The Trail mag that’s just out is the lightweight special as well as the 20th anniversary issue, and it really is full of stuff and things.
I don’t mention my Trail stuff much, I probably should as most of my trips would make more sense if the route in the mag was flagged up. Like the Beinn Fhada trip, anyone who read the July Trail will know why I re-pitched the tent at lunchtime on day 2. Aye, it’s all about the photies.
This months route is the South Glen Sheil Ridge, and it was fun trying to shoehorn that amount of description into 500 words, I love the shot they chose for the introduction page too, I can remember standing there. Brilliant night that was.
I really enjoy doing the routes, and I think I’ve gotten better at making the words less dry as time’s gone on, helped by an understanding and long-suffering editor, for both my frequent Scottishisms and lateness with copy. I do try and make them all a little different from the usual routes you find in the guidebooks, but still accessible to readers. I also try and get my trail shoes into shot in every one…

But, the biggest fun bit for me this issue is the Wheelie feature. Unlike my previous feature, I read this one right away when I got my copy of the mag, I wasn’t apprehensive this time. The reason being that I just sat down and wrote this one, no inner turmoil or trying to fit some imaginery Trail-compatible format that I’d invented for myself. The word count was about average for a blog post after a trip, so er, I wrote a blog post. Banter, odd references, cheek, attempts at humour and outpourings of joy, all the usual shit I put on here, it’s all there. As are “burn” instead of stream, and “wee” instead of small.
I had fun with the boxouts too, lecturing some poor reader on what gear they should be carrying. There’s a few extra points I’ve underlined about packing light in the main text, things I would probably let go when writing on here, but important enough to stick a flag on in the mag.
The funniest thing about it is that I took all the photies myself with a 10 second timer, I wonder if any readers will spot that? At least it gives me an excuse for taking so bloody long to do the walk. Oh the amount of reversing I had to do with Wheelie.
Now, I probably sound like I’m all pleased with myself here, well I have to say that I kinda am. I really enjoyed doing it, the trip and the writing, and I’m happy to stand behind it as the best I could do on the day, there’s no big bad editor to blame for changes or cuts as I think it was tightened up both minimally and brilliantly by the folks in Peterborough, if anyone thinks it’s pish, it’s my fault alone.
But, I’m entirely aware that its just a few pages in a mag packed with articles from writers who do this stuff every day, so I know my place.
As anyone who has a blog will know, reaching people, communicating your enthusiasm, insight or simple joy at being outdoors or elsewhere is a wonderful thing, and I love having opportunties to do that.

I didn’t really write the trip up properly on here, I thought it would have ruined any chance I had of writing a “fresh” article, and now having the read the thing I was right. Learning.
It was great fun though, but as usual I started late…
I stopped at Pitlochry to see the guys in Escape Route, who liked the look of a Wheelie in-store for hiring out, but cuppas and banter there meant that time evaporated. I picked up some supplies in town, the wee deli made the biggest fluffiest tastiest sammidges I’ve ever seen, and them hit the cross-country road to Braemar, where a few TGOC stragglers were wandering around looking for new shoes.
The drive to Linn of Dee is glorious, and packing in the carpark amogst the trees was a leisurely affair, with gazing at the sky through the branches taking priority over actually getting ready to go. Never in hurry am I.
Wheelie’s huge, I packed the regular gear into stuff sacks, eVent ones from PODsacs and Sea to Summit, and some regular Exped rolltop drybags. There was plenty space though, so I started sticking in more food, and a bottle of Irn Bru, my PHD down gilet, and I lied in the feature, I had three hats as well extra stuff and things just to pad it out a little. But here’s the thing,  I really couldn’t feel the weight, pulling more is “lighter” than carrying less.
All the stuff that happened is in the feature, apart from the stopping and starting to do the photies, that was funny as hell. If I haven’t had the blog and was used to placing myself in shot I’d still be up there now, walking up and down whispering one thousand, two thousand, three…
It was doing that that robbed my of my time to climb the other summits, that was the only downside. It didn’t feel like I came away with a second prize though, it was a fantastic trip, rich for both the eye and the heart. I rediscovered the Cairngorms after all.
My time at camp was brilliant, I had pastries, biscuits, three different types of coffee, Pot Noodle in-a-bag and more, it was a super comfy time I had up there, and still went to the summit with just a poly bag hanging from my shoulders. Magic.

I had a 3-season synthetic sleeping bag review in the June issue, they’re not up on LFTO yet, I’ll post a link when they appear.
That was interesting to do, and quite difficult as they were often huge, and indeed sometimes rubbish. But there were some gems in there and the winner from Mountain Hardwear was just a good bag whatever way I looked at it, pretty much trouncing the rest. Temperature ratings made life difficult as they were either wrong for the test or a pack of lies.  Some bags looked good but the rating was ludicrous, and because they were all synthetic there’s no weight clue like you have with down to make an educated guess. Nightmare. 
Folk look at Trail reviews and bitch because something gets apparently odd comments and does badly despite being good kit, well, I know why. When Trail order stuff for a group test, the request is often quite specific: Can we have item A, around £X, rated at 27 pobs and weighing between 100 and 150 piffs.
You’re then in the hands of the distributors and agents who sometimes send in something completely inappropriate, or just don’t send stuff.
So while I might still sit and look at Trail reviews with my face screwed up saying “No, no, no…”, at least I understand a little better these days. Yes, I know individual reviews without an umbrella heading would solve that. Hey, that’s why we have the internet.

Moving on to the current issue, I was utterly horrified to see the selection of packs in the 35L test. Praise Jimmy they didn’t ask me to do this one. There were three in there, three, that I liked the look of. Maybe four.
I’ve got a Used & Abused of the Vargo Titanium Nails in there, spreading the word about such things is what it’s all about.
We’ve got six reader’s lightweight waterproof reviews, featuring familiar face Moggy with his Haglöfs LIM Ultimate. His review has a very important phrase in there that stuck out: “…gave me the impression it might not be as hard-wearing…” was used rather than “this is going to wear out by lunchtime”. Reviews need that kind of awareness.
GT’s lightweight section is interesting as it reminds me of my own constant evolution, a year or more ago I’d have been agreeing, but now I’ve changed my mind. Again.
Sleeping with clothes on I’ve mostly abandoned as I’m using better sleeping bags and mats and carrying no more weight because of it. I carry a mug these days rather than just a pot so I can have a cuppa while I’m boiling water for my apple and custard dessert, and of course the spork is dead to me (for now…) and the spoon is king.
Special mention goes to Matt for tackling the Cuillin ridge. Good lad.

No Lighter… column this month, there’s been a revamp and the Knowledge section has been replaced by the er, Mountain Genius section, and my column is oot. An early version of the last unprinted one is below.
My Used & Abused on the Inov8 Roclite 288’s is in there and that’s it from me this issue.
Claire Maxted’s got a nice review of trail shoes, all good models too.
One thing that struck me was the Beinn Dorain route from Dan Bailey, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen the summit track, every time I’ve been up there it’s been winter and under snow cover. Looks nice in summer.

Lighter…Fasterer
Lightweight gear follows different threads of evolution depending on what users need. Backpackers are looking for the ultimate lowest weight, but to achieve this, the gear can become very basic, often just enough to carry a load or keep the rain off. If you’re sticking to the trail it’s fine, but on steep or rough open ground, or in the worst of weather, its limitations and comfort limits can be found quite quickly
Gear for alpine ascents is usually stripped-down and purely functional, meaning be default that it’s also light. Alpine style packs such as ************ work for climbing as well as for lightweight backpacking and daywalks. Waterproof shells like ************ show their alpine roots by being simple, robust and user friendly, carrying only the features you actually need.
Adventure racing has had a huge influence on lightweight gear, and it’s here that weight, functionality, durability and performance often hits a sweet spot. The result is gear that works exceptionally well for any lightweight outdoor pursuits
The idea of adventure or fell racing kit normally conjures up visions of skinny folk in black tights with big watches, but that doesn’t have to be the case. There’s plenty of crossover gear that works and still looks good too. The only issue is usually cost, the best fabrics and cutting edge design don’t come without a little pain in your wallet Terra Nova’s Laser packs have taken everyone by surprise, they’re the lightest out there and super functional, with capacity enough for a weekend in the hills. OMM have used their years of experience to make the AdventureLight 20, a year-round daypack and racers favourite at 420g. Haglofs Kazoo’s are tights but not tights, slightly looser cut in fantastic softshell stretch fabric for comfort without embarrassment.

Big fat issue this month with that Gear Guide stuck in the middle, a bit like finding a paving slab in your roll instead of a slice of lorne sausage.
I’m there or thereabouts inside, one thing I’d forgotten about was the West Highland Way feature. It covers the top half from Bridge of Orchy to Fort William and I recount some thoughts on the Orchy-Ba Bridge section with a few photies (the one I took of the Devils Staircase sign has me wondering if I should go up and see if it’s still there, two years ago it was attached to the signpost, one year ago when I took the photie it was lying on the ground, nowadays I wonder…?).
When we were talking about this it was interesting to note that I can still remember every detail of the route, almost every step. It’s a nice piece with other contributors covering other sections northwards, a lot of detail and a lot about the opportunities for bagging the glamorous peaks along the route. I hope that angle doesn’t confirm the notion in many folks minds that the WHW is rubbish. I was once in that camp and now I know better.

My regular column was inspired by the tent collapsing incident a few weeks back and the subsequent voyage of peg and guy line discovery, the accompanying photie is a fistfull of tentpegs and made me smile when I saw it as I’d fotgotten about it. Obsessed as I was at the time, my first version of the column was a bit one dimensional and I rewrote it to cover some other stuff and went in a different direction as well. I’ve pasted on the original version below and anybody that reads the printed version will have an idea of the severe editing and shoehorning that goes on to get as much info in as I can every month (no sympathy requested, I enjoy it).

I seem to be doing a bit more for Trail & LFTO these days, there’s more review stuff and wee bits and pieces in the works, and I’m happy to say that I’ll be doing some routes as well. It’s great to get a chance to expand on just talking about gear and share some words and pictures of what’s my motivation for all this stuff: getting oot!
If I don’t screw it up, they’ll be in scattered over the second half of the year in Trail.
On that subject, the one person tent review from the last issue of Trail is on the LFTO site here.

Lighter Column, Take #1

Compromise and cost are two things that always come up when talking about lightweight, and they’re the two most common points raised on the LFTO forums.
While lightweight gear might not be compromised in design or construction, some of the components might be cut as thin as possible to give an impressive packed weight or to keep retail costs to an acceptable level.
Tent pegs and guy lines are a favourite for this corner cutting, so after a recent trip where gale force winds bent pegs and frayed guy lines, it was time to look for alternatives. Not heavier, but lighter and stronger.
The guy lines I’ve replaced with Dyneema cord and Line-Lok mini adjusters. The weight is negligible, the bulk is reduced and performance is increased; Dyneema is stronger than steel for its weight.
The pegs I’ve replaced with a mix of Vargo Titanium Nails in two weights, 16g and 9g. I’ve also got a few 16g aluminium Y stakes from Camcleat, these are anodised in bright blue for easy location in grass or snow. The large surface area presented to the ground by the Y’s means supern security. All these pegs came with cords attached for easy withdrawal when breaking camp. Pegs packed with tents rarely have this detail as it’s an unwanted manufacturing cost.
But, all these items added up to the cost of a budget tent on its own, and this is where personal choice plays its part. My lightweight tent was expensive to buy, but it’s bombproof and giving it a “service” by replacing worn parts was perfectly acceptable as it’ll give me years more hard use. I see this as an investment in quality and reliability, I’m making no compromise. But by buying the heavier budget tent, I think I’m compromising my enjoyment.

My column this month is an attempt to persuade folks that lightweight footwear is like the Yellow Pages, not just there for the nasty things in life, like a blocked drain. It’s there for the good things as well. Wait, that analogy is shite. I’ll edit it out later.
So, it’s waterproof mids, mini gaiters and the like. It’s not maybe the sexiest read, but it’s a genuine plea for folk to believe me and try it for themselves.

My manky trail shoes are pictured large in the Used and Abused section, the Crosslites versus the X-Talons. The result of the long term test wasn’t hedging my bets, they really are different but equal in many ways.
There’s a couple of other bits in there, but the most obvious is the one accompanying the nice big photie of one of my rather scuffed aluminium Kahtoola crampons on a Salomon boot.

The Kahtoolas are assassinated in the text, and I dare say there’ll be folk getting all upset about it, but you have to put it in context. It’s a left field, even abstract bit of kit and it just doesn’t fit in with any of the methods or advice that we’ve been used to hearing. They require a leap of faith and a complete change of approach to use them beyond their remit of glacier crossing assisters as seen through traditional eyes.
Of the contributers giving their opinion I’m sure I’m the only one who’s used them and can compare their performance to other crampons. I know their limitations and their application and I’m surprised the other contributers didn’t think outside the box and see that a change of footwear, technique and approach make the Kahtoolas a viable option. As a young John Conner said as he tapped the T-800 on the head, “Are we learning yet?”. But, all the points made by the contributers in the article regarding the Kahtoolas are valid, from a certain point of view. I only object to blanket dismissal, leave it up to the individual and arm them with all knowledge possible.
And you know, I’ve been in Trail for a while now, but it’s nice to know that sometimes I can still feel like I’m fighting a lightweight guerilla campaign.

It was nice to see Dave’s review of the ME Xero down bag he got in the Lakes when we did the wildcamp for the lightweight article earlier in the year.

“Lighter Luxuries” my column’s called this month, and it’s simple stuff. Lightweight hiking and backpacking should be fun,  it’s not a competition to leave the most stuff in the house and that’s what I’m saying in there. My pack always has room for daft extras like the squeaky Ajungilak pillow and a Danish Pastry. Or two.
I was trying to address the notion that all lightweight folk are po-faced scales-obsessed geeks who want to grit their teeth through a cold night in a tent. In 300 words that’s a tall task though given some of the evidence.

Elsewhere the Five Sisters of Kintail piece brought back memories, must be 15 years or something since I did that route. I remeber purple being worn anayway. It’s a great part of the world that, it’s just all great hills everywhere you look.

Aw man, I’m pining for the fjords so bad right now.