Hiking, Scrambling, Mountaineering, and Climbing

Just watching 'Cold' documentary

Could you point me towards it? Can't find it on the Sender Films website. Looks actually awesome.

Would be amazed if any rucksack could be waterproof

Yeah totally, 'waterproof' just means it'll slowly fill up when it rains (some packs have drain holes for this reason). Rain covers don't really work in my experience, they just take up space and get ripped up easily.

Rubble sacks or pack liners work perfectly, bin bags work in a pinch but they're a bit fragile.

Going on a 5-day loop around Lake Monowai next week. Looks like:

Weather forecast isn't great, might be a there-and-back job rather than completing the whole loop if the tops are up in the clouds... I'd sooner turn back halfway than get lost and wander down the wrong ridge.

It was on the 'Bike' channel on my Virgin Tivo. Not sure where to find it - maybe a torrent or youtube?

Oh, well looky here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OBX25ix4eU

Cheers @HHC @edmundro + @lae

I've used rubble sacks in the past actually, just a bit of faff using them, but better than moist clothes for sure.

Personally I love them. Keeps everything organised. Last thing you want to do when it starts to rain is pull all the cloths and sleeping bags of you pack.

I usually just keep a few rubble sacks folded up in the lid of my pack but don't make a habit of keeping everything bagged all the time unless I'm carrying clothes.
99% of the time I only carry climbing gear,not camping stuff but it seems to work for everyone since the dawn of time. I generally keep the various bits of my rack in cheap stuff sacks just so I know what's where and bag em up when the heavens open.

Just buy the best fitting rucksack you can find. Like bikes really.
This thread needs an EDC thread-esque 'what's in your pack' tangent with pics and detailed lists...

that looks great

This thread needs an EDC thread-esque 'what's in your pack' tangent with pics and detailed lists...

Having just packed, can I go first?

Clothing (day):
Wool socks
Merino boxers
Synthetic running shorts
Merino top (long sleeve)
Asolo TPS 520 boots
Sea-to-Summit gaiters
Hiking pole (don't know what brand, ancient)

Weather stuff:
Sunhat (crocodile dundee style)
Sunglasses
Synthetic gloves (thin)
Merino buff
Synthetic beanie
Softshell (Mountain Hardwear something-or-other)
Rain shell (Marmot Precip)
Synthetic baseball cap (for wearing under hood when raining, keeps rain out of your eyes)

Clothing (night/cold):
Set polyprop thermals
Another pair of pants and socks
Down jacket (just a thin one)
Sandals (for wearing around camp)

Sleeping stuff:
Exped inflatable pad
Silk liner, trimmed and re-sewn to tightly fit over pad (i.e. pad goes inside liner, I can't stand being wrapped up)
Alpkit 400g down blanket (again I don't sleep well inside a bag, normal bag too hot in summer anyway)
Travel pillow
Tarp (big enough for 2 people, uses hiking poles)
Groundsheet (scavenged Tyvek complete with paint splots)

Eating:
1600ml Ti pot + foil windshield
Big stainless mug (can be put on top of stove = awesome)
Cheap plastic bowl (seriously those ones at outdoors shops are such a ripoff, I got a set of 4 for a dollar and they're lighter)
Ti folding spork (found in a hut)
Ancient MSR stove and 2 canisters (2 canisters for boiling lots of water)
1ltr stainless bottle (carabinered to shoulder strap for easy access, steel rather than plastic so you can pour boiling water into it without it deforming) plus 1ltr collapsible bottle
Hand sanitiser

Other:
Headtorch + batteries, earplugs, toothbrush, contact lenses, first aid kit, bug repellent, suncream, painkillers, broad-spectrum antibiotics, anti-emetics little Leatherman etc
PLB
Survival kit (space blanket, mirror, compass, fire starter, water tablets, rope, string, carabiners etc)
Map and compass
Camera (olympus XA) and film

But unfortunately there is predicted to be 'biblically heavy' rainfall Tues-Fri due to a cyclone so we're postponing until the week after (and just doing a little overnighter Mon-Tues in the mountains behind our town).

Rad list. Out of interest, what size pack does all that shizzle fit it?
Will do mine later as just packed climbing kit for some sandstone trad in Scotland next week.

Like it. Needs moar context and pics, akin to @Sam_Doman 's pic.

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LFGSS loves a list. Where do you post shots from your XA?

Depends on how long I'm going for, on a long trip the food takes up the most room - I'm taking my 55l Arcteryx bag on this trip, for 2-3 days I can get away with my smaller 40l Vaude bag.

I rarely scan my prints so the XA shots are just stuck into my photo albums. Here are a few my partner took on her digital camera though:

View from Kepler track (4 days, she did this solo because I couldn't get the time off work, but it's a very popular track so not dangerous)

On the way up to Mueller Hut (overnight trip), with Mt. Cook in the background (that's NZ's highest peak)

At Mueller Hut (some 1800m up)... it was sunny and freezing at the same time, at least 6 feet of compacted snow on the plateau around the hut, which was soft in the afternoon but overnight turned as hard as concrete. Great view from the deck watching the glacier across the valley slowly tumble off the cliff face. Rather unfashionable.

The pass between the Ahuriri and Dingle Burn valleys:

Just in case anyone's interested here's what I had intended to buy for food:
Breakfasts:
Oats, milk powder, raisins and walnuts, instant coffee (the sachets with the milk already mixed in)
Lunch:
One Square Meal bars (these are amazing, only sold in NZ unfortunately), crackers, peanut butter
Snacks:
Beef jerky sticks, waffles, chocolate, scroggin (a.k.a. trail mix), dried fruit
Dinner (a variety!):
Pasta with foil-packet tuna, dehy peas, and sauce made from instant tomato soup powder or
Instant noodles with jerky and dehy peas or
Couscous with jerky and dehy peas
Dessert of angel delight stuff (pre-mixed with milk powder), carefully spooned onto a waffle, with a crumbled-up cracker on top. It's not that bad, honest.
Hot chocolate powder before bedtime (with a square of real chocolate if you're lucky)

On short/easy overnight trips I take along steak or bacon - wrapped up in a sleeping bag it stays cool.

Cheers man, always interesting to see what the LFGSS get up to. Looks like some stunning hiking country.

Thanks, yeah it is stunning around here, such a variety of landscapes (wet rainforest to arid valleys to mountains) with a day's drive... I guess the downside is that almost all land is private, you can't even set foot on it let alone camp on it (and forget about bikepacking, perhaps two or three viable routes in the whole country). It's incredibly prescriptive as to where you can and can't go, compared to Europe or especially Scotland. Which is not what I expected from NZ. Swings and roundabouts I guess.

I didn't know that. Sounds pretty sad for a country with such beautiful empty country side. Scotland access laws are fantastic and 99% of people respect the place so it works.

Here's my 30l Karrimor Hot Earth.
I might unpack it for more pics but it took ages to fit it all in.

Mammut El Cap helmet
5:10 daesent shoes
Karrimor folding mat
Archies Grobag Rosie pouch containing gloves, pen knife, head torch, keys, phone, wallet etc.

In lid of pack:
Rubble sacks
First aid kit
Bar towel
Ocun crack gloves
Tape

Under Lid:
Marmot precip jacket
Guide book

Main compartment:
La Sportiva shoes
50m rope
Petzl caldris harness, belay, prussik, spare locking carabiner, nylon sling for lanyard
1 set nuts, 1/2 set offset nuts
5 cams from orange alien to friend 4
various slings
4 alpine draws
6 quickdraws
few extra carabiners

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I've only just seen this thread - great stuff!

I haven't been doing outdoorsy stuff as much as I'd like recently but this had definitely given me some inspiration!

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Has anyone done the Pennine way?

Yes, I did it in late September 1999 with a mate. Weather was mixed but generally OK.

Took 15 days. Fully self-supported, mix of camping and B&Bs when we got fed up with the rain.

I had a pair of old boots that were very comfortable, sadly they weren't the highest quality and a sizeable hole opened up on about day 3 so I had wet feet for the whole trip.

Frankly at times it was pretty grim but I was very glad I did it. Some memories:

• Camping in the back garden of the Green Man, Hardraw (site of England's highest waterfall).
  
• Drinking in Greenhead with some nutter who use to be a submariner in the Dutch Navy.
  
• Walking up the rim of the South Tyne valley watching a Hercules fly along it below us
  
• Coming up to the edge of High Cup Nick, so dramatic.
  
• Getting wasted in the Tan Hill Inn then camping in their back garden.
  
• My mate kicked Hadrian's Wall in frustration and a 2,000 year old stone fell out of it (whoops).
  
• Finishing at the Border Hotel in Kirk Yetholm, drinking the free half pint courtesy of A Wainwright then several more that I paid for and only just getting the last train south courtesy of a lunatic OAP taxi driver.
  

I had a thin summer sleeping bag and the last night wild camping at altitude in the Cheviots was brutally cold :(

Just seen this. Cheers!

Introduced my kids to Snowdonia last week. Nice wander up to Lyn Cau, the lake under Cadair Idris. Very slow, many stops, even more fig rolls, perfect cold bright weather, and big smiles all round.

Had a great time a couple of weekends ago helping with volunteer maintenance on the old Leeds Mountaineering Club hut in Snowdonia. It's being renovated by the Mountain Bothies Association and although currently locked whilst work is being carried out, will hopefully be open to the public later this year.

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Good work! And nice shot too. Haven't stayed in a bothy for years (and never in Wales - I always thought they were a Scottish thing).

I had a mad night a couple of years ago in the bothy round the back of the Carneddau. Basically tagged ourselves on to a group who had brought in a sack of coal, booze and takeaway curries. Hilarious.