Colin Ibbottson - one of the UK's most high profile ultralight hikers - chose to tackle the 2008 TGO Challenge with his lightest kit selection yet. Here - in the first of two contributions - Colin talks about how his kit performed through a two week walk across the Scotland Highlands.

Colin, how did the kit selection go?

First off let me say that this year was not a fair test for Ultra-light gear on the Challenge. We all had amazing weather with generally hot sunny days, light winds and unbelievably I only remember it raining for about three hours in total! I doubt weather like that will be seen again for a while. Having said that, clear skies mean cold nights and it certainly dropped well below 0C more than once with my lowest of -5C (3C lower than last year) so my cold weather gear was certainly well tested

So, do you think that the ultralight selection would have coped with more typical Challenge weather?

Well yes I think so, most of my kit performed above my expectations with one or two exceptions. I'm not 'loyal' to any one manufactuer I'm just interested in the best kit for the lightest weight.

So, tell me about the pack.

The Pack is a Mountain Laurel Prophet Rucksack which weighs 178 grams.

This is a basic pack with few features. Some people thought it looked like a stuff sac with straps and while not quite that basic it could certainly be described as minimalist. Capacity of the main pack is around 40ltrs and that was easily big enough for all my kit with four days food. The only real feature of note is the front mesh pocket that extends round both sides of the pack. In this pocket I kept the tarp along with a few small items that I might need during the day. I found this pocket barely large enough, certainly fitting in my small 500ml water bottle was so difficult that I gave up after a while and kept that in the main pack.

Materials used are Silnylon and Spinnaker. I was concerned if Spinnaker would actually be robust enough for a pack suitable for the Challenge but these concerns have been totally unfounded. Spinnaker is used only in low stress areas with the rest being Silnylon. I strengthen the seams from new with the supplied Silicon sealant and the pack still shows absolutely no signs of wear. Of course you need to be careful with a pack like this, keep the weight carried low and don¡¯t let it rub against rocks and the like. I always roll up my sleeping mat inside to stop anything in the pack rubbing the material and to also make a simple padded back. ML supplies the pack with a basic chest and waist strap but I found these both unnecessary with the weight I was carrying. The pack is made in three different sizes depending on your height and while it¡¯s impossible for me to comment on how comfortable any pack is, after all we are all different but I certainly found it very comfortable. I particularly like the freedom of being able to quickly carry a belt less pack over one shoulder when walking on easier terrain.

Star Rating: 8

I also used a Sea to Summit Pack Liner that weighed 29 grams.

My sleeping bag was stored in the ML eVent bivi when in the pack while my down jacket/trousers lived in this pack liner kept at the top of my pack. This liner is available in many different sizes, they are totally waterproof and have a simple roll over closure system that is again waterproof. It performed exactly as advertised and cannot be improved. My only doubt is with the durability of the material particularly around the rollover closure system which only time will tell.

Star Rating: 9

OK, now what about the shelter?

My tarp was an a Cuben Tarp made by Team io and which weighed 156 grams.

This tarp is light, pitches quickly and is very taught, doesn't stretch much when wet, is reasonably priced, was built to my specification, is a good conversation starter and is made in the UK. Of course all this is worthless if it doesn't perform and unfortunately I've had problems with this tarp!

All the guying points are starting to come unattached from the Cuban fibre caused by the simple fact that the stitching has not been tied off properly. Constant pressure on these guying points has loosened the stitching. I did apply Silicon to all stitched areas from new to try and stop this but this has proved inadequate. This should not have happened and is a problem with how the tarp has been manufactured and not the materials used.

I'm first to admit that I like my tarps drum tight. Anything that's not tight will flap, sag and generally irritate me! Getting this tarp taught is very easy but does need a fair bit of pressure on all the guying points. The front/rear ridge guying points take the most strain and this is where the major problem with this tarp has occurred. The stitching for the front guying point is pulling its way through the Cuben fibre and is now at a point where I think the strength of this guying point is seriously compromised. The tarp has been strengthened at all guying points by an extra layer of Cuben fibre bonded to the main tarp. This appears to be insufficient for the front/rear guying points which could certainly do with at least another layer to help take the strain. I will pass my comments on to the tarp manufacturer to see if improvements can be made.

Cuben fibre is quite a new material to me and from my tests with the two Cuben tarps I own I¡¯m not yet convinced that it is a suitable material for something like the Challenge. In winds like we had last year I have my doubts that this tarp would have survived. I did mention my reservations about the material before setting off and that was the main reason for taking the fully waterproof ML eVent bivi bag.

The design was basic with a ridge line length of 8ft, front width of 7ft tapering to around 4ft at the rear, this provided plenty of space and protection but would have been a little short if I had not been using the waterproof bivi bag. I had ten guying points fitted to help spread and loads caused by high winds and I think on a tarp this size that was about right.

Star Rating 5

Although you had problems with this tarp do you think that tarps are a good choice for a hike like The Challenge?

I was happy with my choice of a tarp over a tent for the Challenge and will almost certainly take another next year. Would I take a Cuben fibre one again? Probably not! I would like to try one from a well established gear manufacturer such as ML but his Cuben fibre tarps are not that cheap. Another option would be to take a tough but heavier Silnylon tarp with a lighter water resistant bivi bag for about the same weight.

What about tarp accesories?

I used 1.5mm Dyneema guylines with line-locs fitted on all ten guying points. Dyneema is a superb material for guy-lines being very light but also incredibly strong and having little stretch. The line-locs never once slipped and were always easy and quick to adjust. You can get this from Team IO and also I think it¡¯s the same stuff Bob at Backpackinglight.co.uk stocks

Start Rating 9

I also took a front pole 'load sharer' which weighed 11 grams. This was needed because of the thin carbon fibre walking poles I was using. I found during testing before the Challenge that in strong winds the front pole could bend quite alarmingly in strong winds. My solution was to use both poles up front and link them together with two aluminium tubes (cut from old tent poles) held together with elastic. This contraption then slips over the top of both walking poles and rests on the baskets, the guy line is simply wrapped round the centre of the tubes. It worked very well and the double pole setup has proven to be flex free. Of course if you use standard walking poles then this device would not be needed.

Star Rating 9

I also used a rear fibre pole, a carbon kit supplied for Mountain Laurel tarps. Not much to say as it worked trouble free. The pole has a nice ribbed surface so guy lines grip very easily

Star Rating 9

I carried a variety of pegs weighing 77 grams. There were 11 pegs:

3* Vargo lightweight titanium (2 for the rear tarp corners & 1 spare). Rating 7
4* Terra Nova carbon (side centre four guying points). Rating 7
4* Aluminium stakes (for the ridgeline guys & front tarp corners). Rating 8

Scotland's ground is often very soft and waterlogged so a thin peg will have problems holding, therefore I like a thick peg in all high stress areas.

The Aluminium stakes used for the ridge guys and front corners came with my Tarptent and have proven to be un-bendable! You can hammer these things into even the toughest ground if necessary yet they will also grip in the softest boggy ground. The heads are bonded and have a habit of coming off so I have used Araldite on all mine and have had no problems since. Weight is only10g each.

The carbon pegs are fine in low stress areas but will break if abused, because of that I only use them for the side centre guying points. Again quite a thick peg which is why I prefer them over a similar weight titanium peg and being brightly coloured they are hard to loose. Weight is 4-5g each.

The Vargo titanium pegs are quite light at 6-7g each, very strong and resist bending well. Unfortunately they are thin so grip is compromised and being a grey colour they are very easy to loose.

The spare titanium peg is used as a pot stand for the stove.

I stored all of the pegs in the simple silnylon bag as supplied with my Tarptent. Not that strong but otherwise near perfect.

You took a custom designed bivy with you; I'm keen to know how that worked

The bivy was a Mountain Soul Bivy made from eVent fabric weighing 304 grams.

I wanted a backup shelter should the tarp let me down so my bivi had to be fully waterproof. The problem with all these waterproof bivies is condensation, using this type of bivi for a night or two in the UK is fine but after that it usually starts to get uncomfortable as the effects of condensation builds day after day. To minimise condensation I wanted to try a bivi made from eVent and it had to be light. ML makes by far the lightest eVent bivies that I know of. ML make two bivi suitable and I finally picked the Soul because of the built in bug netting which the Alpine lacked. Both these bivies are kept so light by the simple design and by using 2 layer eVent.

The problem with the 2 layer eVent is that the membrane has no protection on the inside therefore you have to be careful never to put anything in the bivi that could possibly damage the membrane. Even something like a zip on a sleeping bag could quite possibly damage the eVent should it snag, I don't use zipped bags so that wasn't a problem for me but others will. The main advantage of eVent is of course its breathability and in that respect this bivi is incredible, way, way better than any other I have ever used. I would say it's very nearly as good as my Pertex water resistant bivi. That doesn't mean I had no condensation because I did but this was light and mainly around the foot area which I think had more to do with the plastic bubble wrap insulation I used under my legs than the bivi itself. The amount of condensation was never enough to affect the performance of my down bag and all that was needed was ten minutes or so airing everyday to dry it.

Being an American design the bivi is quite generously sized and certainly much wider than you might expect for something so light and this width certainly didn't help the condensation problem. Condensation formed quite readily on any exposed non-breathable Silnylon base material as you would expect and unfortunately because the bivi was so wide this base extends quite far up the sides and could easily come into contact with your bag. I solved this before the Challenge by narrowing the base only, to just larger than my sleeping mat therefore reducing the possibility of any contact with my down bag. On the Challenge this modification worked really well so if you are thinking of getting one I would recommend getting Ron to do this for you. The zip used is a waterproof one which is also protected by a storm flap.

Overall I really like this bivi but think that the Alpine would be a better option if you wanted to use it regularly without a tarp, just because the zip is much better protected from our UK rain.

Star Rating 8

Kit Part 2

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