having spent a night camping in the back garden in -8 degrees to test our gear.
my conclusion is my gear is great but Alfie's options for keeping warm were ineffective to say the least, the fleece coat I bought him (pictured near the beginning of the blog) was hopeless and after shivering for the majority of the night he ended up forcing his way into my sleeping bag!, so I have committed a great sacrilege by cutting up camping gear!. :-o
The gear in question was my old snug pack softie sleeping bag, I've decapitated this to create a doggy sleeping bag:-
by removing the old fleece and packing this I only gain 0.1 of a kilo so considering the amount of energy it will help Alfie conserve it's well worth the slight added weight
The second tweak is a new rucksack, a 51litre golite pursuit ,admittedly this is the third pack I've bought for the walk! but at 1.3 kg's it saves me a whole kilo of weight in comparison with my blacks pack. tho not as functional as the blacks pack everything will still fit on or in as well, tho my first two attempts at packing left me with gear still scattered across the floor and me scratching my head!
The countdown to the walk is at 19days 11 hours 37 mins and 1 second as I write this!
I seem to be in the process of saying goodbye to my home town already! every time I drive or walk passed a landmark (no matter how trivial!) I'm thinking "wont see that again till mid summer!" an odd mix of sadness and excitement is building as I sever ties with my usual surroundings, one thing I wont miss is my local footpaths I've walked them all so many times now maps are no longer needed , I'm so looking forward to chasing the horizon!
Bring it on!
ps will be going to the outdoors show this friday gear heaven!
Like your style Andy, that looks one happy dog.
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone at still changing kit, it seems to be a constant reveiw situation.
I have tried to find a count up counter to put on my blog but have so far failed. (to run from the start).
Local paths have been an interesting search but as you suggest some have been covered enough to be very familiar.
As you will be ahead of me i'm expecting a path clear of nettles :)
All the best J.P.
This is bringing back so many memories!
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean about the constant change of kit - I finally had kit that I was happy with on my jogle - but I changed virtually every piece of it right up until I left! It cost me a fortune!
Alfie looks very comfy - both in his bag and on your shoulders...what a good plan!
Sophie
Hi Sophie & John,
ReplyDeletemore lax blogging at this end!
Thanks for your comments, not too sure about nettle clearing tho john!, if you maintain your 25 miles (from your last blogged walk) you'll soon have the honour of that!, especially if Alfie has to ride in style on my shoulders!.
gotta go dinner calls!