Equipment Summary 2 - clothing

Without a doubt I started (and finished) this trip with far more clothes than I needed, but only a little more than I wanted. Initially I was actually changing my shirt every couple of days, but in that stage I was also staying in nicer accommodation and had more frequent access to laundry facilities. Much as I love my "Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost" t-shirts, the cotton gets whiffy pretty quickly, especially in the armpits.It was somewhere along the Pennine way that I hit on my favourite combo, and just started wearing it every day, like the filth I am. 

 This consisted of bamboo singlet (which doesn't get all armpit stinky) and a long sleeve Kathmandu merino top which magically can be worn for days before it starts to smell. I found I needed the 2 layers to cut the wind, as the merino is actually very thin. Bottoms were dual layered as well, but for different reasons - just before leaving NZ I hiked the Humpridge Track with Dad and (TMI alert) I got awful thigh chafe. To combat this evil affliction I purchased a pair of non-padded cycle shorts from the good-ol' Ware-whare and over top of these wore a pair of similarly expensive linen shorts bought in a giant Tesco - very fashion-forward, I know! Sometimes I swapped out the cycle shorts for thermal leggings, if the weather was cold, but I actually often went bare legged even in freezing wind and rain (newsflash: legs are waterproof)

 Additional to the walking clothes were a pair of black trousers (the ones that got soaked in a hailstorm when I was too dumb to put my waterproofs on). After that event, and the subsequent 3 days of attempting to dry said trousers in damp campsites, I opted not to walk in them anymore, keeping them as a dry change of clothes for the evening. Believe me, you're much warmer if you change into warm dry clothes, even if you don't have the luxury of a shower.
I also had some extra tshirts, and a nice top that looked at least slightly smart to wear for going out.

Footwear - see precious post "Shoes" for the full rant, but suffice to say having good footwear is a must. The replacement hiking shoes were Oboz, and a vast improvement on the ill-fated Mountain Warehouse atrocities. I can't say they eliminated my blister problem entirely, but the these shoes took on my feet at their worst, and improved them while walking 25-35km a day. I'll be keen to see how my feet like them when I put them back on fully healed!
The distance did a total number on my socks, and I nearly wept with joy when mum's care package at Kirk Yetholm includes a pair of Icebreaker socks. I loved their anatomical design that actually matched foot shape. I wore liner socks under these, originally Kathmandu merino ones, but long use and multiple washings had rendered these into sandpaper. I replaced them with some super thin Bridgedale liner socks, that I actually greatly preferred. From what I've read it is better to have a liner of a different material to the outer sock, so that was also in their favour over the merinos.

Needless to say all these choices are very much "whatever works for you", as everyone has very different preferences when it comes to clothing and especially footwear. I'd recommend NOT working it out as you go along, but figuring out what works for you in advance. And plan to replace the socks every few hundred k's...

Equipment Summary 1

Camping equipment:

Kathmandu Mono tent: I love this tent, and for the price it's well worth it. It survived some pretty serious wind and rain, the only time I got wet was when I couldn't peg it out tight enough, and that one time it formed ice on the inside. You cannot sit up in this tent, but this is the case for pretty much every tent this size/weight. I was able to fit my pack inside the tent with me, which is a bonus. The only better tent I saw was George's 2 person tent, which weighed the same as mine but cost €400 ($800nzd hahahaha)
Weight: 1.7kg
Price: $250nzd ($150 on sale - and I'm sure mum would've bought it on sale)

Kathmandu Pathfinder Women's sleeping bag: This is a 3 season down sleeping bag, and it was good enough for what I needed. The night my tent froze (2nd night camping!) I was really cold, wearing thermals, trousers, and polarfleece jacket - this is understandable given that the transition temperature is 0°C (below comfort, above dangerous). This was also a wild camp night, meaning no shower - I have found that I get much colder if I'm not able to get warm and dry before going to bed.
Weight: 0.71kg, and excellent compressed size.
Price $500nzd ($300 on sale - and I definitely only buy on sale)

Generic foam mat: foam mats are still probably the lightest sleeping mats available, but technology is catching up. Self inflating mats are much heavier, but some blow up mats are just about matching the foam ones, and they take up much less space! This is definitely something I will be replacing before my next adventure, but I'll need to save up for it!

Cooking equipment:

This is the pared down final version of my cooking equipment. The Primus stove is lightweight and compact, and while there are more fuel efficient stove/pot combinations coming into the market, such as the Jetboil, but I found this sufficient.
For most of the trip I used matches, but eventually these got wet (dumbass) and I had to borrow some. When I got to Fort William I invested in a Light My Fire firesteel. It's a little bit tricky to get enough sparks to light a gas stove, but you feel so badass doing it that I persisted, and after a couple days was able to do it first try.
The other thing I bought at Fort William was a silicone folding bowl. I had been using a small melamine bowl, when I didn't eat directly from the pot, but it took up a lot of room when I packed it inside the pot, and was really too small to be useful! The silicone bowl has a plastic base, so can be used as a chopping board, and folds out to 400mL - making it almost as big as the pot. I can definitely recommend.
I prefer separate cutlery, as opposed to a spork or other combo device, and I'd advise against plastic as it will only break at some inconvenient moment (sorry Adam!)
The final item was my yellow mug! This received some chuckles on its journey, but I wouldn't give it up for the world. Though you can get less space-consuming cups, I held onto this mug that I've been using since I was about 5 years old. You can tell I've had it that long because my name is written on it in my mother's handwriting, with a little smiley face. I refuse to be embarrassed, love you Mum!