27th March 2012

About 2 weeks to go to the trip and everything is in place. I am planning for the worst weather but I am obviously hoping for the best. Here is a review of the gear I will be taking:

Rab Latok Alpine e-vent shell

Rab Microlight down jacket (the one without the hood)

Icebreaker Merino wool 260 weight sweater

Arcteryx base layer AR-40

Patagonia trousers

Hot Chillies thermal long johns

Black Diamond Contour Elliptical aluminium trekking poles

Now let me start by saying that I really don’t care who the manufacturer of a garment is (perhaps I should). What I care about is the suitability of the garment(s) for the intended purpose. Now that I am getting older and suffer from less than perfect hips and lower back I need items that are lightweight as well as really good at what they do. They should pack small because I carry camera gear as well as all weather clothing and I can only lug around a camera backpack of limited volume (I use a LowePro).

For me, the ideal system is one of layers so that I can adapt the setup to just about any conditions. While I happen to be English I have lived in Colorado for the last 20 years. Colorado has dry air and the winters can be extremely cold and snowy with strong winds. I do a lot of my photography in England, Scotland and Iceland (how come I seem to like places like these) where the winters are cold but the air is moist and the winds are strong. The wind chill factor is greater in areas with moist air or it certainly feels that way. Of course, as I get older the cold bites ever more deeply into my weakening torso so the clothing really does get to be a topic of great interest and concern.

I recently tried out the 4 layer system of Arcteryx base layer, Icebreaker sweater, Rab down jacket and Rab shell on a not so cold (28F), snowy, breezy day in Colorado. The whole setup was warm – too warm when I started to walk uphill but I never worked hard enough to really sweat so the wickability of these garments remained untested at that point. The real test will probably occur on my trip to Assynt and Cape Wrath. I will be walking the windy coastlines and the even windier and maybe snow capped mountains of Assynt. My walks will vary from 2 miles to 10 miles – easy stuff for the hardy British hill walker.  I have surmised that staying dry and comfortable for 3 to 4 miles would likely allow me to stay dry for 8 miles or more in similar conditions. I'll post a photo of me looking stupid in my gear (maybe tomorrow?).