mycountryside.org.uk - exploring and enjoying the British countryside

Having put together an equipment list for Offa’s Dyke before Christmas, and crossing off a few items friends and family kindly bought me, I took advantage of the sales (and in some cases a VAT freeze) to pick up a few items I needed.

Backpack

Perhaps the most important item for the trip, and something I needed to get as earlier as possible so I can start training with more weight.

I headed down to White and Bishop in Northampton – my family have been going there for years, and the staff are always very helpful. The very (and I mean very) patient shop assistant helped me try on pretty much all of their backpacks. The problem I was having was that either the back support didn’t provide enough support or it provided too much.

I nearly went for the North Face Terra 60, which was very supportive on my back. However, as fellow team member Karen pointed out, I will be having my dog on a lead for most of the trip, and when she pulls forward my back wouldn’t be able to bend forward – over 177 miles I can see that being a problem.

In the end I settled for the Berghaus C71 65l+10l. This rucksack has Berghaus’ Bioflex system – effectively the frame of the backpack twists and bends with your movement. In the shop (without any weight) it feels amazingly comfortable and responsive.

Review to follow!

Baselayer

Whilst I was in White & Bishop I also picked up an Icebreaker Bodyfit 200 base layer, made from 100% Merino wool (a sheep from New Zealand).

The Merino wool fibre keeps your body warm when it is cold, and cool when it is hot. I cannot tell you how much I love this baselayer – so much so that I had to be ordered to take it off and wash it (it is anti-bacterial, and even after my two week trial it hardly smelt at all!). The only slight annoying thing is that it is a little short for my frame, so unless it is carefully tucked in there is sometimes a draft!

Head Torch

Documentally, in his useful comment to my equipment list post, recommended Petzl Myo RXP head torch. Now the inner-gadget geek inside me got very excited about the idea of a programmable head torch, however the inner-realist came to the, probably correct, decision that this torch was a little too “flash” for me….. so I bought the simpler (though still very cool) version – the Petzl Myo XP (from the Stony Stratford Outdoor Shop)

It still has light output upto 150 lumens, several modes, and wide angle lense – so I am sure it will be fine!

Review to follow!

Cooker

I finally folded and went for the Primus EtaPackLite cooking stove – I am really surprised how small it packs up to and I am really looking forward to trying it out (when I have some gas…)

The stove consists of a base with a burner and piezo ignitor, windscreen, a 1.2 liter pot and a lid which can also serve as a colander with its bayonet fastening. It is pretty straight forward to pack and unpack – and is supposed to be efficient with a fast boil.

Review to follow!

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Now I just need to get out and start testing all this equipment! I am aiming to do a long walk once a week for the next few months, and at least three camping trips before Offa’s Dyke – which starts on 5th April!