See you next year!

It's time to get out on the road again and tomorrow I leave for Tasmania, and my next adventure. The blog will be quiet until February while I'm away cycling and hiking. If you wish to follow my Tasmania Bike & Hike on Social Hiking then it can be found here. With traveling time, and a couple of days rest, I should set off cycling from Hobart on the 6th Dec.

It just remains to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Never Ending Power

One of the great things about cycle touring is that it's much easier to go for long periods without any planned stops than it is with hiking. Sure, you can carry 2 weeks of food in your pack but the one thing you will likely run out of long before food is power! Most of us are heavily reliant on gadgets nowadays, be that with smartphones, cameras, tablets or whatever. Even if you are willing to carry heavy additional battery packs, or unreliable solar chargers, you will eventually have to hook-up to a power-point. This isn't so with a bike, get the right kit and you will never have to worry about power again. The only problem is it can get very expensive.

Tasmania Bike & Hike

In less than two weeks I will be over in Tasmania for my next adventure. This will be a cycling tour of the main and surrounding Islands with a number of short hikes thrown in. 

Z-Packs 20 Deg Down Sleeping Bag/Quilt Review

Note - I am a colder sleeper. This means that I need a bag rated at a cooler temperature than some to keep warm at any  given temperature. I know from many miserable, cold nights that I need to add 6 Celsius to an otherwise accurately rated bag. To be clear - If I want a bag to keep me warm at 0 Celsius then I need to be looking at bags rated around -6 Celsius. Bare that in mind when reading the review and particularly anything to do with temperature ratings. Unfortunately finding out if you are a cold or warm sleeper can be an expensive and sometimes cold experience! Quilts generally don’t have hoods and you will need additional head protection at cooler temperatures. I usually wear a light down hat when it's below 10 Celsius. When comparing quilts to hooded bags take that additional weight into consideration.

Commercial quilts have never really worked for me. My first experience was with a Nunatak Arc Ghost and while this is a fine example, as a side sleeper, I didn’t find it wide enough which made it a cold and draughty experience for me. I soon sold it on. Undeterred I started making my own and converted one of my PHD “design your own” bags into a wearable, hooded quilt. As this was a bag in its pervious life the width was far greater than is normal for commercial quilts. I found it worked so well that I converted my other 2 PHD bags into wearable quilts also. I was sold on the principle.

Montane Spectr eVent Smock Failure

When you buy the lightest kit you have to realise there is often going to be some disadvantages regarding durability over heavier kit. This is particularly so with waterproofs and these garments should only be worn when it is actually raining. For the rest of the time a cheaper, and more breathable, windproof shirt is more appropriate. That’s exactly how the Montane Spectr Smock was used so it is disappointing that it only lasted 40 days, of which it was probably worn for no more than 20, and then only when it was actually raining.

MLD Duomid Buckle Failure

The Mountain Laurel Designs Duomid is a popular pyramid style shelter that has slowly eased its way into my kit selection over the last few months. Space is excellent, stability is good, and it’s very quick to pitch. None of that was the reason I’ve been using it so much though.  I chose the Duomid for both my Scottish Cycle Tour and Coast & Moor hike because it is the only shelter I own that has a front door! Doors can be useful if you are expecting to be using commercial campsites. Leaving an open shelter in such a busy public place is perhaps asking for trouble, if only from dogs! Privacy could also be a concern but wasn’t high up on my list. As it happens, I didn’t use any commercial campsites on either of those trips and the failure of the Duomid, on a particularly stormy night, has made me rethink that logic on shelter selection.

Coast & Moor Summary

This is the first of the new style trip reports that I shall be doing from now on. Trip reports take forever to do thoroughly, which is fine if you are only doing a couple each year, but now I don't have the time, or will, to spend weeks putting in-depth reports together! Reports will be an overview of the hike with any other relevant information added that I can remember.

The end for ultralight hiking?

While I was away it seems that ultralight hiking took a bit of a bashing from some bloggers, Martin Rye, Andrew Skurka, Dave Chenault, among others and to various degrees. At the time I was out on my Coast and Moor hike so didn't get involved because, as we all agree, actually hiking is far more important than just talking about it! Since returning I've had time to read it properly and some good points have been raised, some I agree with... others, not so much. I've been an ultralight hiker since 2000 but its not something you will find mentioned much in this blog. It's just a label and not really relevant in the real world. Hendrik of hikinginFinland.com fame asked me, and a few others, to contribute towards an article he was compiling in favour of ultralight hiking for his blog. I was happy to do so. I recommend you read the full article but I think my thoughts on the subject are important enough to be published alone here.

Coast & Moor completed!

Been home now for a week after successfully completing the Coast & Moor hike. I've been slow putting anything up on the blog as all my stuff is still in storage but that will change tomorrow when I finally recover my toys. I shall post a summary of the hike shortly but I made good time and was able to complete all the hike as originally planned. In just over 3 weeks it's off to Tasmania and hopefully some better weather!