Hiking, Scrambling, Mountaineering, and Climbing

Talking of sea climbing i loved reading Mick fowler's books on his early sea stack exploits. Legend.

Not sure where best to share this, maybe this thread?

https://youtu.be/3nOKWF-UdTg

Pretty spectacular

Thefts on Everest.

https://twitter.com/EverestToday/status/1657549320416288769

9 deaths this season already too apparently.

Going up to assynt next week. I’ve a knee issue so I’ve gone maxi while missus is staying mini with the vivos

Will pick up some poles this week (thanks to the folk that gave some advice earlier)

Also - I think I need a larger daypack, maybe 25litres. Weve got lightweight running backpacks, and chunky kitchen sink rucksacks, but nothing in between. And thinking of Suilven with a kid - we’ll need lots of water, spare kit, etc.

Any recommendations for a 20-30 litre pack? I think they’re all much of a muchness with the good brands though I want cushioned belt and a chest strap. But anything worth knowing?

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I need a larger daypack, maybe 25litres. Weve got lightweight running backpacks, and chunky kitchen sink rucksacks, but nothing in between.

Just came here with the same quandary. Bump for this. ^

(borrowed someone's Aiguille Alpine pack the other day also - was very comfy, but not sure it's what I'm after)

Atom get good reviews, 30l this one

https://atompacks.co.uk/collections/the-atom/products/the-atom-re30-black

Omm a bit cheaper option I really like, classic 25l might fit the bill?

Any favourite >20 km day walks within striking distance of North London for this weekend? Ideally something that doesn't involve spending ages getting into central and then heading south on an hour long train.

Thanks for the recommendation. Both look spot-on. Having a look at a second hand atom locally.

I use the Montane Trailblazer 44 for Munros, really rate it, they also do smaller sizes. Fits really nicely and very usable

First Sierra trip of the year in the bag. Two nights, three days. Took things very easy as it was my friend's first proper backpacking trip. Unfortunately the more exciting parts of the Sierra are still buried under snow. Our highest elevation was around 2500 meters. Snow starts at about 3000m, so we couldn't go much higher. The rapidly melting snow pack is giving way to some unbelievably fast water coming down the South Fork Kern River. You can hear it roaring from half a mile away.

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Old Karrimor or Macpacs from the 80s-90s still piss all over modern bags imho.
Hot Ice/Earth/Rock etc in 30l will outlast your grandchildren and got everything you need aside from the padded waist strap.
Easily modified to take a camelback reservoir and dirt cheap on eBay.
I’ve tried a few modern bags but none come close for my needs.

If I was buying a new bag it’d be the forumenger made BigXtop daypack. It’s essentially a modernised Karrimor lol
https://bigxtop.com/products/daysack

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I mean... Ed... define better? I get the obsession, they look super cool, but there's a reason people don't backpack with huge heavy external frames anymore, and its because modern packs are better in almost every regard other than lasting a nuclear winter: significantly lighter, more anatomically correct, fabrics that are almost as abrasion resistant while weighing a quarter of the weight, better weight transfer to your hips and so on and so on. I think recommending a 30/40 year old Karrimor is probably only going to appeal to a very small subset of people.

But seeing as you DO love packs like that, if you're not aware of them which I feel like you probably are:

https://www.instagram.com/cold_cold_world_packs/

https://www.instagram.com/alpine_luddites/

https://www.instagram.com/southernlitepacks/ < for a more modern spin on the above

I think we can all agree that bags are like bikes - what defines ‘better’ depends on the person, situation, weather and mood ;)
I’m giving a viewpoint based on my experiences.

I’m not interested in bags with external frames etc, really old bags are no good, that much I’ll accept.

Obviously there’s probably an element of retrogrouch(we are on lufguss after all) but honestly for my needs(hiking and climbing) they function far better than anything else I’ve used.

Have shredded an Osprey dropping it a couple of feet in slate quarry due to its lightweight material, to me that renders it unfit for purpose. Maybe some others have comparable abrasion resistance but if I can’t pick it up and put it down a dozen times a day on any surface without thinking about it then I’m not interested. Obviously climbing puts a bag through more hardships than hiking so I’ll accept not everyone needs the cockroach level durability. Personally I can’t afford to buy a new rucksack every time I have to drop/lower it off a cliff which happened more times than I expected last summer.

Comfort? Some of the 90s-00s bags have excellent padding and fit. There’s a reason they sold so many and they’re all still around. Weight transfer? Done 1000s of feet of trad climbing and miles of hiking with one, no issues. More comfy that the Osprey with is vented modern back. For me at least.
I also had a modern Grivel daypack briefly but found it a bit faffy and frustrating.
The Karrimor hiking/backpacking bags of that era are quite different to the climbing ones and have a more ergonomic back and other features not present on my ones.

Weight? I’ve usually got climbing gear in mine, the weight of the bag is not a consideration.

They’re cheap. And you’re using something that’s already out there and possibly been languishing in a cupboard for years(ever done up an old bike?😜).

Is a 30yr old Karrimor right for everyone in every scenario? Absolutely not, but it’ll almost certainly be right for 95% of people at a fraction of the price of modern bags. I don’t think it’s a niche choice at all.

I get it, some people enjoy the newest, lightest, shiniest but not everyone ;)
I’m not trying to be cool or a Luddite I promise, I’ve attempted to get into modern bags on a few occasions but it’s a no from me.

Yer man asked for a recommendation for a rucksack and I gave one based on my experience of fucking around outdoors in all weathers.

:)

Ooh nice. Hadn’t seen any of those. Not in the market for bags but they look nice.
Btw, what does a modern 30l bag weigh these days? Balancing the Hot Ice pictured above on my kitchen scales gives about 8-900g but that could well be completely wrong.

I also have a full set of Karrimor bike luggage from the same era but that definitely isn’t as functional as my ortlieb ;)

Right, but c00ps asked for a day pack, not a pack for climbing/scrambling up walls, so I was going from the hiking perspective.

My 35Lish UL pack weighs 290g. My non-UL but still pretty UL 45L bear can carrying, floating hip belt equipped, internally framed load hauler (20KGs+ easily) weighs 1020g. Former is constructed of Challenge Sailcloth Ultra 200 and the latter is a mixture of Challenge Sailcloth Ultragrid and an Ultra TX/Robic blend.

You’re right, I did go off on a tangent. But the Karrimor daypack/hiking bags of that era still stand up I reckon, I just have less experience of those.

At the end of the day I’m probably just not that into equipment. If it works it works and I‘d rather spend the money saved on a better jacket etc ;)

Also, for me price/trying to buy used where possible is as a consideration along with function.

Horses for courses.

Went up Suilven today with Mrs and Little Cookiemonster, with a warm up on Stac Polly the day before.

We were really lucky with the weather - dry, cool and cloudy on the way in, and the sun coming out at the top. It’s a fare walk - we clocked 21km round trip - i was a bit worried about our 10-year old but he was totally fine.

Gear report - thanks again for the pole advice, I went for some cheaper black diamonds (as Ellis Brigham had them in stock) and they worked well. Make a big difference on the way up, and helped on the way down (given I received the results of an MRI a couple of days before and my meniscus is damaged…).

I just went with my marmot 18litre pack - I didn’t realise it was 18 litres as much of that is in strap pockets. Probably the first time I’ve used it to capacity and it was fine.

Adidas Terrex boots were good too - they’re cushioned so nice on tarmac and hard rock. Felt a bit odd as im used to vivobarefoots, so low to the ground, and these have a bit of a stack on them.

Assynt is a pretty stunning place, but you really are at the end of the universe up here.

Blimey: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-65773723

It's not a good year on Everest this season.

Went bouldering outside for the first time today. There was just this one boulder with 5 routes on. Unfortunately the easy routes were over river bank and didn’t want to try them without a spotter. Managed two 6bs though. Hoping to do a bit more this summer!

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Nice - where is this?

Just 5km from my house in Switzerland.

Does anyone on here use Bimano? It seems to be a pretty good bouldering topo that covers a huge area. Just annoys me that they’ve moved to a subscription model rather than a fixed price for unlocking regions.

West coast of Scotland trad recommendations if anyone’s been?
Just got the Scottish Rock Vol2 which covers it but any suggestions welcome.