Kit List

This is a bit sad but I always found it interesting to know what kit people were using although it is a very individual thing.

I wanted to keep to the absolute minimum of weight but still be safe and have everything I needed. I tested myself and fully laden I was about 4 minutes per hour slower than I was without the kit. (About 1 and a half hours in 24 hours)

My pack weighed 3 kg and contained the following:

Black Diamond Flash rucksack 230g Possibly a bit flimsy for fell running it is the lightest pack I could find and it worked for me. It was comfy, could take all I needed and cost about £30. Highly recommended if you are on your own. I saved it for the Lakes and on most of my practice runs I used a heavier but stronger Berghaus 'Bladdered' which was about 500g. I also had a small hydration pack from Tesco which was £10 including a 1.5 litre bladder and only weighed about 400g. This was a good 1st reserve if needed. They could all hold about 10 - 12 litres of volume.

Platypus hoser 2L water bladder 120g: I had several for practice runs but I felt the lightest and best was this one. It did need to be replaced after a few months use but it sealed reliably. I had a camelback which was good but heavier and my Tesco one kept breaking and leaking at the screw cap.

I tried drinking bottles but felt I lost time faffing around with them and taking them in and out of the rucksack and that they were less comfortable to run with. This is the only piece of kit where I went for something slightly heavier because I thought it would save time in the long run.

Water: 2L 2000g Obviously as each leg progressed this weight decreased. On the third leg it went too quickly and I was looking for water on the run but for the rest it was fine along with what I drank during the rests.

Waterproof - Haglof Oz Pullover 175g This was an unbeleivably light and effective piece of kit - the lightest I could find. I saved it for Lakeland runs and the event itself as it is understandibly slightly flimsy. It is very expensive - over £100 but I thought it was well worth it.

Windproof: Montane Jetstream pertex Jacket 85g £45 This was another star item and I wore it all the time on the day. It makes a huge difference when the wind is blowing and weighs next to nothing. I kept it for best and had a pertex quantum jacket (bit heavier 100g and flappier in the wind) which I picked up in a sale for £10 and I wore on most of my runs.

Gloves 25g Just lightweight microfibre ones although when practicing in the snow earlier in the year I used heavier windproof ones.

Berghaus micro fibre hat 30g This was fine and there are lots of lightweight hat options.

Whistle 25g

Compass 10g

Map 50g I used the Harvey mountain map and (very sad) cut it to include only the BG route. It is 1/40,000 scale and is waterproof. On the day I didnt look at it once as I knew the route. On the practice runs and at home I used the bigger Harvey mountain maps as they had slightly more detail.

Money, Credit card,route card,pencil 35g I wanted all these items. The route card was written on waterproof paper which was the back of a number from a road race I had been in.

It is quite hard to cut to size but very hard wearing and survived several good soakings in practice.

Mobile Phone 60g I bought a lightweight cheapo one for £10

Headtorch 75g I had a Petzl LED one but had one from B&Q for £10 as a reserve and it seemed pretty good too.

Glasses 10g Needed for reading I got a cheap plastic pair £10

Loo roll a few sheets just in case!

Food 300g A mixture of stuff each leg that I thought would keep me going. Obviously very personal but this seemed to me to be about the right amount of calories to go with what I was having during the breaks. I included some savoury salty snacks - cheezy biscuity things. I tried to keep away from too much sugar and chocolate but carried some of that with flapjack, fig roll etc.

All this adds up to about 3,250g but most of the time I was wearing some of it and at the end of each leg the weight was considerably less when the water had been drunk. Of course each leg starts with a big climb and I always had the pleasure of a full pack for that!

I ran in Walsh pb trainers, synthetic socks from Decathlon, synthetic pants and Ron Hill tracksters. On top I had a running t shirt and a capilene long sleeve thermal shirt over the top of it. I tend to be on the cold side so I usually wore clothes from my pack too.

I didnt take a survival bag and maybe I should have done - I just made the decision that what I had would have to be enough.

On my wrist I wore a luxury item - A suunto Observer watch. I found it a wonderful piece of kit and stored all my split times on the stop watch, used the compass as a quick reference, stored altimeter readings at the summits and used the readings to help with navigation. It also had an alarm which woke me before I had to set off.