Inov8 | Lighter Packs

Some new stuff that has dropped in lately.

The sleeping pad, a Therm-A-Rest NeoAir X-Lite looks very promising and will replace my Z-Lite and also complement it during the winter to add more comfort.

Trailroc 245

I also got a pair of new Inov-8 shoes. It’s not that I don’t like my Roclite 295’s but they’re run a little small (pun intended 😉 ). So for running around for an hour or so they’re fine but when I walk for several hours my feet get swollen and I guess that I’ll get hurt eventually. Won’t risk it on a 3+ day trip. To be on the safe side I got these Trailroc 245’s instead. I must say that I love the box that they came in! 🙂

These I got two a week or so ago. Will serve as extra grip for the Ultamid in stormy weather.

MSR Mini Groundhog stakes

Nice touch with MSR logo on the stakes. They’re a little heavier than the others I’ve got. 9g per piece.

Last summer we did a three day trip but we ended it early due to a big thunderstorm that came in over us. We were quite happy that we didn’t sleep in a tent that night because it caused massive problems with flooding etc. So this time we went on an overnighter to complete the last leg, the last 16km. Västanåleden – click to see trail info and maps.

Pre-planning and packing. Big thanks to Jon that helped with the pack an some other stuff as my calendar has been packed.

Pre-planning and packing. Big thanks to Jon that helped with the pack and some other stuff as my calendar has been packed.

We started on Friday as soon as I came off work and we drove to Gränna north of Jönköping (Sweden). After unpacking the car and doing some last minute adjustments and distributed a few things to balance the loads we started walking. It was now a few minutes past five. At this point we had about 2,5 hours of light before the sun set.

: Jon taking the lead with his new ULA pack.

: Posing in the sun – it was really warm this evening.

: Drinking on the go.

: Sun dropping long shades of the apple orchards.

The small village of Röttle hosts a many treats like this waterfall and the Jerusalem mill.

Jerusalems mill in Röttle.

And the beech forrest.

: Beautiful beech forrest filled with flowers and wildlife.

: I’m posing away with Vättern in the background.

About one hour in we took a short break making some coffee as the sun was going down in the background.

: Stirring the cup.

: Taking a break waiting for the water to boil.

: The sun is setting in the horizon.

: Primus Omnilite TI burner.

: Where are the banana chips?! – Found them!

One of the missions on this overnighter was to see how much fuel the Primus Omnilite TI burner used for a days worth of cooking. We found that three meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner with an additional three boils for coffee water we used about 1dl of fuel. We used Primus Power Fuel and the temperature were between 0 degrees Celsius and +12 on the last day. We didn’t really go all in on saving fuel – our thoughts were rather:
– If we do this as comfortable as possible how much fuel will we spend?”

Trying out a new concept for us – Freeze bag cooking! Worked like a charm! Couscous with cheese.

: Getting dark fast.

: Where’s our camp site?

: Working them Inov-8 Roclite 295’s

As soon as the sun set it got dark really fast and we had to pitch the tent in the dark. But with our headlamps on but it worked great. Team work pays out!

Saturday morning – waking up around 06.30 – rise and shine!