Some photos from Silverstone 2012 Friday Practice
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The last GPS location
I turned my GPS on at the weekend. I was in North Wales, and before it had locked on to any satellites the little screen was showing my location for when I last used it – the beach at St Cyrus, my finish on the TGO Challenge. The tide was out a long way!
With a rush of excitement and big smiles I grabbed a photo on my phone. I can’t wait for my next big adventure, maybe it will be the TGO Challenge in 2013!
TGO Challenge 2012 Photo: Snow on the Burma Road, Monadhliath
TGO Challenge 2012 Photo: Nr Loch Mullardoch
TGO Challenge 2012 Photo: Heading into the Monadhliath
Saving weight: Dry bags
It occurred to me, whilst unpacking from the TGO Challenge, that the multiple small dry bags that I used to keep important things dry, collectively probably weigh more than one large dry bag to hold all of those things.
It has to be said that I have not been a big fan of one large dry bag in a rucksack because I find it a bit awkward packing it due to the bag never quite fitting your rucksack leaving extra material to get in the way, and because it restricts where you place some of the things you carry. However, I decided to weigh the 5 small dry bags, of different manufacturers, and compare it to a large Sea to Summit dry bag that I have:
5 small dry bags: 224g
Large Sea to Summit dry bag: 88g
That’s a significant 136g difference. Now, some of those things I kept in a small dry bag (camera batteries and other small items) need to be kept in a small bag of some description but that can be just a light nylon, cuben fibre or mesh bag but I think I could save maybe 110 – 120g by using one large dry bag, if I can get over the issues of using one!
Track my walk across Scotland on the Rab TGO Challenge 2012
On Friday 11th May 2012 I set off from Dornie in the Scottish Highlands on the west coast of Scotland to walk to St Cyrus, on the east coast, 2 weeks and 184 miles later.
I will be crossing some amazing wild and open countryside, including the Monadhliath and Cairngorm mountain ranges, and you can see some details of my ‘intended’ route here.
On my walk I will be carrying a SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger which will transmit my current location to a satellite, every 10 minutes, and my progress will be recorded. You can track my progress on one of the following maps: (the map on 1 an 2 below will show properly once tracking starts and the last map, 3, will be set up shortly) Continue reading
Custom Trailstar inner / bug net: Under the Trailstar
In my previous post I showed my new inner net pitched on it’s own in garden. It was my intention to have a night out in the hills of Snowdonia last weekend, to try it out in anger, but for one reason or another that was not possible but I did spend a bit of time trying the inner in various positions under my Trailstar.
Snowdon at dawn from Moel Siabod
In my Trailstar I have tended to sleep with either my feet or my head by the door. If you look into the Trailstar from outside then my bed is on the left hand side if I am sleeping with my feet by the door and on the right hand side if I am sleeping with my head by the door. I tried the inner in these two positions and also across the back, opposite the door, which is another possibility.