By: Blonde Two
After a DofE expedition, Blonde One often asks our youngsters two important questions about their rucksacks:
Question 1: What did you take that you could have left behind?
Question 2: What did you wish you had brought with you?
The answers to these questions are often revealing. Who knew that Patsy was carrying two Harry Potter books or that Melissa had stashed her battery-powered hair straighteners in her bag? (I don’t think we have ever had a Patsy or a Melissa and I certainly don’t know if battery-powered straighteners are a thing).
After our struggles with our bigger packs during our DofE Diamond Challenge, it seemed sensible for us Blondes to ask each other the same questions. Here are our answers (well the ones we can tell you about anyway!)
Blonde One:
“The heaviest thing by a mile was my tablet. I wish I could have left it behind but it was an essential piece of book writing kit.”
“I will never, ever, ever do a 3 day expedition without some moisturiser!”
“I wish I had taken my proper camera instead of relying on my phone camera, which is not good enough.”
Blonde Two:
“I really didn’t need my glass bottle of Clarins foundation. I spent the whole trip looking red and blotchy whether I wore it or not.”
“I could have managed without my sunglasses, it hailed every time I put them on.”
“I wish I had brought two bags of Frazzles. They were the only thing I felt like eating!”
“Three pairs of knickers for a three day expedition are actually not enough!”
As you can imagine, we spent quite a lot of time talking about what we could have left out. My bag of clothes was my heaviest thing and I went over and over them in my head. We would be interested to hear what your backpacking essentials are (and aren’t!)
I think last time we went back packing we took a bottle of wine! Stupid really since once it had been consumed we then had to carry an empty bottle of wine around!
We’ve also in the past been pretty crap at the whole boiling water, water purifying thing and end up carrying excessive amounts of water which obviously really weigh you down. The bonus is it does get gradually lighter. The problem is we’ve always run out of water and regretted not bringing the water purification tablets x
Decant the wine into a plastic water bottle before the trip, then not only are you not carrying an empty wine bottle after drinking it, but you also have a spare water bottle for the rest of the trip.
Never taken foundation-I don’t even own any!!!!!
Quite right too, although I will be needing mine to hide the sunburn (I know! Sunburn!) tomorrow.
I’m on the case. Info to follow.
Here is a Dropbox link to my kit list which I hope may be helpful.
That list applies to the kind of backpacking I have been doing recently when I am unlikely to have a day when I can’t obtain drinks and food at some point during the day, but still allowing for camping.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3ijsx4villyi868/KitListJPEG2016.jpg?dl=0
That is half the weight of our rucksacks and very impressive. Mind you, if I was your DofE leader I would tell you off for leaving out the waterproof over trousers. No survival bag either but you have a tent, I carry my bivvy bag instead these days. Please can I use your list for a future blog post?
Use the list as you want.
In summer I wear shorts most of the time and they are so lightweight that if they get wet they dry out very quickly. I have carried the overtrousers and found I never used them. The top half is of course much more important.
Depends on duration – but for a three week trip you have got to consider clothing needs cleaning! Three long-sleeved shirts, 3 pants, 3 pairs walking socks – a washed one (drying on the outside of the pack if it is a dry day,) a wear, and a dry item in the pack ready for use. 1 spare pair trousers. Midge hood. Woolly hat & gloves. 1/2 bar soap. Tiny backpacker’s towel, 2 x 1litre bottles, but only one full one – and the water purification tablets. Tiny cooker and a screw-type gas cylinder, MATCHES, rice cakes or butterpuffs instead of bread, blackcurrant jam and marmite – but only exactly enough, in plastic containers. Marmite can be devilish in a plastic pot – it loves to escape! Cheese, peanuts, raisins and 2 small tins milk (loathe dried milk), 2 tiny tins of peas for those “whatever have I got left to eat?” moments. Two or three dried meals. 2 eggs in container, two tomatoes in an egg container, dried potato. Plastic pot of baked beans (breakfast.) Small, light cooking pan – but not one that tips over when you let go of it. Half a green post-scourer. Mug. Instant tea, sweeteners. 2 sets cutlery. Can opener. Plate. Whistle, compass, GPS. Tiny fm radio & earpiece. Small camera, small pair field glasses. Money. Bank card. Lightweight Goretex waterproof jacket and waterproof trousers (add warmth if cold at night) and lightweight sleeping bag, but preferably a warm one! Get dressed to go to bed! Sleeping mat and the dog’s sleeping mat. Can of dog food and dog biscuits (dogs carried 2 more cans). Dog bowl. The very best tent you can afford, pegs, its pole. Doggy trowel in a plastic bag. (Expect that would be frowned on now, but if you are 3 days from a road, bury it (and your own) ‘cos you sure can’t carry it!
Elastoplast fabric plaster – the biggest strip plaster you can get. Tiny container TCP. Tweezers (for getting thorns out of doggy feet.) 4 children’s socks for damaged doggy feet. Elastoplast strapping to hold the socks on.
What else? I took a spindle one year to practise spinning any odd bits of fleece I found. I expect I’ve left a few bits and bobs out – usually the most vital ones! Definitely no shampoo (use soap) or cosmetics.
Weight 28 pounds. (Without the spindle.)
And a floor cloth – great for drying out the dog under the flysheet before putting up the inner tent.
Needle and thread.
Two quotations come to mind…
“backpacking is an extended form of hiking in which people carry double the amount of gear they need for half the distance they planned to go in twice the time it should take” ANON.
“He who would travel happily, must travel light.” – Antoine de Saint Exupery.
I daren’t tell you the weight of my backpack but it gets less every trip.
That is possibly the best outdoors quote I have read in a long time … and sadly, for us Blondes, very true!
Hee – but then I have a house full of – – – – –