Reflections on Summer: Our 6.6kg Kit List
Posted by Andy Neil on Sep 28, 2022
As the summer draws to a close and the cooler months start to creep in, we thought it would be a good time to look at some of the kit we’ve been using over this year’s spring and summer backpacking season. Not all of its brand-new kit, and not all of it is as ultralight as we could have gone, this is the gear that has worked for us on some of our most recent trips. We’ve been testing this gear in Scotland, on the TGO, in the mountains of Majorca, over Munros and Wainwright’s, and most recently on the first Fjällräven Classic held in the UK, so we know this is the gear we can trust.
Whether we are going away for a night in the lakes or a 2-week crossing of Scotland, this is our lightweight, reliable kit list, the only variations would be how much food we would bring, and what map to take.
This bag has been packed for 3 days on the trail, and as said, this isn’t our “how light can we go pack”, yet we still have a very manageable base weight of 6.6Kg, add on top of that our consumables and one and a half litres of water (which we wouldn’t be carrying all the time) and we are just over 9kg, a very manageable weight.
At the bottom of this article is a complete list of everything we have packed, so if you just want to see the stats, feel free to scroll on down, but here’s a quick overview of some of our favourite pieces of gear.
Shelter
The newly updated MSR Freelight now has much more liveable space, more headroom and is considerably lighter (226g) than its predecessor. It’s a 2-man tent but if using this solo you will find it very roomy, with ample space for you and all your gear to sprawl out in. This isn’t a summit bagging tent, it’s for those of us who like to move fast and cover a lot of distance. Our founder Mark has written his full review of this tent here.
Sleep System
At first, this bag may look a bit over the top, especially for a summer bag, but in April, while I was in Scotland, I was incredibly pleased to have such a versatile sleeping bag. In the cooler months, this bag does an excellent job of cinching in and keeping you warm, yet I was still using this bag in august fully opened, almost as a quilt. My in-depth thoughts on the bag are here.
Still one of the lightest air mats on the market, and with such an impressive R-Value, it’s easy to see why this mat is so popular and why it’s still in our pack this year (and probably for years to come). Light, durable, dependable, and warm, the NeoAir Is the industry standard for a reason (even if it crinkles a bit) This is the large and therefore, heaviest version of the mat.
Rucksack
We love this bag, we’ve been taking it all over the country and even further afield, most recently we took it threw the Cairngorms on the Fjallraven Classic.
With 7 built-in pockets, load lifters, a huge mesh pocket, and an enormous 60L capacity, this pack really stands out. It’s incredibly comfortable and very durable. For the weight, and size of this kit list, we could have chosen a smaller pack, the 50L Gorilla 50 Ultralight Rucksack or even the Kumo 36 Superlight Rucksack could have done for some of our shorter trips, but this is the bag we used the most and you can read why we love this pack so much here.
Kitchen and Food
I don’t like washing up at the best of times, but if I'm backpacking it’s definitely something I can do without so this setup gets rid of the need for it entirely. the only thing I want to be heating up while I’m on the trail is water, so this cooking system is focused on boiling water for freeze-dried meals as efficiently as possible while keeping weight and effort to a minimum. In fact, all of the breakfasts I have chosen don’t even need hot water, they can all be eaten cold.
I have omitted lunch from this kit list as I usually try and get lunch on the trail, fresh fruit, pub lunch, supermarket sandwich, etc. But if I am carrying lunch, I will usually take plain wraps, peanut butter, salami and cheese, or another freeze-dried meal.
The Jetboil stash is incredibly light, packs down incredibly small, and in a rather ingenious way. It's brilliant at just boiling water, however, as it isn’t an integrated system, you can change pans to suit what you are cooking, so it’s very versatile, we have a full review here.
We are also taking in our kitchen set up, a Gram-counter Gear Thermo Pocket Insulated Food Pouch, which helps freeze-dried food stay hot and also improves cook times, a long-handled spoon to get to the bottom of the freeze-dried bag, and an insulated mug, as there is nothing more infuriating than your brew going cold before you finished it.
Water and Filtration
It’s taken me years to finally be happy with my water filtration setup, but the Be-free filter, combined with the CNOC Vecto, is a setup that ticks all the boxes for me. A fantastic flow rate, an easy-to-fill, and easy-to-clean bag, which moulds to my pack, taking up as much or as little room as it needs. This setup allows for 2.6 litres of water to be carried at any time.
Waterproofs and Windshell
Again, this is one of the areas we could have chosen to save some more weight, but when it comes to protection from the weather, especially in the spring, I’d rather have an outer shell I know will shield me from the elements. We had the Berghaus Paclite Gore-Tex Waterproof Overtrousers out in some serious weather last week, up in Scotland, they kept us dry and breathed really well. You can read why we love the Rab Firewall jacket here. it’s a reliable, hard-working, and hard-wearing jacket that shrugs off wind and rain.
Windshells are just now starting to get the love they deserve, they are so light, block out the wind completely, and work as an additional layer, replacing the fleece or puffy on fine but windy days, the Patagonia Houdini Jacket is only 100g and packs down so small I don’t see any reason to ever leave it behind.
Worn Clothing
So that’s everything in our pack, all that’s left are the clothes on our backs. Obviously, these aren’t the clothes we had on in the height of summer, the clothes we’ve chosen to put in our kit list, are the ones I took on my Scottish coast-to-coast in May.
The Rugged flex pants, as the name suggests are rugged and flexible, for day in, day out, not sure what the trail has in store for you, these are some of the best hiking trousers on the market. Reinforced at strategic places around the calf and on the seat of the pant, these trousers will last you years of use and abuse, they could have better pockets and you can hear me complain about that and also dish out a lot of love for them here.
The L.I.M comp hoodie is a technical hoodie for multi-season wear, I’ll always use a fleece over a synthetic or down mid layer especially in the warmer months, and if used in conjunction with a wind shell they can be a much more versatile option. This is my go-to insulating layer for all of my outdoor pursuits and you can read a more in-depth review here.
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Andy Neil |
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Andy has been a keen long-distance hiker and wild camping enthusiast since he completed the Cleveland Way in 2015. Since then, he has walked thousands of trail miles all over the UK and is an active member of the Wild Camping UK community, being an admin of the largest wild camping community on Facebook. He strongly advocates for responsible wild camping and believes it is important to leave no trace when camping in the wilderness. He joined the UOG team in 2021 and works as a website developer and content creator. |
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As the summer draws to a close and the cooler months start to creep in, we thought it would be a good time to look at some of the kit we’ve been using over this year’s spring and summer backpacking season. Not all of its brand-new kit, and not all of it is as ultralight as we could have gone, this is the gear that has worked for us on some of our most recent trips. We’ve been testing this gear in Scotland, on the TGO, in the mountains of Majorca, over Munros and Wainwright’s, and most recently on the first Fjällräven Classic to be held in the UK, so we know this is the gear we can trust.