or drill some holes in the sole and thread the laces through and you have a new pair of cool looking sandals. I would suggest if you do want to make a pair then read the instructions on the Luna Sandal Site and watch the videos.

I've worn the sandals everyday for three months now and they look like this.

So how have they fared and what are they like to wear and use for backpacking? First things first. If you're not used to having things between your toes, things such as half an inch stiff leather straps prepare to be in pain, lots of pain. These things hurt like hell for first week. People on the forum told me I would get used to it, I didn't believe them, but after a week they didn't hurt and now they are by far the most comfortable shoe I've ever worn.

I've got them tied in the slip on formation of laces to enable me to get them on and off easily. This works well for casual use, for extended periods of backpacking or running the more traditional methods of lacing would be more secure.

To be fair the suede uppers are not suited to outdoor pursuits, when they get wet it's like walking on seaweed. For crossing streams I would suggest they would be potentially dangerous, for walking up or down inclines in the rain they can be impossible. However this is just because of the suede uppers. The concept is good and lends itself to MYOG well. I'm hoping to pick up some of the Croc clones that you can get for less than £5. Crocs are very light and good for stream crossings and camp shoes, but they are bulky. But what if you cut the tops off and got some long shoe laces and with a bit of drilling you could have a less bulky and even lighter camp/river crossing shoe? Using the insoles from some old shoes or the worn down soles of a favourite pair of trail runners, plenty of MYOG versions of this idea.

I love these Sandals, perfect for casual use and also backpacking on established trails in the dry, which is not all that often in this country. I will post again with new incarnations of this idea as when they are developed.

Flattr

2011-07-01T22:32:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post about flattr.

If your not familiar with it the best way to describe is that it's a button you can put on your own web content, in my case this blog. It's like the "Like" button on facebook but if you press someone's flattr button you give them money. Small amounts of money, in my case I subscribe two euros a month and each click I do on someone else's content they get five cents.

I got a flattr invite when it first started up but you had to add code (or something) into your content to get it to work. I'm not all that good with things IT and could never manage to get it to work. I gave up on it.

Until however I started commenting on twitter that flattr would be used more, if people like me could just use an app, or a simple set of instructions to integrate it into blogger. Then up stepped @kejsarmakten who is currently working at flattr and created this little tool.

Just click it, enter your flattr ID and as if by magic all your posts and your blog have a flattr button plonked right in just waiting to be flattred.

I like the concept of flattr, unless your web content is huge I don't think you're going to get rich by using flattr, it's more of a way of saying a little thank you to the person who's content you've enjoyed. This isn't a plea for you to press the flattr button below, but I would suggest if you've got a few minutes investigating flattr. I reckon it's a pretty good idea.

Lifeventure Ti Mug

2011-06-29T22:22:00.001+01:00

Titanium (Ti) is good. FACT.

Well in my eyes it is. For most uses I reckon titanium is the best material for the lightweight backpacker. Yes you can get aluminium pots that for the same size are lighter, but try drinking freshly brewed tea from them. Actually don’t if you value your lips. Also aluminium pots compared to Ti pots are relatively fragile. Easily crushed and dented and there’s alleged health risks from using aluminium pans.

Ti is strong, thermally clever in that the top of the pot remains relatively cool compared to the part that’s in direct contact with the hot liquid/food and light.

Webtogs asked me to have a look at the Lifeventure Ti Mug. I already own a similar size Ti Mug and wondered what benefit the Lifeventure would bring to me. 10g that’s what. Now that seems a small amount to most people, but for a bit of kit that weighs less than 100g, 10g is a big deal. I like it when similar kit weighs substantially less with no downsides. This is the case with the Lifeventure Mug.

You may remember the stove that I made in a previous blog post. I made another one for the mug. With the stove and the mug and a lid you have a perfect little system for having brews either for day trips.

But you may say the mug doesn’t come with a lid? What about boil times and fuel efficiency? Are you mad? Well make one that weighs nothing, 0g! Actually it may be my scales but at most it’ll weigh 1g.

That 1g makes a big difference to boil times, it also means that with an elastic band or the little draw string bag provided you can keep all your brew kit in the mug. You will also need to keep the whole set up in a bag of some sort as solid fuel tablets can leave a sticky residue on the pot itself.

Back to the lid the series of photos below hopefully explains the very simple process of making a gravity defying lid.

Basically get a tin foil roasting tray. You can pick up two large ones from most pound shops for a £1. Smooth the foil out with the end of a rolling pin to make it perfectly flat. Roughly cut a piece at least 2” bigger than the mug’s top. Get another mug which just fits inside the Ti Mug and with a series of pushes and gentle taps push the foil 3-4mm into the Ti mug. Whilst holding the top mug in place fold down the foil around the lip of the Ti mug, then when it’s folded down go over the lip of the foil covering the Ti Mug with a rolling pin and flatten out all the creases as best you can. Then remove and trim the edge leaving 5mm or so overhanging.

Now as the lid has a rim it also has rigidity. It also clips in place over the mug and won’t blow off in the wind.

As you can see the finished item looks home-made but is functional and under controlled experimental conditions (my kitchen) boil times were a lot faster with a tight fitting lid rather than a piece of foil sitting on top of the mug.

There’s a lot of Ti Mugs out there, but the Lifeventure one stands out as one of the lighter options with handles. I think that they are a pleasure to drink from, not only hot drinks but the occasional mug of wine of whisky too. My other Ti mug of a similar size and design’s not going to get a look in now.

Quick Quilt Update

2011-06-29T15:18:00.001+01:00

The quilt has been used for a single night in the great outdoors. Well actually whilst "testing" a new tent in the neighbours garden.

I used it with my own bivi and the night time temps dipped to around 5-6c. I was just warm enough in the quilt at this temp. I hadn't had anyting to eat and had been sitting still reading for a couple of hours before retiring so I was slightly chilled anyway. But it fulfills it's design criteria even if it is a slightly over target weight.

Summer Quilt

2011-06-20T22:11:00.003+01:00

As part of my drive to drastically reduce my kit weight (as well as belly weight) for next summers SUL attempt on the Pennine Way I’ve been putting a lot of thought into my sleeping arrangements.

Currently I own two sleeping bags, both made by PHD. I have a minim 300 which appears during their sales, this is rated down to 0C comfort and weighs 598g. My other is a the Piqolo which was until they did a lighter version, the lightest commercially available sleeping bag in the world at 395g. Mine weighs 430g and is comfortable down to around 8C. I find the PHD temp claims a bit on the optimistic side, I don’t put any blame on PHD for this, it’s just that my body must run a wee bit cold.

Being cold on a night on a long distance trip is something that must be avoided. Bad, or no sleep can lead to unhappy days and with this in mind I wanted to develop something that would be light and keep me warm down to 5C. I think this is as low as I can expect the night time temperatures to go in the hills in England during the summer.

I’ve been looking at quilts and quilt users with a wary eye for a year or so now. They claim that quilts are warmer and more comfortable than bags. All the insulation is above you so nothing is compressed and wasted. I’m guessing a number of you readers will be quilt users or familiar with the argument. So onwards to a making moment…

I managed to get hold of some old Pertex, that was apparently some of the last stuff made by the British firm before they sold the company. I can’t vouch for what exactly it is. All I know that it’s pretty light weight, very water resistant and downproof. This cost about £25 with postage. I wish I had bought the remaining roll as it’s not available any more.

For the quilt I looked to the internet for tips and hints and what I found was this. Brilliantly put together comprehensive instructions on how to MYOG quilt. All I can say is thank you to Jamie and to all potential quilt makers following these instructions was a dream. I would recommend this as a good first MYOG project. If you can sew a straight seam in thin material you can make this quilt easily and quickly.

Right back to my attempt. I slightly altered the size of the quilt as I am 1” taller than Jamie, and therefore the size of the baffle spacing. The maths are easy enough. The pattern ended up being 80" long. I then cut out the material. I have a 8’x4’ plywood sheet that sits on the kitchen table, I use a fine pointed soldering iron and a lightweight Aluminium I beam for a straight edge. This reduces the need to mark and then cut the material as you can “draw” down the straight edge with the hot soldering iron and leave an edge that will not fray.

The material was then sewn together as per the instructions, the baffles marked with chalk and these also sewn together. As this was a sewn through baffle quilt the sewing is a very quick and easy process.

The down was purchased from £55 including postage for 200g of the 860fp stuff. I then used the hoover method to fill the baffles. This method is fantastic, quickish and more importantly mess free. There were a few down clusters floating about the kitchen at the end but nothing to worry about.

A word of caution about the hoover method. I nearly caused hoover apocalypse as I underestimated the air resistance of compacted down. Top tips to avoid hoover meltdown. Firstly remove the bag from the hoover to increase air flow into the motor. You won’t need the bag as the noseeum mesh stops anything entering the hoover itself. Secondly don’t run the motor when vacuuming the down for more than ten seconds or so. You can usually pick up around 4g of down with each suck. I ran the hoover for around 30 seconds on the first go trying to hoover up the half a bag of down, the motor cut out and proceeded to get very very hot which resulted in a quick motor extraction from said hoover. No long term damage but I may not have been so lucky.

I put all 200g of down in the quilt just to see what would happen. Jamie puts in 172g in his slightly smaller quilt. I reckon that with the slightly larger size and the bits that got away I put in about 10%-12% more down. I had inadvertently overstuffed the quilt, i.e the fp of the down if fully fluffed up would fill the chambers of the quilt, the down I had put in would fill a quilt with 10% more internal volume. This means that the quilt now feels a lot firmer than the PHD bags that I’ve got, which in turns means the baffles stay lofted a lot easier and don’t compress as much.

There is about 2” of loft and the quilt is warm, really warm. Once the rest of the seams were sewn up and 18” of Velcro was sewn on the edges to create the footbox the quilt was nearly done. A few small loops of ribbon were sewn on the edges for the purposes of keeping the quilt wrapped around me during cold spells.

I’ve yet to use the quilt outside but from the appearance and testing on the sofa I think it will comfortably keep me warm down to 5c and will be a useful addition to my other bags into the colder months. With a bivi bag and clothes on the quilt is uncomfortably warm inside. I would say it is as warm as my PHD bag rated to 0c. This is a very unscientific test. The quilt finished up being 68" long when fully stuffed which is plenty long enough when the footbox is cinched and velcroed up.

Following are a few pictures of the finished article. Oh and the final weight now that it's finished is 460g.

Solid Fuel Tablets

2011-06-18T08:47:00.003+01:00

Just a quick post about solid fuel tablets/esbit call them what you will. I found some of the Highlander square fuel tablets in Millets. Something that used to be common on the high street but I've not seen them for a while. I've mainly been using the round tablets which they always have in stock.

So I decided to do a quick comparison whilst brewing the breakfast tea. A few quick stats. Both boxes cost £2.99. You get 24 round tablets in a box and 8 square tablets. I can just get a boil of a mug of tea with one and a half round tablets which weigh 10g. I can get a boil easily with half of the square tablets with fuel to spare and that weighs 12g. So both boxes have 16 boils in them for the same price.

Not surprising as there's 20% more fuel in the square tabs that they work better. However there's much more flame and heat as well and in windy conditions this is going to be a big plus over the round tabs. The other thing is that with the round tabs you get a carbonised foam mess left after the burn and sometimes in less than perfect conditions, which is most of the time this foam can choke off the last bit of the tab which remains un-burnt. The square tabs just completely disappear (see picture above) burning all the fuel. More efficient and no fluff blowing about the countryside.

All in all the square tabs outperform the round ones and will be my solid fuel of choice in the future. One tip, chop them in half with a sharp knife before leaving home. They're hard to snap in half!

New Backpack

2011-06-10T20:31:00.003+01:00

Hello all

This is just a quick post to show you the first complete pack of a new design that I've been working on for a few months now. A previous post explains the basic design.

This pack is fully functioning with straps, which I find quite useful and a zip, something that is not often found on lightweight packs. This is a light pack weighing in at 218g. I reckon it's in the 35l range plus slightly larger mesh pockets than the first mock up.

The tin of beans is for scale.

Side pockets that nicely fit a 500ml water bottle and angled for easy access.

Home made ultralight straps from closed cell foam,, mesh and grosgrain type ribbon.

I'll do a video when I've got more time. There's no hip belt, or sternum strap as it's designed for light loads. I think I will need a sternum strap and I wait to see if I can cope without a hip belt.

So far 88g under target weight for this bit of kit for the SUL trip along the Pennine way next year.

Berghaus Freeflow 25+5 Backpack

2011-05-30T19:48:00.002+01:00

Despite not being a very active blogger over the last few months I have been out and about a bit and quite active with the sewing machine. All of the trips I have been doing are day walks or outings with kids to various events. Handily just before this mini period of activity Webtogs sent me a new day pack to test Berghaus Freeflow 25+5 Backpack

I used to use Berghaus stuff quite a bit in my past as they are a name that’s associated with well designed kit and toughness. This doesn’t always mean that it’s the lightest kit around and therefore I don’t really use much of their kit anymore.

If you’re going to be doing any distance/time with a pack you’ve got to get one that fits. This is not as easy as it sounds. The lightweight way is to try on all the packs that you like the look of with your kit inside and find out which one fits the best. Most lightweight packs aren’t adjustable and some do come in different sizes to accommodate various back lengths. I order packs online, making sure first that I can return it if it doesn’t fit and then getting them delivered to my house, trying them on with my kit in (in the house). A long and potentially expensive way of trying out new gear if the retailer doesn’t cover the return postage.

You don't need to bother with all that business with this backpack as it seems to be infinitely adjustable. To test this I put about 5kg of kit and water in the pack and set it up with the adjustable back length, load lifters, sternum strap and hip belt. It took less than five minutes and once adjusted, apart from minor tweaks doesn’t need adjusting again. Then my partner had a go. I’m 5’11 she’s 5’ 5’ and weighs substantially less than me. Again within five minutes the same pack fitted her as well as it did me.

The Freeflow system takes a bit of getting used to if you’re not familiar with it as carries the weight in the pack away from your back. 10 minutes of using pack you forget about the different feel to packs the carry the load nearer to your back. Due to the size of the pack you’re not going to be carrying a great deal of weight anyway so this is not an issue. It certainly works in reducing sweaty backs.

Packing the bag takes a bit of thought. The main compartment is quite small compared to the overall size of the bag. The side pockets (not the mesh ones) which I was dubious of their usability when the main compartment was full work very well. Each one being able to take a 500ml bottle and have room for hats/gloves etc. Again the lid pocket holds more that on first glance it would. I think the size rating is accurate but seems small as there are so many different compartments to put things in. If you’re an organised sort this will appeal to you.

I did use the pack for a two day and night backpacking trip with Steven Horner. I wanted to see if I could get all my kit in and still have room for a couple of days food. The kit I used is below.

All the kit went in comfortably. Most of my kit is pretty light weigh and therefore low bulk and with that kit I could get two days food and one and a half litres of water. The pack also has a zipped pocket right on the base which contains an integrated rain cover which is a nice touch and also means it won't get blown away.

The pack carries very comfortably, this is due to the way in which it's able to be adjusted and I expect Berghaus' experience in putting kit together. My only slight issue I have with it is that the hip belt strap kept slipping. I would like to qualify this, in that I do like hip belts to be really tight. When I tightened the strap to my liking it would slip over about 10 minutes or so to be relatively tight, but not tight enough for me. I expect that I have hip belts tighter than most so it may not be an issue for many users but I don't have this problem with other packs that I use.

Overall it's a very versatile pack that works equally well as a day pack or an overnight pack with low bulk kit. The pack harness itself is very well made and can cope with weights that you'd never be able to put into the back due to it's small volume. The construction is very good and I expect that if you bought this pack you wouldn't get rid of it because it fell to bits. It's designed as a 25l day pack and as day packs go it's jammed full of features and is comfortable, it weighs more than some but the comfort of carrying means this really isn't an issue. If you're looking for a comfortable pack that's going to come on a lot of adventures for a lot of years then you should consider this one.

I have a plan.

2011-05-17T15:30:00.003+01:00

Sometimes I need a grand plan, something big to consider, ponder over and a reason to make kit. No doubt this year will see a lot of this mainly in the form of renovating an old house that I’m hoping to buy. I know from past experience that when taking on such a big project as a whole house renovation I need to be able to daydream about something that’s going to be there when it’s done. Daydreaming about stuff when I’m stuck, hacking off plaster for the tenth evening in a row and getting thoroughly sick of having no spare time.

Watching @philoutdoors and others crossing Scotland via the magic that is http://new.socialhiking.org.uk/ also gets me itching to plan a big trip. I had to pull out of this years TGO for a number of reasons, mainly for the sale and subsequent purchase of houses. So I started looking into doing the Pennine Way. An iconic trail in the UK and one that’s not talked about as much anymore.

If need be I could pack for the entire trip with stuff from my gear cupboard, although I’ve sold a lot of stuff recently I’ve still got a full range for three season camping from lightweight gear to air beds and gas stoves for car camping. But no really lightweight stuff. This led me to thinking that I wouldn’t mind making some really lightweight summer kit and using this kit for the trip along the Pennine Way.

Followers of the blog may have realised that I start a lot of projects, get partly through them, find a problem and stop. Some projects get used, the cat cut tarp gets regular use as does the bivi bag. That process of going wrong, or as I like to think, discovering something you didn’t know, is important. Unless you have someone to learn from you have to just jump in and learn from your mistakes. I think I’m at the stage now that projects seem to be going right and I’ve set myself the task of walking the Pennine Way in the summer of 2012 using a Super Ultra Light (SUL) base weight of 5lbs or 2.268kg.

On the face of it, it seems practically impossible to walk safely in the hills in the UK with such a small amount of gear. But… with modern materials and making kit that specifically for your own size and needs you can cut down on weight. I’ve already started designing and making some kit and I’ll post about these separately as it’s the kit you want to hear about! Below is a list of big stuff that I want to carry and target weights for each piece and you can see that it does seem possible.

Backpack 300g

Sleeping bag/quilt 450g

Sleeping mat 100g

Bivi 200g

Shelter/guylines 300g

Pegs 75g

Pot and Stove 130g

Waterproofs 100g (yes that’s 100g, I have a plan, I'm sure I mentioned that?)

Total 1,655g

Obviously there’s still quite a bit to add to list and I’ve only 613g to play with, insulation included and I’m up to my base weight. But I’ve given myself a bit of wiggle room in the target weights. There has to be some minimum specifications for the kit, I don’t want to suffer and I want to be safe. The shelter will be designed for three seasons, you don’t get one season weather in the UK unless you’re lucky. The sleeping bag/quilt will have to be good to 5c without the need for further insulation and I need to be able to cook and brew tea.

I’ve got a 100 ideas buzzing about in my head about the kit, how it’s going to be made, multiple uses for it. Some of it’s been made or part made some of it is still just ideas. I hope that by having a plan that a lot if not all of this gets made, it gives me something to daydream about and you something to comment on and chuckle about.

I welcome any comments, suggestions, or any well meaning criticism of the plans or my intentions and I promise to post more about kit and do shiny pictures and videos soon.

Further apologies and an explanation.

2011-05-04T11:27:00.000+01:00

I’m still alive and still doing stuff that I’ll be blogging about, but at the moment there’s a lot going on in real life that restricts my online time and activity, mainly – not having internet access at home, selling a house and the inevitable purchase and probable renovation of a complete wreck of a cottage (again).

Having read some very good posts about the art of blogging recently I do recognise that consistency and communication are the key to keeping readers. I have been lacking with both recently and have replied to all comments that you good readers have left.

At the moment I’m making a couple of bits of kit for my friends Seth and Tom whom I was doing the TGO challenge with, now having to pull out due to the above reasons. I’ll pop a post up about these when they are done. One’s a bonkers idea that I was requested to make!

I’m testing a Berghaus day pack for Webtogs which I’ll write about when I’ve used it a bit more.

Finally I made my own barefoot Luna Sandals over a month ago and have been wearing consistently ever since so I’ll write about them when I have the time too.

Meanwhile please accept my apologies for neglecting you again and my thanks for sticking with me.

Cheers

John.

Boring but essential gear. Socks.

2011-03-23T10:57:00.001Z

I’ve heard a lot about X-Socks form fellow Blogger and Backpacker Andy Howell on his blog and was quite keen to test a pair. With the upcoming TGO Challenge I am in the market for some decent socks. Webtogs happily suggested I try a pair of these

For years I’ve used the same thick Rohan Merino wool socks. These set the bench mark for all other socks, in my opinion anyway. Warm, even when wet, loads of cushioning and don’t loose their shape when soggy. Sadly I can’t seem to find any more.

As mentioned before I have hot feet and as you can see from the specs from the Webtogs site they are a mixture of synthetic fibres. I was curious to see how good these would be to dry out between inevitable river crossings and other watery adventures in Scotland as well as keeping my feet dry in waterproof boots.

As socks go they look and feel very well made. They do have quite a tight, foot specific fit without being restrictive. In the lined Keen boots they performed very well. My feet didn’t overheat even though it was a sunny day, they didn’t loose their shape and there was no rubbing or hotspots. I couldn’t really fault them.

In the Inov-8s I wasn’t as impressed. I purposely crossed a couple of large streams which involved full submersion of my feet. The socks again didn’t loose their shape and again there was no rubbing or hotspots even after five miles of walking after the stream crossing. My only slight grumble was that the socks didn’t dry as fast as my merino socks, they retained more water and my feet were colder in them after the submersion than they usually are, although they were warm in around 90 seconds so you can’t really complain there. They were pretty wet at the end of the walk and I would have doubts they would dry out much overnight if you were backpacking.

Perhaps comparing these to the Rohan socks is unfair as the materials used are different so you can expect different results, these may be more comparable?

Apart from that small, perhaps unfair gripe I do have to say that they have performed like kit should – with no issues. Comfy, brilliant fit, retain their shape with no hint of hot spots or blisters. I think these particular ones are more suited to waterproof footware and I would have no qualms in recommending them to others for such use.

New Pack

2011-03-13T18:56:00.000Z

Hello all

It's a while since I've blogged about anything that I've made myself. I had been planning on taking a number of home made items on this years TGO Challenge. But time and circumstances have meant that this is now looking unlikely. I have, however been plodding away at a number of projects.

This one has been on the go since before Christmas. I've wanted a new backpack in the 35l-40l range with mesh pockets. It would be very simple, no frame, no fancy harness just shoulder straps and hip belt. Whilst making this pack it's given me a good idea for another pack which eventually I'll get round to doing which will be a totally original design, but that's another blog post...

The idea for this pack comes directly from the Sea to Summit Ultra Sil Day Pack. I love this pack. The simplicity and the comfort really appeals to me. As I was wandering/wondering (sorry Helen its to good an pun not to steal) along one autumn day I got to thinking what if you scaled up the size, whacked a few mesh pockets and gave it proper shoulder straps and a hip belt you'd get something like this

This is a full scale mock up, the pattern was made by picking apart the original day pack, making a paper pattern, blowing it up with a photocopier to the right size. Making the fabric panels and putting it all together. It could do with a little more mesh to allow more to be placed in the outside pockets, but overall it's looking good.

If you make a mock up of the body first you get to see if there are any problems with the finished design before spending all that time on the straps. Straps! Now they do take time if you make them from scratch. You also get a feel for which seams should be sewed in which order. This does make a big difference when putting a 3D project together. I'm guessing that the pack is in the region of 35l and the mock up without straps and a zip weighs in at 108g.

It's made from a non rip stop polyviscose material which I can't tear with my hands, it's slightly stiff and 100% waterproof. Good pack material. I'm not sure all my kit will fit in it for the TGO as I will need to carry up to four days food in some places but I'm going ahead with a full version as I like how it's turned out so far.

Keen Targhee II Mid Walking Boot. The first 50 miles...

2011-03-02T16:08:00.001Z

Throughout winter and early spring I tend to stop using Inov8's for my main shoes. For two reasons. Firstly I don't tend to do as much backpacking during the winter, secondly I like a warmer and waterproof boot. However I'm like the princess and the pea when it comes to boots. My feet are very particular. I have skinny heels and a very wide forefoot. I also can't walk in stiff boots, use ski boots or anything that restricts natural foot movement too much. I get a lot of pain in the arches of my feet. On top of all these requirements I have HOT feet, really hot feet - goretex lined shoes are a complete no go area, far far to hot even in cold conditions. E-vent lined shoes I can get away. So when Webtogs asked me to test some Keen Targhee II Mid Boots I was apprehensive (I didn't tell them, don't let on).

My old Hi-Tec v-lite Recon mid boots had finally given up the ghost. Event lined, fabric boots, very flexible with soles made by Satan himself. If it was wet you were on your behind at least three times during the day. I kept them for snow and ice and used microspikes with them. In those limited conditions they were perfect.

Getting back to the Keens. I'd seen mixed reviews from bloggers and general users alike. It would seem that most of negative reviews were of the earlier e-vent lined models not being waterproof. The "Keen-Dry" waterproofing seems to have gone down better. I was also unsure about the look of the boot. However when you put them on and look down at your feet they look like the kind of boot that means business. Looks do matter.

First impressions were good, the way they are cut means they are very easy to get on and off, no struggling at all. Laces that stay tied. It still amazes me that some shoes come with laces that can't hold a knot. Pretty light for such a sturdy boot, about 580g per boot (UK size 10) on my scales. A good degree of flex in them as well to allow good foot movement. A word on sizing here. I usually fall between a 9 and 10 in a UK size. Gareth from Webtogs suggested I go for the 10 and it fits like a glove. If you straddle a foot size go for the larger one as they are a little conservative.

I've done about 50 miles in them now. All of these day walks, the longest being 15 miles. I've used a pair of Bridgedale liner socks and some thick Rohan Merino Wool socks on all the walks. What can I say about these boots... Well they work, they work well. Issue free walking from the outset. No foot pain, no blisters not even hot spots, no leaks, plenty of underfoot cushioning when on tarmac and enough flex for your foot to move with the contours of the ground and not slide about on rocks and tree roots. Also they don't cook your feet. In fact your feet stay nice and warm. I probably wouldn't use them in high summer but my feet do run hot.

The grip is better than most boots and most vibram soles of which I'm not a fan. The last walk was very wet with extended sections of ankle deep mud. What follows is a dirty video. You have been warned.

I like these boots, they work well. I personally will use them for the cooler months as I don't like lined boots during the summer as my feet are too hot. If you don't suffer "hot foot" like me I don't see why you couldn't use these year round. I think you'll find it difficult to find a better all round three season boot as this. I will report back when they've had a few more miles on them to give an indication of wear and also to see if the stay waterproof.

New MYOG Blogger

2011-02-22T11:21:00.000Z

Here's a new blog from Sam Minnich. I saw the link on the BPL light forums, never met the chap, seems he's from Europe and is obviously skilled with a sewing machine. Early days but well worth bookmarking.

Tips for seam sealing

2011-02-10T23:41:00.000Z

Just a quick post on a couple of labour saving tips for seam sealing. If you've ever had to do this you know how time consuming this can be. This is how I do it and it works for me.

Firstly mix two parts white spirit with one part clear silicone sealent. These don't like to be mixed together, the silicone floats about in the white spirits. I find a snapped off fork in a battery drill serves as a handy whisk, job done in two or three minutes.

I don't use a brush to apply the mixture. It takes forever. I use a small pot with a nozzle that held glitter glue. You can pick these up from craft shops. Not only is this very quick, you can control the amount applied and you don't get the mixture drying out in the pot before you've finished, therefore you mix a lot less. I find you get a much more even line along the stitching.

I then lay out the seam to seal on flat surface. Most people suggest setting the tarp/shelter up outside and painting it on then. If you can, all well and good. But if not this still works and you don't have to lean over to the middle of the tarp to apply. Make sure there's adequate ventilation. This stuff won't kill you but its not pleasant.

I tend to do both sides of the tarp so you make sure the mixture is absorbed into the stitching as much as possible and therefore filling up any small holes.

Hope this helps.

Pottery making moment

2011-02-09T21:09:00.000Z

First ever thrown pot. The photo exaggerates the flare of the sides. It will be a mug, unless it explodes in the kiln... I'm made up with this!

Ninja Tarp!

2011-02-09T09:34:00.000Z

The last couple of weeks have been quite busy on the making moments front. It’s hard to find the time to sew when you’ve got a lot on in general. Another factor is that cutting out fabric for tarps takes a lot of room. That room usually has to be found on the front room floor by moving furniture about, which in turn takes even more time to move stuff, tiptoe around the room not treading on fabric, cutting fabric, moving all the furniture back. So, to cut say, the two panels for a cat cut tarp can realistically take all evening. I have to feed and water children and make them go to sleep before any of this happens.

Three things I have bought to make life a lot easier. An 8’x 4’ sheet of ¾” plywood which sits on the kitchen table. A soldering iron with a very fine tip. Some sheets of hardboard. Two panels of a cat cut tarp and all re-enforcement panels and various other bits can now be cut in less than an hour. I’ve made templates of the panels with hardboard. The material is placed on the plywood, the template over the top and I “draw” round it with the hot soldering iron. Very quick, leaving heat sealed edges – no fraying. This may be excessive if you’re just making a few bits and bobs for yourself but in time I do hope to start making a few things to sell. One of which is the following…

This has been made for Mr. Horner, his selection of fabric. My own designed (lets face it most of these are pretty similar designs) tarp. The material is a coated nylon of some sorts, it’s tough, waterproof and very black. In fact everything on the tarp is black. I love the look of this.

At the moment, before seam sealing, it’s 292g, not the lightest in the world but light enough, it packs down small but it’s yet to be tested outside. That’s a job for Steven and I do hope it works as good as it looks.

I’m not taking orders as such yet, mainly as I don’t have that much time and I don’t want to leave people hanging on for stuff for ever, but expressions of interest are always welcome

A small heads up. Backcountry Boiler.

2011-01-25T21:58:00.000Z

I've been following this chap, who I have to say could be one of the most dedicated MYOG guys out there. I have to say, I've no links, commercial or otherwise to Devin or his boiler, I just think this is a story and product that deserves a lot of attention.

If you trawl through his site, go and read the threads from backpackinglight.com Devin has given a lot of thought, dedication and sheer hard work to get his very clever yet simple product into production.

If (hopefully) he does start making a few more of these after the initial production run I'll putting an order in. I've made (like most backpacking tinkerers) a couple of wood burning stoves, they work but they're fiddly and prone to not working too well in windy conditions.

Hat's off to you Devin!

Optimus Terra Solo Pot

2011-01-11T23:18:00.009Z

Would you believe me if I told you that I had been abducted by the American Government and held in some sort of suspended animation for months and therefore was totally unable to blog? If you do believe me you're the sort of reader I'm after! If you don't please just, I don't know, just read on.

This offering is slightly unusual in that it's an indoor video of me cooking using a very small frying pan. I saw this pot on the webtogs site* I've been after a light frying pan for a couple of years and this at only £20 intrigued me. As explained in the video sometimes the lightweight approach can lead to slight jealousy when walking with non lightweight friends. I may have less on my back but they have a fry up for breakfast. Hmmm, who's the winner there? So sometimes a little luxury would be nice. It's not often that you can get both the lightweight and the luxury together. In this instance I can add a frying pan to my lightweight kit for just a further 40g, it weighs more than that, you need to see the video for further explanation.

The pot itself which doesn't get much of a look in, in the video is a nice piece of kit. Very sturdy, great heatproof handles so you can dispense with melting various bits of clothing taking the pot of the stove and just the right size for boiling water for dehydrated meals. With the addition of a silicone band around the rim to protect your lips its also a nice mug to drink from.

The price at £20 is great compared to similar titanium pots, allthough slightly heavier, it's just as sturdy as my Ti pot with the advantage of being easier to cook with, try frying anything with Ti, it's not a great idea. Lets see how I got on cooking fried eggs...

I apologise for the poor editing. I seemed to be doomed never to be able to get even simple video editing software to work, there are 10 seconds of silence at the beginning, it's not for artistic effect I can assure you.

As promised the bannock bread recipe

2 cup plain flour
1 cup milk powder
1 tsp baking powder
Good pitch of salt.

This is the very basic recipe. Just google "bannock bread bushcraft" for countless tasty variations. This can be mixed up taken in a ziplock bag and just add water when needed. Very little water at a time as you're making a stiff dough not a cake mix. The wet mix is seriously sticky. Practice at home first, my boys love this and they're very picky!

* Disclaimer - Webtogs have supplied the pot for this review. All views and comments are mine alone. If I didn't like it I would say as much. I have full editorial control. FULL CONTROL I TELL YOU.

Great Gable Remembrance Service

2010-11-14T20:54:00.000Z

I managed to get out on the hills last night for the first time in months. As part of this mini trip I recorded some audio with the purpose of putting together a podcast. At the time of writing this I've not even listened back to a lot of it so I'm not promising anything at the moment. I may have 20 minutes of wind noise, then there's my natural ability to screw up anything technical so please don't hold your breath.

So the following is a little taster of the trip. I managed to get to Seathwaite Farm at 8.45 last night. It was chucking it down. A beer in the car later and it had stopped enough for me to get out, up the side of Sour Milk Ghyll and pitch up with the tarp on a small platform near the top waterfall.

The camp spot just behind the top waterfall (taken the next day)

The tarp in the dark. It was 11pm before I was safely tucked in my sleeping bag.

The forecast was for a clear night and bright sunny day. It chucked it down for the majority of the night, with the delightful surprise of the slight breeze changing direction. This resulted in a good test of my water resistant bivi bag. On two or three occasions I woke up with rain on my face and head, the bivi resisted. I retreated into the foot end of the tarp, as you may be able to tell from the following pictures there wasn't all that much room...

I realised during the night that it was remembrance Sunday and that I had read about a service that takes place on Great Gable so with no other plan I decided I'd plod up there the next day. As per the forecast is was chucking it down, the cloud was down and it was miserable. However... higher up this had fell as snow. The first snow I'd seen this winter. This made for a much more enjoyable and atmospheric walk.

The service was very brief and the sun made a brief appearance and then the cloud rolled in and the temperature really dropped. Forty minutes of standing around had took it's toll on my fingers so it was a quick descent to Sty Head Tarn and then back to the car.

A lovely little winter adventure to start the snowy season off. Maybe commentary to follow...

Mugs and Nikwax

2010-10-28T16:13:00.000+01:00

I'm still making stuff honest! But in the mean time I thought I'd just share a couple of little solutions to minor problems that I've encountered over the last couple of weeks.

Firstly mugs. As you know from my last post I use an Alpkit MyTiMug as my only pot/mug thingy. A lot of the time I especially in the mornings when I’m wanting to get up and go I really wish I had a separate mug to drink tea from whilst having breakfast. Also during the day if you stop for a brew as all my cook kit fits inside the MyTiMug I have to wait until I finish said brew before I can pack up and put stuff in my bag. A separate mug, oh how useful you would be…

Now the thought of carrying extra weight, even that of a mug is pretty repugnant to most normal people, it is to me anyway, the lightest I had seen was this,

Expensive, light, out of stock and very sexy.

I’d never considered one of these

It’s an Orikaso Mug. I picked up a full set of Mug, Plate and Bowel from eBay for £3.99 including postage, just search on the site for Orikaso (I’m in no way connected to the seller by the way).

It weights 37g and folds flat. I know they’ve been around for years, for some reason I’ve never clicked that this is a solution to the mug problem and remains in the realms of acceptability for weight. It could also be used as a chopping board or a lure to attract giant tadpoles.

Now on to Nikwax. I apologise now if this is teaching grandmas to suck eggs. I’ve always had a bit of a hit and miss experience with reproofing clothes with Nikwax, mainly miss. I’ve always used a washing machine, done the washing the dispenser thing and running it through empty on the hottest wash to clean the machine of detergent.

Combinations of drip drying, tumble drying all sorts and stuff never has a DWR like it does new from the shop. I tried hand washing this week instead. Absolutely bloody brilliant, quicker, less energy and DWR just like out of the shop. I do have to point out this was the first time I had used Nikwax on Paramo, I know the two were developed to work together so perhaps I should expect better results than on Goretex but by Jingo it worked. That is all.

Cooking Gear

2010-10-11T14:58:00.001+01:00

I think most of us would put stoves and cooking gear in general, in our top two of most desirable bits of kit. Shelters/tents/tarps taking up the other place. I do anyway.

I realised that I’ve not posted much about the cooking equipment I use. I’ve never done a dedicated post anyway. Over the years I’ve used most types of backpacking stoves. I started out way back when, with a full Trangia set, two pans, kettle and frying pan. A brilliant bit of kit more suited to car camping than backpacking due to its weight.

When I started on the lightweight revolution I got a Coleman F1 gas stove - £15 and about 80g. For the money a brilliant bit of kit, easy, fast, convenient. The main problem was the gas you had to screw on the bottom of it. Big metal canisters being thrown away and stored half full in a cupboard. Again I still have this stove and I’m gradually using up the half full canisters when car camping.

Two or three years were then dedicated to making and messing about with meths stoves. This is a very addictive pastime. Be warned! I developed a small side burner stove made from Red Bull cans which an Alpkit MyTiMug could sit directly on top off. This was quite efficient, very fast and did away with the need for a pot stand, just a wind screen. I used this stove for about a year, but there were always problems with balance. You needed a flat, preferably dead flat area. I had a couple of spills and started looking for something else.

Woodburners, although fun are not massively practical when you just want a quick cup of tea in the morning. I made a couple of stoves out of food cans with roughly the same dimensions of the Bush Buddy. They worked reasonably well, very environmentally friendly but just not quick enough when you take into account the time for fuel collecting and prep.

I’d never tried solid fuel tablets or esbit. I had dismissed these as stuff boy scouts used years ago. After reading on the web of a lot of American hikers using them and then finding Colin Ibbotson's design I decided to give them a go. I haven’t looked back since. You can pick them up in most high street camping shops.

Having just finished making a copy of my cooking system for a friend’s birthday present I thought I post a few pictures and a brief description. I make no claims for the design of the below. They are copies of Colin’s ideas. This is the most convenient, stable, quiet, and just down right brilliant way of cooking I’ve used. I do just tend to heat up water for food and drinks.

To start with is the Alpkit MyTiMug, this is the newer one. Mine’s got a small wooden knob on the top, this one is slightly lighter at 116g on my scales (including the lid). My original apart from being sooted up is as good as new after about five years use and for £25 is probably one of the best bargains out there.

The stove itself is made from an aluminum foil baking tray. I got two trays for £1 from Poundland and you can get two stoves out of one tray making the total cost of the stove 25p. I say stove, when in reality it’s a dual pot stand/wind screen. The two ends are clipped together with paper clips and a tent peg is slipped through the holes either side of the vent holes. The pot with its handles extended sits on the tent peg and the side of the stove. The stove can easily take the weight of a full pot despite its flimsy appearance. The solid fuel tabs sit on the round piece of foil and just left to burn under the pot. The stove weighs 9g

The pot cozy is made from three pieces of old closed cell foam mat to form a cylinder with one end that can be removed. This is much more robust and efficient than the silver bubble wrap pot cozy. It also provides a strong cover for the pot in your bag to stop the soot rubbing onto your other kit. This weighs 25g. I’ve just fixed mine with gaffer tape, Colin has used Araldite on his. I didn’t have any. The savings in weight and cost of fuel by using a pot cozy are immense.

The whole lot fits inside the cozy and this can also accommodate enough fuel tablets for a weekend trip making a very neat little package costing well under £30 and tipping the scales around the 150g mark. As there are no special tools needed, apart from a single hole punch which can be picked up on the high street. It’s a making moment most people can do.

New Backpack

2010-09-28T12:08:00.000+01:00

I've had an attempt at a backpack before. It was a good project and did produce a useable backpack. However some of the stitching and seams were a bit iffy. I used a variety of seams to see which one worked best and came to a way in which I thought worked. This seems to be how some commercial backpack companies also stitch up their bags. I'll post a photo when the sewing starts so you can have a look. My previous pack was made from very lightweight PU coated ripstop nylon. This was the wrong choice. Substantial holes developed around the stitching after a bit of use. They didn't get any bigger and the material has proved to be tougher than it looks but it didn't inspire confidence and I don't use the pack now.

The new fabric is this. Apparently it's the stuff that some hot air balloons are made from. It's strong, very very strong and waterproof and cheap! Now the colour I got hold of is yellow, the photo below does not show the full glory of this fabric, it's the brightest sunshine yellow EVER! As you can see (from the link) they also do black. It's tempting to get some and do a stripy wasp style backpack. That's got to be first for the lightweight backpacking community (and probably the last).

So where was I..? Ah wasps... So that's the fabric sorted. The design was the next step. I have been really impressed by these packs. I got one at the beginning on the summer and it's been well used and lent out to friends. Everyone's reactions when they see it is that I've bought something that's the lightest because it the lightest and not that its functional. Believe me it is functional and featherweight too. Brilliant kit. So I wanted a larger version around 35l. The pack was picked apart over the course of a couple of evenings and a pattern taken from the individual panels. These patterns were enlarged using a photocopier and then panels from the new fabric were cut and pinned together. Although time consuming this part is relatively straightforward.

A couple of further evenings were spent creating the pattern for the straps and the pockets. Pinning all these together and seeing how it looked. I've still to do the hip belt. The level of adjustment on the straps is minimal as I making the pack for me. The small amount of adjustment will save on weight and materials and be enough to cope with changes of clothes and the adding of layers.

I have realised that the sewing machine I have can't cope with heavy weight thread or do bar tacks, or even zig zag stitching any more. Luckily my next door neighbour is a professional seamstress. So a bit of sweet talking and hopefully I can borrow her machine to sew up the final version.

At the moment I have most of the bits ready to sew up. To get to this stage I reckon has taken around 15 hours of work and countless of hours of thinking.

Backpacks are hard to get right. I've a feeling that this may be too wide across the shoulders. So I'm going to quickly put this version together and see how it works out. There will be adjustments to make and a couple of working models before the final version is done. I'm hoping to take this across Scotland on the TGO if I get on. I'm aiming to get the weight under 300g, halving the weight of my current pack, the original GoLite Jam.

Apologies for the extended interval.

2010-09-27T14:08:00.000+01:00

Hello all. I would like to apologise for the rather large gap between posts. This is due to a number of real life matters, non serious you'll be glad to know and generally a lack of time.

However normal service is soon to be resumed. I still have to get round to doing the extended Lakeland Bloggers video which will probably appear on either Phil’s (http://lightweightoutdoors.com/) or Steve’s (http://www.stevenhorner.com/) blog, being as they’ve had to wait months for me to get my arse into gear, sorry chaps.

An application has been submitted the TGO Challenge*. This year, if I’m selected, I shall be walking with two friends, Seth and Tom. After last years trip which was held in unusually good weather I reckon my kit can be reduced somewhat (cue dramatic music and claps of thunder) and I hope to be making some new bits and bobs for May’s crossing.

Shelter - I wish I had taken a tarp. I really like the MLD DuoMid but you still have that fully enclosed feeling of a tent which I don’t like. This time I am putting together a version of the cat cut tarp which I trialed in the lakes. I would like some Tarp user’s views on this one. I’ve got some spinnaker material which I reckon will bring the weight of the tarp itself down to around the 200g mark, pegs and guys on top of that. This one will have substantially more tie out points to secure it. I am also making a full size beak for it which will cover the opening at the front. This is removable and will provide protection during changeable weather. On paper I have a design that will allow the walking pole to be situated under the main canopy and the beak to clip next to this. It’s hard to explain but hopefully a prototype will soon become reality. I would like to get the views of regular tarp users who have used spinnaker tarps, mainly how flappy/loud are they? I’m presuming a lot is down to shape? Also have any of you had catastrophic failures of spinnaker?

Bivvy – I’m also looking to make a much lighter bivi than I used last year, that was half way to becoming an inner tent.

Backpack – This is a project that I’ve already started. I want a streamlined backpack around 35l-38l in volume with mesh pockets and very lightweight. It doesn’t have to feature rich but it does have to be comfortable to carry. I’ll do a separate post about this project in the near future. I’ve got some odd material, which I’m told is used for hot air balloons! It’s not a ripstop but you can’t rip it, even if there is a nick in the edge. I can’t anyway. I’m hoping the full pack will come in around the 300g mark.

I’m also looking at starting to do some podcasts. I’m slowly coming to grips with the technical aspect of things. This is a project which I’m giving myself a budget of say £20 to start up. I’m not sure it can be done, my phone makes an adequate recording device. Indoors it’s very good, outside the wind noise can be overpowering, I’m thinking of making a furry mic cover that you see on other devices to see if that has any effect. Any suggestions welcome!

So hopefully you’ll get some regular content from now on in and pictures/videos/podcasts too – but don’t hold me to that.

* http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk have done podcasts of last years TGO Challenge which can be found here http://www.theoutdoorsstation.co.uk/The_Outdoors_Station/2010_Listing/2010_Listing.html I also understand that you can buy a CD of the previous four years podcasts with a slideshow of pictures directly from Bob, the proceeds going to the Mountain Bothies association and Mountain Rescue.

Lakeland Bloggers Video

2010-07-21T08:55:00.000+01:00

I've been tasked by Phil and Steve to put together a video from all the clips and we took over last weekends trip. I've been having a few IT issues my end and suffice to say it may be a while before the final version is put together.

I have however roughly strung my stuff together. Apologies for the quality. I'm still getting used to the settings on my phone and was recording in a medium setting (not so good) this combined with the wind and rain (no sound effects needed!) in places it's hard to hear whats going on.

Phil recorded all the funny stuff and all the stuff whilst we were on the move. Hope this keeps you going until the final version is done.

Lakes trip with Steven and Phil

2010-07-17T21:41:00.001+01:00

Most of you may know Steven and Phil from the blog world. Stevenhorner.com and lightweightoutdoors.com. Steven organised a little trip to the lakes this weekend. We did the Mosedale Horseshoe today after a windy wild camp last night. All of us have taken light weight kit and its had a good test.

Most of today was very wet and very very windy. Typically as soon as we were back to the car the weather picked up and the evenings turned out nice. I've done a video which will need editing and uploading when I'm back home but here's a few photos to be getting on with. The new tarps brilliant by the way!

Cat cut tarp II

2010-07-15T22:22:00.003+01:00

Well the guy lines are on, the seams are sealed and it was pitched in the garden. You can see the little glitter glue bottle that I use for seam sealing. 10 minutes to do the seam and the tie out points on the tarp. For those of you lucky enough to have experienced seam sealing I'm hoping this tip will enrich your life.

The purpose of this tarp was to see if I've got the shape right and by jingo I think I've cracked it. Even though there wasn't much tension on the guys the pitch was drum tight. A flick gave a satisfying thud on the fabric. As you may be able to see there's only 8 tie out points. For the final version they'll be another couple of tie outs on each side to enable it to be firmly secured in harsh conditions. Hopefully it'll be blowing a hooley over the weekend so I can do a Bear Ghrylls extreme video.

New Tarp - Catenary cut solo tarp.

2010-07-15T14:16:00.000+01:00

I've always liked the look of the catenary cut tarp. You see them a lot over in the states more so that over here. I used to assume this was because the states suffered less with heavy winds and rain than we do, which may be the case. So logically, in my mind anyway, I thought that they weren’t all that much cop for use over here.

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve assumed a lot of things about lightweight gear before actually getting to use it. More often than not my assumptions proved baseless and the gear has performed beyond my initial expectations. Maybe so in this case too? I’ve never owned a cat cut tarp or even seen one being used. Also Colin Ibbotson has used one it seems in most conditions in this country and gets on well with it. So why not make one? Why not indeed…

I’ve done this project in proper low tech DIY mode. The material used was some cheapish stuff I found on the internet which looked and felt like 1.1oz Sil Nylon or 1.4oz when it’s been coated – around 40g m2. It turns out that after making a tarp for a friend which you can see in the previous pictures in the Lakes SUL trip, the material is actually coated and delaminates if treated harshly. The pattern was made by pinning the material to a flat wall and then plotting out where the corners of each side would end up. Then using further pins and heavy nylon cord the catenary curves were created and carefully transferred to the material. Obviously the material had to readjusted to plot each edge. Not only has the main seam got a cat cut also all the edges also have a slight cat cut so as to keep the fabric taught.

The tarps been put together pretty quickly as I want to use it this weekend on a trip to the lakes with Steven and Phil. I still need to attach the guy lines which won’t take long. I also need to seal the seam. This I do with two parts white spirit and one part silicone bath sealant. Most people use a paintbrush to paint in on but this takes ages. I use a glitter pen, the sort that squeeze out a glue with glitter in. Empty the glitter out and replace with the silicone solution and hey presto – a sealant pen. Much quicker and the solution doesn’t go off in the air like it does when you’re using a brush.

The re-enforcement panels are made from 35g m2 spinnaker fabric. I use this as it doesn’t stretch like nylon. I think the combination of the non stretch of spinnaker (but the catastrophic nature of which it can rip) and the stretchy nylon (and ability to withstand shearing) makes a good strong partnership. There may be a reason why other manufacturers don’t use this combination, if anyone knows please let enlighten me.

I’ll do another post after the trip and let you know how it gets on. We are forecast for 35mph winds, gusts up to 50mph and heavy, sustained showers (surely that means rain?)

£1 Tenkara Rods

2010-07-10T11:10:00.002+01:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything, mainly due to a combination of real life stuff and a bit of laziness. Apologies for that. Anyway, I was taking my two boys, 7 and 9 to the lakes for their first lakeland wild camp this weekend, but a spot of asthma has put paid to that, so we're off the Keld in the Dales instead. A lovely camp site by a river where you can have fires too.

One of the aims of the weekend was to test these tiny fishing poles that I found in the pound shop. As you can imagine the quality leaves a little to be desired. The eyelets at the end came off immediately so they've been glued and bound with a bit of epoxy glue and strong thin nylon thread. The poles will snap before these'll come off again.

Affixed to the poles is a length of cheap floating line with a 4' tippet on the end, making the line around 12'. The poles themselves extend to around 8' and are remarkably strong and flexible for glass fibre.

I'm not expecting much in the way of performance from these. I reckon they'll cope with trout up to around 6" in length which is what you can expect to catch in most parts. Not big enough for eating but a good bit of sport on such light tackle.

The pole itself weighs 39g the line and a few flies in the polystyrene box are negligible, a small lightweight outfit for backpacking and day packs. I'll let you know how we get on!

Lakes SUL trip - a few thoughts.

2010-06-30T14:27:00.004+01:00

Well what can I say about this trip, the main thing was that Seth, Tom and I had a cracking time despite the football. The weather was fantastic, mid 20's, not a drop of rain, quite a few midges, but you don't want to hear all that guff - let's talk kit!

First off I didn't manage SUL status and I don't care (I bloody well do care!). This was down to a couple of things. The first was that my DIY pack that I was intending to take failed as I was getting it out of the car. I'm happy to report it was the only bit I hadn't made. It was the chest strap assembly from the Alpkit pack that fell to bits. The trusty golite jam was bought into service adding 350g or so. Secondly I've been using an inflatable pillow from the pound shop, this has now died but it made a huge difference to how I slept. I couldn't find another one so I got hold of ajunguk (spelling?) air pillow. I've not weighed it yet but what a revelation! Best nights sleep ever. So with this luxury and the change in pack I settled for being a UL backpacker for the weekend with a base weight of just under 3kg.

I didn't use the waterproofs but they always have to be taken. I wore a very lightweight Rohan long sleeved merino top and a windshirt on occasion, Ron Hill trackster copies, two pairs of socks - a thin synthetic Bridgedale liner sock and some thick Rofan merino ones and inov8 roclite boots.

I loosely packed the PHD Piqolo bag in the Rab Survival Zone Bivi along with the pillow. The home made torso pad slotted down the back of the pack. Stove, pot, cozy combination and waterproof in the main part of the pack. The tarp and groundsheet were contained in a small sandwich bag in the front pocket along with the bits and bobs bag. This contained a petzl e+lite, sun tan cream, Bronners soap, tooth brush and a small first aid kit.

The filter came into its own. I've never seen the lakes so dry. Most of the minor streams on the side of the fells were completely dry. The rivers in the valleys were down to standing puddles in places with a trickle or two between them. A lot of the water was taken from tarns and the lakes themselves. Stuff I wouldn't touch without a filter.

The tarp is just so small it's difficult to comprehend its tiny packsize. It did a great job of keeping the slight breeze off, although it was never tested in adverse weather I have no doubt it will hold up well.

So what's the point of trying to go SUL? When I was first into backpacking I'd never considered light weight gear. When I was younger it was all 80l backpacks, full trangia cookesets and a change of clothing for every day on the trail. I can safely say with every lightweight bit of kit, or technique I've tried I've always been dubious of its merits. I thought the same of trying to go SUL but what a difference it made. The weekend was short on milage but high on ascent and the 3kg (plus food and water) pack was a revelation. I usually have between 5kg-7kg as a baseweight. I couldn't see the point of loosing an extra few kg - now I can. It may seem a pretty obvious conclusion but it makes all the difference. On the last day when most of the food was gone it was amazing. I don't think I'm ever going to be a SUL hiker - not in this country. This trip was sunny, warm and dry - not a usual occurance for a four day trip in the British Isles. I'll try and stick to UL (less than 10lb, 4.5kg) I will in future be more ruthless with the kit I leave behind. I missed nothing and gained everything.

Tom and Seth, whom I'm trying to convince to do the TGO next year were finally converted too. They left their packs behind on the last day (to pick up in the car later) as they were suffering slightly with weight they were carrying, mainly due to massive amounts of food rather than the kit. Seth had a home made nylon tarp (one of mine) which weights less than 300g and Tom was using the Hex3 as you can see from our lakeside camp below.

They've 10 months to lighten the load - no doubt I'll pester them to use kit I've made to test it in the field.

Lakes SUL kit list

2010-06-24T09:43:00.001+01:00

Right, non kit geeks look away now!

With half a mind to Darren’s competition and half a mind on the upcoming Lakes SUL trip I was fiddling with kit last night trying to get the base weight down to 2.3kg. The photo below shows the first packing in its entirety and this came in at 2.33kg. I’ll outline the main items and then explain why I wont be using some of them. Apologies as I’ve not got the list of weights of each individual item to hand, the below are guesstimates.

Shelter

Team IO cuben micro tarp with guy 55g. This is roughly a 5’x4’ tarp and designed to be used with a waterproof bivi. These aren’t listed on his site at the moment.

Rab Survival Zone Bivi

Small section of polycro ground sheet to put sack (pillow) on under micro tarp. I cant see the point of a ground sheet under a bivi that’s exposed to the elements. If it rains it’ll pool water.

Sleeping

Home made torso sized foam pad. 86g This is made from a five season multimat pad, I think it’s 12mm deep so there’s a bit of padding as well as insulation. It’s a bodge design that’s simple and works and I’ll do a separate making moment on it soon.

PHD Piqolo bag – 485g (I think) good down to 10c, it can be pushed much further with clothes on.

Silk Liner – to take or not to take. I like to keep my bags clean and it does add warmth!?

Sack

Sea to summit micro pack thingy as mentioned in Darren’s competition around 60g. This will work for the overnighter planned but I need something larger to fit food (beer) in.

Cooking

Alpkit MyTiMug – about 130g with lid. There’s lighter pots out there but I don’t own one and this has given five years of solid service and is as good as new.

Sea to Summit – short handled anodized aluminium spoon 5g – apparently the lightest full sized metal utensil there is (lets place bets on how quickly I’m proved wrong on this one).

Colin Ibbotson DIY esbit stove 13g. Brilliant piece of kit cost less than 50p to make, most stable and wind resistant stove (when there’s a pot on it!) stove I’ve ever used and esbit, despite my initial prejudices, esbit is a light and versatile fuel, much better than meths in my opinion. I took the stove pictured on the TGO and as Colin says it does get battered but a couple of minutes with a rolling pin and it’s as good as new. Make one today!

Pot Cosy, again another Colin inspired make. Although mines taped up rather than glued, for no reason other than I had tape and not glue. Again brilliantly simple, keeps food hotter than the silver bubble wrap, tough as old boots and good for keeping a dirty pot covered up whilst in your pack.

500ml water bottle and cut down platy with a travel tap filter attached. Usually when I’m in the lakes I don’t bother to filter water but as the North West is facing a drought and I understand that it’s pretty dry at the moment there may not be the usual choice of water sources so I’m erring on the side of caution.

Water Proofs

Go-lite virga jacket. Not the most breathable of tops, but it works.

Trekmates waterproof wind trousers

The only other trousers I’ve got are Berghaus Storm (main picture at top of post) these are heavy and great in full on sustained rainy conditions. I’ve been after some go-lite reeds but unless you want XL there’s none left on the entire planet. I got these for £20 they can be picked up all over the internet and a lot of TKMaxx’s as well. They’ll keep the water out, but will they breath at all? I can’t find any real reviews so when I’ve worn them in the rain I’ll do a brief write up and let you know how they work.

There’s various other bits and bobs which I won’t list here I may do a small video of all the bits when I get back.

All the stuff pictured packs down in the sea to summit pack as you can see with a compass for scale.

This comes in at 2.33kg. But it’s not a set up for a four day trip. I’m going to use my home made pack at 285g (ish) a lot heavier than the sea to summit, but it’ll swallow this lot. I can ditch the dry bag for the sleeping bag and store the sleeping bag loose in the bivi. I’ll swap the over-trousers and perhaps ditch the silk liner. I also want to take my adapted down jacket, another making moment to write up. I reckon I’m going to struggle to make the 2.3kg cut off but I’ll let you know.

Superultralight (SUL) in the lakes...

2010-06-23T11:28:00.002+01:00

I’ve never done an extended Superultralight (SUL) trip before. For a number of reasons, mainly the fickle British weather, not having the right kit and not having the nerve to go that light. I’m not sure if there’s a consensus on what constitutes SUL, the majority of definitions I’ve seen on the internet state it’s a base weight of no more than 5lbs (around 2.3kg), this excludes food, water and fuel (some people count fuel).

Anyway I’m off to the lakes for four day, three night bimble with a couple of friends. This will be in the north west lakes starting at Buttermere then heading off in a South Westerly direction across Haystacks and then north and around a bit. In fact we tend to meet up have a couple of pints, have a look at the map make something up and then change everything as the mood takes us. It’s a social walking long weekend not a weekend to be doing the miles. Walking, scrambling, camping and drinking.

The weather looks good, very good. I’ll be with a couple of friends not going SUL so if things do go tits up I’ll be able to bail into a tent and they can carry the beer in their packs!

I’ve yet to do the packing so I’m not sure if I can get down to this weight with the kit I’ve got but I’ll try and do a post or video before I leave with all the kit I’m taking and see how close I can get to SUL.

Competition Moment

2010-06-18T14:17:00.000+01:00

Have a look here

I actually ordered one of these sacks a couple of days ago just before I found out about this competition. I really like the look of the sack and I think that Darren’s idea is a really good one.

I have a 25l OMM sack that I use in the summer, this has loads of pockets and you can strap a bed roll under the lid. Doing a full overnighter with a 20l pack with no pockets is going to take some thinking about.

Also there’s the added bonus of winning shiny shiny kit.

First Attempt at Video Blogging

2010-06-14T12:23:00.000+01:00

Here's a clip I took whilst out on my improptu wild camp on the North York Moors over the weekend. I know everyone thinks their own voice sounds bizarre when they hear it back but I can assure listeners that I don't have the lisp that seems to have appeared on the clip?

Anway enjoy!

Old Making Moment - 50l Backpack

2010-06-13T20:57:00.000+01:00

I've just got some new fabric. Initially I was buying some fabric for a cat cut tarp that I wanted to make but it turned out that it was out of stock. After a brief conversation with the nice people at Fabrics and Stuff they suggested this - http://www.fabrics-n-stuff.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=58&products_id=557&osCsid=6lia3ghc1qu7vn1rft7l16pr62

It's not listed as being waterproof. I've done the glass test and there's no seepage. How it would hold up in lashing 40mph rain I couldn't tell you. Apparently some hot air balloons are made from this. The thread is coated and then woven and the finished cloth is coated again. It's not super light but it's really really tough stuff. Hardly any give in any direction and I reckon it'll make good tarp material.

I also reckon it's perfect for backpacks. Just the right combination of toughness and weight. In a fit of madness I ordered the bright yellow I could have got black but that's just boring.

I made the backpack above about a year ago after I just started sewing. The workmanship is not great and the material is really light sil-nylon. Too light as you can see from the seams. I used the straps off an old Alpkit Gordon they weight 100g alone and the whole pack comes in at 273g which is good for a pack of this size. I've used it for about 50 miles. With the kit, food and water I was probably carrying 7-8kg. The stich holes haven't gotten any worse and its a comfortable pack, I based it on the Go-lite Jam. I don't trust the fabric though so it doesn't get used all that often.

It was good project to do. I learnt a lot about different seams, fabrics and how packs are put together. Hopefully soon mk2 will materialize from the sewing machine.

Making Moment - Bivi Bag

2010-06-12T12:59:00.000+01:00

This is the bivi bag I used last night on the moors. I really like this project. It ticks all the right DIY boxes. Simple, cheap, effective and is nearly equivalent in weight to the lightest commercially available bivis.

When I first started using a tarp and bivi I got a Rab survival zone. At around 400g this was one of the lightest bivis available in this country. I think it's a great piece of kit and it still gets regular use. I'm not sure if it's classed as being waterproof but I believe it is and it's very breathable. I've only had a slightly damp sleeping bag on one occasion and it was more my fault for having my feet stuck outside the tent in the cold. It's a pretty weighty bivi for tarp use though when all you need is drip and spray protection so I made this one.

It's made from a material called Nysil, which is the equival to Pertex 4. One side is slightly shiny, I'm not sure if it's coated or callandered in some way but it's very lightweight. The whole bivi on weighs 185g and squashed down to the size of a grapefruit. It's the same dimensions as the survival zone and is.made from three pieces of material, a top, bottom and a strip for the draw cord around the opening. It can be made from 3m of material and probably cost less than £15 to make.

It works really well and is superbly breathable. It's water resistant rather than water proof which is great for a tarp. I'd recommend this as a first sewing project.

Venus over Teesside

2010-06-11T22:37:00.000+01:00

The little star in this picture (apologies for the quality) is Venus. This is better than football!

Impromptu Moors Camp

2010-06-11T22:27:00.000+01:00

Having watched the first half of the France v Uruguay match and finding myself on the floor in a near coma I decided I must get out and get out now. Tomorrow night there's some sporting event on and I've friends coming round. The sun came out so the bag was quickly packed and I was off to the Moors.

It seems ages since I've used a flat tarp, this one is a backpackinglight.co.uk solo tarp. It was my first one and is showing signs of wear now, but we've been through a lot together and I still really like it.

It took a while to get a semi decent pitch in a little hollow in some cliffs overlooking the twinkling lights of industrial teesside. It's pretty blowy tonight hence the flying v pitch on tussocky grass. It's also a night for a few beers and the radio. It may not be exotic but it's ace to be in the hills within 30 minutes if the urge takes you.

Woodland Wild Camp

2010-06-07T21:04:00.000+01:00

I've started taking my boys wild camping. The trick, I reckon, with kids is to keep them interested. Luckily messing about in streams, fishing and camp fires keeps me interested too. Again luckily living where I do there's plenty places to do all that kind of stuff. Saturday was hot here, very hot. We set off to the North York Moors at 6pm. Stopping on the way to forage for chips and scraps bushcraft style. Then we headed for a local fishing spot and our luck was in. There were loads of tiny trout just wanting to be caught and catch them we did. All catch and release.

We stayed until the midges drove us away and headed up the hill into the woods to set up camp before it got dark. There's a lovely spot in the middle of the woods with an old ruined stone hut with the fireplace in. It's just the right size to stretch the big yellow tarp over leaving enough gap to let the smoke out.

We found two fallen silver birch, they must have been down over two years as they were bone dry giving a lovely hot smokeless fire.

We got the fire going and unpacked and then I realised I hadn't bought my sleeping mat. I would say sleeping on about a foot deep pile of dry leaves is as comfortable as a neo air but there are considerably more creepy crawlies.

A good nights sleep was had by all until about 5.30am when the midges attacked. We got the fire started and chucked some damp leaves on for a bit of smoke and had a midge free hour and then a couple more hours fishing until it started chucking it down.

The boys really enjoyed it and so did I. I'm in the process of getting some kit together for them so we can expand our trips to the lakes and walk a little further. I'll do a post about the kit I'm putting together when it's put together.

Mmmm

2010-06-05T15:08:00.000+01:00

Having sewn the main panels of the Starlet together and laying them out on the floor it quickly became apparent that something was wrong. I wasn't expecting that tarp to lay flat on the ground. This would mean it wouldn't pitch properly. After doing the marble trick and sticking some temporary guy lines on it turned out that I was right. Whatever length the guys there's far too much excess material.

Now there's a number of reasons for this. I think the seams may have a cantenary curve in them. I've done straight seams. The material may not stretch as much as sil nylon and the stretch is important in this design. The reduction in size may have something to do with it. Anyway it doesn't work so I'm going to take it to bits and put curved seams in and see what happens.

If anyone has any tips I'd be glad to hear them.

Making moment - The Starlet

2010-06-03T23:27:00.000+01:00

What in hell is that a picture of? I'll tell you it's the start of the fabric cutting for my new making moment, the starlet. Basically its my own version of the MLD trail star but slightly different in that its about 12% smaller than the one you can buy.

Having briefly been inside Mr Horner's trail star on the TGO I was immediately impressed with the amount of space and the stability and I wanted one! A good thing about any longish backpacking trip is that you have a lot of time to think. I thought, as a solo backpacker do you really need that much space? Probably not so why not make a smaller one and therefore lighter one. It can't be too small as you still need the "length". I've reduced the diameter to around 3m from about 3.4.m, I've now cut the five main panels and these come to 383g. Well on target for the 450g estimated weight.

The cutting is my least favourite bit, mainly as I have to shift the furniture in the front room to get enough space. Also its the stage when you can really balls things up. Happily its all gone without incident. Tomorrow there's the reinforcement tie out panels to cut, gear hanging loops to consider and some sort of fabric reinforcement for the centre - then the fun bit - sewing it all together.

Kids sleeping bags

2010-06-02T20:38:00.000+01:00

My boys 7 and 9 have just started coming wild camping with me. The first time they came it got down to 2c. I was prepared with their crappy two season bags, fleece blankets and fleece.coats so they weren't cold. But that lot takes up a lot of room. I've been on the hunt for some decent three season bags for them for them for a while now and not having much luck.

I wanted a synthetic fill, with a hood and child size. An adults bag is wasted space and more weight and being as they will be carrying them they need to be as light as possible. There's loads of two season bags with comfort ratings around the 12c mark but nothing any warmer.

In Tesco tonight though I noticed the above 300g m2 synthetic insulation with a fleece lining with a comfort rating of 4c. I reckon with a bit of jiggery pokery on the old sewing machine these could turn into just what I was after. I'm going to replace the outer material with pertex to make it splash and spill proof and lighten them up a bit.

Oh and they were £8.50 each. You couldn't buy half the material for that price.

New fabric

2010-06-02T19:54:00.001+01:00

Being a bit of a sewist, fabric is quite important, more so getting hold of some decent stuff without breaking the bank. Light weight sil-nylon is expensive and not immediately available. Over the last year I've been using a company called fabrics and stuff. Their descriptions can be pretty vauge but they buy in roll ends of all sorts of exotic stuff.

All the stuff I've had from them has been top quality. It's a bit of a lucky dip sometimes but they've always come up trumps. And it would seem that I have again with this

http://www.fabrics-n-stuff.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=840&osCsid=bqt0tnak0h6cddfksalo493283

It's a fabric used to make paragliders. Having done a little research before buying, it seems that the company make a number of different grades, one of which is described as water resistant. This matched the rough weight estimate given on the fabrics and stuff website so I took the plunge.

After doing the glass full of water test for two hours I can report there was zero seepage through the materiel. It's funny stuff a cross between spinnaker and sil-nylon, more like sil-nylon though as its not stiff, and just a little crackly. No real stretch along the warp or weft and slightly less stretch on the bias than 50g square metre sil-nylon. This is not scientifically verified you understand just me tugging at it.

I can feel a making moment coming on...

To the end...

2010-05-28T10:13:00.000+01:00

Foolishly as my phone wasn't sending emails I didn't bother writing anything else up. As it's now decided to co-operate I'm writing this from memory, those of you who know me, will know this isn't a very good idea.

Anyway, the night at Tarfside was great, a real unexpected treat, the bar was basic and very welcoming and packed with challengers all of whom seem to be having a wonderful time. It felt late when I left (gone 10pm!) and the moon was out but the sun was still pushing a little bit of light over the horizon.

Awoke with a slightly thick head due to the exceptionally low price of malt whiskey the previous evening. This was cured in the traditional way with a full cooked breakfast at the retreat and also to pick up my last food parcel. Again it was really lovely sunny day and a leisurely stroll down the river took me into Edzall for a pub lunch. The good work of the previous week was rapidly being undone.

Then it was the long straight road into North Water Bridge, whatever you've read about it, it's true. It's not a hard walk, it's not dangerous, it's just tedious and very very straight. On first appearances the camp site looked basic but it was one of the best and the cheapest of the trip. Full of challengers all having a look at each others tents and shelters. Henry Shires was answering questions about the Scarp 1 and his prototype Moment and a good night was had by all.

The next day was the bimble to the coast, I set off by 8am and was at the coast by lunch time and finished the walk with Henry and Mike. We all took loads of photos of each other, which I'll add when I get home. We where then joined by Carl who was delighted to finish after three years ago being practically unable to walk due to an ankle problem which had been fixed by a very good surgeon.

It's always nice to finish a trail, but this one was something special. I was unsure about the challenge before starting, but as time went on you start to meet so many people and make genuine friendships which hopefully will go on into further challenges and beyond. I was genuinely delighted to have finished and finished with friends too, I'd recommend the experience to everyone.

Day 11

2010-05-28T09:25:00.003+01:00

It was a windy night last night at Loch Brandy. The wind changed direction during the night and gave the duo mid a good pounding. The front guy line popped off due to the shock cord coming undone, my knots rather than a failure of the tarp.
I was walking by 7am after having a restless night with the wind. The pull from Loch Brandy to the tops is quite steep but not too long. At this point Scotland thought she'd get her own back for me going on about how nice it's been. Wind, rain and worst of all mist. This meant navigating my way across the tops, my compass decided to develop a bubble which has now gone? The plan was for a last day in the hills, but the weather was poor and a couple of small navigation errors put me in mind to get to the track north of Loch Lee which I did by 11am, at which point the sun came out.

The last five miles into Tarfside were spent with a variety of challengers and on our arrival it was beer and bacon butties at St. Drostans.

The sun remained out and the sports field started filling with tents and shelters, including four duo mids, and a couple of Henry Shires creations, one of which was occupied by Henry himself.

Tonight there's a bar at the masonic lodge across the road and tomorrow it's off to North Water Bridge for the last night of the trip. Perhaps I'll be able to get a phone signal..?

Day 10

2010-05-28T09:25:00.001+01:00

It's been an easy one today but also a sad one, my spork broke. It's the first and only spork I've had and we've been together through many terrible dehydrated meals. But today I have two barely functional bits of plastic. Please lets pause for a moment for the spork.

Also today it rained, for two whole hours, I've a good mind to write to TGO Towers to complain. It started when I woke up and carried on until mid morning. It was still pretty warm and hardly a breath of wind so by no means horrible.

A quick word here. If you study insects go to Glen Doll. This morning when I woke there were at least six different types on the bug netting, a variety of slugs on the fly sheet and quite a few beetles and ants in the waterproofs. Also if you study insects don't use solid fuel tablets for your stove. They're non toxic to humans but not so, it would seem to our six legged friends, a very good way of clearing the tent of unwelcome lodgers.

On paper this was the easiest day of the trip and it has proved to be. I was at the Glen Clova Hotel by 11.15 drinking tea because of the quaint Scottish licensing laws. However as morning turned into afternoon I fueled up on stewed venison, beer and Laphroig (excuse the spelling I'm new to this). This malt was recommended to me by Bill or Stan yesterday. He explained you'll love it or hate it from the first taste, if you hate it you'll never learn to love it. It's love at first taste or nothing. It is spectacular. Nothing I've ever tasted tastes like the earth, trees and wind from where it was made more than this. They're wise men them two.

After a three hour lunch stop I went the last 2km to Loch Brandy, disappointingly it's full of water. But it's a cracking spot and I managed to find the probably only flatish spot for a tent around the whole shore. The 1:50000 maps leave a little to be desired on this sort of detail. I was hoping to see a few other challengers, but again I think I'm still a day ahead of most.

It's a windy spot, the gulls are trying to fly into the wind but give up, lazily turn to their side and shoot off back across to the other shore. It's the last wild camp of the trip and it feels like it's all coming to an end.

Day 9

2010-05-28T09:25:00.000+01:00

The day started off slowly. I was in no rush as I was only doing 18km today over Jock's Road. As I was packing Andy asked me to do a pod cast for backpackinglight.co.uk. I was not in the best of form from the night before and just went on about how brilliant everything was, which it has been. Whether it gets in the final cut or not is another matter.

Packed up and headed out of Braemar through the golf course and to the start of Jock's Road. It's a steady pull from the start but eventually you get the infamous Lochallerter Lodge, run by Stan and Bill. I'm not sure what the arrangement is but they plied me with tea, biscuits and a lovely cool can of beer. It's been very hot today, mid 20's I'd guess. They wouldn't take a penny off me and I was given the guided tour of the lodge and listened to many of their tales for a couple of hours. They're TGO legends and quite rightly so. There was room at the lodge and I was invited to stay but I've got chance for a couple more wild camps on the trip, tonight being one of them.

I left them sitting in the sun waiting for tonights batch of challengers to turn up. Then a beautiful walk past the loch and up the remaining part of Jocks Road. I decided to be a clever arse on the top and miss the dog leg path out an take a short cut. I had been warned it was easy to get lost up there, which I promptly did. Ten minutes of studying the map and realising I'd gone a couple of hundred metres to far before going over the crest of the hill. Having to back track and avoiding some large patches of snow and after listening of tales of people falling through the snow on the Lairig Gru a couple of days before I went the long way round and then I was back on track.

I was going to camp at the mountain shelter just over the top into Glen Doll but there wasn't really any good places to pitch the tent. The shelter is erm basic. It's built into the side of the hill and covered in turf, a door about 3 1/2 foot high leads into a little cell, with a corruated roofing sheet for a sleeping platform, a foam mat and an old biscuit tin with emergency supplies. In a winter storm it'll be a god send but it's not for holidaying in. The valley is also very narrow and steep, it didn't feel very friendly. I pushed on for a couple more km and pitched up just before the forest in Glen Doll. It's a bit close to the stream if there's a major downpour but there's not many flat areas to choose from and the forcast is good. Another short easy day tomorrow, with a pub lunch thrown in.

Day 8

2010-05-28T09:24:00.002+01:00

Today was a day of relaxing, meeting up with people again and having a few beers.

I bumped into Steven again and with him was Phil Turner who's blog I read quite a bit. They had set out early that morning to be first in the queue at the Old Bakery. They had been patiently waiting for quite a while. I didn't recognise them at first and mistook them for day walkers as their packs were so small. Eventually the bakery opened and everyone was fed and watered until bursting point. London backpacker another blogger joined us and it was off to the Fife Arms for a few.

I met Mike whom I'd shared the trip to Inverness with, he was having a good challenge. I also met Andy Howell another blogger and fellow Mountain Laurel Designs owner. Most people went off back to the camp site I guarded the table at the Fife Arms. However when I did go back to the camp site - what a view. Three duo mids, two of which were cuben and Steven's trail star. The trail star is brilliant, I invited myself in during a brief rain storm, loads of room and rock solid protection. I'm going to make one as a next project.

Then back to the pub for a few more for the road.

Day 7

2010-05-28T09:24:00.001+01:00

Today was a day of just getting the miles in to get to Braemar, for a shower, rest and a few pints. Most of the day was following land rover tracks along side the Geldie Burn. There were a couple of miles of walking through the heather and bogs to find the path that led to the track. Speaking to others in the campsite this evening that took the same route is that the map shows the path being a couple of hundred metres further away from the burn than it actually is.

Most of the day was spent walking by myself until lunch time when I met Oliver who had been walking since 4am and had come up from the bottom of Glen Feshie. I tried to keep up with him for the rest of the day. A quick cup of tea at Mar Lodge, thinking we may bump into some more challengers but it seemed we were the first through this year. I chased Oliver the last 6km into Braemar for a couple pints and a pitch on the camp site where three others including Barry who I met last night at the top of Glen Feshie where pitched up.

Oliver, Barry and I went for a few pints in both the hotels which I have to say are a bit wierd. Rest day tomorrow and the forecast for the next few days is warm.

Day 6

2010-05-28T09:24:00.000+01:00

I was up early and out the hostel, across the road to Happy Days Cafe for a full cooked breakfast for £2.95, but NO it was closed for the day. A steak pie from a posh butchers, probably a better bet than a cheap breakfast, and I was off. The plan today was to walk 25km from Kingussie up Glen Feshie and camp next to an old hut at around 1500 feet. It's a lovely spot but if the weather turns it'll be quite lively.

The walk up Glen Feshie was one of the most beautiful walks I've ever done. It took me ages to get through as I was just taking everything in (photos to follow on my return). If you're into walking it's a must do. I really needed a walk like that after yesterdays marathon slog into Kingussie.

I've seen quite a few challengers today too, none of whom's name I can remember, a couple with a ripped tent and a chap carrying a rucksac I would have difficulty lifting and going at about twice the speed I could comfortably manage.

Tonight Ainsley Harriot has prepared some Leek and Asparagus rissotto for me, snake and I will read for a bit and then it's an easy track into Braemar tomorrow for a couple of nights boozing and a rest day in between.

Technological Breakdown

2010-05-27T17:55:00.002+01:00

For some reason I can't send the saved messages from my mobile. As I didn't have a signal for last week until I reached the east coast I've got lots saved and no posts. I'll try and sort it out once I've got back home. The crossing was fantastic, brilliant company and superb weather.

Day 5

2010-05-18T23:23:00.000+01:00

No photos today, it's been a hard one. The wild camp last night was just brilliant. Clear blue sky and the temperature dropped. I ended up using both sleeping bags and a down jacket. Got everything in the big bivi that I didn't want to freeze solid and went to sleep. The morning dawned and I thought I would awake to a frozen fly sheet and water bottles, but no. Either all my equipment is broken or I'm getting soft, I've a funny feeling it's the later.

The camping spot was 6km short of the bothy where I was going to stop. When I finally got to the bothy around 9.30am I was so glad I didn't push on. It was in a very sorry state and in a boggy little hollow, the stove had fallen to bits and the sleeping platforms had been ruined. Reading the graffity on the wooden walls (western red ceder, worth a fortune!) some of it dated back to 1921, so for 90 years old it was in pretty good nick I suppose.

So today was 37km which took nearly 14 hours, a lot of which was proper wilderness walking, over peat bogs, across snow bridges and fording rivers. I'm totally knackered. But I'm in a hostel attached to a pub in Kingussie drinking very nice beer, eating peanuts and listening to rock anthems. I'm sleeping in tomorrow.

Day 4

2010-05-18T21:28:00.000+01:00

It's been a day of contrasts. First off the bloke who does the ferry across Loch Ness couldn't do a second run this morning. So myself and my new friends Ali, Debbie and Mike were all stuck as we had to wait for parcels. In the end though things fell into place. We jumped onto a bus to Inverness (I didn't see Amy Pond though), had one of the best bacon rolls ever, the others said the same about the mini cooked breakfasts and then got a taxi to the other side of the Loch to where the ferry was to drop us off. At this point we said our goodbyes as we were all taking different routes. Hopefully we'll meet up before Montrose.

So by this time it was 11.30 and I had 20 miles to do, the first 14 on roads. The motivation was lacking but a couple of lunch stops, the first by river where I watched trout leaping about and the second at Whitebridge hotel for a liquid second lunch and motivation juice.

Eventually I got to the end of the road section and got off road up Glen Markie. After the first boggy climb the glen steadily rises and it has some cracking wild camping spots. I met Caburn at a very lovely spot a couple of miles up then glen and then found a rather nice spot myself a mile further. I've managed about 18 miles and when I stopped at 8.00 it was still warm enough to get in the nip and have a wash in the stream. Just.

Day 3

2010-05-16T20:59:00.000+01:00

It's been an easy day today. After a good nights sleep in a unusually mouse free bothy it's been forest paths for the majority of the day in warm sunshine.

I seem to have overtaken most of the other challengers taking this route apart from a lady called Sue who I bumped into again today after last seeing her on day one. In fact it was Brian her husband I bumped into first as I emerged from a forest track. He was supposed to be walking but after a knee injury he was meeting Sue on a few points over the next two weeks, he greeted me by name as I approached which was unusual and explained Sue had said the previous evening she'd been walking with me. A lengthy lunch in the sun followed and then the final few miles in Drumnadroichit to pitch the tent at a riding school.

Tomorrow I'm doing battle with the postal service and ferries, both of which are conspiring to keep me here an extra day as I've got to pick up a supply parcel. It's either feet up or entering into the mountains for wilderness walking and wild camping.

Day 1

2010-05-16T11:13:00.000+01:00

Just a perfect day. It rained throughout the night and stopped around 7.30am just in time to get up and pack up. The site at Sheil Bridge is basic but has all you need and is cheap. After signing out of Kintail lodge with 65 other starters I had a splendid day walking and chatting to as many people as I could, everyone was incredibly friendly.

I reached my days end at Alltbeithe youth hostel at 3.30 which isn't the end of the day so after pushing on for a total of 25km for the day I've camped at the west end of Loch Affric in glourious sunshine and a sparkling golden sandy beach and one other TGOer a Mr Steven Horner, who I understand was walking in Finland with Hendric a few weeks ago.

After admiring his trailstar and making a few mental notes on how to make one for myself the sun retreated behind the hills and I've retreated to the warmth of the duo mid.

If all the wild camping spots are like this it's going to be a cracking two weeks.

Day 2

2010-05-16T11:12:00.000+01:00

Last night it rained. It rained hard, all night. I wasn't looking forward to getting up, but at 6.00am it stopped and the sun came out and shone across Loch Affric.

Today's been very different from day one, a much lower route, which in a way is good as last night's rain turned to snow higher up and there was a pretty good dumping.

Most of the day was following woodland tracks. It's pretty dry under foot and apart from a few showers the sun's been out for most of the day offsetting the cold wind.

It's been an easy day. I got to Tomich which was supposed to be my overnight stop at about 2.30. It's a lovely little village, very friendly and the Hotel sells wonderful beer. The girl behind the bar explained that a couple of other challengers were pitching their tents in the beer garden and I would be most welcome to join them. Now I'm not a religious man but if there was a heaven God would own a really nice pub in the Highlands or the Lakes and if you'd been good he'd let you camp in the beer garden. It was tempting but a 2.30 finish is a bit too early.

After studying the map there looked to be a nice flat spot next to a small loch about 6km away. As I got there I realised the whole glen had been churned up by cows, not a square foot of flat ground anywhere. After turning down a beer garden I was feeling a little grumpy but fortune favours the brave and just round the corner was a really nice little bothy, loads of wood, really clean - result. There does seem to be a snake in here and it seems familiar...

52km in two days and feeling good!

Day 0

2010-05-13T21:11:00.001+01:00

After 11 hours of travelling I've arrived at Shiel Bridge campsite, got the shelter up and it's chucking it down hence the grumpy photo. Fingers crossed for day 1...

Measure twice, cut once...

2010-05-09T10:20:00.000+01:00

As with most kit geeks shelters and tarps along with stoves make me get unduly giddy. Over the previous winter my mind turned to the shelter that I was going to take on the TGO. I ended up with the MLD Duo Mid that I previously wrote about. What I was considering was a hybrid mid shelter in a tarp tent style, i.e. with a built in ground sheet and bug netting, such as the Henry Shires Contrail. My only concern was there wouldn't be anywhere to cook with the built in ground sheet. So the above attempts are mids with extended porch areas to accommodate cooking. The white mid with five sides was my preferred design however it's a foot to short. The other shelter is designed for two poles to extend the porch out, however it presents quite wide flattish sides and I don't think would cope all that well in high winds. It's also a right pain in the arse to get a good pitch.

I'm not all that good with CAD packages so these were worked out on paper and made with any old thin plastic sheeting I could get hold of and gaffer tape.

Despite the problems with these prototypes I've not wasted much money and it's time much better spent in the winter months than watching the telly.

Winter 10-11 should see a final design, if that is I'm heading to Scotland during midge season.

Comments are go!

2010-05-06T16:30:00.000+01:00

I've had the comments turned off whilst I was putting the blog together but as I now have real life people following me they're back on.

Welcome gibsonmcg and Martin!

Making Moment No. 2

2010-05-02T09:45:00.000+01:00

Having decided at short notice to take my boys on their first wild camping trip I realised that I didn't have a shelter big enough for a woodland camp for three. I also didn't want to take any of my light weight tarps as we would also be having a fire. Tarps and fire do not get on. So the giant 9'x9' 4oz square yard pu coared nylon tarp was whipped up in an hour and a half.

As you can see from the photos the guy lines were attached by tying marbles tightly in the material and leaving little loops to attach an assortment of odd guy lines too. I've read about this before and it's worked very well. No slippage throughout the night.

I've not hemmed the tarp at the moment mainly due to time and also as this material doesn't fray. I will hem and attach tie out loops to it in time. The centre seam is one that Go-Lite use on their shelters. I like it as each row of stiches passes through three layers of material and is in my opinion the most water tight seam you can have without seam sealing. Again we had steady rain throughout the night and not a drop through the seam.

A big tough tarp for woodland camping in an hour and a half.

Two weeks food.

2010-04-28T22:47:00.000+01:00

Here lies two weeks of food for the TGO Challange. Two thousand five hundred of scurvy inducing calories a day. Those calories weigh about 675g on top of that there's maps and solid fuel tablets to package up and send the four food drops. I'll be topping up at local public houses and chip shops along the way as it's reckoned that you need about 4000 calories for a full days backpacking. I could however do with losing a few lbs...

Mid inner/bivvi

2010-04-26T14:24:00.000+01:00

I'm doing the TGO Challange starting May 14. It's a two week self supported backpacking trip across Scotland from West to East coast. Having only done one Scottish backpacking trip before I knew I needed midge protection during the night and that for me a bivi and head net combination is just rubbish.

My normal bivi (home made) weighs about 185g. Tyvek ground sheet 120g and head net combined tip the scales at just over 300g. This new inner is 440g but it's as warm and water resistant as a bivi and you can sit up, eat, read, whatever in comfort in the head end. It could be a lot smaller and use lighter materials, this I guess would bring it down to around 300g.

It's only been tested in the back garden but it's soon to have a couple of weeks in Scotland. It's not a new idea but I couldn't find anything commercially available that fitted the bill or the MLD Duo Mid.

Making Moment No.1

2009-12-11T11:13:00.000Z

Well I may have some flashes of inspiration in the future but at the moment I reckon this is the only thing I’ve done which I’ve not seen elsewhere on the Internet. This is not to say that it’s not been done before. This is my take on SUL guy lines. Super Ultra Light? See here for a insight into the SUL world if you’re not already familiar with the concept.

I like these guy lines, they give me a smug sense of satisfaction that only a kit geek can get when they have an original idea that works. They’re cheap and SUL. There’s not really much to them as you can tell. They consist of a 10p aluminium guy line thingy and some dyneema purchased from a kite shop. The dyneema is soft and coated which stops the abrasion problem that some coated dyneema lines can create.

From memory this spool of line cost about £15, the 30m length is actually two lots of 30m as there are two lines on the spool, so 60m in total. The line is attached to the tarp/tent with a half blood knot. The same knot is used to attach the line to the aluminium slider as you can see in the photo below. Obviously you’ll need to thread the line through the slider as shown below before tying both ends.

I’ve used these lines on my backpackinglight.co.uk solo tarp which I’ve had for about three years. I’ve probably used the tarp/guy line set up about 20 times. The lines don’t stretch, even when wet, they don’t slide or loosen off even in high or sustained winds and they are surprisingly tough, the photo below shows the slight wear after 20 or so trips. The line is relatively cheap so there’s no problem replacing them once in a while. With a 300lb breaking strength, I think they’re strong enough for most conditions.

One other thing they’re really light at 3g-5g for lines 6’-9’ in length, that’s including the slider. They’re cheap and they’re one of the easiest things to alter on any tent /tarp. You do have to be careful when packing up. Make sure that you hank all the lines individually or you’ll have a real mess of tangled cord to deal with when you unpack your shelter. I find if you fold your shelter so the hanked lines don’t get into contact with each other it makes life a slot easier when you come to re-pitch.

Nothing new or clever here...

2009-12-10T16:28:00.000Z

Well Hello.

What can you expect from this and the following posts? Hopefully something interesting enough that you'll come back once in a while and raise your eyebrows whilst making a "tsk" noise and thinking "I've seen that somewhere before?”

Most of the posts on here are my attempts of making kit that I’ve seen on the internet. For each “Making Moment” post I’ll try and link to where the original idea, or ideas came from, why I may have adapted them and with what success. Not much if anything is totally original (apart from my ultra light guy lines below. Well I’ve not seen any like them before, please feel free to tell me otherwise).

There’s been loads of people making and adapting gear for years, each innovator has a brilliant idea and goes on to make a product. Usually not on a commercial basis and then goes on to share these good ideas with all of us. I, as well of a lot of other people read through all this information and occasionally find two or more brilliant ideas that’ll go together quite nicely thank you very much. A Making Moment soon follows.

I’m a proper kit geek, I love making stuff and experimenting with the results, proper shed manufacture and science, nowt fancy you understand. I’m hoping with this blog to document the making and use of most of my light weight hiking and camping gear. To see how it can be done, to see how it works and hopefully inspire other people to have a go. I also like to experiment with different techniques and materials, I really would appreciate any comments about these experiments, good or bad.

The end result is a load of kit that we’ve made ourselves, the satisfaction that brings, and money we’ve saved. Oh I nearly forgot the reason I make all this stuff is so I can go places like this…

Next to Red Tarn looking back the way we came. February 2009