I never thought my video would generate this much interest! I'm going to continue to publish comments that deal with safety because it's important for people to look at these issues and make their own mind up. So, Martin Rye said:
Couple things and more. On a multi day route you would miss those spare clothes. Wet days on end would push the safety boundary in my view. You would be safer with spare warm clothing to get into in an emergency. Wet clothing wicks body heat away five times faster.
It seems that every time I've taken this kit out, it's been wet days on end so I've got a fair understanding of how it works. The cape/chaps combo does a good job of keeping me dry except for the ends of the arms-I've been just as wet in traditional waterproofs and I would always save my dry clothes for when I got to camp. But when I'm in camp, if I'm really soaking, I can take my wet clothes off and get into my sleeping bag and put on the down vest which will keep me warmer than a fleece or long johns and not getting into the sleeping bag. What I actually found myself doing was just wearing the clothes until they dried when I got to camp. I wear montane terra trousers and a smartwool microweight baselayer which I have found dry extremely quickly. on my feet I wore coolmax liner socks which also dry very quickly. I do run pretty warm though. I dried at night and got wet again during the day, which was similar to what I used to do which was wearing dry clothes at night and putting wet clothes on again the next day.
I like Caldera stoves but they can flare up and set fire to the ground. If your shelter burnt down what would be plan to keep the elements of you without a waterproof? Good luck to you but would it work on a five day no resupply wet Scottish route in May?
I haven't had any problem with my caldera setting fire to the ground, but if it's dry, I put it outside the tent. If it's wet, then there shouldn't be so much of a problem with the ground catching fire but should the worst come to the worst, then silnylon burns slowly. The worst should be a hole in my waterproofs. There's enough material in the cape to be able to bunch it and tie it off or even just wear it with a hole in it- I'd be generally covered. 5 days no resupply in a scottish May? I don't get the chance to get up to Scotland much unfortunately but my understanding is that I may well be encountering snow etc. I would be more likely to pack a kit that reflected the more wintery conditions and lower temperatures, but if it's cold enough to wear a micro fleece, that would be on my back and not in the pack. Wind is the real killer with the cape as a waterproof but only if you're going up high. The main change I'd make for a 5 dayer is spare socks- my socks reek after 3 days!
Also does that pack keep all the kit dry without stuff sacks? Yes!
We set out at an ungodly hour and arrived at Wasdale at 10.30, just in time to nab the last parking space. After a bit of faffing and taking of team photos we headed towards Lord's Rake. The plan was fairly fluid but we wanted to have a crack at a bit of steep snow and the Rake had been recommended as a good introduction. We were all up to speed with our winter skills and wanted to take them a bit further. 
My pack felt good on, especially once I strapped on the crampons and began carrying the ice axe. The Rake was in excellent condition, and fairly untouched except for a few snowed over footsteps. 
There was plenty of exposure but nothing technical and we all agreed it was one of the highlights of the weekend. 
The original plan had been to head over to Sprinkling tarn to camp, but we had already spent longer than we thought climbing the Rake and now I made the classic mistake of looking at the objective rather than the map. I descended through the wrong gully and ended up on a short slope with a nasty looking cliff at the bottom. I was heading down to check out the possibilities and thought to myself that I'd better hold my axe in the self arrest position when I slipped and began sliding. I picked up speed remarkably quickly but managed to stop myself after a few feet. There was an anxious moment where I thought the axe wouldn't bite and was a bit shaken when I got up. Lesson learnt, we descended down the right gully and headed towards Great Moss.
It was clear that we weren't going to make it to sprinkling tarn now so we began to look for a dry spot. There was plenty of bogs and tufts but we finally found a spot on a small knoll. The wind had picked up and I was a little worried about the Gatewood cape. My brother in Law had a KWay 2 man wedge that I could have squeezed into but I wanted to test my capabilities. I rigged an extra guy at the back using my ice axe which had the benefit of giving me a bit of extra headroom and I settled down to cook my supper
. I was very impressed with the cladera cone. It was the first time I had used it but despite the wind and the icy water it still boiled enough for a coffee and my meal in a very short amount of time. The wind was making the lightweight aluminium pole on the cape flex quite alarmingly. I closed the door and it improved matters but I would have been much happier with a trekking pole there instead. I still felt safe enough to leave the tent to go and hunch up in the bottom of Martyn's tent to drink whisky and munch on my homemede jerky. I don't think the other's were convinced. Ben commented that no meat should crunch!We decided to settle down at about nine, but exiting the tent we saw that the whole valley was bathed in the most incredible moonlight. I spent a few freezing minutes trying to capture the scene before getting into the bag. The wind had dropped and the thermometer in my tent registered -5.
We set off up the tongue after a relaxed breakfast. We were making time because we wanted to get driving before the predicted snow arrived. 
After avoiding snow patches as much as possible we finally gave in and strapped on our crampons. We saw a lot of people on the Sunday, conditions were just about perfect.
After a a quick spin past Sprinkling tarn we descended back through Wasdale and returned to the car just in time to catch the first of the snow showers as we drove back.
Overall on this trip I was really pleased with the weight of my kit and the way it worked. Last winter my pack weighed closer to 10kg without axe, crampons or 2 sleeping bags. I felt that each element worked together and different elements could be combined to reduce weight. I didn't use my long johns or spare socks but I was glad I had them as there was still the possibility of putting my foot through a bog and getting wet as happened to Martyn. 
Realistically I could have got away without the vest but it did give me a bit more flexibility. The 
Except it wasn't. I carried +3kg of food for the Rhinogs plus my stove and pot and didn't baby it and it's still looking as good as new. I've hung it by the cord, stuffed it in my pack and sat it on the ground and I'm very pleased with it. So I've decided to replace it. Why? For the crime of being too big and heavy! You get a lot of sack for your 6g-I can fit my head in it (remember my head isn't the biggest!) and with one night's food in it it's too big. The small stuff is 4g and for an overnighter it's all the sack I need. The only problem is it might be ever so slightly too small. The final item in the pack is a set of Vargo hi vis pegs. I love my Terra Nova carbon fibre pegs but they're beginning to break with monotonous regularity. I am taking a hit on the weight though- I foolishly assumed they were the same as the superlight stakes with a bit of paint on them. Still you live and learn.
Here is the picture of the Mountain Laurel poncho as a poncho- I seem to have assumed a Meechanesque thousand yard stare but really what expression do you use to model a huge tesco carrier bag? You can see just how see through it is in this picture.
Posts
Explaining my Absence
4 days ago
