THE KIT ROOM · WEIGHED IN GRAMS, ARGUED OVER IN JANUARY

The kit room

You don't need £900 of new kit. You need the right list for the right trip, boots that fit, and the sense to hire the metalwork. Pick your expedition; the list builds itself.

BUILD YOUR LIST

ON YOUR BACK RIGHT NOW

0.0KG

COMFORTABLE — you’ll forget it by the first col.

FULL LIST · 0.0KG CARRIED · 0 OF 0 PACKED

Pick a trip first

TICKS ARE SAVED PER TRIP, ON THIS DEVICE · WORN ITEMS DON'T COUNT TOWARD PACK WEIGHT

KIT, HONESTLY

Spend twice. Save everywhere else.

Boots that fit and a shell that works — those are the two purchases that matter, and neither needs to be this year's model. Everything else on the list has a supermarket, army-surplus or borrowed version that performs within a few percent of the boutique one. Our January kit audit keeps proving it: the £38 base layer is on 190 mountain days and counting; the £120 one died at 14 months. The findings are in the journal.

The expensive metalwork — axes, crampons, 4-season tents, serious sleeping bags — we hire out, maintained and fitted, for a few pounds a trip. If you'll use it twice a year or less, hiring is not the compromise. Buying is.

HIRE · SLEEPING BAG £30 · AXE & CRAMPONS £25 · 4-SEASON TENT £40 · FITTED BEFORE DEPARTURE

TAKE IT WITH YOU

Email me this list

We'll send the list exactly as it stands — trip, ticks and weights — plus the WhatsApp number for kit questions. No newsletter riding shotgun.

ENTER A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS

ONE EMAIL · NO LIST-BUILDING · ASK US ANYTHING ON THE REPLY

LIST SENT · CHECK YOUR INBOX

On its way. If a single item on it confuses you, reply to the email — a guide answers, not a bot.

PACKED?

Now find something to carry it up.

Fifty-five routes with 2026–27 dates. The list already knows what they need.