Field Report

Personal Bio

Name: George Griffin
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 7" (1.7 m)
Weight: 223 lb (101 kg)
Email: griffin42 (at) tiscali (dot) co (dot) uk
City: London U.K
Date: 04 October 2005

Backpacking Background

I have been backpacking since 1986, mainly in the Peak District, Lake District, Wales and Southern England. I am also the London liaison member for the Backpackers Club. In recent years I have backpacked with two friends. Most of my trips are from September through to May, I normally get four 4+ day trips in that time, plus the occasional weekend.

Terrain and elevation on these trips can be anything from coastal paths to mountains, sea level to 3,000 ft (900 m). Temperatures range from -5 C to 23 C (23 F to 75 F).

Product Information

Author: Rick Allnutt MD
Published: 2005
Website: Wayah Press
Price: $11.95 + $2.95 postage & handling
Size: 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 x 5/16 in (14 x 22 x 1 cm)
Weight: 6.17 oz (175 g)
Type of book: Perfect bound paperback

The book in practice

In the time since I received the book, I have been trying to assimilate some of the information into my hiking.

One of the biggest issues is fitness. I can't say that I`ve ever been totally fit, I smoked up until I was 25 (after starting at an early age!) and after stopping, I put on some weight. When I was backpacking two or three times a month, the weight was never a problem because I was maintaining a good fitness level. Now I only get out once a month or less depending on the time of year, I find that the fitness can be a problem and also the extra weight.

This is one area where Rick says we can start by losing a few pounds before the start of a hike. Although he doesn't give any information about achieving this (most of us know the way to go about it). In the last two months I've managed to shed 3.6 kg (8 lb). As Rick says "the lower the starting weight the less strain the body has to take."

Another of Rick's ideas is his medication 'cocktail'. If you wish to know what it is, you'll have to buy the book :). The first part of this 'cocktail'; I`ve been using for a few years for other ailments but the second part was new to me. I'd never heard of them and happened to mention them to my mother who it seems has been taking them for a number of years for the ailments that Rick describes in the book.

I`ve been taking the second part of the 'cocktail' for the past six weeks or so and I think that they have been helping, although Rick does recommend to up the dose before hikes and again when actually hiking.

The Stress and Fear Factors

Personally I don't have any great fears when off backpacking, although I do have a couple of things that worry me and can cause some stress. Wild animals don't present a great threat in the U.K, the biggest thing to worry about are probably foxes or badgers sniffing around the tent at night.

One of my biggest worries is the lack of water. I nearly always carry 51-68 fl oz (1½-2 litres) of water when walking and most of the time this is more than enough. The worry always comes when wild camping, will I be able to find water? To be honest, I`ve never had a problem finding water but it always stresses me and I find that letting this fear go is very difficult. The other problem is the actual act of wild camping, all land in the U.K. is owned by someone and as such permission should be sought to camp on the land. In reality, this is nearly impossible to do when in remote areas like the Lake District, Wales and Scotland; so wild camping is tolerated as long as you are above 450 m (1500 ft) and don't put up a tent too early and are away early next morning. I`ve always been nervous about this type of camping.

These are two examples that cause me stress when out and about. In the book Rick tries to convey ways to combat these, one way he puts this across is to learn about one's self and also learn to adapt to the situations.

I see myself as a pretty experienced backpacker and as such think and feel that in most situations I would be able to cope. In the book Rick gives ways to work through these and some of the ideas I don`t think I would have thought of.

The One Best Idea

A 15 lb (6.8 kg) pack, this is only something I can dream of. In my Initial report, I have a table comparing Rick's big four with mine and after reading the book a few more times I`m intrigued as to how he gets the weight so light. My lightest pack is a homemade G4 which weighs in at 1 lb (454 g) which is 8 oz (227 g) over the weight of Rick's. I can see that the hammock system saves a whole 2 lb (900 g) but unfortunately a hammock isn`t practical in the U.K. Although this book isn't a "how-to" or "what's the best equipment to use" book it would have been nice to have a more detailed list of the equipment.

Looking at my own equipment, I don't think I could ever get down to the 15 lb (6.8 kg) that Rick has, mainly because I`m a tent user and the lightest tent I can think of is the Saunders Jetpacker which is a very small ridge tent which weighs about 3.3 lb (1.5 kg). I could probably save weight in my cooking and sleeping equipment. I usually take two small cook pots mainly for convenience because once I'm set-up and in my tent I don't want to get out to wash a pot so I can have a brew.

Continued Testing

It seems from reading the book that backpacking needs a mental approach as well as a physical one, which I`ve never thought about before reading this book.

I will continue to use the book as a source for inspiration and ideas to try and make my backpacking a more enjoyable experience, not that it isn't now. I will also look to see if it can help me towards my goal of starting and completing a longer multi-day 190 mile (306 km) backpacking trip.

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