Packing up

We have backpacks! We have to go now...

A fortuitous bit of scheduling meant I was in London yesterday meeting a customer and G had the day off, so we met up at lunch time and spent ages in Ellis Brigham getting fitted. The assistants showed great customer service and no end of patience as we strapped ourselves in, weighed ourselves down and walked up and down the shop floor trying things out.

I went for the new version womens Osprey Ariel 65 - it's lovely and light and girly blue/grey - which is the most important thing of course. It even matches my boots. But seriously… It has a great custom heat-moulded hip belt and top notch compression. I couldn't believe how much weight G and the assistant had put in there when I took it off and tried to lift it again. Splendid. Far too many straps and clasps and all that sort of thing, but it is a super piece of kit.

G went for a far more rugged, less technical Lowe Alpine pack. I can't remember which one it is because I was too busy playing with mine, but it's the same capacity and his will survive a bit more bashing than mine. He like basic utility items and would probably be happy getting most of his kit from army surplus.

Saying that, he did buy himself a rather luxurious down jacket for our high altitude requirements. A purchasing decision he got thoroughly grilled for by Lara when we popped in for a cuppa on the way home. She knows about these things and is a layering proponent. Quite right too. Common sense tells me it's a big thing to take that won't be required too often, but it does pack down to nothing…

So the packing challenge is officially underway. I can't believe how little space there is, but I'm glad we didn't get tempted by any of the larger capacity packs. And we really do have to go ahead with the whole thing because despite the great service in Ellis Brigham, Lara pointed out they don't do refunds. That's that then!