OMM Rucksacks and lightweight outdoor gear.

OMM Rucksacks and Lightweight outdoor gear.

Two months away fro the blog - what is happening? Time does indeed fly quickly - apologies for the missing two months, I hope to pick things up again...

Inspired tonight by Dee Blick from the Marketing Gym who gave a talk to local businesses in Horsham on newsletters and blogging. I'm also inspired by these great new rucksacks I am stocking and thinking about why I didn't stock them before.

The great new products are OMM Rucksacks. OMM stands for Original Mountain Marathon and I think this is why I have shied away from the for I am no mountain marathoner. I have friends who are, but I can't even imagine myself walking a marathon let along running one over mountains. They are a special breed.

But, OMM Rucksacks are amazing, lightweight and tough. They can be made lighter by stripping out everything you don't think you need, the parts that make is comfortable, because, lets face it, if you are tough enough to do a mountain marathon then you don't need to worry too much about comfort.

I've just been playing with an OMM Villain 45 and now desperately want to go out on a weekend trek and try it out. The OMM Villain 45 only weighs around 1100g. I'm going to set myself a challenge and see how light I can make a rucksack fully packed for an overnight expedition. (using my own clothing as I don't sell any yet!).

Check back in a couple of weeks and I'll let you know how I have gotten on. Do you have a piece of lightweight outdoor gear that you recommend?

Lightweight Outdoor Gear

Lightweight or even Ultralight Outdoor Gear.

Am I foolish, traditional or a fantasist?

Foolish because most of my outdoor gear errs on the heavy side? Am I traditional because I want rugged gear, three layer Gore Tex waterproof jackets, leather boots, backpacks with lots of buckles and clips? Or a fantasist because I buy rugged gear so it will last me a season mountaineering in the alps or at the very least a couple of years of walking and scrambling every weekend in Snowdonia or the Lake District National Park?

The reality is, I go walking a few times each month, mostly local, mostly on the South Downs. Now rugged they me be in their own hilly way, it's not quite as demanding as a mountain. I get to the mountains a few times each year, and as for the Alps - perhaps once every two years and likely that is for skiing.

My kit consists of a Berghaus three layer Gare Tex jacket, Han Wag Lima Gore full grain leather walking boots, Vaude Triset 35+8 daypack, Craghopper Kiwi Cargo walking trousers, Source Widepack 3 litre and arious other items of outdoor paraphernalia, almost forgot to mention my nod towards lightweight items, Berghaus Paclite over trousers and my new walking boots - see previous blogs. Pretty much all of this is available in a pared down version. I can get a paclite jacket, a Vaude Triset Ultralight daypack, lightweight walking boots - if I was really going for it, I could get carbon fibre trekking poles.

As I age gracefully on the hills (37 is graceful), I feel my knees aching and I see 70 year olds striding off into the distance, I want to be like them. I need to start getting serious about lightweight gear, just to allow to keep aging gracefully on the hills and not end up retiring to walking around the Lake District Villages and Lakes. It is time to embrace the lightweight way.

The lightweight way has becoming much much stronger over the last ten years or so, quality gear, not too bad prices and even an element of style (though some would argue if this is needed on the hills - traditionalists?). A moment I feel started by Ray Jardin and his company Go Lite. So, more lightweight outdoor gear is a must, Walk and Travel are stocking more and more each season. I'll keep those knees in shape and not load them too much.

What am I then? Fool, Traditionalist or Fantasist? A little bit of all I think. Time to move on. Embrace the new lightweight outdoor gear culture.