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 […]
Some Lightweight Wild Camping Tips Read More »
Dave Roberts reviews the Rab Xenon X Vest, a PrimaLoft® synthetic insulated layer designed for fast and light activities. The Rab Xenon X Vest, gilet (or for those brought up in the 80’s – body warmer) is a lightweight ‘booster’ layer designed to be worn over other kit for when you need that little bit of extra
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A waist-pack might seem too small to use for a proper walk, but it can be done easily enough if you’re strict with your kit. You can also wild camp with one, but more on that later (much later). For the recent warm weather, this is what was in our 6 litre waist-pack, and it all
The Beast’s Tip of the Week – Walks with Waistpacks Read More »
There’s always a competition for the lightest, cheapest and smallest – but as the saying goes you can choose 2 out of the 3. Well the Esbit Ultraligh Titanium stove, in our opinion provides all three of these, but does that make this the ultimate ultralight wild camping stove? The stove is manufactured from titanium
Esbit Ultralight Titanium Stove Review Read More »
Exped have long been the first port of call for reliable drybags, with many alternative offerings not quite good enough. The Airloks from direct sellers Alpkit however go some way to redressing that balance. The Alpkit Airloks are a lightweight drybag, which means they’re not designed to be as durable as your typical drybag, and
Alpkit Airlok Drybag Review Read More »
While there are many sleeping bags that claim to be the lightest, the PHD Minimus is one with a decent claim to that crown. At least as the lightest practical summer bag in UK conditions. How light can a sleeping bag go? Well, it’s got to be a balance between weight and insulation. In theory, you could
PHD Minimus Sleeping Bag Review Read More »
You may be tempted to bivvy out by virtue of the romance of sleeping out under the stars, or by a more clinical need to pare weight to the bare minimum. Whatever your inspiration, or if you’re just a little bit curious as to wether this is for you, then you’ll benefit from reading the Book of
Book of The Bivvy Review Read More »
The Laser 20 is Terra Nova’s most fully featured yet still fast and light adventure racing packs. It is designed for those who want to travel fast and light, or just slow and light if you so choose. It can bee seen as a runner’s pack, or one for the lightweight enthusiast who still wants the pack to have
Terra Nova Laser 20 Pack Review Read More »
Terra Nova Laser Ultra 1 Tent £650 You know what we think of this tent. It’s the world’s lightest tent, so by that measure alone it’s got to be desirable. Cutting no corners, the TN UL1 provides plenty of space for one ultralightweight camper, and plenty of porch space to boot. Putting this on your Christmas
All I want for Christmas 7 Terra Nova UL 1 Read More »
The Hispar 500 (£419 ) and Minimus (£200) Pairing up these sleeping bags would provide an all year round camping solution…. We ranted about the Alpkit pipedreams recently, but if you’ve got a little bit more to spare then these are arguably some of the lightest sleeping bags you can buy. Of course, it’s a
All I want for Christmas 6 Two PHD Sleeping bags Read More »
This is a novel sleeping bag. At only 460g. This will be ideal for use in youth hostels and bothys, and probably camping and bivvying too. It achieves this impossible balance of weight, price and performance by only having the down in the lower half of the bag. The upper is just a pertex vest
Alpkit Pipedream 200 Read More »
The Black Diamond Ion head-torch has to be one of the tiniest and lightest headtorches on the market Used on our recent superlightweight challenge, this has found its way into our emergency bag as a spare torch, many a wild camp and into small short pockets for those twilight runs you hope you can complete before it
Black Diamond Ion Torch Review Read More »
Of all the bits of gear I’ll carry on a day walk or longer trip, there’s not a single item that outperforms this gram for gram. At only 100g or so, the Montane Windproof packs down to barely the size of an apple and is perfect on breezy days when you’re working hard, but need
Classic Gear Review 6 – Montane Windproof Featherlite Smock Read More »
Used on our recent Ultralight Challenge, this is more of an emergency bivvy than a full on mountain bivvy, but can still be useful. Made of shiny shiny Thermolite fabric it reflects a significant proportion of warmth back, 80% according to the specifications, and could conceivably be used as a very warm weather sleeping bag,
Adventure Medical Kits Thermo Lite 2 Bivvy Review Read More »
Just like the Titan kettle, the MSR Pocket Rocket is another classic piece of kit by this company. After over five years use, this hasn’t worn in but instead has developed a patina from the heat. When first released, it set the standard for lightweight stoves and acheived the holy grail of lightweight. It essentially
Classic Gear Review 4 – MSR Pocket Rocket Read More »
The least glamorous piece of gear you’ve got, bar a pair of Paramo Long Johns, is more than likely your cooking pot. Couple that with the fact that the MSR Titan Kettle is very limited in what you can cook with it and you’ll be asking why I’m raving about it as a classic piece
Classic Gear Review 3 – MSR Titan Kettle Read More »
The Klymit Inertia X Frame pad is the worlds lightest full size inflatable sleeping mat, measuring over 180cm in length and under 260g in weight. It packs down into a tiny package, invariably described as smaller than a “soda can” and takes up virtually no room in the pack. It’s also claimed to be one
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If you’ve read part one, then you’ll know that following on from the Wild Camp on a Budget challenge, we wanted a new one. This time, we decided to wild camp in proper mountains by using just the tiniest Sea to Summit 20 litre day pack. Now the first thing you quickly realise is that
The Superlighweight Challenge 2 – On the Hill Read More »
This is our first, rather disasterous attempt at making a video… It seems that my camera takes great photos, useless at video and worse at audio. It didn’t help that it was getting late and we’d had a few in the pub before setting off and the wind just drowned out all the audio. That
Superlightweight Challenge Video Read More »
Ok, this is old news by now, but searching online for this piece of kit sees a few reviews that deride this as an impractical gimmick. Just search for the pack on Google Images and see how many people have actually taken a pic of this pack in the field! The nearest is on page
World’s Lightest day pack – Sea to Summit Ultra Sil Lightweight Day Pack Review Read More »
Here’s just a few images to follow up from the Superlightweight Challenge. We managed to bivvy-tarp on the South Ridge of yr Wyddfa at just under 700m, just below the knoll of Allt Maenderyn and managed to fit plenty into the 20l pack including half a bottle of port. It wasn’t perfect weather, a bit
Snowdon Wild Camp – Superlightweight challenge Read More »
Following on from wild camping on a budget, I was after a new challenge. Instead of the gear cost, this time I was going to be both limited in weight and have to make use of the world’s lightest day pack – Sea to Summit day pack to stow all the stuff in. So my mission, if
The Superlightweight Challenge 1 – The Gear Read More »
If you insist on taking those little sachets of salt and pepper from Little Chef along on your wild camp then you might want one of these Easy Camp Pepper Mills. Instead of insipid powdered pepper, you get flavoursome ground pepper that can add a bit of extra to any bland meal. It works as
Easy Camp Pepper Mill Review Read More »
When we reviewed the Vango Ultralight Gas Stove we thought that it was a pleasant change to find any item that advertises itself, nay includes it in the name, as lightweight and falls at the lower end of the price scale. This offering from Vango, with flashes of their trademark orange impress on the scale
Vango Ultralite Gas Stove Review Read More »
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