Hi Springer,
your 5 day trip on Dartmoor sounds fun and you kit list seems to be reasonable. You look to be packing for the most part a traditional backpacking load for UK upland travel apart from all of the 'bushcraft' kit. Below is the kit I'd leave out for a trip on Dartmoor as you discribe in your original post.
- DD Travel Hammock
- Gransfors Small Forest Axe
- Small knife
- Millbank bag, and steriliser
- Sharpening stone and axe file
- 2 litres of water in a dromedary bag (about a day's worth)
Here are my reasons why:
- DD Travel Hammock
You're trying to cover both bases with ground dwelling kit and the Hammock and the penalty for that is weight. Plan on sleeping on the ground and you can ditch the hammock. Once you're out camping on open moorland than you'll have precious few trees. Ground dwelling is more flexible than Hammocking especially when traveling in moorland or open terrain you don't have to find somewhere to pitch a hammock.
- Gransfors Small Forest Axe
Ditch it it's heavy to lug around and again on open moorland you're not going to find anything to chop up with it.. If you're sticking to the moorland fringes and woods like Bellever or Fernworthy then maybe you'll have a use for it but I have one and have carried it about and for 99% of the time I can find enough dry fire wood lying about with out resorting to axe weilding. If you're planning on building 'northern woods' style lean to's or shelters then that's a different matter. If it's just 5 days bimbling around enjoying yourself then do you need it?
- Small knife
'You're knife is your Life' maybe if you're 1000 miles from civilization in Boreal forrest and have the requisite skill set to extract the most out of it. Camped 1 K from Two Bridges it might just be weight you don't need to lug around. Your Leatherman will probably do 90% of the cutting tasks you'll need.
- Millbank bag, and steriliser
Good bits of kit when you're out in the Ulu and the water quality is highly suspect. Dipping you're waterbottle in Devonport Leat after a quick shuftie for dead sheep upstream has served a legion of Moorland ramblers and you have the ability to boil your drinking water on the Omnifuel stove to kill any bugs if you really want to.
- Sharpening stone and axe file
Redundant if you're not planning on taking an axe and knife...
- 2 litres of water in a dromedary bag (about a day's worth)
Dartmoor is wet hence a lot of rivers have their sources there.. You'll not need to lug around 2 ltrs unless Dartmoor has been suffering from a Drought.
A 1 ltr bottle ( or 58 pattern Army issue water bottle) is a good Idea you might want to take the MSR bag along and leave it empty and use it for water collection for camp in the evenings to save
A. having to camp near running water which might keep you awake
B. having to bimble back and forth to the water source when camping
ok from you list stuff that you might be able to improve on weight wise is as follows:
- Rucksack (Karrimor Sabre 75 litre with PCLE pockets - total 100 Litre)
You might get a lighter sack but If you already have this then it's unlikely you're going to ditch it and relace it with an UL 'thru hiking' sack for 5 days on Dartmoor. You might consider ditching the PLCE pockets and getting everything in the main Sack.
- Sleeping bag (Woodlore), I've looked at these and they always look bulky to me which chews up room in your pack. I've no Idea which one you have rating wise. If you trip is going to be in Spring Summer than taking along a 4 season rated bag is over kill IMHO A three season bag would be sufficent.
- Stove (Primus Omnifuel) with 600ml liquid fuel
The omni fuel is a good bit of kit but it's a heavy option for a solo traveller. A simple Gas stove would serve just as well and release some weight.
My advice is based on the assumption ( perhaps incorrect) that you'll be travelling more than sitting about 'practicing bushcraft skills'.
Dartmoor is great and you'll enjoy it immensely. Camping out on the moor is a nice way to spend a few days.. You should aim to have a night at Sandy Hole Pass GR 622815 it's a good spot and out of the wind...
The above should make a dent in the quoted 28 kg's but carrying normal 'Backpacking' kit and 5 days reasonalbly normal food is never going to make for a lightweight rucksack before you add in all of the 'Bushcraft' stuff like axes saws and knives etc..
Also you might want to check waht the sitauation is on open fires on the moor. Oh and if you're going to be their during the week also check on what Ranges are active.
Cheers
John
