Walking Poles [updated June 2024]

Quite inadvertently, I seem to have become something of an expert on walking poles, and on their tensile strength especially. Since I began serious walking around twenty years ago I have owned or used six different models of pole, [seven now, see update at the end!] and I seem to have managed to damage four of them. There are several reasons for this high mortality rate:
- I am 6'4" tall, and perhaps tend to have poles more extended than most people do, which might make them a little more vulnerable
- I like to use ultra-lightweight poles which are more fragile in the first place
- my sense of balance is average at best, and if you have a wobble or trip then you can lean heavily on the pole sometimes to recover balance
- my knees are basically, knackered. This makes long descents difficult and I must go slowly and put weight on the poles to help reduce the shocks to my knees. This is the reason I started using poles in the first place, and I could not do serious walking without them nowadays.

Brief details and a photo of each set of poles are given below. After that is a summary and recommendations, also a bit about how to use poles since so many seem not to have thought about that.

1. Brasher Provolution

This is a carbon pole, weighing 204g. I am pretty sure this pole is no longer made, and Brasher themselves are now taken over by Berghaus, so I won't say too much about them.. but in summary, they have been very good poles, comfortable, with a useful double grip that extends part way down the handle. They are strong and sturdy, and I enjoyed using them. They had two drawbacks: firstly they were quite expensive (£90 the pair) and secondly they used a clamping ("Power Lock") system that was easy and quick to adjust but turned out to be not entirely reliable. Fairly regularly, one pole would telescope itself shut when you leaned hard on it, which could be disconcerting to say the least. I think if you keep the screws on the locks perfectly adjusted they would in fact be OK, but they do move and they have a tendency to catch you out. Eventually (on my third visit to the Pyrenees) I broke a pole, by letting one end drop into a rock crevice and then leaning on it. I think that any pole would have broken at that point, and I don't at all hold it against them. In fact only an end of the pole broke off and it is still usable, just not quite to its full length. I have the broken pole still (that is it, in the photo above. The bottom part will not extend as far as once it would), and still use it; the other one eventually got lost, sadly, on a daywalk. Still, I do think the double grip is a really useful feature, worth a gram or two of extra weight. Because I liked it so much I intend to add extra grips to my current poles below the rubber one, using tennis racquet grip fabric.

2. Fizan Compact/Rohan Ether

Rohan Ether, fully closed, and Fizan Compact, top part extended

This is an aluminium pole made by Fizan and it is astonishingly light. It has "158gm" and "world's lightest" marked on the pole; my two actually weigh 173gm (Rohan) and 177gm (Fizan), with snow baskets but without rubber ferrules. I originally bought a pair of Rohan Ether poles, which were Fizan poles rebadged for Rohan and were identical, except for the colours. I paid £60 for the pair and used them on the Pennine Way in 2014. They are comfortable to hold and to use, and although it is simple, the twist locking system has been very reliable and works well. Unfortunately, I leaned on one and it bent. I was a bit surprised, as I didn't feel I had done anything very extreme. I took it back to the Rohan shop I bought it from, and they very kindly replaced it. The service I have had from Rohan over the years is absolutely first class. Their stuff is not cheap, but it is very good value, which is the important thing, and I am quite a fan. They no longer have the poles rebadged, they are now sold as Fizan Compact poles, (and even cheaper! £29 each ... update 2024: £37.50 now!) so now I have one blue Rohan pole and one brown and red Fizan pole. But they feel the same in use, so I am a perfectly happy bunny.

Both poles extend up to 130cm, and are 59cm fully closed up. The handles are the usual black, slightly soft rubbery stuff, quite comfortable. I could do with a longer extension ideally, but I can manage more or less OK with 130cm.

I highly recommend these poles. They are both light and strong, easy to adjust, reliable and comfortable to use. One thing, please do not store them wet: dismantle and dry them first. Aluminium may not rust but it certainly does oxidise, and I have heard of these poles seizing up completely, when left wet for a long time.

Update 2024: these poles have completed three Pennine Ways now, and are still going strong. Highly recommended.

3. Komperdell Ultralight Vario 4, (marked "Generation 2.0")

Komperdell Vario 4 poles. The remaining normal one at rear, two compact ones in front, one unscrewed

While buying my tent and sleeping bag from the excellent Zpacks, my eye was caught by the Komperdell carbon poles, and I bought a pair for $185 (£119.42) - a lot of money. You can however find them cheaper online sometimes. They come in two sizes, normal (120-145cm) and compact (105-125cm). I bought the normal ones, they weigh175gm each with their snow baskets on, or roughly the same as the Fizan poles above. That is good going, since they extend considerably further - up to 145cm. They feel light in use and the handles are comfortable. As you can see they unscrew into three parts for storage or transport - there is an elastic cord that keeps them together. Not sure about its longevity, but the pieces screw together so probably would work just as well without the cord. Only the top section is adjustable, with a quick release clamp similar to the Brashers, except that in the relatively short time I was able to use them, they never slipped or needed adjustment once - also very good. They also came with a "no quibble guarantee," a "free repair service no matter what happened." The only minor drawback seemed to be the rather short adjustment range, which I could live with. So I was pleased with them, and cheerfully set off with them into the Pyrenees.

pole with the two broken bits..

On day 9, I was walking through a forest on my way up to the col d' Anaye, when the bottom six inches of one of the poles fell off! It just dropped off in one piece, for no reason I could establish. Bewildering. Also extremely awkward as the final climb to the col and subsequent descent into the Vallon d'Anaye (during which another piece fell off) is not easy. By the time I finished the long descent into Lescun, I had successfully proved that I could not continue with one pole - I had to find another similar pole or another pair.
 

In the end I posted the Komperdell poles back home from Lescun, and when I got home I posted the broken one onto the UK Komperdell importers, First Ascent Ltd of Matlock. Their website promises "Repair service has never been so fast and easy! Our staff provide a FAST and EASY repair service returning your poles ready for your next trip." Unfortunately my experience has been neither fast nor easy. I posted the poles to them on 18 September and at the time of writing the matter is only now almost resolved, more than two months later. In fact it has been quite a saga, and I had intended to write a separate blog entry detailing all the ins and outs. They sent me not one but a pair of new poles, but they were the compact ones (hence the photo above) which with a maximum extension of 125cm are not much use to me. All they had to do was repair the lowest section of the broken pole!

However to their credit Komperdell stuck at it and in the end we did get there. I have posted the compact poles back to the importers, Komperdell have sent me a pair of longer bottom pieces and returned to me the undamaged top part of the broken pole, so I now have my original pair, repaired, plus a spare bottom pole.

If you find yourself having to make a claim I recommend that you only send off the bit that is actually broken, not the whole pole(s). Also best perhaps to deal direct with the manufacturer in Austria, despite the extra postage.

I should mention that the Importer said that the problem I had was not uncommon. I quote:
"The issue with the lower sections of the Ultralight model is something we have seen a couple of times before and given the potential consequence of this type of failure in remote or exposed situations, Komperdell have now opted to use their Titanal rocksleeve technology for all lower sections of carbon trekking poles in the future. Whilst this does mean the absolute lowest weight will not be possible, the weight difference of such poles is certainly not a burden at 25-30g per pole."

Indeed the Komperdell website now gives a weight of 205gm (plus basket!) per pole, which is about 30gm more than mine, and the pictures show a silver bottom section where mine are black.

4. Decathlon QUECHUA Forclaz 500 Light

So, there I was in Lescun, with an urgent need to acquire new poles. There is only one shop, a nice little supermarche, but it had no walking poles for sale. In the end I bought a pair of these poles from one of the staff at the Hotel Pic d'Anie, where I was staying. I paid €30 for them, used but in reasonable condition. That is about the same as they cost new, but at the time it was a seller's market..

Unfortunately I don't have a photo and couldn't weigh them. At left is a picture of me clutching the poles, with two friendly Belgian girls alongside.

The website says the poles weigh 230gm each. They felt solid and robust, and I used them as far as Gavarnie without incident. I liked them - they were easy to adjust, both the straps and pole length, and were reliable, no sudden collapses. I did not find the grips quite as comfortable as some, but they were OK. The main drawback for me was that they were a little short at about 128cm max. They are designed for women mainly I think, since there is another version that extends to 140cm and weighs 270gm.

Overall I thought these poles were excellent value for money. They taught me that light weight is not everything, since although they weighed more than the others it was never a problem and the upside is increased strength and robustness. And you could buy five or so pairs for the price of one pair of Komperdells. I would recommend them.

5. Leki Summit HTS 6.0 aluminium poles

Leki Summit - the surviving pole, showing doubled extension markings

closed. The grip is comfortable and looks smart

When I reached Gavarnie and my next rest day, I had a look around the town which unlike Lescun, has several shops that sell walking poles. Gavarnie is a friendly and lively town, and I always enjoy my visits there. In high summer it can get rather touristy, and some walkers look down on it rather, but if it weren't for the tourists it wouldn't be there at all...

So I had a poke around the considerable variety of poles available, and eventually settled on a pair of Leki aluminium poles. The precise model is not available in the UK but these ones, the Makalu, are identical bar the colouring. The poles cost €72 (around £50), weighed 280g each, so not particularly lightweight, but looked strong. They had fetching cork handles with nice rounded tops, and the Leki "super lock" adjustment system - you twist the poles in the usual way to loosen or tighten, but once tight they feel very secure and never once slipped. I left the Decathlon poles behind in Gavarnie and transferred my allegiance to Leki.

Unfortunately however I was not able to use them all that long since after a week or so a foot slipped near the top of a steep col and I sat down.. no harm done, quite safe, but when I got up I found one of the poles had bent in two, bang in the middle. Evidently its robust appearance was a little misleading!

The remaining pole I am still using for daywalks. It does feel solid and is comfortable to use. The adjustment system is rock solid. However it is a little heavy. It also has another unusual feature I am not all that keen on, in that both the bottom two sections have height markings on them and if you want to change the pole length you are supposed to adjust both sections, not just the upper one as with all the other poles I've used. I found that rather cumbersome, in practice.

So.. once again I am down to one pole, a serious issue since I need two not just for walking but to erect my tent. For the short term I cut a tree branch to size. It worked OK, but it was very heavy compared to an aluminium pole, and not terribly robust either. However a couple of days later I met a very nice couple, Mick & Gayle, who had a spare pair of Leki poles that they kindly (and rather bravely) lent me..

6 Leki Microstick Ti

Leki Microstick poles, one extended, one collapsed.

These are Nordic Walking poles, and as such not adjustable for length - they measured 121cm from end to end. I did not weigh them, but the Leki website says they weigh 216gm each, which sounds about right. The Ti stands for titanium, but why I do not know - since the poles are made of aluminium. They were comfortable to hold, but always felt a little fragile to me. Since they cannot be adjusted for length I would not buy them myself, though I see Leki do make an adjustable version too. They are expensive at £130 or £150 for the carbon version. The double handles are good,  all poles should have them.

Summary and Conclusions

So there we have it, six pairs of poles.. four of which I managed to break! Though I would argue that in only one case was it was my fault (Brasher). I never contacted Leki about their pole but both Rohan and Komperdell happily replaced the broken poles, so my current stock is two complete pairs and two individual poles. I use the Brasher and Leki poles on daywalks and will keep the Fizan and Komperdell poles for more serious walking.

Three of the pole failures occurred in the mountains and the high Pyrenees with their rocks and steep cols are a hard environment. You could expect to use any of these poles happily for years in more normal British walking circumstances.

• For longer distance walking lighter poles are better than heavier. On daywalks weight is more or less immaterial
• Antishock systems add weight and cost.  They may reduce shock to your arms, but I have never found that to be a problem anyway. So they are not for me. It's my knees that need protecting.
• Reliability is key - a pole that collapses unexpectedly is a dangerous pole
• All the poles were reasonably comfortable in use. The Leki cork handles looked smart, but felt little different in use.
• Carbon poles are generally not as robust as aluminium, in my opinion

So far as recommendations go I think the Fizan poles are the best value for money. They are extremely light, comfortable and reliable in use and reasonably robust. At £58/pair (2024: £75/pair) they are half the price of the Komperdells, or less. Buy them from Rohan, and you will get excellent aftersales service as well. The Leki Makalu poles are about the same price here in the UK, heavier, but strong. I didn't like their double-adjustment system. You would be better off buying similar poles from Decathlon, for half the price. For normal walking something like these are probably the best value of all - only £12.99/pair!

As for the Komperdell poles, they had comfortable handles, the adjustment was reliable, though a little more restricted than some, 120cm - 145cm for the standard poles and 105 - 125cm for the compact. They are very light, quite expensive, but in my experience at least, not very robust. I couldn't recommend them, though maybe they are the better for the recent changes made to the design.

My perfect pole would be like the Fizan pole, but with an extra 10cm of extension, and with the Brasher double grips. Still looking, though maybe I have enough poles now ...

I'm happy to answer any specific questions anyone may have. Happy walking!

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Update April 2023:

7. Leki Microvario Carbon poles

I still have most of the poles mentioned above, and the Fizan poles especially are still giving good service. They are still available from Rohan, though a little more expensive - £37.50 which is good value I think. The ones below cost about double that, perhaps more..

I haven't broken any since I got back from the Pyrenees! I have however acquired a new pair of poles - new to me, anyway. My son and I were walking in the Peak District. As we crossed the Snake Pass road, heading for Alport Towers, a highway maintenance lorry pulled up and gave them to us! They said they had been left leaning against a wall, had been there for a fortnight and nobody had come to claim them. They thought they would be better put to use, than being left to rot. We happily accepted the gift!

The poles are Leki Microvario Carbon poles and are rather unusual. They fold into three parts, connected by a plastic cord. When you want to use them, pull them, and they become rigid. They have a push button which when pressed, allows them to fold again. I don't think Leki still sell this precise model, but this one seems similar (and incredibly light!). Leki make an amazing range of different poles, at all prices - look out for sale items.

The poles are comfortable, work well, feel strong and quite light - they weigh 222g each, and adjust from 110cm to 130cm or 52". Except mine don't, quite, they measure 129cm fully extended, despite the markings on the pole! They are good poles though and I can recommend them if you want to pay a fair bit for good poles! They have the extended grips that I like.

The poles, one extended, one folded. They do fold very small! Only about 38cm, or 15." Easy to tuck into a rucksack, or even a pocket..

The top joint, showing the press button used to fold the pole. When unfolded the button pops out, to keep them rigid.

Water bottles and Water treatment

Water is very important to walkers. You can go a week without food (if you must) but water, no. Life gets uncomfortable very quickly if you haven't any. Still, a lot of tosh is talked about hydration. We are bullied into believing that you need to drink gallons of the stuff to stay healthy, and it simply isn't true. Your body can very easily get used to either drinking lots, or not drinking very much. If you don't believe me, perhaps you will believe The Times. I long ago decided to get used to not drinking very much, and now I find a litre a day is more than sufficient to carry. I will normally drink more.. perhaps two litres or so per day.. but much of it will be at breakfast or overnight, ie it will be supplied by a refuge or wherever I'm staying, or by the water source I try to camp near. Overnight camping without a water source I avoid so far as I can.
If it is very hot - so that you are sweating even when walking on level ground or downhill - then you will need more; water lost that way must be replaced.

I am also not a fan of bladders and similar "hydration systems." Without exception they add weight, and also are hard to keep bacteria free. If you prefer to use them, fine, each to their own.

I use simple plastic bottles of 1/2litre or 3/4litre size. Ordinary water bottles, Evian say, are very light but they are not really strong enough. If they split, life can get difficult. What I did was go to my local supermarket and look through all the drinks sold there, and just bought some bottles of juice or whatever, that were a suitable size and shape and looked robust. Two 75cl bottles and two 50cl bottles together weighed under 100g. That gives 2 1/2litres capacity which was more than enough for me. I used them throughout my 55 day trip and had no problems at all.

So far as water sources are concerned, I ranked them (in the Pyrenees, anyway) as follows:

- first, a spring or source. The water comes straight out of the ground, it is crystal clear, and always very cold. Condensation forms on the bottle as soon as you fill it. It tastes fantastic. I never bothered to treat it in any way. Sources are found in most parts of the Pyrenees and always great to see.
- second, human-provided sources, such as water fountains at refuges, in villages etc. Some of them say the water is untreated, but they were generally reliable and I didn't treat it either.
- third, running water, above about 2,000m, ie streams. With these you must look around you, are there any animals or animal droppings? Where is the water coming from, snow melt or what? A lake? Occasionally I decided to trust them, but most of the time the water needed treating, however clear it might look. You never know if there is a dead animal somewhere upstream, and it is amazing how high up even sheep and horses can get, never mind izard , marmots etc.
- fourth, standing water of any kind, pools and lakes. I always treated it. It doesn't have to stand still for long before interesting things grow in it, and breed. Almost all lakes are fed by something and it is usually worth finding a feed coming in and using that instead.
- finally turbid water, or any water that is not completely clear. Avoid wherever possible. Usually not difficult to do that. Good water is seldom hard to find in the Pyrenees and I only once or twice ran short.

For water treatment, I carried a Steripen Freedom purifier. This has been brilliant. Mine has worked flawlessly. It only weighs about 80g or the same as just 80ml water. Best of all, it recharges from a standard usb cable so the external battery I brought to keep the phone topped up would recharge it too. Actually I never needed to do that - it supposedly treats 40 x 1/2l lots of water, but I never got to the point where it ran out - but it was comforting knowing that it would always work if needed.
I am not completely sure exactly how the Steripen works. As I understand it, ultraviolet irradiation renders anything nasty in the water sterile, so it cannot reproduce. I don't know how they can be so certain it has done its job every time, but I can say that it has always worked for me. I only had one stomach problem in the Pyrenees and that came from restaurant food.
I also carried a few coffee filters for use if the water was visibly contaminated. I only needed to use them two or three times, just as well as they were rather slow. The steripen itself is quick, 48 seconds per treatment and you are done.
Ideally you need a wide-mouthed water container to use the Steripen in. What I did was to cut the top half off a 2pint plastic milk container. It even had a 1/2 litre mark on it. I carried it in a side pocket of the rucksack, with water bottles fitted into it. It only weighed 10g or so. Scoop water up in it from the source, Steripen it, and pour it into the bottle, easy peasy. I always treated the Steripen carefully, wiped it dry after use etc., and it never let me down.

The black cloud is tadpoles...

... which panic and froth the water if you get close to them. Would you drink this water? You bet, if there is nothing better available, but I did treat and filter it first!

Clothing

on day 1 2015, above Hendaye. Rohan top, White Sierra trousers.

The full equipment list for my trip along the Pyrenees is available here. I don't want to do extensive reviews of all the clothing I took, but there are some useful comments to make.

I did not expect the Pyrenees to be particularly cold in July and August, but in fact there was quite a wide range of temperatures at different times, including overnight frosts. Above 2,000m if it is windy, it can get pretty nippy. On the other hand, it was boiling hot at other times. So I adopted a layering system, and took nothing padded or heavy, but I did take two very thin and light fleeces. I reckoned that with them and a windproof layer (my trusty Berghaus waterproofs, see below) I should be warm enough for most things, and so it proved. I tend to run cold, so I took some gloves too but I only wore them a few times. Having two fleeces was also useful, since it meant I could wear one during the day and one in the evening, it's always nice to be able to dress for dinner...

Quantities: I took two fleeces, two pairs of trousers, 3 knicks and 3 baselayer tops, two short sleeve and one long. Another time I might take two long sleeve and one short, the extra 33g would soon be recouped in lower sunblock use.. three pairs of socks and a pair of liner socks, a waterproof top and trousers. For a week's walking you could get away with a bit less I think, but for 55 days that seemed pretty reasonable to me, the whole lot including what I was wearing weighed under 3Kg (6.6lb).

The knicks and baselayer tops were Rohan Ultra Silver (no longer made! But the ones they do sell are still pretty light.) and they were very, very good. If you can find lighter baselayers, do let me know, they are the lightest I have found. They dried literally in an hour or two after being rinsed through or washed. Mine are an attractive blue colour, comfortable to wear and (unlike my Paramo baselayers) completely free of pong, no matter how much misused. Top class. Not cheap (but then nor is the competition) but they do have regular sales.

My fleece jacket was also a Rohan, a Microrib Jacket. Also not cheap but I only paid £39 for it, keep an eye on their offers page. It was also excellent, very good in warm or hot weather but also good when it is cooler. When cold it was still sufficient under a windproof layer, as it traps lots of air. I also took a Campagnolo half-zip fleece which was even lighter.

I took two pairs of zip-off White Sierra Teton trousers, sourced with some difficulty from the US Ebay site. I can't use Rohan trousers since even their long length is only 33" - most, these days, are 34". I like the trousers (recommended to me by an efriend) but if you plan to take zip-offs, it is worth thinking about how much zipping-off you are likely to do, since there is a modest weight penalty to pay. In the end I did none to speak of, and probably wouldn't bother taking them another time. The trousers had rather a hard time. One pair got so badly ripped on barbed wire that I had to replace it, and the other pair though still in use has some amateur stitching on a small tear. Not the fault of the trousers though, they are comfortable and light and i might well buy some more, in due course. They are remarkably cheap, although shipping to the UK can mean that you don't save very much. I bought them from the Outdoor Gear Loft, who were good to deal with.

I bought my Berghaus Paclite waterproof jacket and trousers years ago, in 2009 and am still using them now. For pretty much all that time they have been fully waterproof but on this last trip they did let water in, after a while. I have reproofed them and hope that might fix it, otherwise it may be time for new ones. They are light and comfortable, and somewhat breathable but could do better. If it is hot and wet you will get wet, one way or the other! I am wondering about a poncho but they have their own drawbacks...  I've not found a system I'm completely happy with, yet. Good waterproof kit is so expensive! It is difficult to experiment.

Update 2024: For my 2024 Pennine Way traverse I treated myself to new waterproof jacket and trousers from Ultimate Direction. As you can see from my gearlist they are very light indeed. They did well, no damage or abrasion, and they were pretty waterproof. I am not quite so sure about how breathable they are but I have not found anything that performs better.

Not sure there is much else to say about clothing.. socks have already been covered, here. Overall I was happy with what I took, both in terms of amount and quality. Pretty much everything would dry overnight, except for the 1000 mile socks which needed two days.

I will put a word in finally for my Paramo cap.. see pic below. The first piece of technical clothing I ever bought, and it has survived many years of maltreatment. Not made any more, this is  probably the closest equivalent. Needless to say it didn't cost anything like that much! You can see it peeping out from under the waterproof hood in the bottom pic too, when it was still more or less its original colour..

At the Fontaine de Roland, near Roncesvalles, 2015. The rohan top is more stylish than I am making it look!

At Banyuls, day 54 2015, job done (via the HRP, not the GR10)...

In full Paclite wet weather gear, and feeling none too happy after 14 days of continuous rain and mud, near Cauterets July 2010

Footwear

 This review covers my foot care system, boots, socks and insoles.

I was extremely happy to have spent 55 days walking almost 600 miles along the Pyrenees, and to have arrived at Banyuls without having had a single blister, or foot problem of any kind. The same goes for my Pennine Way walk (c300 miles) last Autumn. I have had blisters in the past, but over the years I have evolved a foot care system which works well for me.
Looking after your feet is so important, blisters can be miserable things to have!

This is my system:

1. Each morning before I put walking socks on I put a little CCS cream around the toes as a lubricant. CCS cream is easy to find - Boots sell it - and is not expensive. There may well be other creams that work as well, but whichever you use, make sure it has urea as an ingredient.
2. I always used to use 1,000 mile socks, which have a thin, integral inner liner sock. I think the inner liner really helps. Taken together with the foot cream it means there is nothing rubbing on the feet, nowhere for a blister to start forming. In recent years though I have preferred to use Rohan liner socks and separate outer socks .. the Rohan socks are so light that taken together, they still weigh less than 1,000 mile socks do. But it is a personal thing.
3. I use Brasher Supalite leather boots, see below. Use whatever boots or shoes you find comfortable, but buy them a 1/2 size too big, throw away the insoles, and instead fit good quality insoles such as shockstopper double strike. They are not expensive, bought online, and make a big difference.
4. Feet are not designed to be encased in leather all day! Try to take your boots and socks off at least once during the day and let your feet breathe for a few minutes. Also note that if you are walking all day your feet will swell somewhat during the day. Make sure your boots have space for that!

None of the above takes much time or effort, and the results speak for themselves.

Boots

Once upon a time, I wore Meindl Burma Pro leather boots. They were solid, fully waterproof and bombproof. They were built to last a lifetime. I wore them when I first walked the Pennine Way in 2009, and my son still uses them today. They were quite comfortable (but I did get blisters!) and their only real downside was their weight - 2,253g the pair! (UK size 11) I'm pretty sure that walking takes more effort, when you are swinging more than a kilo on the end of each leg.

Before I went to the Pyrenees in 2010 I had a look around for something lighter, and eventually settled on a pair of Berghaus Explorer Light boots. Light, or at least lighter, they were, at 1,343g the pair, and also comfortable straight out of the box. Unfortunately they were not at all solid or bombproof! They were goretex lined and to start with, waterproof, but that did not last. After a fortnight of admittedly bad weather, quite wet, they leaked like a sieve. After three weeks they seemed to have become the reverse of waterproof... stand in a puddle and the boots seemed to fill, the puddle emptied!
When I got back to the UK I sent them back, and got a refund. Then I started to look around again, for something stronger but ideally, not heavier.

What I found was a pair of Brasher Supalite boots. They are full leather boots, but they only weighed 1206g the pair without footbeds (for size UK 11.5). Add in a pair of sorbothane shockstopper insoles and you get to about 700g per boot, not much more than half the weight of the Meindls. They were comfortable straight out of the box, and I love them. I took them to the Pyrenees the second time I went, and they lasted the course well with no problems, except that the sole treads, never spectacularly deep, had worn down rather by the end. The soles were still adequate, but for clambering about rocks etc I felt I needed a new pair for the third Pyrenees trip in 2013. Since I bought my first pair, the Supalite range had started to attract a certain amount of criticism online. Some said they were not as good as they were. Possibly to counteract this, Brasher brought out the Supalite II. Not long after, they moved production to China (from India) and started using Pittards leather. In the expectation that the original comfy-out-of-the-box qualities would have returned, I bought a pair online (for £105 vs the then RRP of £145) from a very fine shop called Country Innovation. They are similar to the current 2015 version, (now rebranded as Berghaus and with Vibram outsoles), and are still available at discounted prices online. Their claimed weight is 1122g, but that will be for a smaller size than my 11.5 clodhoppers.

At the same time, I found that the older pre-Pittards version was available now very cheaply, and bought a pair for about £60 from Sports Direct. So I now have three pairs:

- original
- intermediate pre-Pittards.
- Pittards, current version

Kept up with all that, have we? This is a very brief summary of my experience with each of them:

- original: excellent boots, have survived a lot of walking including a Pyrenees trek and are still in use today though the soles have worn down rather.

- intermediates: the first time I wore them, I only went about three miles in them but they managed to strip all the skin off both my heels at the back, very painful! The leather on this pair is much harder than the other two. I did persevere with them and they eventually became an excellent, comfortable pair of boots once they were fully worn in.

- current Pittards version: also very comfortable, nice soft leather. I "kept them for best" and wore them when walking along the Pennine Way last year. Unfortunately, I had a disaster with them in that shortly after setting off across the Cheviots from Byrness (ie, the worst possible moment) one of the lugs that secure the laces came adrift from the boot. I redid the lacing, but my feet began to slide around in the boot. In the end, I had to use the Merrill "camp" shoes I had with me instead, and tie the boots to my rucksack.

When I got home I contacted Country Innovation, who told me to send the boots back to them. They had them repaired by Brashers and sent them back to me. All free of charge, which was quality service indeed. By then the boots were out of warranty, although it was clear they had not had much wear.

The repaired boots are fine but I did somewhat distrust them after that, what would I do if it happened again miles from anywhere, up in the mountains? [update: they were fine on my 2019 Pennine Way walk] ..In the end I took the the older intermediate pair on my 55 day trek this year. They performed brilliantly and looked as good at the end as at the start - soles worn down a bit, that is all. I did not take any dubbin or wax with me, but about half way through I took pity on them, and bought a small tin of dubbin in Vielha which I used two or three times in all. It is not a good idea in my opinion to treat goretex lined boots too often - the more flexible the leather, the more the goretex liner is stressed.

So, all three pairs of boots are still in use, and all are still fully waterproof even though the oldest pair has deep cracks in the leather now. They are fine boots, they have put up with years of hard treatment, and I fully recommend them.

I recognise that some will see them as rather old-fashioned. These days many wear trail shoes or trail running shoes, and that's fine if they work for you. All I would say is that if you want to do a serious walk through mountainous territory, you must make sure that your footwear has all of the following qualities:

- excellent grip on wet rock
- thick enough soles that you can walk over sharp or pointed rocks without problems.
- sufficiently robust to last the course
- waterproof

I am still looking for a pair of trail shoes that will do all the above. Makes like Innov8 are interesting, but are just not robust enough. Some say that mesh shoes work well, they let water in but they let it out again quickly too. That is fine in some climates, but when there has been an overnight frost and the ground is sodden and cold all day, you will have two blocks of ice in no time. I would not use them even on the Pennine Way, never mind in the Pyrenees. Suggestions welcomed!

Insoles

I use Shockstopper "sorbothane" double strike insoles. I have knee problems and want to reduce transmitted shocks as far as I can, these seem to do the job as well as anything. I have not tried Superfeet, which are also well spoken of, mainly because I just can't bring myself to spend upwards of £35 on a pair of insoles. Shockstoppers cost £15, or less on Ebay.. they are comfortable, and also quite long-lasting.

Socks

Over the years I have tried virtually all known makes of socks... Brasher, Bridgedale, Smartwool, 1,000 mile, Icebreaker, Rohan and more besides. My feet tend to run hot and I found Smartwool and Icebreaker socks too hot to use in leather boots. Surprisingly perhaps I do not find 1,000 mile socks hot to wear even though they are double layer. There is also the blister issue, see above.. 1,000 mile socks and Rohan socks with liner are still the only ones that I have never ever had a blister from.

Now I have settled on a combination of 1,000 mile socks and Rohan. I use the 1,000 mile tactel socks for "serious" walking - 20+ mile days -  and the Rohan ones the rest of the time, ie for shorter days, evenings, daywalks etc. I took two pairs of 1,000 mile socks and one pair of Rohan socks to the Pyrenees, and they all lasted the course well and are still in use. The Rohan socks are excellent in that they are not only comfortable but also very light indeed, at only 54g/pair. I use the "Hot & Temperate" ones, which are perfectly warm enough in leather boots. The liner socks only weigh 20g/pair!

Sleeping Kit

This equipment review is about the third of my Zpacks purchases, the sleeping bag, and also about my Thermarest Neoair sleeping mat.

What sleeping bag have you bought? - a wide width, 20degreeF (-7degC), extra-extra-extra long down sleeping bag with a full-length zip and a draft tube. I paid USD445, + $10 for the zip and $20 for the tube, so USD$475 altogether or £306.60. I concede that is a lot of money, but what you get has been made hand made to your order. I doubt if I could get anything similar "off the shelf."

It has 18 segments and it is huge, just the zip is 81" long. Overall the bag must be about 90":

        .. a not very good photo of the bag laid out on a table. Note how wide it is at the top

I have limited sleeping bag experience, having owned only one before this one, a Marmot Helium EQ Long, also rated to -7degC. That cost £280 in 2007, so roughly the same as this one. It weighs 1123g, against the Zpacks' 788g, or 335g more. It is a standard "mummy" shaped bag. It has been a good bag to use, warm and comfortable. I particularly like the pertex outer that is quite water resistant. Bag leakage or tent condensation have never affected it, a very useful attribute for a down filled bag.
The only problem I have had with the Marmot is that its mummy shape is a bit constricting.. very snug in cold weather, but it doesn't cope quite so well with warm or hot conditions. So, I decided the next one would not only be lighter, but would be easier to use as a duvet or  a cover, not just something to be inside.

So, what do you think of the Zpacks bag? I like it! It is very comfortable in use. It does weigh significantly less than my Marmot bag, and if you buy a normal size one, it will weigh less still. Zpacks claim that a medium 20degF sleeping bag weighs 473g, or 17oz, which is remarkable! I ordered a draught tube and full length zip, as well as a longer than average bag, all of which adds weight of course.
I haven't slept in the bag at -7degC, so I can't definitively answer for the insulation, but I tend to run cold and like a snug bag, and this one has never let me down; It has been down to 0degc, and felt fine.
The shape is really good. It is just as snug as the traditional mummy shape when it is cold, and much better when it's hot because you can use it as a quilt or lie on it and leave the zip open. I do recommend the full-length zip option.  You can buy a down hat/hood to go with it if you want, I didn't and didn't miss it.

    showing the full length, double pull-thingy zip, the internal draft tube, and the foot section of the bag

No problems at all then? No, no problems at all. The fill is a little loose, so that your feet, for example, can ruffle through it during the night and end up feeling cold. This would only affect you if you had no sleeping mattress, or a short one (like I do) that doesn't go under your legs. Once or twice I had to put a fleece under the bag below my feet to stop them getting cold. The filling seems rather looser than the Marmot's.. perhaps that just means that it is higher quality down. Certainly it felt just as warm. I do feel the cold easily, but I had no problems with the Zpacks bag and never had to wear extra clothing in it to feel warm.
I think the outer shell is supposed to be waterproof. Several times the toe end of the bag did get wet, usually because I had slid to the end of the tent and made contact with the inner tent lining when there was condensation. The water didn't seem to bead and run off, but so far as I could tell, the down inside stayed dry, which is the important thing.
The bag comes in its own cuben stuff sack, and moreover not a tiny one but one that is big enough for me to actually get the bag into. However I don't use it. What I do instead is to stuff the bag straight into the bottom of the rucksack liner bag, and then put the other stuff on top. Usually this means that the bag does not get so compressed, unless the bag is really full. It also shifts the centre of gravity of the rucksack nearer the top, which I like. Another worthwhile bonus is that you now have a nice medium size cuben bag (worth $23) to use for something else; in my case I put my spare clothes in it, and also used it as a pillow.
I saw a review that said it wouldn't stand up to rough treatment.. but who treats their sleeping bag roughly anyway? I used it every night in the Pyrenees for 55 nights, even when staying in refuges etc., and stuffed it into the bottom of my rucksack each morning and piled everything else on top, and it coped fine with that, still looks like new.

In summary? This is a very fine sleeping bag. It lives up to its temperature rating, it feels toasty in cold weather but because of its shape it is also great for warmer temperatures too. Highly recommended. Get the full length zip and ideally, pair it with a full length sleeping mat. Oh, and order it in good time, it is made individually for you, and that takes time. That is a plus not a con though, and will make it feel all the more special, when it arrives!
No it isn't cheap, but it is excellent value for money.

Thermarest Neoair sleeping mat

My first sleeping mat was a Thermarest Prolite 4, and I used it for some years. It sprang a leak, but I repaired it and after that it was fine, easy to inflate and warm. Quite thin though, and not the most comfortable.
When the Neoair came out I spent £80 and bought one from Amazon. It is lighter than the Prolite - 274g, in its stuff bag, whereas the Prolite weighs 392g - and because it is much thicker when inflated, I do find it far more comfortable. It also packs down very small. I bought mine in 2010. It is rectangular in shape, silver underneath and bright yellow on top. The current model is the Neoair Xlite, which apparently weighs even less, only 230g for the small size.
The Neoair takes a fair bit more inflating than the Prolite, about a dozen breaths. Not usually a problem, but once or twice a bit of a struggle. You can buy a pump to do the job for you, but that rather defeats the object of buying the lightest mat around.
It is comfortable , I found it best to let a little air out so you sink into it a bit more. I have the small size, and small it is. It comes down on me to about mid-thigh, and it is wide enough so long as you keep still, and don't roll about!

So no problems then?
Yes, at some point early in my Pyrenees walk it developed a slow leak. To start with it would last the night, it just felt a bit spongy in the morning (don't we all? :-) but by the end of the walk it needed blowing up again about twice a night. Irritatingly, all efforts to trace the leak have so far failed.
It is also quite small.

Would you get another?
I guess I would, though both my Thermarest mattresses have sprung leaks despite never having been used outside a tent. They are very light, and the Neoair packs down very small. If I bought another though I would get the regular size, and swallow the extra 70g weight.

Update 2024: well, I have bought another Thermarest, a Neoair X-lite long. It weights more than its replacement at 480g but it is well worth the extra because it is much more comfortable. At the time of writing it has survived a Pennine Way without leaking at all .. keeping fingers crossed!

Inflating it can be a bit of a trial at the end of a long day, so I also bought a "Neoair pump sack." It doubles as a liner bag for the rucksack, it is just the right size, and it does make inflation much easier.

Tent - Zpacks Duplex Tent

What did I buy? I bought the Zpacks Duplex tent in 0.51oz/sq. yd Olive standard cuben fibre. In its bag, it weighs 580g (20.5oz) without pegs. I use the titanium pegs that came with my previous tent, they weigh 68g (2.4oz) for 11 pegs (there should be 12, don't ask!) in their bag. The stakes are very similar to the tough titanium stakes that Zpacks sell.

   At High Cup Nick, on the Pennine Way, in Sept 2014. Ready to start cooking...

I bought it in July 2014. It arrived in August, and in September I took it along the Pennine Way. It did well, so I took it along the Pyrenees in July and August 2015. Altogether I have used it for perhaps 30 nights, and carried it for about 1,000 miles. How did it get on? very well indeed...

What did it cost? USD$570, or £342.60 at the then exchange rate. That may seem a lot, but you can pay much more. A Terra Nova Solar Ultra, which weighs more and is smaller (but is a double-skin tent) will set you back £1,200, no less!!

The model currently on sale is a little different to the one I bought. Now, it comes with two internal mesh pockets for storing stuff, which I covet and think are a great idea. Also, the tent doors are secured by metal clips rather than the plastic toggles mine has. I suspect that is also a good idea, as the toggles are a bit fiddly.

So, how has it been for you? This really is just an awesome tent. It is well made and robust - it still looks new, and I have had nothing break or go wrong at all. The design is really effective - see below, re condensation - and the tent is big, much bigger than the Terra Nova Laser (full size, not competition, 1,380g) that it replaced. Unlike the TN it is a two person tent that two people actually could use. It would be cosy, but not unduly so. For me, at almost 6' 5", it is very spacious. The tent fabric is a teensy bit translucent, but not so much as to cause any problem. If you are particularly shy, you can have camo or some other colour material that is less see-through.

Erecting, and knocking down, the tent are easy once you've done it a few times, a little less so perhaps if it's unduly windy, but not hard even then.

Condensation, don't tell me there isn't any.. well, indeed you can avoid it altogether if you want. The tent has four doors, two each side. I found that if two of them were left open, ideally one on each side, there would be no condensation. If one or none were open, then sometimes there could be, if it was cool or cold outside and if there was little or no through ventilation. A through draft is the key, if you want to avoid having any condensation. This goes for all tents, single or double skin, not just this one. The TN Laser had it too.

Another point about the Duplex is that the outer overhangs the bathtub floor all around by an inch or two, so if there is condensation it runs down and outside, and not into the tent. In the morning it is very easy to give it a quick wipe down with a microfibre cloth or similar before demounting it. The overhang also means that doors can be left open in the rain, unless it is windy as well.

So, no problems at all then? No, no problems at all.

There are three more points worth mentioning. The tent as supplied does not have lineloc or other guyline length adjusters. I found that awkward, and after a while I ordered and fitted some micro lineloc adjusters, and I recommend you do too since it enables you to choose where to put the stakes in, to avoid stones etc. It also makes it easier to fine-tune the pitch tautness. They are light and cheap, and I've had no problems fitting or using them.

The second point is about performance in high wind. I had some problems on two occasions in very windy mountain conditions. However, the wind on that first occasion was unexpected, and thinking about it since, there are things I could do that would help next time. In particular, I think a couple of high performance stakes, such as the V stakes Zpacks sell, one for each of the main guylines, and/or a supply of stones to secure the pegs would be good. The thin titanium spikes I use are not spectacular for grip. Zpacks say that so long as the pegs stay in the ground the tent will be OK, and that is probably true. The tent is strong and despite the problems I had, the tent fabric was undamaged. However the sides of the tent are quite tall - normally a good thing, of course! - and can allow strong winds to create quite a push, which is transferred to the pegs and can pull them out. All I can really say is that next time, I will try harder to prepare the tent well, and will report back here afterwards!

Finally, note that the tent makes use of two walking poles - though if you don't use them, you can buy dedicated tent poles separately. Using walking poles can be a (admittedly, very slight) nuisance since you can't easily use the poles while the tent is up, to get to a water source for example. Also if you break a pole, as I did twice, you potentially have an issue. I had to tape my broken pole together so I could use it for the tent, but that was OK. I wouldn't say it was a problem, more just something to be aware of.

Update 2024: the tent has just completed its third (my 4th) Pennine Way and is still in good condition and still brilliant. I have three V stakes now that I put on the upwind guylines, and that has helped its stability in windy conditions.

Especially given its weight, I think that overall this is a really, really impressive tent, both in design and in build quality. I love it! I happily recommend it, as the best tent of its type that I have ever seen.

2,700m up, in the Spanish Pyrenees

 Near Refugi Enric Pujol, Spanish Pyrenees, dwarfing a 1-person tent next door..


Near Refuge Arlet, French Pyrenees, surrounded by Spanish scouts & guides! But they were very well-behaved...

Rucksack - Zpacks Arc Blast

High in the Pyrenees... not very flattering of me, but a nice view of the Arc Blast in action, on the summit of the Pic d'Orhy. I lived out of it for 55 days.

What did I buy? A Zpacks Arc Blast 52 litre backpack, indigo and grey, 22" torso, 34" belt, at a cost of:

Backpack:                  $279.00 USD
Shoulder Pouch at        $21.95 USD
Belt Pouch                  $21.95 USD
Load Lifter Straps          $8.00 USD
Top Side Pockets Pair   $35.00 USD
Lumbar Pad                $12.00 USD

So that was a total of  US$377.90, which at the exchange rate then ruling was £277. Quite a lot of money, but it is a premium product. Would I buy exactly the same again, if I were starting now? Yes I would indeed, though I might buy the 60l instead of the 52l pack. Same price, more space! Volume - getting everything in - was an issue for me throughout the walk, though I did manage OK. On the other hand, sometimes it is good to be pressed for space: inessentials will be left out! It was one factor in my decision to buy the 52l size.

My rucksack currently weighs 684g (1lb 8oz). The Zpacks website says 595g for the 52l pack, but don't forget in addition to that I have a belt pouch, two upper side pockets, load lifter straps, some extra shock cord, a lumbar pad, and a shoulder pouch. And some dirt, probably. Overall that's a similar weight to my Gossamer Gear Gorilla - but the current model Gorilla weighs 800g+, and that's without any of the add-ons.

I bought it in July 2014. It arrived in August, and in September I took it along the Pennine Way. It did well, so I took it along the Pyrenees in July and August 2015. So now it has had two good long distance walks; it has travelled about 1,000 miles altogether. How did it get on?

This is the Arc Blast sitting on a chair towards the end of the Pyrenees trek. It has the Zpacks tent strapped on top, various items stuffed in the main back pocket, a spare walking pole stuffed down one side, and a pair of socks drying in the ice-axe straps at the bottom..

I do try to treat my gear well and look after it, but the plain fact is, on a walk like this, through all sorts of terrain, it will get wear and tear and not a lot can be done about that. However after almost 1,000 miles of walking in very mixed country, the rucksack is still in excellent condition and still entirely usable. I reckon it could do the same again.

The main body of the rucksack is pretty much as new. The two bottom side pockets both have small holes, tears and other signs of wear. The mesh pockets have small tears too.

    The underside of one of the bottom rucksack pockets

I do have a slight issue with this, as to me it seems entirely predictable that this will happen. The bottom of the rucksack is subject to a lot of stress and wear and tear. The rucksack itself is specified to cope with this, and indeed the base of mine still looks pristine. The main bag is very strong and abrasion resistant, it looks in mint condition. But the bottom pockets are not as strong, even though they are just as much in harm's way as the main bag, and always seem to suffer more. My previous bags, a Gossamer Gear Gorilla and a Miniposa, were exactly the same. The bottom of the bottom pockets really need to be made as strong as the rest of the bottom of the pack is...

Stop moaning. Was it OK otherwise? - Yes, I am extremely happy with the way it coped. It was filled absolutely to the limit, and then had more stuff strapped to the outside. I am sure I exceeded the recommended load weight at times. And if/when I go on another long walk, I will take it, it is still in perfectly good condition.

Was it waterproof? Very nearly. Not quite, but I reckon it could be. If it were a bit less full, so that you could turn over the top a couple of times as you are supposed to, I think it would then be fully waterproof. I usually had it so full that the top couldn't be turned over, and then I strapped the tent on top. I thought this would protect the top but I suspect that the rain ran down and round the tent cover, and then crept in the top. Even so, there was not much damp inside. I had a cuben liner bag, and nothing got inside that at all.
Bottom line is, I think all the seams were waterproof, and any water ingress was my own silly fault, not the fault of the pack.

Was it comfortable? It was for me, yes.  I can only compare it with my two previous Gossamer Gear backpacks, and it was better than them. I was able to arrange matters so that the hip belt rested on my hips and took pretty much all the weight. I used the shoulder straps to keep it balanced and in place. So long as your waist measurement is less than your hips, you should find the same. I do recommend the load lifter straps, they add little weight and give you another adjustment possibility that I found useful.

One of the features of the Arc Blast is the carbon fibre frame, which can be bent to create an air gap between you and the pack. I like the concept of this, and in general it worked well; it is much more effective than the foam or air pad idea Gossamer Gear use. I did have a couple of problems occasionally with the frame ends coming out of their sockets, and with the cord adjusters slackening off without my noticing. I think though that this may also be connected with the overloading issue - it is certainly much easier to adjust and tension the frame when the pack is unloaded or lightly loaded.

So, no problems at all, then? Yes, I did have three incidents, as follows. I relate them below as this is a comprehensive review. But I don't think any of them reflect on the quality of the design or manufacture:

- on my first day on the Pennine Way, the plastic clip on the top strap, that fits into the socket to secure the strap, broke. Looking back, I think this was actually user error. Make certain when you close the clip, which is quite small, that all three if the little prongs are going to go inside the socket. If two of them are and one is not, the third may snap off... When I mentioned what had happened to Zpacks, even before they replied to my email, they had put two more clips in the (transatlantic) post to me. Quality service. I was lucky to break a clip that could be threaded on, and was not sewn in place as most are. But I haven't broken any since!

- about half way along the Pyrenees, one of the shoulder straps broke. Below the padding parts, there is an adjustment strap and the top part of that is a loop sewn from the padding part that secures the plastic clip in place. This had frayed through. Now, as I said above I do not use the shoulder straps as heavy load bearing items, the weight is kept on the hip belt, so I am totally mystified as to how that could have happened. The corresponding loop on the other strap is pristine, so I really don't know. I did fall over twice while wearing the pack, maybe it was stressed and torn when that happened. No idea. I had to sit down with my little sewing kit and sew the loop back in place, there and then. The result is not pretty, but it has held OK since.

- the upper side pockets, the belt bag and the shoulder bag were all really useful additions. However the upper side pockets were held in place by little thin bits of elastic cord sort of twisted in place, and they kept coming undone. This was more an irritation than anything else - I never actually lost one, they hung on, or fell into the lower pockets - but when I next use the pack I will sit down beforehand and make certain they are all properly secured.

Update 2024: more than ten years old now, the rucksack is still going strong. It has completed two more Pennine Ways and various other walks including the Snowdonia Way. I love it.



In summary? Definitely the best rucksack I've ever had. It is a Mercedes, or possibly a Bentley, among backpacks.

Zpacks is a decent sized company nowadays, or so I believe, but it doesn't feel like one. It seems more like an old-fashioned tailor, who listens to what you want, takes measurements, and then makes something by hand that fits you perfectly. Joe Valesko gave me lots of good advice about what to buy and in what particular size. I think Zpacks are excellent value, for what you get.