My Gear

So what does the fly beast haul about on his world trekking travels. A look into my bag.........

Backpack
I only have three packs that work, which ain't that many.

• I still have the old Backpacker boulder around somewhere, which is a fine piece of kit, and despite the abuse of a lot of the treks I've done, and 5 months travel through africa, it still works. The harness system is a about 15 years behind the times though, but the build quality is great

• I upgraded to a Sunseeker ISO Climb 80 in 1995, and have frankly been very dissappointed. Fine as long as you don't plan to load it up to more than 25kg. The harnes is a little better than the Backpacker, but that advantage is lost by poor build quality and inferior materials

• Presently I use a Macpac Glissade, which is, simply put, the world best pack.

Sleeping Bags
And I have three sleeping bags, which honestly is not a lot.

• I started out with a Game special hollowfibre no name brand. Which was short but great until it compacted. It packs done fairly small and was a fairly close fit (good thing)

• So I got a First Ascent hollowfibre bag, which was short but great until it compacted. It was definately better than teh no name brand, but not much warmer and didn't last any longer. Simply was smaller and lighter for the same warmth

• And now I use a custom made Rab down bag, which ain't bad either, and, well, once you've got down, you'll never go back

Tents
Now I will admit three tents may be too many....

• The first is a Tiaga three season lighweight number. Fine if it doesn't rain or the wind lies. Airy and roomy, its a great tropical travel tent, but not the ideal mountian equipment

• So I got a Sunseeker Isotec, which is the one bit of South African kit I'll rave none stop about. Simply great,it stand through any weather, pitches on sloping ground and is bombproof, except it weighs 4 kg, so......

• I now have a Macpac Microlight, which is a 1.7kg 4 season one man wonder.

• An Old Camping Gaz 206. Unstable bulky and expensive to run, it still is the easist stove to cook on (provided you don't knock it over)

• A no name brand alcohol burner, which has served me really well, and got replaced simply because it was looking very old, and those new stoves looked sooo shiny

• A trangia alcohol burner with gas adaptor, which is better than the no name brand version, uses less fuel and is more stabel. A great product for average trekking

• And, of course, an MSR Whisperlite which I still consider MSR's best product. I bought this for the himalaya trip, since I was melting a lot of snow at altitude, and no stove can match an MSR here

Boots
Don't ask. Boots are the bane of my life. I simply destroy the things, as does Rob, my hiking partner for many a stroll. Between us we've been through innumerable Hi tec's (uppers cave) plus Power boots, Backpackers, Hikers, Crispi's, Asolo's, Salamon's, Karrimor's and I'm presently fighting with a pair of Scarpa's, which have impressed me. They have taken endless abuse and definately rivel my Karrimor KSB Munro's (the full leather version with Goretex membranes)as the best boot I've yet had. The still have a few months to go to outlast the Karrimors, which survived an entire year. Rob also got a year out of a pair of Asolo's (4 season boots, not the cheap ones) which impressed me no end.

Clothes
I've obviously gone throughh everything, but am clothed mainly by Patagonia for layering and Columbia and Rab form my shells. Insulation comes from A First Ascent fleece and Mountain Equipment down jacket, now that I can afford the real advantages that modern clothing systems provide