A number of people have asked me about my kit for the Cape Wrath Trail. Given that the list was ready and waiting in a spreadsheet, It seems worthwhile to share it particularly as I was very happy with all of my equipment choices.
Below is my gear list for walking the trail in September. Conditions were very wet underfoot but I was fortunate not to have much prolonged rain during the trip. I made the decision not to be obsessively lightweight with many of these choices and made sure to have suitable clothing to keep me safe regardless of the conditions. The trail is very remote at points and demands respect and appropriate clothing. I aimed to have a base weight of just below 8kg, which put my total pack weight at around 12-14kg when fully loaded up.
The Main Four:
| Tent | Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo – full review HERE, but I was very satisfied with this tent. It handled some high winds above Torridon when my freestanding tent would certianly have failed. |
| Backpack | Osprey Exos 48, Plus a Declathlon bumbag utilised as chest pouch for easy snack access. |
| Sleeping bag | Cumulus Liteline 400 |
| Sleeping pad | Thermarest Neoair Xlite |
Utility:
| Poles | Black Diamond Trail – Don’t even think about hiking this trail without poles, they got me out of trouble a lot, and are very useful for testing bogs. |
| Headtorch | Black Diamond Spot 400 |
| Pillow | Alpkit inflatable |
| Toilet Kit | ‘The Deuce 2’ Trowel, biodegradable toilet paper, hand sanitiser |
| Stuff sacks | Various stuff sacks for sorting food, electricals, clothes. I use these in different bright colours to make organisation easy. |
| Tent Lantern | Lightweight tent lantern from Tread Lite Gear. |
| Sit Pad | Small closed cell foam pad for sitting on when taking breaks. Worth its weight in gold when every rock becomes a comfortable seat. |
Cooking and Drinking:
| Stove | Alpkit Kraku |
| Fuel | One 230g gas canister. This lasted me 15 days, but I only heat water for dinner. |
| Cook pot | MSR Titan Kettle. big enough to store the gas canister inside for packing efficiency. |
| Utensils | Home made wooden long spoon, Opinel No. 7. |
| Cup/bowl | Miltec Fold-A-Cup big and small. |
| Water bottle | 750ml bottle on bag strap holster, 1L bottle on bacpack, sawyer filter squashable bag |
| Water filter | Sawyer Mini – This only item on this list I didn’t end up using, but the weight penalty was tiny and it was worth having in case of needing to drink from a questionable source. |
Clothing:
| Top | Baa Merino Long sleeve lightweight top |
| Trousers | Montane Terra walking trousers. These are very comfy, breathable, and dry fast. |
| Insulated Jacket | Arcteryx Atom LT – Thin synthetic insulating layer |
| Thin Fleece | Montane Proteum hoodie – Microfleece mid layer, very cosy and with a close-fitting hood thats handy for keeping the midges out. |
| Rain Jacket | RAB Meridian Gore-Tex Shell – Waterproof packable shell jacket. |
| Waterproof Trousers | Marmot Precip Eco |
| Underwear | Merino boxers x2 |
| Socks | Darn Tough Crew x2, Sealskins x1, thin merino to sleep in x1, bread bags to put over dry socks if shoes are damp at camp – The Sealskins were useless, but the bread bags were really handy and I wish i’d taken another couple. |
| Footwear | New Balance Hierro V7 Wide fit, started with a brand new pair as old ones had done a few hundred miles. I love these shoes, and have since been through another couple of pairs. |
| Gaiters | Montane lightweight trail gaiters – These look silly but are great for keeping bog or stones out of your shoes and socks and maintaining better cleanliness. I’d really reccomend them if you’re wearing trail shoes. |
| Hat Gloves | Patagonia mesh running cap Thin merino liner gloves, only worn on a handfull of chilly mornings. |
| Bandana Midge Net | Buff, needs no introduction. Smidge midge net |
| Base Layers | Short sleeve light weight merino top and merino tights to sleep in. kept clean and dry and never worn in daytime. |
| Camp/river shoes Towel | Decathlon water shoes,. these are great for wearing in bothies/hostels or at camp while trainers dry. I had considered wearing them for sketchy river crossings, but usually had wet enough feet already and kept the trail shoes on. Small Lifeventure microfibre towel |
Navigation, Safety, and Miscellaneous
| GPS | Garmin Etrexx 22x – Basic, sturdy, functional, and easy to use in bad weather. Carried 6x spare AA batteries, and a mini USB battery charger just in case. |
| Maps | Harvey maps Cape Wrath North and South, Cicerone guide. Both very useful. |
| Compass | Needs no introduction. |
| Phone Camera Reading/Writing | Fully charged, switched off in backpack with routes loaded on Maps.me just in case. I enjoy this not being needed for navigation or photos. Panasonic Lumix LX15 A notepad and pen to write with. |
| Spares and Repairs | Duct tape, tenacious tape, zip ties, needle and thread, length of paracord, spare batteries, repair kit for Thermarest |
| First Aid Kit Power Bank Hygiene | Painkillers, blister plasters, Leukoplasttape, plasters, Immodium, antihistamine, Insect repellant. 1x 20,000mAh power bank,, 1x 10,000mAh for charging phone, lights, camera, and anything else. This was plenty to get me to Inchnadamph where they were charged again. I’d have gotten by comfortably with just the 20,000. Eco-friendly soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, talcum powder, and small washcloth. Vaseline, nail clippers, hand sanitiser. |
| Glasses | Seeing glasses, Sunglasses |
Food:
This is an example of what I would eat most days. Occasionally supplimented with cafe/shop stops en route where possible. At most I was carrying seven days supplies, and sent two resupply parcels, one to Kintail Crafts in Morvich, and another to Inchnadamph Lodge.
| Breakfast | Muesli, with added dark chocolate drops, dried fruit, and milk powder. Just add water. |
| Lunch | 3x bars, 1x small haribo packet, 2x mini tortilla wraps with peanut butter, 1x pepperami salami, DIY Trail mix (my fave nuts and some M&M’s) |
| Dinner | Mix of dehydrated meals from various brands, highest calorie options. Firepot were the best. |
I hope you’ve found this list useful, and please drop a comment below if you have any questions about any of these kit choices or walking the trail.✌️
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