A look at the kit I’ll be taking with me on my coast-to-coast route across Scotland planned for May 2013
In less than a week I’ll be setting off from Plockton on my TGO Challenge. Gear is of course a very personal thing and what I’ll be taking with me has, in most cases, proved itself over several trips over the last couple of years. There are a couple of new items but these got a reasonable outing in Ardgour last weekend and I’m confident that they’ll suit my needs. I was aiming for a baseweight of 8kg but have slightly overshot, mainly because of the addition of a pair of microspikes to deal with whatever remains of winter in the high mountains. This also details food required for the first stretch which is 4.5 days of walking to get me to Fort Augustus. Subsequent sections are shorter but I’ll be carrying store bought foods.
Worn Stuff
- Chocolate Fish Taranaki Long Sleeved Crew Merino Baselayer
- Technicals Zip-Off Walking Trousers
- Rab Boreas Hooded Mid
- Montane Featherlite Windshirt
- Icebreaker Merino Socks
- M&S Boxers
- Inov-8 Terroc 330s trail shoes
- Dirty Girl Ankle Gaiters
- Mountain King Supertrekker Poles
Weight: 2,396g
Packing
- Osprey Exos 46 rucksack
- Oookworks Cuben Foodbag
- Sea-to-Summit Dry Bag
- Trash bag
Weight: 1,203g
Shelter
- Tarptent Scarp 1 in Cuben stuffsack
- Alpkit Titanium V Pegs
- MSR Stakes
- Peg Bag
Weight: 1,418g
Sleeping
- PHD Minim 400 Sleeping Bag, long with 3/4 length zip
- RAB Silk Liner
- Exped Synmat UL7 inflatable mat
- Exped air pillow
Weight: 1,537g
Cooking
- Optimus Crux gas stove
- Gas canister
- Titanium windshield
- Fire Steel
- Evernew Titanium 600ml pot
- Plastic mug
- Plastic long-handled spoon
- MYOG Pouch cosy
Weight: 503g (not including gas)
Carried Gear
- Rab Demand eVent smock
- Berghaus Paclite overtrousers
- Patagonia Nanopuff pull-on
- Chocolate Fish Merino-Possum beanie
- Chocolate Fish Merino-Possum thermal gloves
- Outdoor Designs liner gloves
- Trek Mates waterproof overmitts
- Merino Buff
- REI runners cap
- Bloc sunglasses
- Spare boxers and liner socks (for camp)
- Pogu Microspikes
Weight: 1,816g
Essentials
- Map case, A4 print-outs and route sheet
- Silva compass
- First aid kit, including tick removal gizmo
- Wash kit, including Gehwohl footcream and Dr Bronners
- SPF50 Suncream
- Burt’s Bees Lip balm
- Petzl e-lite head torch
- Platypus 2 L reservoir
- MSR packtowel
- Midgenet
- MSR blizzard “Ibbo” toilet trowel
- Toilet paper
- Debit card, ID, notes and cheques (not pictured)
- Notebook and pencil
- Plastic trash bags (not pictured)
Weight: 698g
Electronics
- Panasonic Lumix LX5 in case with spare battery and SD card
- Gorillapod
- SPOT Tracker with 1 set of spare batteries
- Kindle Keyboard in Medium Whanganui Aquapac
- Nexus 4 in Small Whanganui Aquapac with Headphones
- 8000mah battery pack with cables and Kindle plug (not pictured)
Weight: 1,438g
Total Weights
Base Weight: 8.68kg
Base Weight is the weight of everything carried (in a pack or about your person such as in a camera bag). It excludes consumables (see below) and clothing worn (see the first category above). I also exclude walking poles since these are in my hands 95% of the time when walking.
Consumables
- Gas: 0.23kg
- Water: 0.5kg
- Food (5 days to Fort Augustus): 2.93kg
Total Pack Weight: 12.33kg
Skin-Out Weight: 14.85kg
Other People
Here are a few other lists that have been shared by TGO Challengers recently:
Louise Evans: 8.97kg base
Gordon Green: 7.2kg base
James Boulter: Unknown
Alan Sloman: 9.36kg base
Martin Rye: 8.13kg base
Philip Werner: 6.65kg base
David Williams: 11.68kg base
Martin Banfield: 10.81kg base