Tarps and Leaky Tents

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Yesterday we tested our The North Face Tadpole 23 tent with a hosepipe. It survived pretty well, apart from at the seams, which were quite happy to let water through into the tent. Not to worry, we still have plenty of time to get things fixed.

Actually, we are looking at two options:

  • Re-sealing the tent.
  • Selling it and buying a new tent.

For a new tent we’re looking at either the MSR Hubba Hubba HP or the Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2. The reason for looking at a new tent is that either of the new tents would be over 500 grams lighter and have 2 doors.

The North Face Tadpole is a great little tent. It has slightly more headroom (looking at the measurements) than most tents, it seems robust, and it will be waterproof again soon.

The main problem is that it only has one door. With two of us getting in and out of the tent it may be a bit awkward, particularly in bad weather. The other issue is that being very narrow at one end, it is perhaps a little cosy for two people sharing for three weeks. That said, two of us fitted quite comfortably in there, and we did manage to squeeze a third in for a laugh. It helped that none of us could be described as chunky.

Whether we replace the tent is likely to be a decision we make after testing it in the field. A hosepipe and one sunny afternoon are hardly comparable with wet, windy weather in the Highlands.

Introduction

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We will be walking for 350 miles through Scotland raising money for DC Boxing Club in Cambridge. The journey will take 21 days through towns, mountains and valleys.

The journey will start on 25th August from just outside Glasgow. The route follows the West Highland Way along Loch Lomond, past Glencoe and up Ben Nevis. Then the Great Glen Way is used to travel alongside Loch Ness into Inverness. From there the route travels down through the Cairngorms to eventually end up in Aberdeen.

We aim to take a couple of blogging solutions, so that we should be able to keep you updated via this blog along the way (phone signal and battery life permitting). We’re also hoping to get hold of something that will log the journey for us automatically, so we can check exactly how many miles we do.

We’ve started organising through things but still have a long way to go. Neither of us have camped out in the wilds for this long, or covering this distance, so there are still plenty of technical issues that we need to address.

The next priorities for us to sort are:

  • Kit – most of our kit is not suited to the potentially bad conditions in Scotland, nor is it the most lightweight kit for carrying 350 miles.
  • Route and mapping software – at the moment we’re looking at using Anquet or similar to map out most of the route, with Harvey or Trailblazer guides for the first two stages of the journey.
  • First Aid – It’s probably a good idea for both of us to go on some sort of first aid course. Just in case.

The idea of spending 3 weeks walking through the hills sounds serene. 16 to 20 miles per day sounds almost easy…

The reality is day after day of trudging up and down mountains through potentially treacherous conditions, having to carry food, water and shelter, with no organised support other than each other.

One thing is for certain though, it’s going to be an absolutely awesome adventure!

We hope you enjoy reading about it, and please, don’t forget to donate some money towards DC Boxing Club

– Heley and Phill