 So many times people passing have said to me, what have you got in that big rucksack? This is complicated. So complicated, I'm not going to attempt to describe what's in my pack in this short video. Instead you can download the longer text that describes the things in my pack more clearly. What I hope you get from this unpacking of my rucksack are some ideas of the kinds of kit it is useful to have outdoors. I've been walking and camping in the countryside for over 40 years and in that time I've been to every corner of the land over many day outings and quite a few longer expeditions. What I have evolved to carry my pack isn't typical and quite often it isn't useful just for me, but also for many people I meet in precarious situations along the way. Over time as part of long walks in the narco-primitivism, I probably end up making a short video about each individual item because each one is a wonderful journey of exploration in itself and both why I have it and how I use it. What I carry various depending on whether it's winter or summer, I'm out for a few hours or an entire day or if I'm just relaxing, foraging or doing some serious photographic work. At the core of my pack is a collection of basic and essential stuff that it always take with me and is always in my bag hanging on its storage hook ready to leave at a moment's notice. Any extras I add to that are defined by the purpose of the walk. One really important thing to get absolutely clear here, what you carry has to be relevant for you, but most importantly for your body weight. Ideally you shouldn't carry more than a quarter of your body weight long distances or you can cause serious injury. For me, at about 6 foot and 100 kilos, that has a very different meaning to someone around the UK average, 60 kilos for women and 68 kilos for men. After many years of practice I have found that walking outdoors cause upon many of the same resources but not all the time. Some of what I take is basic common sense, other items are from my own specific pleasure which most people would want to take anyway. It's possible to dispense of a number of them to save weight but you end up meeting people along the way who don't have that experience and find it really useful if you can help them out. For example, on the day I made this video I helped one lost couple find their way back into town with my map and I handed out one sticking plaster to someone who had cut myself. I learnt to camp with nothing, literally one of my first tents at a free festival was a big folded plastic sheet. Over the years that has given me appreciation for the basics, things that are cheap, simple but the possession of which makes all the difference to enjoyment versus existence outdoors. At a glance the list of what's in my pack is excessive and for many the way to lone would be a problem but it works for me. For example, 3.6 kilos of camera equipment? It is overly heavy but it lets me do what I need to do. Likewise, why take a Kelly kettle and a saucepan instead of a little camping gas stove? It's what I prefer. Being outdoors is not about copying fashion. It's about enabling and extending the space for your enjoyment and personal creativity. There's no right way to do that. Or to put it more crassly, there's no authority but yourself. Too much of the outdoor industry is geared around selling people overpriced kit that is either over-specification for the amount of use they will put it to or not good enough because its performance is overly hyped all made for the single use festivals market and so wears out easily. The point about going outdoors regularly in all weather and trying many different walking locations is that you can develop the skills to use a simple set of equipment very well and by trying an error after a while you can involve a set of simple stuff that works well for the activities you like to undertake from sightseeing to wild camping to joining in on protest camps. Much of the equipment I have, I have had for many years. Often it is bought in sales to replace worn out equipment bought at a sale some years before. For example, my 60 litre rucksack is about 12 years old. The alternative small rucksack I use for a quick stripped down day out and in summer is getting on for 20 years old. My slightly torn and wholly lightweight raincoat is about 10 years old. Though the high end expensive equipment might be lightweight and work in all weathers, in part that's because it's made of toxic chemicals like Gore-Tex. The kind of stuff you might buy from farming equipment shops or construction industry suppliers can be equally good and long-lasting. It doesn't matter if I'm stranded at the railway station after missing the last train or just decide to buy food at a shop along the way and cook it while looking at the view. The equipment is anything that allows you to be happy, comfortable and care free when spending time outdoors. Why do I happily carry 16 kilos 8 to 12 miles in a few hours? Basically it's a really good way to keep fit when I want to go backpacking when I can routinely carry anything from 24 to 30 kilos depending where I'm going and how I'm camping along the way. Also, as I don't drive a car, staying fit enough to travel while carrying everything I need is an important part of living without car-based transport. You shouldn't try to carry heavy loads right away, you will hurt yourself. Carrying progressively more weight strengthens the trunk muscles and the cartilage and connective tissues in the spine and other joints become stronger and more elastic. If your body complains, particularly back, ankles, knees and hips then build up the weight and distance more slowly and take more rest. For example, after two and a half months of mobile embed at the end of 2018 I began in February 2019 with just 5 kilos working my way back to comfortably walking 12 miles then slowly up the weight each week until by mid-April I carried 18 kilos for 16 miles. By the 1st of May I was able to undertake a free day self-supported backpack across the Wessex Downs. The point is it is good equipment that allows you to go to lovely outdoor locations, confidently, comfortably and just relax and enjoy the experience ensuring the knowledge that no matter what happens you can deal with it. Finally, the point about developing the skills to live simply with little stuff has a deep mission one related to our ecological future. In a technically complex world dependent upon industrial energy and resources discovering an ability to live without those things must be advantageous for your future security. More importantly, being out here allows you to view the world differently. When I stop for a snack or camp overnight I expect to leave the site without any indication that I was ever there. The self-explanatory leave no trace principle. Not because of the country code or litter laws I do it in respect for the living earth upon which I walk. The reality is the amount of damage I might do outdoors in the lifetime will be more than matched by a single large farm machine in one day from head-streaming to spraying chemicals to plowing. The land lobby currently trying to criminalise Trespass deny this but it is that ideological mindset which is destroying the earth. Ordinary people must reforge a bond with the land that is the only practical way we will change the current mindset that is destroying the earth. Spending time walking and camping with few resources is I think the best way to do that and by doing this regularly you can prepare for the changes that most inevitably happen over the next decade or two.