UKC

Ok, I've got £500 to spend on any piece of new kit (this is not theoretical but a rare opportunity

I mainly hill walk and camp (wild camping if I must use that phrase)

My climbing is mainly indoors so required kit for that is small and sorted.

What would you spend the money on? Looking for ideas here! Some practical or kinda practical but mainly flash?

I already have two good lightweight tents that do for 3 season camping (Vaude Taurus UL and a Tarptent)

I have two good sleeping bags (Mountain Equipment) that do well for Spring and Autumn camping but are too bulky / warm for summer camping.

I don't really winter camp as the nights are so long but have been thinking of getting into it (as my smart phone can stave off boredom with ebooks and music), so a sleeping bag or tent for that? Maybe the tent as then I could be less restricted by the possibility of storms any time of the year?

Or maybe a good quality bivi bag?

Or a new backpack as my Golite Quest is showing initial signs of wear (great bag by the way)

A GPS watch that will give me a OS ref? Maybe in the voice of David Attenborough (so reassuring)

An ultralight grapheme stove?

In reply to Flinticus:

Don't you camp with your dog? The bivi bag seems redundant if that's the case.

If there's nothing you really feel you're missing I'd stash it somewhere safe so you can replace something you really would miss when it wears out or gets damaged rather than splashing it on something flash.
jk

In reply to Flinticus:

Jetboil miniMO - £72 go outdoors
Vango banshee 200 - £70 go outdoors
Thermarest neoair-£85


Really pleased with OEX 70+10 backpack. Really solid! Got it for £45. Go outdoors.

Basically this is all my gear!
Have fun, sure you'll get some excellent suggestions

In reply to Flinticus:

A lightweight stove, good quality multitool or knife, solar charger perhaps? Solid quality pair of zamberlan Nordic sole walking boots, hammock tent thingy, titanium cookware, über quality merino socks, top notch thermarest, super technical headlight, camping axe, water filter....

Could probably get most of that and have change for a beer with £500, if you shop around.

In reply to Flinticus:

Had £500 to spend last year and bought,

Osprey Aether 70l
6 various sized dry bags
Esbit pan set
Icebreaker glove liners.....

Struggling to remember what i did with the rest.......oh hang on. Whisky!

In reply to Flinticus:

£500 cash?

I'd spend the money on flights and accommodation.

If it was a voucher I'd sell it at a bit of a loss and use the cash to pay for flights and accommodation.

In reply to Flinticus:

A Black Diamond Moji charging station/lantern at £70.

Bought one earlier this year and thought "my, that's a bit expensive". Now I wonder how I ever did without it when pitching the tent in the dark, sitting around, running out of juice for stuff.......

Plus you have £430 for other goodies

In reply to Flinticus:

must say I find it kind of strange to be wanting to spend money just for the sake of spending money. As others have (wisely) suggested, why not spend the money on travel to somewhere nice, as it sounds like you have everything you need. More possessions or an amazing experience? I know which one I would go for

In reply to Morty:

Brilliant

In reply to GarethSL:



Good suggestions but
recently stored up on a load of Foxriver socks (with 50% discount),
got good boots, ti mini solo cooking pot (had it for years but its great and showing no wear),
a Synmat UL 7
Lenser head torch

Never used a water filter as I operate in the land of pure brilliant water

However you remind me I have always fancied a good axe!! Even got a saved webpage on my phone...drool

In reply to Morty:

No good: I got my dog and that's that.

Otherwise I'd have already jumped on that plane.

In reply to jkarran:



Right about the dog but I could maybe bivi with her in a hurtta jacket?? Anyone do this?


Yeah, but that's boring and this is a once-off opportunity. All my kit (bar the tents & sleeping bags), I could replace most of the time anyway.

In reply to Flinticus:


In that case I'd consider spending it on crack and hookers.

Obviously, I'm not suggesting you let the dog watch.

In reply to jsmcfarland:

I go amazing places already (Scotland) without flying or spending much on travel. While I'd love to explore the US, Canada, etc. its not an option open to me without sacrificing more than its worth. Also when my last dog died, I learned the true benefit of camping & hiking with him, i.e. its largely a pointless and joyless exercise in comparison. Once I'd gone wild with the dog, there's no going back. No view compensates for the lack of his company. And now the same goes for Kelp, my new dog.

Its not for the sake of spending money, its for the sake of opening up opportunities with kit that allows me to go colder / higher / further.

In reply to Morty:

You getting me mixed up with Craig Charles?

A trip to Skye or the Alps

In reply to Flinticus:

If you can't think of anything that you need either bank it until you identify a genuine need or blow it on a decent climbing or walking trip.

In reply to Father Noel Furlong:

Whisky!

Finished my only bottle (bought in Feb so not drunk Father Jack Style). Never spend much, about £20-25. Might get a nice Talisker, push the boat out to £40

So far then:
Axe
Whisky

I like the theme that's emerging

In reply to Flinticus:
So far, my total 2016 gear expenses list comes to €9 for a German kitchen knife. (Weighs 55 grams, including hard plastic cover for the blade, replaces my almost-400-gram leatherman and cuts better). On top of that, I plan to buy a guide book or two. I'd save the 500 and use it next winter for ski-passes.

EDIT: I do rather have a taste for Talisker... oh... and I could use a nice walking axe - been "hiring" one from the DAV for three-euro-a-day, which is for nothing, but the DAV axes are the very definition of clunky. Verdict: buy a good axe and a bottle of Talisker and save the rest for ski-passes.

In reply to Flinticus:



Hard spirit and a potential weapon. What could possibly go wrong?

In reply to Morty:


Or just car fuel and accommodation. If I had that kind of money to spend on hill stuff I might well treat myself to a few nights in a nice Highland hotel as a base camp rather than the endless daytrips or roughing it / dossing. Maybe it's a getting-older thing - I recently picked up a Cumbrian hill friend who was having a few nights at the Bridge of Lochay Hotel in Killin, and it looked really cosy. For the first time I can remember, I found myself thinking that a couple of off-season nights there in good weather would be a bit of a treat, even though it's well within daytrip range of where live in Stirling. Other establishments further north will be just as nice no doubt. That's what I'd spend it on, anyway, rather than on yet more socks and wicking items etc.

In reply to Flinticus:

http://veilance.arcteryx.com/product.aspx?language=EN&gender=mens&c...

Definitely worth it.

In reply to ChrisH89:

F**k, and its boring & ugly

In reply to Flinticus:

I have more than enough stuff. If I had £500 to play with, I'd spend it doing something, rather than buying more stuff. My partner once bought me a day with Mike Lates in the Cuillins (for much less than £500 I should add). It was far more memorable than any nice shiny kit I could have bought for the same money (not least because we went along Collie's Ledge, and every time I watch Danny McAskill's 'The Ridge', my heart's in my mouth when he's riding the bits we were were roped up on.

In reply to Flinticus:

For £500 you must be able to get yourself some sort of canoe to allow you (and yer dug) to explore more remote areas for wild camping - all those lochs you can cross, those gentle rivers to go down, or along some rugged coastline

Or a bike, with panniers, to allow access along long tracks into the hills etc.

Don't just restrict yourself with replacing what you already have, see what new opporchancities the money can open for you.

In reply to Pids:

Canoe/kayak sounds like a brilliant idea and has reminded me I should recover the canoes from my parents garage before they get annoyed and give them away.
The only irritating thing is that I haven't got a roof rack for my new car so I'd have to sort that out first.

In reply to Flinticus:

I bought an OMM Mountain Raid 1.6 as my 1-season sleeping bag. 450g weight, and packs down tiny. Perfect for hot weather, and if you are happy to sleep in clothing - can be bumped up to mild weather.
I also use this as my "inner" for winter camping. So basically I take my 3 season bag, put this 1 season bag inside and voila - 4 seasons! (well just about, I still wear clothes inside usually if camping high).

Don't know which tarptent you have, but there are people who use Moment DW / Scarp in winter.

If you do want to winter camp, definitely need to get a good mat. I have a Thermarest NeoAir thingy, but I find it's a bit too cold. Since last winter I've also bought an additional foam mat to go underneath that will hopefully increase its warmth, but no hard data as to whether it will.

In reply to Flinticus:

a really good compact camera, like this
https://www.parkcameras.com/p/6013536C/compact-cameras/ricoh/gr

In reply to SenzuBean:

Thanks. Good ideas there. Esp need a warm mat for those nights.

Previously have spent nights on the wrong side of sleep due to loss of warmth to ground.

In reply to Flinticus:

Get a buffalo.

In reply to Flinticus:
It seems to me that you have everything you need and spending £500 on gear is just that a shopping spree for the sake of spending the money.

If it was me I would bank the money until I desperately need to replace something. I'm one of those people who uses kit for year after year after year before I replace it. I am not interested in marginal gains from my equipment. Hence why I am still running round in a pair of 14 year old salopettes for winter climbing and 14 year old B3 climbing boots. I will replace them when they fail me (They are nearly at the point of next home being the bin for both of them but 14 years of service is good going).

If that money was mine I would be using it to fund a trip somewhere instead of buying gear.


Having said the above, I like the idea others have put forward about using the money to find new opportunities. I canoe and love canoe camping as much as camping in the mountains. You could do a week long Canoe course for that money learning solo paddle techniques? maybe put it towards a lightweight pack raft to allow you to explore new place and lochs and new wild camping areas?

In reply to Flinticus:

Exped Downmat 7 or 9 short length, and a PHD down bag of your light/warmth requirements.

In reply to bouldery bits:


Are you mad? He has a dog... buffalos weight half a tonne and have big pointy things on their head which could pop his thermarest.

Ps could possibly be stretching the budget too!

In reply to Alan M:

Well I never replace kit unless it has worn out or there is a major improvement in functionality. My boots are used till the soles wear down.

However I am attracted to 4 season camping if the boredom issue is solved. Which my phone might help with. I quite like being in a tent and more so when it's raging outside.

In reply to Alan M:

I like the canoe idea too. Sadly I have nowhere to store one, living in a flat and only occasionally having use of a car.

However I will give it some thought.

In reply to Flinticus:

A Pulk. So that when doggy gets older you can still enjoy the outdoors for longer?

In reply to Dave the Rave:

With Kelp only 7 months old, that's 10 years or more away. Will we still have winters then? Will there still be civilisation?

In reply to Flinticus:

Some of the inflatable canoes available are excellent (not the cheapo ones). A Gumotex Palava for example. You can carry it on your back easily too, opening up other opportunities.

Wild camping by canoe is just so good, you can carry those little extras to make the evenings more comfortable. And proper food and drink. I may be somewhat biased, being a canoe obsessive these days, but spending £500 on a completely new but complementary outdoor activity seems better use of a windfall than just upgrading kit you already have. Go on, you know you want to....

In reply to Mal Grey:
Stay away from the inflatables, they handle like riding a big jelly fish, are wind sensitive and slooooow.

Foldable canoes in contrast are great! Check out Pakboats or Ally for canoes, or Nortik or Feathercraft for Kayaks.

CB

edit: forgot heavy, a good foldable will be lighter, too!

In reply to cb294:

I have an Ally 15' folder, and its excellent, a proper canoe when assembled. However, its somewhat more expensive than £500, even second hand.

I agree that many inflatables are rubbish, but some are different beasts, including the said Palava. I know of people who've done serious expeditioning in Scandinavia using them, both on open water and tight, rocky, whitewater. The Palava actually weighs just under what my Ally 15' weighs (17.5kg v my 18-20kg depending on solo or tandem seating). It catches the wind more than a "hard" canoe, but so does the Ally, a large factor of which is the low weight. Learn to paddle them well, trim them properly etc depending on wind direction, and they have a genuine place in the paddlers' armoury. I agree that cheaper inflatables are exactly as you describe, and would have agreed with you entirely were it not for time spent paddling borrowed Palavas in the last year or so. The biggest disadvantage of the Palava over my Ally folder is the lower capacity for camping gear, but this wouldn't be a problem solo.

Sorry, getting off topic!

Another "different" angle you could take is to kit yourself out with what I guess would be thought of as bushcraft kit, for comfortable camps all year round - fireboxes, axes, skillets, dutch ovens, big tarps, poles, tripods, etc, etc.

In reply to Mal Grey:
Inflatables such as the Palava are great for whitewater, where it does not matter that they handle more like rafts than boats, and where the fact that they are virtually indestructible (or if worst comes to worst, at least easy to repair) is a huge advantage.
Paddling one across a large lake or sea loch in even moderate winds is a total pain, though.

CB

edit: my comparison is a Palava against a 17 foot, flat keeled Pakboats folder and various folding kayaks (Nortik Argo being my current favourite as Feathercraft is way out of my price range, even used).