OWPG AWARD WINNERS 2017
< Keeping warm in the PHD Wafer jacket
Mountain Laurel Designs pack & Pacerpoles
so I used the OMM
thin foam DuoMat for
this. The trip involved
much rough pathless
terrain and quite a bit of
ascent and descent. The
Exodus was stable and
comfortable throughout.
Shelter
this trip I looked at the lightest gear
suitable for summer backpacking in
the Cairngorms with high level camps.
I ended up with a total weight of
9.65kg, of which 6.7kg were essentials.
Around 3kg of non-essentials may
seem excessive but 2kg of that
was camera gear, not essential for
backpacking but essential for my
work. Subtracting items worn or
carried (footwear, clothing, poles,
cameras) the weight of my pack came
to 5.9kg, to which I added 1.5kg
of food so it was 7.4kg at the start.
Everything performed well and I had a
comfortable trip. Heavier gear wouldn’t
have added anything except more
weight to carry.
Pack
With such a light load a pack with
a frame and thickly padded back,
shoulder straps and hipbelt was
unnecessary. The Mountain Laurel
Designs Exodus is a 535 gram
ultralight pack made from tough
Dyneema fabric. It has useful stretch
outside pockets and a total capacity
of 57 litres – more than enough for
this trip as I didn’t fill it. It’s designed
for loads up to 11kg so I was nowhere
near pushing its limits. The Exodus
doesn’t have any padding in the back
Much as I like tarps
they’re not a good
choice in midge season
even with a netting
inner. I like a tent so I
can zip it shut and cook in the porch if
necessary. I also like enough room for
comfort if trapped inside by midges
or storms. One of the lightest suitable
tents for this is the Nordisk Telemark
2 ULW, which weighs less than a kilo
(with better pegs than those provided
and extra guylines the weight was
994 grams) yet is spacious for one
(it’s designed to sleep two though that
would be a tight sqeeze). The Telemark
2 is also surprisingly storm resistant. It
easily stood up to heavy rain on both
nights and strong winds on the second
one.
Sleep System
The PHD gear I was testing consisted
of ultralight clothing and sleeping bag
designed to be used together. I usually
take a sleeping bag adequate for
the average temperatures expected,
reckoning on sleeping in clothes on
any unusually chilly nights. That’s
mainly because I’ve never found
much clothing other than base layers
to be that comfortable to sleep in
due to stiff fabrics, zips, buttons,
buckles, pockets and other features.
However for this trip I used the PHD
Ultra K down bag, which has a lower
temperature rating of +8°C, plus the
ultralight Wafer K series down jacket,
Telemark
< Nordisk
pitched high on the
Moine Mhor
trousers and socks. The clothing has
minimal features and the fabrics are
very soft so it’s comfortable to sleep
in. The first night the temperature fell
to +7°C in the tent and I was just warm
enough in the sleeping bag alone. I did
wake a few times feeling a touch chilly
though so the second night I slept in
the down socks, trousers and jacket.
The temperature fell to +6 and I was
very warm and cosy, not waking once.
I was also very comfortable and it was
nice to be able to emerge from the
sleeping bag and not be hit by cold air
(though that does wake you up!). PHD
says that the Ultra K bag plus Wafer
clothing should be warm enough down
to +3°. I reckon it would keep me warm
a few degrees lower. The total weight
of sleeping bag and clothing was only
775 grams.
Highly Commended
Kingsley Jones for Trail Running
in the Alps
Highly Commended
Stephen Neale for Where to
Wild Swim in Essex
winter 2017 | Outdoor focus 21