Mourne Way - Jan 2012

[Mourneman]

Hey suspect,i'am meeting you guys at the campsite about 5-6,do you want me to bring you some cutlery?

[Spud]

Ahh Its happened, I knew it would....

I have succumb to the idea of steak for dinner tomorrow 

You know it makes sense....

[Kayakgirl]

Me too!!

[Craigy123]

Met office aint looking all that bad. Dry saturday then showers at night and the start of sunday...hmm pavking a tent in the rain, aint done that in a while. Packing my rucksac has made me decide I need to invest in some lighter weight kit. I'm haling 20kgs  However the revised mourne way only takes in one peak so maybe not too bad. I'm quite excited, aint done this in ages with a full pack. not looking forward to being awake at 6 on a saturday, Its normally bed time on a saturday lol. see you all in 12 hours!!

[Rumblebum]

im laughing  cus sooner  or later  somebody  was gonna weigh  their rucksac, you cracked  first  chris. im hauling around  16.

[Mourneman]

think that grid reference is a bit mixed up( 344/172),take it you's are camping near the fish pass at the stile,so i make that ( 28/7- 29/3 )on a 125.000 scale,be calling in with Mountain goat for some "CRAC"

[LennyJ1]

Mines 12kg

[BrianT]

Have a great time everyone over the week-end on the Mourne Way hopefully next time for me.I intend doing the walk in March in one long day hike for charity,any tips on state of route etc. welcome next week.

[Craigy123]

i dont see 20 as a bad thing...I see a perfectly valid excuse to spend more money 
Brian I'd be up for the one day hike if you want company. as long as it doesnt fall on the same day as the Moyle way hike. Why not give it a go in one day...26 miles over the antrim hills

[Dowser]

I'm haling 20kgs  However the revised mourne way only takes in one peak so maybe not too bad.

Hi Craigy123

I'm don't know your capabilities but 20kg sounds like an awful lot for this 26 mile hike.  Is there nothing you can remove to lighten your load?  Are you carrying water or taking from rivers when you need it?

I would be trying desperately to reduce the weight a bit and leave any non-essentials behind.  If you have a kit list handy we could have a look and possibly make some suggestions.

All my gear is Army Issue, and isn't renowned for being light weight, but I would have been aiming for around 10kg max if I was doing this trip.

[Spud]

My name is spud, and tonight I weighed my rucksack for the first time.... I didn't do anything like this before, but I fell in with a crowd on the Internet, and peer pressure got the better of me.... Ps it weighed 18 including water 
Roll on tomorrow!

[Craigy123]

Unfortunately my tent and sleeping bag are both quite heavy.
Tent
Sleeping bag
spare t shirt and dry socks
food 4 boil in bag meals
jet boil
750ml platypus
2l Platypus
ti knife, fork & spoon
head torch
all purpose soap....30ml

I know 20 is a lot, but I look back at the 4 day hikes Ive done and i'm sure I carried more in a crap rucksac.

[Dowser]

Unfortunately my tent and sleeping bag are both quite heavy.
Tent
Sleeping bag
spare t shirt and dry socks
food 4 boil in bag meals
jet boil
750ml platypus
2l Platypus
ti knife, fork & spoon
head torch
all purpose soap....30ml

I know 20 is a lot, but I look back at the 4 day hikes Ive done and i'm sure I carried more in a crap rucksac.

Sorry Craigy123, I got caught on the phone there 

Looking through your kit there really isn't a lot to leave behind.  I was expecting a couple of fire logs, a litre bottle of Scotch and a bag of Spuds 

Seems it is mainly your tent and sleeping bag that may be causing the additional weight so these might be the first items to consider replacing with lighter alternatives.

The only other thing are the Platypus, Platypuses, platypi... If you are carrying them full then they are going to be near 3kg alone.  If your not keen on drinking water straight from the rivers in the Mournes then possibly invest in some type of Travel Tap

I'm sure you'll have a great trip regardless of weight and if you want to ditch some gear for day two there's a chance I might be meeting up with you all on Saturday night, travelling by car, and staying over.

[Craigy123]

Its a 2 man tent, need to invest in a much smaller and lighter 1 man, thinking coleman cobra? any thoughts? My sleeping bag in a fairly heavy one and I am looking at replacing it. Stop talking me in to buying expensive kit Might ditch the 2ls of water and pick some up on route. I'll see how the first leg goes with the water in there.

Thoughts?
http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/index.cfm/product/rab-neutrino-400/fuseaction/products.detail/code/81410034/id_colour/157

[Dowser]

Its a 2 man tent, need to invest in a much smaller and lighter 1 man, thinking coleman cobra? any thoughts? My sleeping bag in a fairly heavy one and I am looking at replacing it. Stop talking me in to buying expensive kit Might ditch the 2ls of water and pick some up on route. I'll see how the first leg goes with the water in there.

I would definitely be taking the 2lt platypus empty and just filling as needed.  I have never purified in the Mournes in all my years and I'm still here to tell the tale.  There has been a few discussions about it though and everybody has their own thoughts.  You can get a chat with the guys and girls on Saturday and see what they suggest.

As for one man tents I can highly recommend the Gelert Solo. It's not an expensive tent, but it is excellent quality and extremely weather/wind proof.  It's only 1.5kg too but that can be reduced further if you replace the steel pegs that come with it to aluminum (Bought on ebay for about £2).  Drops the weight to about 1.3kg.

Again have a chat with them all on Saturday and I'm sure you will get recommendations for at least another three one man tents