This will seem bone-headed, but the secret of ultralight backpacking is to take as little as possible. The second secret is to make sure that as much of what you have to take has as many uses as possible. Oh, and allow yourself one little luxury otherwise you’ll go mad….

When I recently walked the first 150 miles of England’s south west coast path I learnt a lot about the equipment you should take, what you shouldn’t take, and what I really wished I’d brought along. The equipment list below is what I ended up with at the end of the walk. When I tallied everything up I was stunned to discover that I’d slimmed my pack weight down to 8kg. Believe me, when it’s howling with rain and you’re cold and tired, every gramme (or ounce, if you prefer) counts far more than you’d imagine.

The stuff on the list below is what I’ll be taking along with me as I progressively walk the remaining 480 miles of the path. It’ll also serve as the basis for any long trek you might wish to undertake but you’ll obviously have to allow for the weather conditions you’ll likely encounter along your route. England may be wet but at least it’s consistently so, and it never really gets too hot or cold in the summer months.

Below the list is a series of links to more detailed reviews and analysis of the equipment. Some of it can bought via Amazon – if it can then I’ve included a link to the relevant page (Amazon is often the cheapest and they also bung me a few percent of the purchase price so that’s why I’m linking to them).

To Wear

- Bouldering trousers – cotton, made by Moon

- Woolen hiking Socks

- Brasher Trekmaster GTX boots

- Merino undies (Icebreaker)

- Merino T-Shirt 150 weight (Icebreaker)

Rucksack

- Jirishanca made by OMM (Original Mountain Marathon) 35litre rucksack (weighs 1040g).

Spare Clothes

- 1 pair hiking socks

- 1 pair merino undies (Icebreaker)

- 1 merino baselayer 260 weight (Icebreaker)

- 1 pair shorts (could have been lighter!)

All washed as went along

- Rab Drillium eVent Trousers

- Paramo lightweight waterproof belay-style jacket

Niknacks

- Lumix digital camera

- Solar panel (Powerfilm lightweight AA battery charger)

- Leki walking pole (used only once)

- Garmin Oregon 450t GPS – absolute essential

- Swiss army knife (the one with scissors and tin can opener)

- Sunscreen plus lip sunscreen

- Glasses and a lightweight case

- Spare contact lenses

- Collins Gem guide to flowers and plants (didn’t use!)

- Petzl head torch

- Steripen UV water steriliser (invaluable and saves lugging kilos of water around) 

- Oakley sunglasses in lightweight case

- Sony Reader PRS505 (eBook reader) – saved kilos by not having to carry books.

- iGo AA charger for charging iPhone and Sony Reader

- First aid kit (plasters, 1 bandage, paracetamol and hayfever tabs.)

Camping

- Vaude Power Lizard ultralight tent (1kg)

- Thermarest NeoAir mattress (400g)

- Vaude Featherlight 3 season sleeping bag (750g) – a bit too warmin summer - so switched to a Yeti Passion One bag (265g)

Cooking

- Snow Peak titanium cookset (950mls pan)

- MSR PocketRocket

- Gas canister (200g)

- Spork

- MSR Mugmate coffee filter (my luxury)

- Titanium plate/bowl

- 1 packet of noodles

- Miso for noodle soup etc

- Trek 'N' Eat instant meal (lentil stew etc). Gorgeous!

- Tea (tiny pot)

- Coffee (1/4 bag)

- Olive oil (small amount in a plastic HP sauce bottle)

- Salt/pepper/chili in a “Light My Fire” container – only the salt was used

- Muesli (next time I'll switch to porridge)

- Honey and desiccated coconut/ground almonds for porridge

- Soya milk powder

- Dried fruit juice

- Nuts

Washing etc

- Hand soap in a box

- Lifeventure lightweight towel

- Toothbrush and paste (1/2 empty tube to save weight!)

- Wet Ones

- Dental floss (not used)

- Razor and shaving cream (can easily do without)

- Contact lens solutions

- Shampoo and conditioner (in small plastic pots).

- Hair gel

Detailed Product Reviews

Rab Drillium eVent Trousers

OMM Jirishanca 35 litre rucksack 

Powerfilm solar AA battery charger

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