Those of you who are itching to get out there and start the PW will have been anxiously waiting for me to share my clothing tips for the expedition. So here goes. Alternatively if you subscribe to the view that just as patriotism is the last resort of the scoundrel, so lists are the last resort of the bankrupt blogger, you may skip this bit.
My general philosophy concerning outdoor clothing is straightforward: just buy the most expensive. Designer labels have not yet infiltrated the outdoor clothing market, so value is broadly proportional to cost as prices are not distorted by brand premiums. Since significant advances are still being made in outdoor clothing technology, higher cost normally translates into better performance. It is axiomatic that the most important piece of equipment for the walker is a decent pair of boots. Nevertheless, many people take the view that nowhere in England really necessitates boots and that less damage is done to the environment by walking in lighter footwear. My fossil friend is undertaking the PW in trainers following the advice in his guidebook, but regrets the decision in view of the exceptionally wet ground following months of incessant rain. My own footwear is a pair of well-used leather boots made by Berghaus. For socks I favour Bridgedale, and couple a thin inner pair with a well-padded outer pair. Protected by Gortex gaiters, this combination of socks and boots has kept my feet dry in all but the most penetrating downpours.
I'm very sensitive to sun so while many walkers favour shorts I always wear trousers. For this trip, I have used only Arc'teryx trousers. They are thin enough to be cool in summer and dry so quickly that there is no need for waterproof overtrousers. I wear a Craghoppers shirt, with a high collar to protect my neck from the sun, over a Berghaus Argentium T-shirt which supposedly neutralises sweat related odours, but it has never been put to the test since I rinse it each evening and it dries in a few hours, ready for wear by the morning. My midlayer is a very thin windproof Mountain Equipment garment, halfway between a shirt and a fleece. It's invaluable on winter mornings walking to the Tube as it disappears unobtrusively into my computer bag as soon as I reach the warmth of the station, but so far on the PW it has stayed in my rucksack. My most recent acquisition is a multi-pocket waistcoat made by Paramo. I like to support Paramo as their products are excellent and they are manufactured by a women's cooperative in Colombia. The waistcoat is lightweight and has a plethora of useful pockets (I found a new one yesterday after wearing it for a week) including one large enough for an OS map and a concealed compartment for documents such as passports. I have a heavy duty Arc'teryx cagoul but for summer on the PW a Gortex Paclite Shell by Berghaus is adequate and more compact to carry. I've always been partial to hats and as a student affected a thick Russian-style pork pie continuously for three years. My dream is to wear a tall top hat like the ones in the crowd scenes of Victorian costume dramas. That might look out of place on the PW, even if I was shooting grouse, so I content myself with my trusty Tilley Airflo, the third incumbent as its predecessors sadly met untimely ends.
Most of the equipment required for walking is uncontroversial. Unless you're strolling the grounds of a National Trust house in sight of the teashop, a map is mandatory. Even if you don't know how to use it, it's worth having a compass as with one in your possession you'll feel less embarrassed being picked up by mountain rescue. The GPS divides opinion. Frankly I wouldn't go beyond the M25 without one, but many people view them as little short of cheating. However even those who sneer at them occasionally ask me for a quick peek to confirm their location when lost. In retrospect, I'm pretty certain that the reason for my rapid acceptance into the group I met on the Coast to Coast was that their GPS had stopped working. The issue which really excites walkers is trekking poles. Meet any large group of walkers and you'll see people using none, one and two with the number of poles per person normally increasing in proportion to age. Two-pole users are the most vociferous advocates of their cause and it wouldn't surprise me if some of them fantasise about carrying even more and privately intone "four poles good, two poles bad" like latterday inhabitants of Animal Farm. It reminds me of a riddle which seasoned travellers use to scare nervous fliers. Q: why do 747s have four engines? A: because there's not room for eight.
I first encountered walking poles 15 years ago during a holiday in the Lake District. My friend Richard had recently acquired one and I spent the first day being sceptical until he let me have a turn and I was hooked. It had a horizontal cork handle, well-shaped so that it felt very comfortable in the hand. Before our next walk, we nipped into an outdoor store and I made a beeline for a similar pole. The sales assistant intercepted me saying that the horizontal design was intended for elderly users and offered me one with a vertical grip instead. I could see Richard wincing in the background; curiously that pole didn't put in an appearance on our next trip.
I decided to detour to Middleton-in-Teesdale to stock up on bananas at the Co-op. Middleton is an attractive village with more facilities than it has a right to given its size, and I couldn't help noticing that for the price of a London flat you could buy a small estate. As usual, I briefly contemplated the exchange before concluding, as usual, that I'd miss the Arcola too much. Outside the cafe where I treated myself to a cappucino, a small knot of people was gathered around a man holding an Olympic torch. This being the north of England it is quite acceptable to sidle up to a group and join in the conversation. I learned that he had been nominated to carry the torch because of his voluntary work with young people running youth clubs and the like. Now he was touring the area, allowing people have their photo taken holding the torch in return for a contribution to a guide dogs charity. One elderly woman, very excited at the prospect, didn't have an email address so he offered to send her the photo by post. All very heart-warming, even to an Olympic cynic like me and as you can see from the photo below I too succumbed to the temptation.
PS I'm obviously becoming psychic since I saw the women in the photo below a couple days after posting this blog.
© David Thompson 2012
My general philosophy concerning outdoor clothing is straightforward: just buy the most expensive. Designer labels have not yet infiltrated the outdoor clothing market, so value is broadly proportional to cost as prices are not distorted by brand premiums. Since significant advances are still being made in outdoor clothing technology, higher cost normally translates into better performance. It is axiomatic that the most important piece of equipment for the walker is a decent pair of boots. Nevertheless, many people take the view that nowhere in England really necessitates boots and that less damage is done to the environment by walking in lighter footwear. My fossil friend is undertaking the PW in trainers following the advice in his guidebook, but regrets the decision in view of the exceptionally wet ground following months of incessant rain. My own footwear is a pair of well-used leather boots made by Berghaus. For socks I favour Bridgedale, and couple a thin inner pair with a well-padded outer pair. Protected by Gortex gaiters, this combination of socks and boots has kept my feet dry in all but the most penetrating downpours.
I'm very sensitive to sun so while many walkers favour shorts I always wear trousers. For this trip, I have used only Arc'teryx trousers. They are thin enough to be cool in summer and dry so quickly that there is no need for waterproof overtrousers. I wear a Craghoppers shirt, with a high collar to protect my neck from the sun, over a Berghaus Argentium T-shirt which supposedly neutralises sweat related odours, but it has never been put to the test since I rinse it each evening and it dries in a few hours, ready for wear by the morning. My midlayer is a very thin windproof Mountain Equipment garment, halfway between a shirt and a fleece. It's invaluable on winter mornings walking to the Tube as it disappears unobtrusively into my computer bag as soon as I reach the warmth of the station, but so far on the PW it has stayed in my rucksack. My most recent acquisition is a multi-pocket waistcoat made by Paramo. I like to support Paramo as their products are excellent and they are manufactured by a women's cooperative in Colombia. The waistcoat is lightweight and has a plethora of useful pockets (I found a new one yesterday after wearing it for a week) including one large enough for an OS map and a concealed compartment for documents such as passports. I have a heavy duty Arc'teryx cagoul but for summer on the PW a Gortex Paclite Shell by Berghaus is adequate and more compact to carry. I've always been partial to hats and as a student affected a thick Russian-style pork pie continuously for three years. My dream is to wear a tall top hat like the ones in the crowd scenes of Victorian costume dramas. That might look out of place on the PW, even if I was shooting grouse, so I content myself with my trusty Tilley Airflo, the third incumbent as its predecessors sadly met untimely ends.
Most of the equipment required for walking is uncontroversial. Unless you're strolling the grounds of a National Trust house in sight of the teashop, a map is mandatory. Even if you don't know how to use it, it's worth having a compass as with one in your possession you'll feel less embarrassed being picked up by mountain rescue. The GPS divides opinion. Frankly I wouldn't go beyond the M25 without one, but many people view them as little short of cheating. However even those who sneer at them occasionally ask me for a quick peek to confirm their location when lost. In retrospect, I'm pretty certain that the reason for my rapid acceptance into the group I met on the Coast to Coast was that their GPS had stopped working. The issue which really excites walkers is trekking poles. Meet any large group of walkers and you'll see people using none, one and two with the number of poles per person normally increasing in proportion to age. Two-pole users are the most vociferous advocates of their cause and it wouldn't surprise me if some of them fantasise about carrying even more and privately intone "four poles good, two poles bad" like latterday inhabitants of Animal Farm. It reminds me of a riddle which seasoned travellers use to scare nervous fliers. Q: why do 747s have four engines? A: because there's not room for eight.
I first encountered walking poles 15 years ago during a holiday in the Lake District. My friend Richard had recently acquired one and I spent the first day being sceptical until he let me have a turn and I was hooked. It had a horizontal cork handle, well-shaped so that it felt very comfortable in the hand. Before our next walk, we nipped into an outdoor store and I made a beeline for a similar pole. The sales assistant intercepted me saying that the horizontal design was intended for elderly users and offered me one with a vertical grip instead. I could see Richard wincing in the background; curiously that pole didn't put in an appearance on our next trip.
I decided to detour to Middleton-in-Teesdale to stock up on bananas at the Co-op. Middleton is an attractive village with more facilities than it has a right to given its size, and I couldn't help noticing that for the price of a London flat you could buy a small estate. As usual, I briefly contemplated the exchange before concluding, as usual, that I'd miss the Arcola too much. Outside the cafe where I treated myself to a cappucino, a small knot of people was gathered around a man holding an Olympic torch. This being the north of England it is quite acceptable to sidle up to a group and join in the conversation. I learned that he had been nominated to carry the torch because of his voluntary work with young people running youth clubs and the like. Now he was touring the area, allowing people have their photo taken holding the torch in return for a contribution to a guide dogs charity. One elderly woman, very excited at the prospect, didn't have an email address so he offered to send her the photo by post. All very heart-warming, even to an Olympic cynic like me and as you can see from the photo below I too succumbed to the temptation.
PS I'm obviously becoming psychic since I saw the women in the photo below a couple days after posting this blog.
© David Thompson 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment