I am seriously considering walking the Pennine Way.
Does anyone have any experience with this, or a similar scale of walk? Any advice they can offer? I've done smaller scale hikes before, (longest being about 30 miles with sleeping out in what transpired to be a not so waterproof bivi bag in a all night storm, and random camping in mostly backwood conditions for up to a week since I was 8) is 15 days+ going to frustrate me to all hell if it's just rains constantly?
The guy I am try to convince to come with me is made of softer stuff and much less experienced and is poor enough that we would need to be frugal (possibly a tent rather than hostels and huts) is this a bad move?
I'm mostly trying to convince him because 2 weeks on my own might drive me insane and I enjoy his company enough that I think I could stand being with him for that long, and I think good company is harder to find than experience.
Get good walking shoes or boots (you can probably get away with shoes this time of year) and wear them in with 10 mile walks at weekends.
Don't skimp on the quality of your tent. Learn how to put it up correctly and maintain it.
Don't try and carry more than the clothing you wear, your tent, your sleeping bag and the day's food and water, and the obvious map/mobile etc.
>The guy I am try to convince to come with me is made of softer stuff and much less experienced and is poor enough that we would need to be frugal (possibly a tent rather than hostels and huts)
You can do AAbAAb (tent, tent, hostel). This will allow you to use laundry facilities and a drying room for your stuff.
Plan your route and stick to it. Book hostels/hotels ahead.
Seems much like what I presumed in advice really, but it is nice to hear someone else say these things, thanks. Agree entirely on the tent, in my experiance tents go
cheep, poor quality and light
mid priced, good quality and heavy
expensive good quality and light
At the moment I have a mid priced tent and I'm not carrying that 20kg fucker for 15 days I can tell you.
Do you think I'm going to need cooking equipment? whats the best stove to go for under the circumstances?
>Do you think I'm going to need cooking equipment? whats the best stove to go for under the circumstances?
You can go without, but camping is much more comfortable with a hot meal in your belly. Even on day trips or overnights, I like to have a miniature cookset so I can have a cuppa and some instant noodles.
Stoves and cooksets are a big topic, and a lot will depend on your personal preferences and your budget. You can get a hexamine stove, a packet of hexy tablets and a set of mess tins for about a tenner on eBay; It's a fairly crude solution that leaves your mess tins covered in soot, but it does the job. Moving up slightly, Vango do a decent clone of the MSR Pocket Rocket for about £15; Add a fiver for a gas cartridge, plus £10 to £20 for a cheap aluminium cookset. These little gas stoves are the most popular option because they're lightweight and easy to use, although they lose all their charm very quickly if you unexpectedly run out of gas.
The traditional choice would be a Trangia kit (about £50 all in); The kit is relatively heavy and the meths-burning stove isn't massively powerful, but it's a very cleverly designed system that can cook real meals. If you just need hot water quickly and with the minimum of fuss then a Jetboil or MSR Reactor is unmatched, but they're seriously expensive. Ultralight afficionados often go for DIY meths stoves made out of old pop cans; They're basically free, but fiddly to make and to use (unless you enjoy that sort of thing).
If you're not sure, YouTube is a great resource for seeing how these stoves work and what you can cook on them.
It might go without saying, but never use a stove inside your tent, because the carbon monoxide will kill you in minutes.
