I've noticed recently that a decent tech-t for walking will set you back a good twenty to thirty quid. All fine and dandy until you realise that our cousins in the running fraternity can get hold of similar tops for much less. Essentially, you need a wicking shirt - there's no rocket science or voodoo ceremonies - it's simple.

I've recently got some short sleeve New Balance tees for about a tenner that are a fine fit and have been on a few hill trips so far and performed fine. Funnily enough - my baselayer of choice is currently a winter weight Canterbury rugby compression top. It wicks, it keeps me warm and is a really good fit (unlike my Paramo cambia that is huge, even for an XL). It was only £15 on discount as well. Try and find a decent walking top on discount and you might get lucky. Running tops and other suitable sport tops always seem to be cheaper. I might have been luck over the last few weeks, and I'm also keen to keep as much overlap as possible between my walking and running gear, but it's got to be worth a punt.

How far do we want to go with cutting our pack weights? I'm sure that the companies and the media surrounding them would wish this was at each new technological advance. I've thought about this more and more, with my tent now looking particularly obese compared to similar offerings. Weighing in at 1.3 kilos, the old style TN Laser tent is like a home from home, but has been superseded by a newer model which is barely more than a couple of hundred grams lighter and you lose the double doors on the front which is the best feature of this tent. The only weight my tent has lost in this time is a small corner that the hoover removed from it while it was drying. Less a hole, more improved airflow. Shelling out another three hundred quid, I could reduce the tent to under a kilo with the competition, at the expense of space and a single door.

Llyn Cowlyd Wild Camp

Or down to a miniscule 720g for the Photon, so long as I'm happy to live with a tent that even the manufacturers state is not that durable and only suited to short term use.

At what point do we discard our trusted and expensive equipment (ok - sell it off on eBay) to save the equivalent weight of a bowel movement? I'll admit. I've grown comfortable with my gear. I'm happy with my 4.5kg base weight. If I succeed to lower this by, say, 200g, that's an extra 200gs of luxury I can carry with me. It also seems that throwing money at yet lighter equipment brings even more diminishing returns, with each advance even the weight reductions are becoming lightweight. Most of which brings with it less function, such as the Photon being much less durable than it's heftier siblings.

Going lighter by alternative methods is the other option. As someone who doesn't carry poles any more, the tarp has become much heavier as a result. Carrying a light tent - with the option of using it as a head cover in uncertain weather, or without in fine weather, or fully sealed up in foul weather - seems a sensible option. All this can be done with a tarp, but despite the slight weight penalty, I'd choose the tent. Certainly the last three summers we've had in Eryri has made me feel that way! If we get a nice dry summer next year - then i might think again. Skimping on clothing - or taking a sleeping bag that doubles as your only insulation might work on the PCT, but at best you'd get some strange looks walking through Llanberis dressed like that, beaten up at worst. Nothing wrong with taking a light shirt or top so you look half respectable when you pop into the pub for a meal and a pint even if it does weigh a couple of hundred grams.

It's important to realise that less is never more - no leeway for mistakes or bad luck. While skill and judgement can help minimise that, nothing can stop misfortune. Having a bottle of sticky liqueur spill over my gear on the first day of a six day trip was a heady mix of both. While it should not have been inside my pack in the first place, hindsight is a fine thing, that was the only place in my tiny pack it would fit. Everything dried off, but my sleeping bag still makes a noise like a crisp packet, and the trip went fine from that point onwards. Moral of the story? Drink your alcohol on the first morning...

Room with a view - Llynoedd Diwaunydd

Going lightweight is just one tool to make our wilderness journeys more enjoyable. If only by making the essentials light enough so we can pack a few of those luxuries that raise our morale and contributes towards a more successful trip. Increasing our knowledge of what to use and when is important. I have spent my way to a lower pack weight, where losing a few kilos around my middle and increasing my fitness would have been cheaper and better for me. Lightening my load did allow me to enjoy the hills when I was unfit and overweight, but what ensures I get the most out of my current time in the hills is my improved fitness level.

It is easy to become fixated on lowering pack weights and succumbing to the consumerism that inevitably surrounds any activity that depends on the latest technological developments. Are we losing sight of what's important in our sport and becoming mesmerised by all the new shiny things? To put it another way; should we be getting excited with a rucsac that's 200g lighter than the previous one? Or waking up on wild camp to discover that the mist that dampened everything in your porch overnight has suddenly dropped and you're camped over a sea of cloud with the nearby summit resplendent in the morning light. Can a gas stove ever be more exciting than getting to the hill and finding a winter playground of snow? The real shiny shiny is not in a bubble-wrap parcel the postie delivers, but out there in our hills.

You can't buy or plan for this!

I don't think anyone missed the point last week that Hafod Eryri, the new 'caff' on top of Yr Wyddfa has now opened. The highlight of that was definitely the fact that Our Rhods walked up rather than taking the train. Lowlights were the mangling of Hafod Eryri by the local news presenters(seriously, how difficult can it be?)

One worrying point is that I've seen in many places (including the BBC) that the caff is open till 8pm. Well - it's not. I was up Tuesday night and I'd apparently just missed it according to some friends I bumped into up there. They'd only managed to get served out of protest. Fair enough I suppose, we were well stocked anyway. One of them works for the National Park Authority, and wasn't happy that times given on their site meant that it should have been open till half seven.

Tonight, the same again. It was shut at half six - probably due to it being too windy for the train. Me - I'm not bothered, but there was a guy up there with his daughter who was assured from some source or other (and probably a reputable one!) it would be open. They weren't quite desperate, but were definitely annoyed!

I think that with the millions thrown at the new building, people might have a higher expectation that it will be open, especially in light of pretty high profile sites stating it is. So the correct information really has to be out there and easily obtained - or we're going to keep on getting people walking up in winter depending on the caff being open when they get there.

TBH, I'm not bothered about anything other than a coffee as, according to their website they have chosen to sell 'Village' pies and pastries. I've had the misfortune of their products in the past, and I personally don't rate them. Worse is that they seem to be the only pastry available in most shops when you want to buy something quick for a walk. I think I'm going to put a comparison of them on here with some real bakery products and other mass produced ones - though I might get someone else to do the taste test! Unplanned rant over, but my stomach never forgives...

I could be all organised and research this before hand, but whether it's the National Park or anyone else running this circus, they should be ashamed of themselves.

To start with, £5.50 for some stuff that's just passable as food is insult enough. To have it served in front of oneself on a polystyrene plate and plastic cutlery is nothing short of contempt. That's for the customer and the environment.

Even service stations can provide a basic level of service these days. You go to the Lakes you can stop at Tebay and eat real food, what do we offer the visitor? The McDonald's of the hills. Disposable, inedible and soulless. If it were before 12pm today I'd had stated that the NCP was about to take the place over, and I'd probably get away with it. Build a multistorey with a CrapDonald's drive through at the bottom to negate the healthy effects of a day in the hills and ensure our population continue in this perpetual spiral of increasing obesity.

Compare this to the cafe in Nant Gwynant and the new cafe in Aber, and you can see how it should be done. Local produce, crockery and REAL COFFEE! Simple really.

I Don't Believe it! Richard Wilson, new TV series, Britain's Best Drives on BBC4 includes an episode on Snowdonia. I'm wondering how sensitive the programme will be, considering that it's encouraging even more cars into the National Park. I suppose i musn't grumble, as it's better than watching the Clarkson devastate some innocent peatbog in a 4x4.

There's precious few quiet areas left in this country, even from the Rhinogydd you can see and hear Friday night traffic snaking it's way down the A470 to Cardiff. Just don't get me started on the noise caused by bikes!

Considering that we probably won't have any buses soon, then this TV programme might even become essential viewing for anyone wanting to know how to get to the start of any walk as he appears to be following the Sherpa bus route around the Snowdon Massif. I wonder if he got stuck behind the bus/tractor/gawking tourist going at 20mph and pointing at everything (delete as applicable) to get that authentic mid-summer A4085 experience.