Hi,
KTHSullivan wrote: ↑25 May 2021, 2:18pm
There is indeed a very fine line between travelling light and safety. Experience provides one with the wherewithal to differentiate between speed and safety, it also provides the ability to delineate between adventure and folly. On more than one occasion in the British hills the desire to press on has claimed lives, some of those lives have been lost when the unfortunate soles having been carrying the requisite equipment to survive but did not have the appropriate skills to utilise such. I am not saying that the incident upthread is an indication of inexperience but perhaps something as simple as looking at a weather forecast may have been appropriate.
Even though I had some experience with walking and camping having done 10 tors several times in my youth.
I set off in the early 80s might have even been the end of the 70s, to walk the Pennine Way solo.
As I set off in Scotland bloke said in a cottage there he says it will be wet up there it's been raining for two weeks, it wasn't wet it was just frozen solid snow and ice.
My gear wasn't very clever I had an old Campari rucksack, Campari tent, woolworths 38 ounce open top sleeping bag, and no Mat.
But I remember one basic thing heat goes out through the bottom of your sleeping
bag.
My clothing was very basic pair of jeans I'm not even sure I had a T-shirt but a cotton shirt a couple of acrylic jumpers cheap waterproof jacket gaitors and half decent boots.
My jumper and jeans were folded underneath my sleeping bag I got in and wrap the shirt around my neck and shivered, 2 o'clock in the morning water in my billycan was solid.
I underestimated the amount of food I need and then walked 21 miles the next day with a couple of oranges some powdered milk and half a packet of digestive biscuits.
Then in the early 80s again I walked the West Highland Way I had all the gear and probably too many clothes, my rucksack was 53 Ibs dry.
I had underestimated the ice and spent a lot of time sliding around on the footpaths.
nighttime temperature was -10, but I had a mat -20 sleeping bag et cetera.
As I started out postman stopped me in his van and said you're on the West Highland Way I said yes he said he's not seen anybody for three months walking up there, before I set off my old walking partner tried to put me off going and said someone died just recently I'm hypothermia
Didn't put me off I don't really think about that sort of thing either I spend all my time on my own walking cycling et cetera et cetera.
I'm not the most experienced person in the world but basic things that you learn that you should learn when you're younger stay with you.
One don't wear anything in your sleeping bag.
You do need a mat between you and the ground.
If you ever get lost its valleys and then rivers to civilisation.
The higher you go the colder it gets, so put your coat on when you get to the top of the hill.
Just recently and of course cycling is totally different if I stop for even less than five minutes I would start to go cold quite quickly if the temperature is like five or 8°.
Cycling gear is of course is basically windproof but doesn't keep you very warm statically.
I have once been in a situation where I was on my own where I allowed myself to get too cold walking, I wouldn't do it again because I remember the fact that I was actually cursing the ground I walked on at the time.
If you start to do that it's time to stop and wrap up and have something to eat.
It wouldn't be any different in cycling I sometimes think I'll grit my teeth here and keep going and eventually you need to stop, And feed and gear up.
