Preparations Under Way

Preparations for the long walk are well under way now, I've been out with Tim for several walks of up to 20km with a 14kg backpack which I think is about the maximum I want to carry on a long walk (Tim has been carrying considerably more).  I've also been running 30+ km a week and cycling to work to get into shape.  We intend to gradually increase the walk distance as we get nearer to the start date so that it shouldn't be too much of a shock to the system when finally underway from John O'Groats!

There has been much debate surrounding what kit to take, the one item that I really wanted to take was a shirt from Kickstart company www.woolandprince.com that claims not to need washing for 100 days!  This would have been sufficient for walking from John O'Groats to Land's End, then turning round and going back the other way, without a single wash.  Sadly these are not available until 2014, so I'm going to have to experiment with my own traditional clothing.
Here is a list of all the things that I'm definitely going to take.

Kit List

Camping

• Lightweight inflatable mat
• Lightweight tent
• 3 season sleeping bag
• spork
• sleeping Bag liner

Mapping

• GPS - Garmin GPS Map 62s
• Books - Andy McCloy's End to End
• Maps - 1:50,000 sheet for each day with route marked
• Compass
• Map Case

 Electronic

• Lithium battery pack multi-charger
• Phone
• Spare batteries - AA and AAA
• Headtorch
• Blinky lights - for road safety
• Ultra-portable laptop

Misc

• First aid kit
• Toileteries - Travel towel etc.
• Water bottles - Enough to carry 2 litres

Clothing

• Walking boots
• Trainers - Comfortable pair to change into
• Walking trousers -2 pairs of lightweight convertible
•  Socks - 3 pairs of walking socks and 3 pairs of liner socks
• Jacket - Ligtweight waterproof packaway
• Thermal - 2 x Long sleeved
• Shorts - 1 pair of running shorts
• Hat - Foreign legion style
• Sunglasses
• Gaiters
• Shirts - 2 x long sleeved lightweight walking shirts
• T-shirts - 2 x T-shirts
• Underwear