My Backpacking Trips in the UK

On this page I am going to document some of the trips I have taken in the past and of course in the future. I'll talk a little about where I went, the kit that I used and why I chose to take or leave particular items.

Hopefully by doing this I can demonstrate how backpacking light can be a safe and enjoyable thing to do. The lessons learnt can of course be carried over into ordinary walking...

Ultralight Offa's Dyke

After the success of The Ridgeway I'm planning to thru-hike Offa's Dyke. My kit has been tweaked a little for more comfort in UK conditions and mountain use. Overall pack weight will be about the same. More...

Ultralight Ridgeway - (April 2008)

My kit evolves based on what I've learnt in previous trips including durability, likes and dislikes. The Ridgeway walk was going to be a shake-down for kit and systems with a view to doing a tougher and more serious walk later in the year. Overall pack weight is down even though some items are heavier. It's now close to ideal for UK through-hiking! More...

Ultralight Cotswold Way (May 2007)

This trip was planned as a full test of ultralight kit and principles. My base pack weight was under 5Kg which included a tarp shelter and a variety of waterproof clothing. 5 days of rain tested the limits of the kit I was using. My kit was a mixture of home-made kit and commercial kit. Not everything went to plan. More...

Forward Planning - Pack Diet (Apr 2007)

As part of the planning for my next week-long trip in early may I have reviewed my previous base pack weight of 6.3Kg and trimmed 2.2Kg from it - much to my surprise. More...

Black Mountains (6 Apr 2007)

With this trip I wanted to do something that I had never done before and cover ground that I would never have covered without lightweight gear. It was also a shake-down test to see how I would cope with mountain terrain and a 'full' pack weight. Base weight was 6.3Kg (which was deliberately heavy) and maximum weight including water for 1+ days and food for 2+ days was 9.4Kg. Rather than talk about the trip I have expalined in detail what I took and why. More...

Mendip Hills (17 Mar 2007)

This trip was in part an attempt for me to try a coldish-weather trip and to try out the montane smock when there was no plan B. I was expecting wind but no rain. I was also expecting night temperatures below 10°C. I was carrying all my (lighter) winter gear and my total pack weight including food, water and luxury items was 7.3Kg. More...

Black Mountains (6 Oct 2006)

On this trip my primary goal was to test out several pieces of kit - a homemade tent, a Golite Jam pack and a Leki titanium walking pole. I was expecting wind and rain and cold weather and so was kitted out accordingly. This is all the stuff I normally take for anything but serious sub-zero conditions. My total pack weight including food and water, clothing and luxury items was less than 7.5Kg. More..

Brecon Beacons (29 Sep 2006)

The original plan for this trip was to test a hooped bivy bag in realistic conditions - i.e. wet and windy wales. Unfortunately, when I weighed the Bivy it was 250g heavier than the published weight. That was sufficient for me to decide to take the thing back to the shop. There is just no point buying lightweight gear that isn't. Since I still wanted to do the trip I dug out my old Saunders backpacking tent (1.5Kg) and took that instead. More...

My First Overnight Bivi Trip

It was an overnight bivi on Helvellyn where the rain moved in despite the local forecast. The overall experience was very good but it did convince me of the need to get a smaller lighter pack with less in it and using lighter gear. More...