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I've only used the Trailstar for 2 nights so far, but is well proven in windy UK conditions. Massive for one and still large for two.
I'm using a Montbell down hugger, imported from the US, the only brand with full length elasticated baffles, makes for a comfy bag if you're broad. I use it with a thermal liner in winter.
Rab and Western Mountaineering bags are also good. Although many ULers favour quilts.
I tried the beer can stove a couple of times, but the boil time is nothing approaching that of a bog standard gas burner so I'm sticking with that. I use a Terra Nova Ti pot, into which my stove and gas used to fit. However, I've just discovered the Primus cart is slightly bigger than the Coleman one so it's back to the drawing board on that one.
Just put a bit of info about my double-wall woodgas stove in the master bivi thread:
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/sick-as-a-dog-so-show-me-you-bivi-bikepacking-adventure-racing-gear/page/61#post-3833751
sounds like a nice toasty bag vorlich. iv just purchased a vango venom 300. weight 870g. happy with that as will be easily abel to use it year round. nice small pack size too. will be in the brecon beacons bivving all next weekend. hopefully it will stay nice!
What happened to the 'sick as a dog/bike and bivvy thread' ?
rudedog
I linked to it 3 posts up.
The problem with long threads on singletrack is that they don't really show up in your activity unless you've just posted. There's no way for people to get alerts if other people post.
Just back from our 5 days trekking. Carried a days food we didn't use - other than that [i]everything[/i] was used. NO more than a kilo could have been lost from each of our pack weights without compromising safety and comfort too much
vorlich - your 4.7 kgs - including waterproofs / sticks / emergency kit / food etc? to get enough food for 24 hrs is the best part of a kilo if its all dried
i just got packed up ready for a 4 dayer in the brecon beacons, total pack weight including all kit and food was just over 5kg. just add water on top of that and thats it. please with that!
4 days food and your kit 5 kgs? - your food alone should be around 2.5 - 4 kgs to get eough calories assuming a lot of fat in the food - more if its carb based.
does that include waterproofs? sticks? compass? first aid kit? stove? fuel? spare clothes?
it includes everything. i dont take spare clothes and my first aid kit is just compeed and ibruprofen. and with the food i select very carefully, lots of noodles, rice cakes, squares, dried fruit etc.
DJTC - for being in the hills I want 4000ish calories a day - thats a kilo aprrox a day so at least 3 kgs just for food
Sorry - I simply do not buy 4 days food and everything else for 5 kilos.
No spare clothes - basic safety fail.
well im not here to have an argument with you, im just saying what it was. maybe i eat less than you? maybe i take less/ more lightweight kit than you? it is not a safety fail if you have a good pair of waterproofs, which i do. its up to me how "safe" i want to be. i dont think taking a spare pair of trousers and tops is worth it when i can stay dry in what im wearing. i take a bivi, not tent, i use a down sleeping bag with small foam mat, ti pot with f1 lite stove, carbon poles, osprey atomos pack, aquamira frontier water filter, few little bits and pieces. all there is to it really.
Whilst I had a plastercast on my wrist this spring, me and olive the dog did the Dorset coast on foot.
Golite shangrila 3, ti meths stove, osprey 55l backpack, dog bowl and dog food etc etc. all in its 10kg including 3kg of water...
And it's the water that makes a mockery of your ti spork and carbon pants, You have to spend loads of money to save 1000g, and then you carry 3000g of water and have half of it left when you get to wherever.
Gonna crack on and do the Devon coast soon.
One of the "joys' of backpacking in Scotland is not having to carry 3 litres of water 🙂
Don't need to carry water in Scotland. However its the food. A kilo a day a person is a reasonable amount for food. Carbs are 4 calories a gramme, fats 9. Want enough food to carry you up mountains ( 4000 calories a day? ) then you need at least half a kilo a day probably nearer a kilo.
I would never go up into the mountains without a complete spare set of clothes - so what happens if you fall in a river? without the dry set of clothes it will be at best a very miserable experience at worst you could die of exposure.
Just three weeks ago we were faced with gale force winds, snow on the ground and air temps towards freezing point
Again I do wonder if a part of this is where you are going - at times I can be a complete days walk from any shelter /habitation / road. I need to be confident that if I fell into a river and broke my leg I would survive overnight
i understand your point, but if there are no big rivers where im walking, then its not neccessary. and i tend to not do any large river crossings anyway.
Can you change wet pants with a broken leg? If Joe Simpson can do what he did, I reckon I can crawl for a day and be ok )
I'm intrigued with the lightweight stuff as my pack weight is well in excess of many of those on here, and I would like to get back into overnight wild camping at some point.
However, I am especially interested in how folk keep a down bag dry for 2,3,4 days under a tarp when the weather turns crap. I have spent weekends in the Lakes where it has rained pretty much constantly for 48 hours with high winds sometimes laying the tent nearly flat.
I seem to have enough difficulty keeping everything dry and have been mildly damp for the whole trip on occasions as water always gets into waterproofs up the sleeves and down your face. I do enjoy getting into a spare (and dry) pair of thermals leaving the damp kit for the next day.
One of the best things I did was go for a water filter instead of 3l of water.
Everywhere I go is hilly and therefore refill spots are plentiful. You basically set off with a full bottle and refill as necessary.
Mine is a travel tap.
http://www.drinksafe-systems.co.uk/products.php
They do one which fits into a bottle cage if you ask. (they all used to be like that). 165g only and £35 - a total no-brainer imo especially as I used to carry that 3kg on my back and now carry 1kg on the bike instead.
i do the same. so much easier. i use an aquamira frontier pro. costs £20 weighs 60 grams and ataches strait to bottle.
On the subject of the weight of food.
It's pretty interesting.
Have you calculated that you need/use 4000 calories per day TJ?
I've only started recently, but I was factoring on needing 2500 calories for the middle day.
Mind you, I only weigh 60Kg and my all-up kit weight (including bike) is 16kg minus food+water.
(bike is 10.8kg)
(add 1kg for water as mentioned above).
What I do is trekking in the mountains walking 10 - 15 miles a day over rough terrain with significant climbing. 4000 calories a day is a rough estimate but 2500 would not be enough for me or Mrs TJ 🙂 Mind you if yo are only 60 kgs you would barely make a snack for us. 🙂 I am nearer 90 kgs.
I can't afford to lose any more weight though 😉
Are you insinuating I could 🙁
Our last trek I actually lost around 3 kgs I think - and a fair bit more to go 🙂
If you lost weight (and were healthy), then I guess your 4000 calorie estimate must be pretty good.
My first few trips will be near civilization (you can't go far from it in the Peak District), so I don't really have to worry too much at this stage.
Alexsimon... Thanks for the pointer, great idea, but along the coast we get horrible little streams full of farm run off and dead sheep. I would not risk it. It's rarely more than 3 hours between water (pub, cafe, knock on a strangers door if need be). Actually there are far more taps than likely looking streams.
Perfect above civilisation, but at sea level you at the very end of the system.
I'm intrigued with the lightweight stuff as my pack weight is well in excess of many of those on here, and I would like to get back into overnight wild camping at some point.However, I am especially interested in how folk keep a down bag dry for 2,3,4 days under a tarp when the weather turns crap. I have spent weekends in the Lakes where it has rained pretty much constantly for 48 hours with high winds sometimes laying the tent nearly flat.
I seem to have enough difficulty keeping everything dry and have been mildly damp for the whole trip on occasions as water always gets into waterproofs up the sleeves and down your face. I do enjoy getting into a spare (and dry) pair of thermals leaving the damp kit for the next day.
Posting this again as it got lost in the food debate. Would really like to know how folk manage it and what kit they use to do so.
I've just bought a synthetic bag to see how it compares and to give me the option if I want to try bivvy-ing again. However, I still prefer a tent for the added shelter/comfort/midglessness.
I just went for a 'lightweight' lite approach. As I had a group, I did still carry a fairly hefty first aid kit, another jumper and some spare food...
But I did try out a Go-Lite Shangri-la [url= http://www.outdoorwarehouse.co.uk/index.cfm?action=article.read&articleId=3AFA2158-FF29-08BD-486A9DEFBE600778 ]This one, borrowed from Tom[/url]. Seemed a great thing, snug on space compared to what I am used to, draft, but felt quite sturdy and worked just fine. Not sure how it would cope with real driving wind, but played with a'high' and a 'low' pitch and it seemed adaptable. Maybe I like many have become used to pitching where I fancy, rather than seeking a suitable, sheltered site...Also note that I needed a ground sheet protector, so making it less light than expected...
I also now have uber light Montane waterproofs, compared to old Patagonia overtrousers and Paramo jacket, so that stripped out a lot.
I took only a wee water bottle, and filled up more often.
Borrowed a really light sleeping mat, not as comfy as I was expecting, but that may be the type - it also made a racket when I turned over!
I took no trousers - wore shorts, had thermal longs with me and a pair of overtrousers. Again, experience says that this works down to easiy sub-zero.
I reckon I knocked 5-10lt of my pack, and had it down to 10kg, from a usual 12ish.
Smaller/lighter sleeping bag would help (I have old ME Dragon 500/3+ season), an even lighter kip mat, and moving away from my steel+copper pans and pocket rocket stylee gas stove / stop buying bigger cartridges(!) would also help.
And I have decided that after a years use, my Montane Dyno is the best bit of outdoor kit I have owned in a while...I just seem to wear it 80% of the time I am active outdoors. Perfect balance of windproof and waterproof ish without being too warm, but so vapour open that I feel noticeably less sweaty and smell a lot less!
I doubt you can keep a down bag dry under a tarp for a few nights of proper rain, but a good tarp pitch, a bivi bag covering the down bag and some care will delay the inevitable. If there's a good chance of weather like that, you'd need a tent (but it will probably still get wet), more creative bivi sites (ie a barn) or a synthetic bag / buffalo bag. A fleece sleeping bag liner used as a cover could help too - but would weigh more than a good synthetic bag.
[I took only a wee water bottle, and filled up more often.]
More hardcore than me!
Must admit I like my little one man tent cos I can put the wet gear in the porch and be fully dry inside the tent.
Not sure how to keep bag etc dry under a tarp when I've been out in the rain for 7 or 8 hours.
TandemJeremy - Member
DJTC - for being in the hills I want 4000ish calories a day - thats a kilo aprrox a day so at least 3 kgs just for food
Sorry - I simply do not buy 4 days food and everything else for 5 kilos.Map wrapped up in tent and no watch to time your movement - basic safety fail.
POSTED 1 DAY AGO #
FTFY
charlie the bikemonger - I get you. It's supposed to be able to cope with that stuff, but to be honest, I still try and find the most upstream source I can find and try and stay away from sheep.
But I have definitely filled up downstream of farming areas. In this country you often have little choice.
Spent 3 days camping and walking in Snowdonia for a D of E gold practice and my pack was about 12kg without half a tent or any water, but had a 2kg synthetic sleeping bag and too much food. No particular emphasis on light weight, but seemed reasonable to me. Pack was a Berghaus Bioflex 70+10, purely because that's the only pack I have suitable but it also meant I didn't have to think about how I packed it, which was nice in the rain on Sunday morning. Tent was a Vango Halo 300, which is fairly heavy, but has loads of space even for 3 people and plenty of porch space. Split between 2 of us. Down sleeping bag is 800G, and sorting food properly will sort weight out too.
One of the best bits of kit I got for backpacking was an osprey exos backpack.
Very comfortable, countless clever features and saved over a kg compared to the berghaus pack.
[url= http://www.ospreypacks.com/en/product/superlight/exos_58?tab=specifications ]Osprey packs[/url]
Matt, ditto the Montane dyno, awesome jacket for the money. I'm for buying another soon for when this one dies!.
Are Iodine tablest up to the job of water purification in this country, or is it worth spending £20 on the filter.
Surely you still carry more than 1 ltr of water as you don't always know there'll be a water source where you're camping, or do you just top up to make sure you have as close to 1 litre whenever you can?
I usually carry 1ltr in a platy bottle when walking and refill it and a 1.8ltr platy for around camp/overnight. I only drink from springs or fast flowing sources when in the hills. Boil anything that I'm dubious about, but otherwise don't chemically treat anything. No issues so far.
I used iodine drops and was sh1ts-free in Nepal for 4 weeks despite not being very careful otherwise (general dislike of buying bottled water in places where there's no disposal infrastructure), so I'd expect it'd cope fine in the UK too. Otherwise, fast-flowing water and a few mins on boil has never given me a problem either.
James, I had my first ride [only around the block] with the forks and brakes on my Scandal last night. A bit of GT85 on the stanchions has brought the carbon up real nice. Can't wait to try on a longer ride! 🙂