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[chunk]

if you were starting of from scratch now, but still knowing what you know.
what kit would you buy, £500-750 budget, to get everything you wanted, from knife-tent-sleeping bag-pack-cooking kit-clothing.

[chunk]

mines is
1)frost mora carbon steel, firesteel and sharpener
2)army surplus trousers, gortex suit, sun hat
3)north face under layers
4)artic thinsulate coat, in camo,(its great, light weight, waterproof and not too warm)
5)army surplus 45l pack
6)lowa combat boots
7)bivvy army surplus, sleeping bag cheap 4 season bag, decent matress
8)titanium pots, cups and kettle, knife fork spoon
9)multi fuel stove or turbo gas stove
10)big funds stretch for a 2nd hand shotgun/rifle combo

[suspectmonkey]

Oh no, not another army surplus fan

I'd probably stick with the gear I have now to be honest, but without buying the dud items along the way!  There are a couple of bits of gear I'd still like to add, and a few bits of gear that if I had the chance would change slightly.  But my ideal kit list within the budget would be something like:

Tent - Terra Nova Laser Comp
Sleeping Bag - Alpkit PD600
Sleeping Mat - Thermarest Ridgerest
Stove - JetBoil Flash
Rucksack - Golite Peak
Jacket - Paramo Velez Light
Trousers - Montane Terra Pants
Baselayers - Icebreak Merino
Boots/Shoes - Salomon Quest 4D and Inov8 Roclites

Would be a struggle to get all that kit for £500-750 though, but I generally wait to buy items on sale so I'm counting on getting some of that gear on serious discount!

[Dowser]

mines is
1)frost mora carbon steel, firesteel and sharpener
2)army surplus trousers, gortex suit, sun hat
3)north face under layers
4)artic thinsulate coat, in camo,(its great, light weight, waterproof and not too warm)
5)army surplus 45l pack
6)lowa combat boots
7)bivvy army surplus, sleeping bag cheap 4 season bag, decent matress
8)titanium pots, cups and kettle, knife fork spoon
9)multi fuel stove or turbo gas stove
10)big funds stretch for a 2nd hand shotgun/rifle combo

Couldn't agree with you more Chunk on the Army Issue gear as you will see from my kit list here: http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1382.0 

Army issue stuff has changed so much from what it used to be 10/15 years ago.  Nowdays it's so much lighter and better designed.  The only thing you might need to add to your list when wearing it here in Northern Ireland is a Kevlar Flak Jacket in case of a mistaken identity 

The next items I buy (and hopefully will be the last for a while) will be a fire steel and titanium knife, fork spoon set.  Up to now I've been using a Zippo because it was so wind-proof, and I was a smoker, but now that I've ditched the weed a fire steel is all I will need.  The problem with the Zippo was it run out of fuel quite quickly, though I recently found out that the Primus Power Fuel I carry for my Mutlifuel stove worked perfectly in it and therefore I did not need to carry seperate lighter fluid.

Other than the small additions above I wouldn't change anything.  Two very wet days on the Mourne Mountain Marathon was a very good test for my equipment and it all passed with flying colours 

[LennyJ1]

Dowser you really need a Ti Knife fork n Spoon?

Just buy a Ti Spork and use your other knife.

[suspectmonkey]

Dowser you really need a Ti Knife fork n Spoon?

Just buy a Ti Spork and use your other knife.

I quite like the look of the Sea to Summit sets.  Not Ti, but cheaper as a result and just as light if not lighter!  Think I might go for the spork/knife combo, although I still fancy a long handled spoon for digging the grub out of my JetBoil

[Dowser]

Dowser you really need a Ti Knife fork n Spoon?

Just buy a Ti Spork and use your other knife.

I quite like the look of the Sea to Summit sets.  Not Ti, but cheaper as a result and just as light if not lighter!  Think I might go for the spork/knife combo, although I still fancy a long handled spoon for digging the grub out of my JetBoil

Great find Suspect M'... I'm gonna get myself a set of these.  The cheapest I can find online is here: http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=171915&Referrer=froogle but by the time they stick P&P on your over £16.  Cotswolds would have been my first choice but from the website it looks like they only stock the Spork and Knife set and the Long handled spoon, not the Knife, Fork, Spoon set.  If only we knew somebody that worked there that could advise us otherwise (Chris) 

[suspectmonkey]

Great find Suspect M'... I'm gonna get myself a set of these.  The cheapest I can find online is here: http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=171915&Referrer=froogle but by the time they stick P&P on your over £16.  Cotswolds would have been my first choice but from the website it looks like they only stock the Spork and Knife set and the Long handled spoon, not the Knife, Fork, Spoon set.  If only we knew somebody that worked there that could advise us otherwise (Chris) 

It was the Cornmarket Cotswold I first spotted them in, and I'm nearly sure they had the knife/fork/spoon and spork/knife sets.  Cant remember the prices, but the spork/knife set seemed pretty good value for money (err, compared to Ti that is!).

[Matthew]

Alpkit also have a load of that stuff for sale, in fact its the same stuff just re-branded.

[LandyLiam]

£500-750 budget, to get everything you wanted, from knife-tent-sleeping bag-pack-cooking kit-clothing

Ah now Damian, you know what i would do with that amount, buy a Land Rover of course   

you can sleep in it (no need for a tent)
it keeps the rain off your head (no need for a coat)
you can drive to the chippy (no need for cooking gear and utensils)

and it'll still take you off into the wilderness although you'll have to go to Donegal to get the really wild tracks

[chunk]

i was tempted to make the budget £1750, just to include a landy, but wheres the adventure in that.
btw are you sure that land rovers keep you try, my sun roof used to leak, badly, so i sold them

[LandyLiam]

hmmm, you have a good point about the leaky sunroof, but it only affects the back seat passengers in mine 

but back to the topic 

i would spend most of that budget on
good coat (about £250)
good overtrousers (about £100)
good boots (about £150)
as long as i'm dry and warm i am happy 

and just about everything else i use is cheap shit   
tent £8 at car boot sale (ok i know i ended up buying a dearer one eventually)
trousers £10 peter storm
top £4 oxfam
cooker £15 gas screw on canister thing (i usually just bring sandwiches though)
pots £6 gelert aluminium ones
cutlery - borrowed from kitchen drawer
sleeping bag £20 gelert 400 XL (a hefty 2.7kg but toasty warm)
sleeping mat - £30 halfords velour one, bit heavy at 2kg but very comfy
rucksack £32 argos, lichfield 60+10

pack weight is about 15kg with waterproofs in it, i'm sure i will have it down to about 9kg by the mourne marathon next year

[666_pack]

great thread.
I'm finally happy with my kit after all these years. I love the progression of kit, you can get away with so much on a shoe string budget as long as you can stay dry and warm. Most of my kit is second hand as I love a bargin.......and it saves me scuffin the shit outta it to. I was totally into meths stoves ansd love to make my own as I got "free" fuel from work, but i may have finally converted to gas thanks to a stove i bought of suspect.

[whoRya]

I did a bit of googling SM's list and it was a bit scary.  If I let my wife see these prices then I may join this fella>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5OlolbLXvw

[666_pack]

as a  starter kit yes it dear but if you gradually up grade your kit one bit at a time it's not to bad.(i do think terra novas are overratted but those suckers are light).

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