TimeOut Adventures: December 2013

I don't know where the time has gone since we walked the Cleveland Way back in September. We've been busy busy selling the house and packing all our belongings ready to go into storage as well as ordering lots of new gear for our AT thru hike next year. At one point it was like Christmas in our house, parcels arriving daily!

So here it is, our winter start gear list for the AT. Slightly heavier than we would like but essential for winter hiking. Once the warmer weather arrives we will be able to lose some of the winter gear items.

We'd like to give a great big thank you to a handful of fantastic British outdoor gear companies from where the majority of our kit came from. They provided excellant service and we highly recommend them.

Backpacking Light                 www.backpackinglight.co.uk
Outdoor GB                           www.outdoorgb.com
Ultralight Outdoor Gear         www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk
Peter Hutchinson Designs      www.phdesigns.co.uk

Tent Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 (inner, outer, footprint, poles, pegs & bags) We trialled this tent on our 7 day Cleveland Way backpacking trip in September and loved it. Not the lightest 2 man tent around but we opted for comfort over weight - it is going to be our home for 6 months or more! It has double doors and steep vertical sides , so loads of internal space for two.		60.5oz
Sleeping Mats Multimat Superlight Compact XS Closed Cell Foam Mat & Exped Synmat 7 Ultralight Airbed (Sml) We've gone for a double mat system due to our early start for extra insulation. The multimat will also double up as extra back padding in our backpacks and as a seat pad. We also trialled the Synmat on our Cleveland Way hike = a very comfortable night's sleep. Exped Schnozzel Pump Bag - for easy Synmat airbed inflation - doubles as extra stuff sack.		3.5oz 15.2oz 2.1oz
Sleeping Bags & Liners PHD Minim 350 Down Sleeping Bag & PHD Down Filler Sleeping Bag & Sea to Summit Reactor Thermolite Compact Plus Liner (Christine)/Sea to Summit Silk Liner (Nigel) A versatile layered sleeping system. - Minim 350 down bag rating -2°C (28°F) with Dryshell plus outer. One right side and one left side zip so they can be zipped together. - PHD down filler bags rated at +15°C, adds another 10°C (18°F) of warmth - this filler bag will double up as our summer weight sleeping bag. -Sea to Summit Liners will also add warmth (+/- 5°C) and keep sleeping bags clean. Exped Ultralite Waterproof Compression Bags (13L) to keep our down sleeping bags dry.		30.3oz 7.9oz 8.9oz 4.1oz 1.4oz
Backpack Gossamer Gear Mariposa packs Size Small - Christine Size Medium - Nigel & Exped Ultra light Waterproof Pack Liner 50L & ULA Pack cover medium A tough, large volume, 47 + 22lt , ultra light backpack with internal frame. Loads of large external pockets for ease of access to gear needed on the move. We've not really given these packs a proper trial yet but will do on our 2 week Lake district AT training break at the end of January.		26.9oz 28.9oz 2.5oz 3.0oz
Cooking System Evernew Ultra light Titanium Alcohol Stove plus Trivet & Fire Maple Titanium Gas Stove Evernew Titanium UL 900ml and 1300ml Pan Set 1300ml pan pot cosy & windshield Evernew Mug 400ml plus plastic lid (Christine) Evernew Mug Pot 500ml (Nigel) We're trying both gas and alcohol stoves initially to see which works the best for us. May keep both for versatility as weight shared between two.		3.5oz 1.7oz 8.5oz 1.7oz 2.8oz 2.6oz
Water & Hydration Sawyer Squeeze Mini Water Filter (filter, dirty water bag & syringe) Plus Water Purifying Tablets just in case AntiGravityGear 1 Gallon Sil-Nylon Water Bag (camp bag) Platypus 3L Big Zip Hydration bladder (Christine) 2L Plastic Water Bottle (Nigel) 1L Nalgene Bottle x2 (1 Each) (old bottles for initial winter hiking - to use as hot water bottles, can be disposed of later on).		3.5oz 0.7oz 6.0oz 1.4oz 5.5oz each
Misc. items Titanium Spork (1 each) Spare Plastic Spork GSI Outdoors Compact Pan Scraper 15m 1.5 Dyneema cord, carabiner for bear bagging Food Bag - Pod Sacs Ultralite dry bag 20L Tent & Airbed repair kit & sewing kit All-Weather notepad x2, pen & pencil Packtowl ultralite backpackers towel S - camp towel Aloksak assorted waterproof wallets/lokbags Duck Tape First Aid Kit Toilet Trowels - 2 x titanium tent pegs Dr Bronners 2oz soap bottle Torch - Petzl Zipka (Christine) Torch - Petzl Tikka Plus (Nigel) Spare torch batteries AAA x6 Multi tool/knife: -Wenger Soft Touch Nail Clip Pocket Knife (Christine) -Gerber ultra light multi tool knife (Nigel) Silverline Snow and Ice grippers (1 pair each) Flight Bag - Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Day Pack 20L (doubles as extra stuff sack) Exped Fold Ultralite Dry bags 3L 5L 6L 13L each Fizan Compact 4 Trekking Poles pair (1 pole each) Packtowl ultra light backpackers towel XL (1 each) Pee bottle - Nalgene Cantene		0.5oz 0.4oz 0.6oz 1.4oz 2.3oz 2.5oz 4.8oz 0.5oz 2.1oz 2.7oz 7.0oz 1.1oz 2.8oz 2.3oz 2.8oz 2.4oz 1.4oz 1.4oz 3.6oz 2.5oz 3.7oz 13oz 1.8oz 2.1oz
Gadgets Garmin GPS watch & charger cable Nexus 5 mobile phone & charger cable Headphones Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT5 tough camera (USB cable, Spare battery & charger) Joby Gorillapod Magnetic tripod Anker Astro Slim3 backup battery pack (great item, we trialled this on the Cleveland Way - it charged our iphone 3 times) 4 port USB charger Kindle		4.2oz 4.6oz 0.4oz 12oz 1.6oz 5.8oz 2.5oz 7.6oz

Gear Weight Above: Joint: 151.1oz Nigel: 129.1oz Christine: 136.2oz

Nigel Clothing Gear WEARING to walk in: Asolo Creek GTX Boot RAB Sawtooth soft-shell pant Hagloffs long sleeve top Montane Fury Jacket RAB Generator Vest RAB Shortie Event Gaiters Smartwool socks & Bridgedale Coolmax liner socks Icebreakers merino wool thermal underpants Berghaus Hat Extremities Windy Glo Glove Total 86.9oz		33.5oz 13.6oz 6.5oz 12oz 8.5oz 2.5oz 4.9oz 3.6oz 1.1oz 0.8oz
CARRIED CLOTHING:- Waterproofs Montane Mens Minimus Mountain Jacket Montane Minimus pants Total 13.9oz		8.3oz 5.6oz
Spare Set Clothes OMM Cap Bridgdale Coolmax liner socks Smartwool Socks Rab Meco underpants Mountain Hardware Mesa V2 Trousers Montane Mojave short sleeved shirt Berghaus micro fleece top Camp/Sleeping clothes Smartwool Mountaineering Socks RAB Meco 120 thermal tights Helly Hansen long sleeve mid weight top Crocs off road Buffalo mitts Lokki Balaclava buff & thin buff OMM Rotor Insulated Smock PHD Minimus down hooded vest (-5°C) Total 82.8oz		0.9oz 1.1oz 2.5oz 2.3oz 9.2oz 4.1oz 8oz 4.9oz 4.6oz 4.9oz 12oz 2.6oz 3.4oz 9.2oz 13.1oz

Christine Clothing Gear WEARING to walk in: Zamberlan 996 Vioz GTX WNS boots X-socks Trek Expedition Socks & Coolmax Liner Socks Naomi & Nicole no ride briefs Belvia Bra RAB Sawtooth Softshell Pant RAB Lightweight Aeon T-Shirt Smartwool mid weight long sleeve zip top RAB Womens VR Lite Alpine Soft Shell Jacket Lowe Alpine Cyclone hat Extremities Windy Dry Lite Glove Gelert short gaiters Total 83.7oz		50.8oz 3.1oz 0.8oz 1.6oz 12.9oz 2.2oz 7.5oz 10.3oz 1.1oz 1oz 3.1oz
CARRIED CLOTHING:- Waterproofs Montane Womens Minimus Jacket Montane Minimus pants Swing Liteflex Umbrella Total 20.4oz		6.9oz 5.6oz 7.9oz
Spare Set Clothes Nike featherlight dri-fit cap Belvia Bra Naomi & Nicole no ride briefs Coolmax Liner Sock & X Socks extreme light Jack Wolfskin pants Montane Womens Mojave Shirt Mountain Hardware micro fleece Pamela Mann 50 denier footless tights Camp/Sleeping clothes Lowe Alpine Classic Mountain Cap Smartwool Mountaineering Socks Smartwool NTS lightweight 196 Baselayer pants RAB Aeon long sleeve t-shirt Crocs off road Buffalo mitts Fleece buff & thin buff Hagloff down jacket PHD Minimus down hooded vest (-5°C) Total 82.3oz		1.7oz 1.6oz 1oz 3oz 9.2oz 3.3oz 7oz 0.9oz 2.6oz 4.9oz 6.3oz 2.8oz 11.4oz 2.3oz 4oz 9.2oz 11.1oz