A few days ago I went on a three day hike through Switzerlands pre-Alps. Id decided to take everything with me, rather than stay in hotels and eat in restaurants. Basically, the trip consisted of walking, eating and sleeping. Im by no means an expert on hiking or bushcraft, so I offer these thoughts simply because other people might be in my position.
Walking
I guess it goes without saying that your boots should be comfortable. But I was surprised at what a difference a full pack can make; my feet were getting pushed into the boot much more than when Im not laden. Fortunately my boots feel like slippers when not laden. Id toyed with the idea of some mega expensive socks. In the end I went for some fairly normal walking socks from the supermarket. They seem to have some kind of matting on the sole (a bit like a soft scouring pad). These worked really well and kept my feet dry. In spite of being quite thick, my feet never felt hot. Im by no means super-fit, but I managed to walk for about 9 hours per day carrying 19kg, covering about 25 km per day. On the flat, I got quite used to the weight. On inclines the pack really made its presence felt. I found the key to be just plod along, trying not to get out of breath. There were regular steady climbs of several hundred metres. The plod along slowly philosophy worked there too.
Eating
I carried a JetBoil for all my cooking. In three days I probably used less than 100g of gas. I found it to be reliable and robust. Strangely, even though I must have been burning 3000 cals per day, I never really felt that hungry. I ate pot noodle style meals and was quite happy with them. I tried out a proper hikers meal, but it was no tastier than the supermarket stuff and cost twice as much. Pate in a tube spread on crackers was convenient and tasty. I ate 12 meusli bars. Instant mashed potato has come a long way since school dinners 30 years ago. At home I drink tea with milk. Im not keen on unmilked black tea, so I weaned myself onto mint tea. Even without sugar it still tastes sweet. I consumed at least 4 litres of water per day. This included rehydrating meals, rehydrating me, tea and (instant whitened)coffee. I carried 2.5 litres with me, which was not excessive for the final climb (1000m height difference), which had no water source nearby.
Sleeping
I slept in my hammock. Its a group buy MagiKelly with snugpak underblanket. I leave the underblanket attached to the hammock rings with shockcord. Down the length of the underblanket Ive sewed Velcro tabs. This allows me to close the underblanket above me, at least as far as my hips. From hips to shoulders I cover myself with my fleece jacket. The whole thing goes into a roll top dry bag. This setup kept me comfortable down to around 10oC. I had a home made mossie net (200g) and a Hilleberg tarp (500g), although in the end there werent any mossies and it didnt rain. Finding a place to sling the hammock was very easy; finding suitable guy points for the tarp was a bit more difficult. Sometimes the ground slopes markedly, meaning one side of the tarp would be nearly vertical. Or there were other trees or branches that would rub the tarp. Having said that, finding a pitch for a tent would have been impossible.
My total load was about 19kg on stepping out of the house and 15 kg when returning. If I plan a similar trip in the future I would carry a bit less food, maybe a bit less water and try to find an alternative for my old fleece jacket; a down jacket being the obvious choice.
Walking
I guess it goes without saying that your boots should be comfortable. But I was surprised at what a difference a full pack can make; my feet were getting pushed into the boot much more than when Im not laden. Fortunately my boots feel like slippers when not laden. Id toyed with the idea of some mega expensive socks. In the end I went for some fairly normal walking socks from the supermarket. They seem to have some kind of matting on the sole (a bit like a soft scouring pad). These worked really well and kept my feet dry. In spite of being quite thick, my feet never felt hot. Im by no means super-fit, but I managed to walk for about 9 hours per day carrying 19kg, covering about 25 km per day. On the flat, I got quite used to the weight. On inclines the pack really made its presence felt. I found the key to be just plod along, trying not to get out of breath. There were regular steady climbs of several hundred metres. The plod along slowly philosophy worked there too.
Eating
I carried a JetBoil for all my cooking. In three days I probably used less than 100g of gas. I found it to be reliable and robust. Strangely, even though I must have been burning 3000 cals per day, I never really felt that hungry. I ate pot noodle style meals and was quite happy with them. I tried out a proper hikers meal, but it was no tastier than the supermarket stuff and cost twice as much. Pate in a tube spread on crackers was convenient and tasty. I ate 12 meusli bars. Instant mashed potato has come a long way since school dinners 30 years ago. At home I drink tea with milk. Im not keen on unmilked black tea, so I weaned myself onto mint tea. Even without sugar it still tastes sweet. I consumed at least 4 litres of water per day. This included rehydrating meals, rehydrating me, tea and (instant whitened)coffee. I carried 2.5 litres with me, which was not excessive for the final climb (1000m height difference), which had no water source nearby.
Sleeping
I slept in my hammock. Its a group buy MagiKelly with snugpak underblanket. I leave the underblanket attached to the hammock rings with shockcord. Down the length of the underblanket Ive sewed Velcro tabs. This allows me to close the underblanket above me, at least as far as my hips. From hips to shoulders I cover myself with my fleece jacket. The whole thing goes into a roll top dry bag. This setup kept me comfortable down to around 10oC. I had a home made mossie net (200g) and a Hilleberg tarp (500g), although in the end there werent any mossies and it didnt rain. Finding a place to sling the hammock was very easy; finding suitable guy points for the tarp was a bit more difficult. Sometimes the ground slopes markedly, meaning one side of the tarp would be nearly vertical. Or there were other trees or branches that would rub the tarp. Having said that, finding a pitch for a tent would have been impossible.
My total load was about 19kg on stepping out of the house and 15 kg when returning. If I plan a similar trip in the future I would carry a bit less food, maybe a bit less water and try to find an alternative for my old fleece jacket; a down jacket being the obvious choice.
