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Some Lightweight Wild Camping Tips

By Dave Roberts   

on March 22, 2017    4/5 (1)

Some Lightweight Wild Camping Tips

As a taster of our upcoming series on Wild Camping Skills – here’s a few pointers on lightweight philosophy..

Is it just me, or does anyone who wants a decent weight overnight pack cringe when they see 4 to 5 kilo tents advertised as lightweight! What about an ultralightweight as 2.5kg? For a pack that would be tasty, tent? Hmm… no thanks… Anything ‘much’ over 2 kilos for 2 people is heavy, unless it’s a proper, full-on winter tent or rather obviously, designed for more than two people. Basically, if there’s extra weight, you need to be getting some extra benefit such as sturdiness or two porches instead of one.

Problem is, many will be drawn in by this ‘mis-selling’ for their first wild camp and end up carrying far too much weight and give up! After all, they bought the ‘lightweight’ gear, so without quantifying it they may well give it up as a bad job, missing out on some superb outdoors experiences. And as they say, that will be that; unless they develop the lightweight mindset.

What is this ‘mindset’ i hear you both ask?

  1. Weigh everything! The more of a geek you are, the better. Once you know the weight of everything, but the value of nothing, you’ll be half way there.
  2. Leave it behind unless you’re certain you’ll need it. As said earlier, the value of everything.
  3. Never, I REPEAT NEVER trust anything that’s described as lightweight, ultralightweight or similar without checking the weight first! Once you start with no 1 though, you probably don’t need to be told about this.
  4. A bit of luxury is essential, so long as it isn’t too heavy! This is a lightweight mindset, not a masochistic mindset! Nowt wrong with a bit of Drambuie on a wild camp, it’s virtually compulsory!

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Dave Roberts

Dave Roberts founded Walk Eryri in 2004, with the aim of providing routes that are off the beaten track. Walk Eryri is now part of Mud and Routes which continues to provide more off beat routes and walks in Snowdonia and beyond. Dave has been exploring the hills of Eryri for over thirty years, and is a qualified Mountain Leader. Dave also established Walk up Snowdon, Walk up Scafell Pike and Walk up Ben Nevis just to mention a few.

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