At the end of August last year, I decided that I needed a new jacket for hiking and backpacking. I had little to no faith in my Keela Stashaway Jacket in terms of ability to keep out the rain, my Keela Munro jacket was simply too heavy for anything other than winter use and my old Berghaus Cornice jacket was too big for me, so I’d given it away to my old man.

I decided I wanted a jacket that was going to keep me dry, was durable enough to survive all day with a heavy pack, and was light enough to avoid weighing down the pack. In the end, I found three jackets which had a Gore-tex Pro Shell/Paclite mix, which I figured would work for me. They had the more durable Pro Shell at the harder wear points (shoulders and back), and Paclite for the rest of the body. The three jackets were the Haglöfs Electron, the Arc’teryx Theta SL and the Outdoor Research Furio. All of the jackets had their inherent benefits. The lightest (advertised) weight is the Theta SL, the heaviest, (by quite a large margin!) the Furio. The most durable is the Furio, though the Electron is the only one which has Pro Shell to the hips, as well as shoulders and back.

In the end, I chose the Furio for one simple reason. Price. It has the cheapest RRP of them all (£240, at the time of purchase, compared to £285 for the Arc’teryx and £320 for the Haglöfs), and I managed to pick mine up from Field and Trek for the bargain price of £115! (They’re currently selling for £150 on Field and Trek)

I genuinely didn’t know what to expect from the jacket before it arrived, as I’d not really known OR for anything other than gloves and headwear. OR Jackets, etc, tend not to be big business in the UK. I was pleasantly surprised when the jacket arrived. It looked to be exceptionally well made, and looked very robust.

Features:

The jacket is made from a 70D Paclite body, with 70D Pro Shell reinforcements to the shoulders and arms. It comes with a fully adjustable, helmet compatible, hood, 5 mesh pockets (4 external, 1 internal), with water resistant zips, water resistant front zip, with internal stormflap, etc, etc… you get the idea.

The main features of this jacket over the others is the TorsoFlo™ side zips. Instead of regular pit-zips, these come right the way down to the hem of the jacket. In theory, this should mean that you could use the jacket similarly to a poncho, to drape over your rucksack, but I find that in practice, it’s just a bit too small for this. It’s not going to fully cover anything, so you or your gear would end up getting wet. It does, however, give that little bit more flexibility in terms of venting, compared to most jackets… particularly when you consider the pockets can all be used for venting, too!

On the pocket front, the pockets are not exactly large. They’re big enough to hold a pair of gloves in, or the like, but don’t be expecting to fit an OS map into any of them. The lower pockets do also get cut off a little by a hip belt, too, but that’s not a particularly big surprise. It’s no real loss for me, either, as I tend to use the chest pockets, anyway.

The internal pocket comes with a little media port, allowing you to keep your phone/mp3 player inside, and feed the headphones through (see pic below), which I reckon was a nice little touch (I’ve certainly made use of it when walking to work!).

Performance:

The biggest plus point of this jacket is also its biggest drawback. The 70D fabric is more or less bombproof. I work voluntarily as a Warden on a local nature reserve, and I’ve worn it there, when walking through woodland covered in bramble bushes. The Furio shrugs off those thorny problems with no problem at all. They didn’t even leave a mark on the jacket (Though I don’t plan on deliberately testing this again – I’ll be sticking to using another jacket when working on the reserve!). Long story short – if you’re likely to be going bushwhacking at all, the Furio is the jacket for you. However… the thicker, stronger fabric also means more weight and less packability. On my scales, the jacket weighs in at 580g, which is 200g more than the advertised weight of the Theta SL. For me, that’s a small price to pay for a jacket that I know I’ll be able to rely upon for many years to come. For others, it will potentially be a deal breaker.

The TorsoFlo™ zips work quite well, and the jacket does vent better than most, particularly when you open the pockets, too. The only real drawback is that the hem drawcords are never going to be as tight as you’d like, as the bottom of the side zips will open up.

In terms of waterproofing, I’ve had plenty of chances to use it, both on the hills, and on the daily commute to work, and it’s held up with no problems at all. The DWR sheds water really well, and the zips do an excellent job of keeping the rain out. I was wearing the Furio on the walk to work during the storms a month or so ago, and I stayed dry inside the jacket, despite heavy rain and gale force winds!

The hood works really well, and moves well with your head. The peak isn’t the best in the world, but it definitely manages to keep the worst of the rain off your face, even in driving wind, so it’s not bad.

Conclusion:

I actually love this jacket! It has its flaws, but what jacket doesn’t?!

As a jacket you can pick up for any use, whether backpacking, climbing, hiking or for the commute to work, it’s perfect. It really is a jacket for all tasks. It’s my current Go-to jacket whether I’m going into the great outdoors

Yes, the weight is more than that of the competition, but that’s offset by massively increased durability, and I suspect increased longevity, too (assuming the jacket is properly maintained and looked after)

For 3 season use, I suspect this will be my jacket of choice, though I have to admit, it probably is a bit overkill for the summer months. Based purely on how well this jacket has performed for me, I suspect I might just go to OR for a summer use jacket, too! (I’m looking at the OR Helium, at about 200g… super lightweight, and ideal for summer use!)

Now, I suspect all the backpacking followers I have for this blog will be aghast right now – accommodation booked?! You’re not camping?!

Well, you’d be both right and wrong. I will certainly be backpacking the way, and camping most nights. Looking at the route, it looks as though I’ll be in campsites for 2 nights, semi-wild camping for 1 night (the site has running water and toilets, but no showering facilities – and no charges!), and spending 1 night at the self-catering accommodation, with Janie, as it’s only half a mile off the path.

Janie, on the other hand, will be sleeping in self-catering accommodation throughout the walk. Due to her condition (she’s now on Dialysis – see her own blog about her condition HERE), she currently has to effectively plug herself into a machine for 8 hours a night, every night. Now, I’m sure everyone will understand that effectively rules out backpacking. Her mother will be staying with her at the self-catering accommodation (free holiday for mum!), dropping her off with me each morning and picking her up at the end of each day’s walking. She’ll also be there in case of emergencies, and Janie finds that she’s unable to continue (walking can be a bit of a struggle at times, when a combination of stomach cramps or sciatica could kick in at any time)

After the West Highland Way, Janie really got the walking bug, and she’s been really quite disappointed that she’s not been able to get out and enjoy the outdoors as much anymore. That’s why we’ve come up with this particular plan. It’s gonna let Janie walk the route with me, yet still be able to dialyse every night in a clean environment. As the place we’ll be staying at has a sauna, I suspect she’ll be having nice relaxing therapeutic evenings, while I’m reading my Kindle in my tent! (although secretly, I suspect I get the better deal there!)

I’m actually really looking forward to it! After the West Highland Way, Janie is definitely my preferred walking partner.

The only real downside may be that she’ll not be quite as keen as I am on visiting the distilleries on the way. That’s my next big decision for the walk – how many hip flasks is too many to bring?!

Comments from Janie in purple.

We originally created this blog in November, 2010, though it didn’t really start going strong until January 2011, so I really consider this year as the first year of the blog. We don’t get a huge number of visitors (it averages at about 10 a day just now) to the blog, but I think it’s fair to say that neither of us choose to write just to gain readers. We write because we want to, and we enjoy it… I guess that’s true of most bloggers. We certainly don’t make any sort of income from it.

The blog was originally created to talk about our preparations, and our initial planned walk of the West Highland Way. We’d originally planned to walk the way together in April, 2011. Sadly, due to ill health, Janie decided to pull out of this attempt, so it was all down to me. Even then, the walk failed miserably. Despite having spent a fair amount of time walking to build up fitness and strength levels over the proceeding months, I simply couldn’t manage the walk. I managed to walk the first day to Milarrochy bay, but my hip had all but given out with the weight I was carrying on my back (somewhere in the region of 20kg).

That first attempt was quite a bit of a learning experience for me, and I resolved to lighten the load and get myself physically fit for load bearing. The plan was to re-try the West Highland Way, in August. This time, there would be more in the way of camping trips and backpacking to prepare for it, so that I could get used to load bearing and the back. Janie agreed to make the second attempt with me again, as I was planning on walking over 7 days, instead of the 5 I had planned for the original attempt.

To that end, there were a couple of memorable walks for us. We did the first couple of stages of the Rob Roy Way, from Drymen to Callander. That was our first real attempt at carrying everything we needed for a proper backpacking trip, and it was, for me, the spark that ignited the love of backpacking in me. The sense of freedom you get from being able to stop when and where you like (within reason) and be one with your surroundings (corny, cheesy line – but true, all the same!) is definitely not to be underestimated. I’d pretty much determined at that point that this is something I’d like to spend a whole lot of time, money and effort on. I’m pretty sure Janie will be more than willing to vouch for the fact that I’ve become a little obsessive about the whole topic in recent months, with half of my life on Google Reader, following a fair number of backpacking blogs and researching gear more or less constantly!  I can definitely vouch for Grahame having driven me mental with his constant need to check out gear stats, weights and the like  Having said that though, I do ask him to make sure he has thoroughly researched every option before he makes a purchase, so I have to share at least a little of the blame

We also made the walk-in to the SYHA Hostel in Glen Affric. It was during this time that the realisation dawned on us that realistically, for Janie to be able to complete the West Highland Way, we were going to need to use a baggage courier service. With Janie’s condition, she simply wasn’t able to carry the weight required, day in, day out. This was later confirmed a couple of weeks before the walk itself, by her doctors, so given the choice of using the courier service or for Janie to give up on the walk, we chose the courier service. We figured this would realistically be Janie’s last chance to attempt something of this nature.

We never did get round to writing a proper walk report of the West Highland Way on this blog (sorry guys!), but needless to say, we completed it. Although there were some stages which I found to be reasonably hard work, I didn’t feel I was really challenging myself in the same way as I would have been if I’d been carrying my own gear. There was a certain feeling that we were cheating, to a certain extent. We weren’t. It was quite obvious that the walk was a struggle for Janie in many places, and I felt a whole lot of admiration for her throughout the walk – and still do!

There was one day in particular that was a bit of a challenge – the day which would normally have been one of the easier ones, from Inverarnan to Tyndrum. Having arrived at Inverarnan relatively late the previous evening (close to 8pm), I had decided that I couldn’t be bothered cooking… I was too tired. In case anyone thinks I get an easy ride here, he cooks, I clean   We went to the Drovers Inn, had a coke each and shared a packet of Mini Cheddars. The next morning, yours truly managed to spill breakfast whilst cooking it (which is a part of why I no longer have my Optimus Crux stove and wouldn’t go for an unstable gas stove again). As a result, we set off that day having eaten half a bag of Mini Cheddars and a roll (in Janie’s case) or an Alpen bar (in mine). Needless to say, by the time we reached Crianlarich, we were completely exhausted. We ended up giving up on that day and getting the bus from Crianlarich to Tyndrum. It felt like a whole lot of a cheat, but it was completely necessary at that time.  Its worth mentioning here that the distance we missed on the bus was around 6 miles – which we had walked and then some over the course of the other days by camping around a mile outside of town each time and walking in and out for food.  Hopefully that will minimise the impression of cheating just a bit!

That taught me quite a lesson about how we need to keep ourselves fuelled. I honestly didn’t think that skipping so little food would have such a profound effect on both my body and mind. I’ve pretty much promised myself (and me!) that it’ll never happen again.

A week after the West Highland Way, Janie had her operation to prepare her for Dialysis. This has effectively ruled her out for backpacking trips for the foreseeable future. Janie still comes walking with me when she can, but walking in general isn’t as easy for her any more, sadly. That coupled with the fact that she now needs to plug into a machine every night for 8 hours, and needs this to be in a clean environment, it means that camping isn’t nearly as viable an option as it once was. If anyone is interested, she’s created her own blog, detailing her kidney problems and the lengths she has to go to retain as much of a “normal” life as possible.

As for me, I’m still trying to lighten the load, and I get out and about when I can. It’s not quite as much fun without Janie around, and I’ve still to really attempt my first solo camping trip since the West Highland Way. I’m hoping that will be soon, as I’ve recently upgraded some of my gear for colder conditions (new down jacket and sleeping bag, but more on those another day, once I’ve had a proper chance to use them!)

I’ve also taken the difficult decision of purchasing a 1-man tent (a TarpTent Scarp 1 – in the post from the US as we speak!). There’s a certain air of finality to that, which I’m not overly fond of. I’ll still have the Vango Banshee 300 that we used on the West Highland Way, so should the scenario arise that Janie will be able to come away for an overnighter, it’s still an option.

Gear in 2011

In terms of gear purchases this year, as I’ve mentioned, I’ve made a few inroads in terms of both weight saving and in durability. Some of the things I’ve bought would be abhorrent to the ultralight backpackers, but for me, it’s all about finding the balance between price, comfort and durability.

The first mistake I made was in February, when I purchased the Raichle Mt Trail GTX boots. The boots themselves are actually extremely comfortable, and the uppers are superb. However, the sole unit appears to have a bit of a defect, and is delaminating a bit and coming off. Much as I always like to try my footwear on before buying, in this particular case, had I been able to access online reviews at the time, I wouldn’t have gone near them.

As my boots were in for repair at the time, I ended up walking the West Highland Way in my Berghaus Pro Rush GTX shoes. I have to admit, I found shoes to be much for comfortable and easy to wear than boots, but these particular ones had a couple of minor issues. The first, and one that most backpackers will have recognised already, was the Gore-Tex lining. Water got in on the second day, and as a result, the shoes never completely dried out during the walk (Gore-Tex is just as good at keeping water in as keeping it out!). My feet were properly stinking by the end of the West Highland Way! The second issue was that they don’t provide quite enough arch support for those sorts of distances, so by the end of day 4, I was in a fair amount of pain, due to collapsed arches. (I have to say that I still wear the Berghaus shoes, just not for long distance or high level hikes)

I’ve resolved to try and fix this for the future, by using non-waterproof, but quick drying shoes. I’m currently looking at a pair of Salomon Exit 2 Aeros, but haven’t yet got round to popping along to a stockist to try them on yet. I’m hoping to have a pair (or something similar) by the end of 2011.

I definitely can’t afford to replace my gear or upgrade it regularly, so I tend to purchase items based on their planned longevity and versatility. My favourite purchase on this front for the year was my Outdoor Research Furio Jacket. Using a mix of Gore-Tex Paclite and Pro Shell, and using a 70D face fabric, it’s pretty much bombproof. I only bought it in September, which is why there’s been no hint of review for it yet, but as I’ve been using it regularly since then, I can definitely say it’s good for me. It’s not to everyone’s taste, though. By making it so hard wearing, they’ve effectively added to the weight and reduced the packability to a certain extent. Mine comes in at 580g (in XL), which although not heavy, is definitely heavier than any ultralight backpacker would use. With a RRP of £250, they’re not cheap, but I managed to get mine in a sale from Field and Trek for the bargain price of £115. Well worth the money at that price! It’s currently selling for £199.99 at Field and Trek, or if you were looking for an older model, Nevisport  have it for £147. (The older model doesn’t have the chest zips, so is slightly less useful)

I’ve made more sleeping bag changes this year than I care to remember. I started off with a cheap Gelert Tryfan model, weighing in at 1.7Kg (which Janie ended up using on the West Highland Way), which I then replaced with my Snugpak Travelpak Xtreme at 1.2Kg.. and I’ve now gone back up in weight to 1.6Kg by getting an Alpkit SkyeHigh 800 sleeping bag, for colder weather. The biggest problem I have with sleeping bags is their size. As I’m 6’4”, there’s a fair amount of sleeping bags that I simply can’t fit into. I managed ok in both the Snugpak and the Gelert, though, and the Alpkit came in a long length option. I’d have chosen their PipeDream sleeping bags for weight saving, but they don’t come in a long length.

I’ve made plenty of changes in stoves, too. I started off the year with a regular Trangia 27 kit. These are great pieces of gear, and you simply can’t go wrong with them. The only drawback to them was the weight. I then changed to an Optimus Crux stove and Terra Weekend Cookset. This was a big change in terms of weight and space savings, but with the stability issues and the fact that it simply couldn’t simmer very well, so was less useful for cooking (as opposed to boiling water, which it did exceptionally quickly), it wasn’t for me. I’ve now gone back to the Trangia burner, but I now use a Clikstand setup for it, which, when coupled with an Alpkit MyTiPot is a good saving in both weight and space over the original Trangia.

I’ve already mentioned the new tent purchase, which should be arriving in the new year. I still like the Vango Banshee 300 we used on the West Highland Way. It could do with being longer for me, as I tend to have fabric in my face or my feet touching the ends, but for 2 people, it really does work out quite well.

2012 and Beyond

Looking to the future, there’s plenty on the horizon. In April, we’ll be (yes, we) walking the Speyside way, if everything goes according to plan (more on that later, once things are confirmed), and I’m hoping to do another walk of at least a week long in Scotland. I’m planning on doing a number of overnight camps and trips, and keep building on my gear and my fitness.

At the start of 2013, I’m hoping to walk the West Highland Way again, but this time, with improved fitness and experience, in winter conditions. I’m then hoping to start something major in terms of backpacking in summer, 2013… something of a backpacking monster. I can’t really explain that one just yet, as it’s in the very early planning stages – watch this space, though!

In terms of this blog, I’ll continue to update it regularly, maybe more so, as I’m hoping to increase the number of times I get out. I’d definitely like to increase the trip reports, as that would imply I’m doing more trips! In saying that, when we created this blog, we said that we would focus not only on the hiking and backpacking aspects, but on the wildlife we’ve seen along the way, too. I don’t feel we ever really achieved that, in the sense that we’ve not really shared some of the amazing wildlife experiences we’ve had. Sure, there was the Red Deer Rut and the Mountain Ringlet on Ben Lawers, but I feel there could be more. It surprises me how many people go out in the wild places of Scotland, with a view to being out enjoying the scenery and wildlife, but don’t actually know what it is they’re seeing or hearing.

I just wanted to add a bit here at the bottom as a wee apology for not having updated my gear section as yet, and being a bit absent on the blogging front!  This is due to a variety of factors – mainly lack of time, energy and internet access!  However, with 2012 knocking on the door, I am finally on the web at home and nailing down my routine a bit so I have more time to participate in the shorter weekend walks Grahame likes to pester me into  I hope that means I will be able to write a few more of the blogs – and even maybe do a retrospective report on the West Highland Way, if anyone is interested  I will also be doing some gear reviews – especially on gear that i have bought in the past year and am now having to replace!  Meantime, thank you for taking an interest and hope to write again soon!

I hope its a good one for everyone. Many thanks for those who continue to read my drivel… plenty more to come in 2012, too!

I decided to take the walk up Dollar Glen and then on to King’s Seat Hill so that I could get my first snow of the year. It looked quite nice and powdery up there, as it normally is in the Ochil Hills!

It turns out that looks can be a bit deceptive, as the whole hill was more or less sheet ice as a result of a freeze/thaw the day before.

Luckily, I carry my Kahtoola Microspikes with me for these sorts of things (where it’s not so steep or technical to require crampons), otherwise there’s no way I’d have made it to the top of the hill.

Even the places where it was over a foot deep had a solid crust of ice. I’m over 17 stone in weight, and it held me with no problems, as shown in the picture below (the other footprint, I can only assume, would have been left 2 days before)

Still, it was a good wee walk and a good chance for me to dust off a few cobwebs, as I haven’t done any walking at all for about 3 weeks (and that includes walking to work – shame on me!). Some nice views and nice scenery always helps, too!

looking back the way I came

Looking over to Ben Cleuch

The hills are even more white today, with a proper powdery snow covering, which is much more common in the Ochil Hills.

I went to Sterling Mills, a shopping centre at Tillicoultry, at the base of the Ochil Hils this morning, when I happened into the Nike Factory Store.

I managed to get the down jacket shown below for £30

Now for a bit of stats on it… after all, there’s immediate alarm bells at a £30 down jacket (despite the less than pleasing colour!)
It’s 700 fill power down, as stated on the picture below. It doesn’t specify if that is US or EU spec, but I reckon, since it’s Nike we’re talking about, it’s most likely US spec. It also doesn’t mention the fill percentage, so there could be a whole lot of feather in there. It doesn’t even mention if it is duck down or goose down (I reckon duck down is a reasonably safe bet)

It also advises that it is packable, and can pack into its own pocket. This claim is indeed true, as can been seen in the photo below. It certainly isn’t small, though!

It does, however compress reasonably well, and it fits with absolutely no problems into the XS Sea to Summit eVent Compression Drysack, and I reckon if the drysack allowed it, I’d be able to compress it smaller still.

On my scales, it weighs in at 528g (size XL), which is about 130g lighter than my Alpkit Filo, but it’s definitely thinner and not as warm. There’s very little comparison, though… the Filo is much superior in terms of warmth, but at the same time is bulkier and heavier. Maybe the Nike is going to be a good option when it’s just not going to be cold enough for the Filo, but it’s too cold to be going without?

Additionally, the hood on it is god awful. If I could remove it, I would! It’s not adjustable in any way at all, and just flops about.

So, bearing in mind the above (including the less than pleasant colour choice!), is it really a bargain at £30? From what I can tell, it’s the Nike Cascade Hooded, which is currently selling on the Nike store for £134, so from that perspective, yes, it is definitely a bargain. However, is it really all that good for a backpacker?

If you agree with me and think it is, then pop along to your nearest Nike Factory Store (there seems to be quite a few throughout the UK, at most designer outlet villages) – who knows, maybe they’ll have one in stock in your size (and maybe even in a different colour!). They even had down vests at the Sterling Mills store, at the same price – but as they were in bright Purple, I chose the jacket as a better choice!

The obvious answer is to buy fresh when you’re out there, but that isn’t always an option, as you could be days away from civilisation and the food won’t keep for long, and fresh food tends to weigh a fair bit when carried, too.

After reading several blogs and books, I’d been led to dehydrating ingredients as an option. I’d looked online, and it seems a dehydrator wasn’t going to be particularly cheap… until I found this one from the German company, Westfalia. At £38.98 (including postage), it was within my meagre means.

The dehydrator arrived yesterday, and as I’m off work today, I’ve decided to give it a go!

Pics below are some of the ingredients I’m attempting to dehydrate.

3 carrots

150g bag of peas

some brocoli florets

The dehydrator comes in 5 layers, so I’ve got the 3 ingredients above, plus some cauliflower florets and some baby sweetcorn, to see how they go.

In the case of the carrot, broccoli and cauliflower, they spent 5 mins on the hob in boiling water, to soften them up a little before going into the dehydrator (once drained and dried, obviously!)

The guidelines for the dehydrator advise up to 12 hours for dehydrating to work. It’s been 6 hours so far, and I’ve already taken off the peas and carrots (shown below). I’m guessing that smaller items will dehydrate much faster. I’ve now got another 5 carrots in there, dehydrating along with the other ingredients (which are still nowhere near ready)

The finished article

The peas now weigh a total of 36g (including Ziploc bag) 1/5 of their original weight, and about the same amount of reduction in space! The carrots are coming in at 18g just now. That’s a pretty massive saving in terms of weight, really!

It’s not all good, though… you really need to have an understanding family for this one, as the dehydrator is really rather noisy – and for 12 hours at a time, that’s a whole lot for the family to put up with!

Still, if you do it in decent sized batches, you’ll not need to use the dehydrator very often. Apparently, dried vegetables can keep for up to a year, so I don’t see why larger batches would be an issue, either.

At this stage, I can’t comment on how well they work in a cooked meal, but you can be sure I will, as soon as I find out for myself. I’ll also update on any issues that occur, such as mold, etc…

I’m thinking this might just work out for me. It’s definitely cheaper than buying pre-dried foods and pre-packed meals, too!

So, I figured I’d give some suggestions on lower priced items you could purchase, which most people will find adequate for backpacking. OK, so you’re not going to get into the ultralight or super lightweight backpacking categories with these items, but you might just shave some weight off your pack, without breaking the bank in the process.

The heaviest weight items are normally the tent, pack and sleeping bag, as Martin advises in his blog post. There are some (relatively) cheap options, which can be used at a reasonably low weight.

Shelter

With regard to your shelter, the cheapest option is almost certainly going to be a tarp or a bivvy bag. However, in the middle of summer on the west coast of Scotland, do you really want to be exposed to the midgies?!  For me, that rules a tarp out, and I don’t particularly find bivvies very comfortable.

So, let’s look at actual tents… what can you get at a reasonably low price, that’s reliable, but also not particularly heavy? Low price in itself is something that can be debated for hours. For some people £200 is cheap, for others, £50. I reckon £100 or less should be the way to go.

The Vango Banshee 200 tent should be suitable as a 1-man tent (it’s realistically too small for 2 people, despite being advertised as such), and can be purchased from Go Outdoors for £79.99. For that, you get a tent with a weight of 1.85Kg, a hydrostatic head of 5000mm on the flysheet and enough room to fit 1 person and gear comfortably.

When Janie and I walked the West Highland Way in August, we used the larger Banshee 300 version (pictured below), and it kept us dry with no problems. I’d actually recommend it as a cheap 2-person tent for backpacking.

While we were walking the West Highland Way, another tent that seemed to pop up quite regularly (particularly with European walkers) was the Quechua T2 Ultralight Pro, which Best4Tents is currently offering for £95.99. This one weighs in at 2Kg, and from speaking to a couple of people who were using them (I’ve never tried one myself), are adequate for 1 person + gear.

If you want to go above the 2Kg mark, there’s significantly more options, but really, you want to be keeping the weight down as much as possible for backpacking

There are other tents out there, which are cheap and should do the job, but I’ve had no experience of them, and don’t know anyone who has, so can’t comment on them. Coleman is a brand to look at on that front, with tents such as the Rigel X2, weighing in at a tiny 980g (but at a head height of 68cm, don’t expect anyone to be able to sit up in it) or the Kraz X1. If you look around, you may find something that suits your needs at a suitably low price. For the same reason I ruled out the Bivvy Bag and the Tarp, it’s a case of getting the mix of comfort, weight and price.

Sleeping Bag

Getting a cheap sleeping bag is easy. Getting one suitable for 2-3 seasons is also easy. Getting one that is lightweight, cheap and suitable for 2-3 season use isn’t quite so easy.

Realistically, if you’re wanting a properly cheap sleeping bag, you’re going to be looking at a synthetic one. Synthetic bags tend to be bigger and heavier than down bags for the same temperature rating, so getting a lightweight one can be a bit of a challenge.

There are several lightweight sleeping bags suitable for 1 season use, but even those, I’d advise against in the UK. When we walked the West Highland Way in August (apparently the 2nd warmest month of the year in Scotland), temperatures still managed to get down to 5°C – which rules out a whole lot of sleeping bags, such as the Vaude Sioux UL 100. Sure, it only weighs 600g, but if you spend most nights uncomfortable and cold, it’s not worth it!

Sleeping Bags are an area where I feel I should maybe have researched for longer before buying mine. Examples of sleeping bags which would be ideal for this sort of scenario would be the Mountain Hardwear Lamina 35. Go Outdoors are currently selling it for £85.50, in both the long and regular lengths. For that, you get a synthetic sleeping bag, weighing in at 1.02kg with a comfort rating of 5°C, a limit of 0°C. That would make it more or less ideal for the summer months. Admittedly, it’s a bit more expensive than I’d normally pay. When I chose my sleeping bag, I was looking in the sub-£50 range, which would definitely rule the Lamina out.

My own 2-3 season sleeping bag (which I’ve previously reviewed) is the Snugpak Travelpak Extreme (or Xtreme, as some people put it). Simply Hike are currently selling it for £33. It’s advertised as 1100g, but in reality, it’s more like 1200g including stuff sack. It really does compress quite small, and with a comfort rating down to 2°C, it does the job, too. I used it on the West Highland Way and didn’t feel particularly cold at any point. As a summer use Sleeping Bag, it ain’t too bad.

Another sleeping bag that would be good would be the Vaude Sioux 800, which OutdoorGB currently have for £49.91. It’s similar in weight to the Snugpak, but isn’t as small. However, with a lower comfort limit of 0.5°C, it should be a slightly warmer bag.

I’ve recently purchased a new sleeping bag, but it’s not particularly lightweight, and it definitely doesn’t come into the super cheap category – however, for what it is, it probably is about as cheap as they come. I’ve recently purchased an Alpkit Skyehigh 800 sleeping bag for £145 (for the long version). It weighs 1.65Kg, so significantly more than all of the sleeping bags mentioned above, but it has a comfort rating of -10°C, is filled with 800g of 90/10, 650+ (EU) Goose down and compresses as small as the Snugpak (much to my shock!). It really is about as cheap as they get when it comes to quality goose down sleeping bags. (they’ve even got a price promise, where they’ll match any other offer of an equal quality) It will allow me to significantly extend my backpacking year (once I get a tent I’m comfortable with using in 4 seasons – in the meantime, bothies all the way!) and will be useful in other parts of the world, too. Alpkit’s PipeDream sleeping bags (when in stock) are lighter, only marginally more expensive (£150 for the 600),have similar temperature ratings, but are no use for me, personally. As they are not offered in a long length, my 6’4″ frame doesn’t fit in them, sadly. I highly recommend them for those who are 6’1″ or less, though!

The Pack

Now, this is one area that I really don’t know very much about. I’ll come right out and say that my own pack is a monster – it was neither lightweight or cheap. I have a Berghaus C7 1 series 65+10 – Currently available from Blacks/Millets for £99.99. I got suckered in by the Bioflex back system and the promises of comfort (which admittedly does work!), but at 2.5Kg, it’s significantly heavier than anything you really require.

My pack is one area where I am looking to change relatively soon, but still relatively cheaply. Ideally, I want to be going down to a 50-60l rucksack, which should be big enough for a week’s hiking trip. I’ll stick with a realistic price max of £75

I haven’t tried any of the packs mentioned below, so can’t comment on how comfortable they are, etc. I’d strongly recommend trying a pack for fit before purchasing one!

One that I looked at (thanks to all the European hikers on the West Highland Way) is the Quechua Forclaz 50 Ultralight – currently sold by Decathlon at £54.99. 50 litre capacity, with a 1.1Kg weight. It’s not too bad, really. It’s not the prettiest thing in the world, but the price and weight are reasonable

Another option would be the Karrimor X-lite 45+10 rucksack, currently on Sports Direct for £69.99 Also an ugly piece of kit, with possibly too many pockets for its own good. Weighing in at 1.35Kg.

In the price range mentioned above, you’re not really going to get a lot that could be considered lightweight. You could get a Vango Explorer 60+10 for only £44 from Outdoor Gear, but at 2.1Kg, it’s definitely not lightweight (and is probably a little big for most people’s needs)

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As with all things, it all comes down to making compromises. If price is the one area where you have to compromise, some of the items mentioned above may be of use.

If you consider the combination of Vango Banshee 200 tent + Snugpak sleeping bag + Quechua rucksack, that’s a total weight of 4.15Kg, which isn’t too bad a base to then build on, and at a total price of £167.98, it’s not breaking the bank, either. (That total price is only a fraction of what I plan on spending on my next tent!)

Clearly, I’ve only mentioned the 3 main items here – you’ll still have to worry about cooking, clothing, food, etc, but with those 3 main items at a reasonable weight, it’ll definitely not be outwith the realm of possibility to keep the total pack weight around the 10Kg mark. Not super lightweight backpacking, but hey, it’s cheap and should be relatively easy to carry… meaning that poor folk like me can get out and enjoy the great outdoors, too!

And if you find you really enjoy backpacking, maybe you can save up and gradually replace the bits and pieces with some lighter, but significantly more expensive gear over time? That’s what I plan on doing. I’m hoping that by the end of the winter, I’ll have a Scarp 1 tent (with crossing poles) to play with, and maybe even a new rucksack – but in the meantime, I’ll make do with what I’ve got and enjoy the outdoors as much as I can!

All of the items mentioned above are simple suggestions. If anyone has any other suggestions for cheap options in the UK, please do let me know by commenting below.

We’ve always been a little annoyed that we keep missing the prime autumn colour, particularly around Killiecrankie. I was determined that this year, I’d be catching it!

I arrived at Pitlochry, and parked at the main car park at about 10am. It was a bit overcast, but dry, so not too bad. Sadly, the forecast was for the rain to arrive in the afternoon.

I set off on the path up the hill and past the golf course (It’s quite well signposted, with ‘Pitlochry Paths’ signs at all the relevant junctions). Already, the autumn colours were beginning to show themselves (see photo below), so I was quite hopeful for some good scenery at the Killiecrankie end, and some good views at the higher points on the bealach path.

Once you’ve passed the golf course and a small farm, the road ends at a junction. Annoyingly, at this point, there’s a sign pointing to the left, advising that the paths to Killiecrankie are that way. In this case, we’re actually going right, to get to the Bealach path!

When you go right, you end up at the outskirts of the village Moulin, where there are plenty of signposts for Ben Vrackie, the local hill. This is the route to take.

Once at the car park for Ben Vrackie, the Bealach walk is clearly signposted (see photo below). For a large part of the uphill sections, it follows the path up Ben Vrackie, anyway, so it’s rather difficult to get lost.

As you may be able to tell by the above photo, the lighting was pretty awful, as it was very dull and overcast. It still hadn’t started raining, but I didn’t think it would be long in coming!

As you climb up the hill, the views back down to Pitlochry would normally look pretty spectacular, but sadly, with the awful day, and the approaching rain clouds, visibility was certainly not the best. The photo below is the last one I managed to get on that side of the hill, before the rain clouds started to obscure everything completely.

Its was around this point that the path split, with the left-hand route taking you along the Bealach, with the right-hand route carrying on up Ben Vrackie (which was obscured by low cloud). After a little bit more uphill (the slope is actually reasonably gentle. It’s not too challenging a walk, it has to be said), the path levels out at about 2000ft before starting down the other side, towards Killiecrankie.

Yet again, the awful weather and dull day managed to ruin what could have been some stunning views (see photo below), but that’s the nature of Scottish weather, I guess!

The walk downhill from here was pretty straightforward, on an old track. It was a little boggy in places, but nothing that couldn’t be handled. At the bottom of the hill, after crossing a reasonably quiet road, you arrive at the Killiecrankie Visitor Centre. I stopped here for a breather and a chance to have a snack at one of the picnic benches before heading on.

This is the part of the walk I’ve mentioned in the previous walk report. In the previous report, I’d commented that I keep missing the prime time of the year for Autumn colours. I think it’s fair to say that this is no longer the case. It truly was stunning! OK, it’s not quite as vibrant as you’d get in places like Canada, or the US, with all the Maple trees, but as far as Scotland goes, I reckon this is one of the best places to see autumn colour. See the photos below

I’ll not talk too much about how the walk went from here, as I’ve detailed it already in the previous report. It was, however, raining rather heavily by this point (it started pretty much as soon as I finished eating at the Visitor Centre), so I didn’t actually take as many photos as I thought I would.

I think it’s fair to say that the walk back to Pitlochry is reasonably straightforward, on relatively level ground (there’s a few tiny uphills and downhills, and a fair amount of tree roots that could trip you) and should provide very little in the way of challenge. As with the previous report, you could simply walk this section to get the best of the autumn colours.

I think it’s fair to say that I find this area absolutely stunning at this time of year. Had the weather been slightly better, it would have been a near perfect walk. I’d strongly recommend doing this walk at this time of year, where possible!

They don’t do stalking on a Sunday, though, so I thought it might be a good idea to find a safe place to hole up for the night on Saturday night, so I could be in about the rut at dawn on the Sunday morning. When using the Hillphones service, I kept hearing that ‘the path from the bothy is always safe’, which started the old brain working. What bothy, and where is it?!

After a little research, I found the bothy in question on the map, along with the path to it (if you search online, you’ll find most hikes to the munro Beinn Dearg go past the bothy). Having never used a bothy before, I didn’t have any idea what the protocol would be. I went to the Mountain Bothies Association website to get the info. It turns out that the bothy I was going to be visiting doesn’t have easy access to firewood, so if I wanted a fire, I’d have to bring my own firewood, etc.

So, Saturday dawned, I packed up my stuff into my 40l rucksack, and off I went. I took my sleeping bag, mat, stove and food for the 2 days, warm clothes, as I was expecting to be a bit chilly and enough firewood for a small fire that would last an hour or so.

It was a bit of a miserable day. Very dull and overcast, which would explain why the car park at Old Bridge of Tilt was deserted when I got there at 10am in the morning.

The walk out to the bothy took quite a bit of time, but there was a fair bit to see on the way. At first, the walk takes you through the village of Old Blair, along the minor road. It’s not long before you come off the road, and into some woodland.

The trees are just starting to show off their colours now, so I reckon next weekend, I’ll take in a walk which has a bit of woodland in it, where I can see it at its best!

At the end of the woodland, there’s a gate, which has recently been rebuilt, to provide easier access for cyclists. Prior to this, cyclists had to carry their bikes over a massive style! A photo of which can be found HERE.

The current gate is shown below

Once through the gate and out of the woodland, the scenery is dominated by moorland, as far as the eye can see. In honesty, it does get a little bit monotonous.

Eventually, on the slopes of Meall Dubh, on the left, as you’re walking towards the bothy, I found the rut!

At this time of year, the Red Deer Stags compete for the attention of the Hinds by bellowing and roaring. Occasionally, they’ll lock antlers and fight for territory and mating rights. When I was there, I saw plenty of deer, heard lots of bellowing, but didn’t manage to see any of the fights. Sadly, the deer were all quite some distance away, so I didn’t manage to get any really good photos on the way in (the photos below were all taken at max 20x zoom)

As you can see, there were significant numbers of deer in a very small space. As an added bonus, they were literally just around the corner from the bothy, so if I went out around dawn, I could potentially get much closer to them and get some decent photos!

Next came the bothy itself. As I mentioned earlier, I’d never been to a bothy before, so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I’d seen some photos online, but none of them really showed what the interior was like, so I was keen to find out.

It looked idyllic in its setting, it has to be said. A great place to spend a night and get away from it all!

There are two doors into the bothy, as can be seen. The right hand (red) door leads into a small room, with a picnic bench and ladders leading up to the loft space. (I have a bit of a fear of climbing ladders, so I didn’t go up there) The left hand side had another picnic bench, the fireplace and a couple of benches, suitable for sleeping on.

The photo below shows the view from the doorway.

As it was only 12:15 (much earlier than I expected to get there!), I decided to drop off the firewood, then go for a bit of a walk. I’d originally planned on tackling Beinn Dearg while I was there, but as the weather was vile and the cloud base so low, I didn’t see the point. There was definitely going to be no view at all up there. Below is a photo I took just beneath the cloud base, however. Still not a particularly good photo, but it really was an awful day.

I was back at the bothy for 3pm, where I had a chance to get my bearings and get a feel for the place.

The problem with most photos, etc of bothies is that they don’t really give you an idea of what the place is actually like, in terms of draughts, warmth, etc. In this case, as a stone structure, which is only occasionally, at best, lived in, it felt cold. It felt colder inside the bothy than it was outside.

One of the first mistakes I made was to take my boots and outer socks off. I didn’t realise quite how damp the flagstones were, so I ended up with dirty, damp, cold feet, which didn’t help the overall feeling of cold (see the photo below of yours truly, with clearly damp feet!)

However, it wasn’t all bad. The bench/pallet I can be seen on would work out perfect as a sleeping platform. At about 6′ long, they’d be fine for most people. My feet hung over the edges, but they do that on a regular bed, anyway! (I’m 6′ 4″).

After spending an hour or so unpacking, and generally staggering aimlessly about, I decided I was still a bit on the cold side, so I decide to have a bit of an early meal. I was hoping that the heat from the gas stove would take the edge off the cold.

15 minutes later, I was eating away at the typical backpackers fare – super noodles! I felt warm again… for about 10 more minutes.

At about 5:30pm, I gave in and lit the fire. After about 30 minutes, the place actually started to feel warm, and I began to relax a little. I set out the sleeping bag on the pallet next to the fire, took a quick photo (below) and got comfy.

However, all was not well. I only really had enough firewood to keep the fire going for an hour or so. In the end, as the fire was starting to die down, and the light was beginning to fade, I decided to pack up and make the trip back to the car. I probably could have coped fine. The temperature wasn’t forecast to drop too low outside, and my sleeping bag would have most likely kept me warm enough. I was simply bored.

The return trip, in near pitch black, with deer bellowing all around me was more than a little bit unsettling, it had to be said, so it wasn’t really surprising to find that the return trip took 30 minutes less time than the outbound trip!

So…

Was it a complete waste of a day?

No, I actually don’t think it was. It’s given me an insight into bothies, and how to prepare for them, which I suspect is a reasonably valuable lesson. I also got to see and hear the Red Deer rut. Sure, I didn’t get any good photos, so that I could share the memories… but I did get the memories themselves!

Now that I know what to expect, I’ll take more firewood and/or coal, so that I can have the fire burning through the night, if required. I’ll also take sandals or something like that, to stop my feet getting wet on the damp floor. I’d also bring something along to keep myself amused, to prevent boredom kicking in.

I’m hoping that I’ll be able to increase the amount of overnight/weekend hiking trips I can do during the winter months, now that bothies are an option for me. Normally, I’d be giving up with hiking and camping at this time of year. I still wouldn’t go into any of the higher altitude bothies during the winter months. I’m simply not that experienced, but some of the bothies in glens and valleys are definitely options for me.

On Sunday, to avoid having wasted the whole weekend, I took Janie to Beecraigs Country Park, in West Lothian, so that she could see (and hear) a tame version of the rut, at the deer farm there. Sadly, the rutting stags had been de-antlered, so it wasn’t really much of a show, but here’s an adolescent, not quite to maturity, just so that you can see what they look like up close! As the UK’s largest land mammal, they really are stunning!