…or rather, multi-day hikes punishing gear over time. It looks like Three Points of the Compass will be hitting the summer gear sales.

I am fortunate enough to enjoy many weeks of multi-day hikes each year. Over time my preferred apparel and ‘gear’ has settled down and frequently varies little from hike to hike. I recently wrote a couple of posts about parts of my preparation for a recent hike of the Hebridean Way (a trip that I will eventually get round to writing up). I mentioned that while doing the various gear checks I came across a water bottle that required replacing. However much of my clothing that I took to Scotland, while (apparently) serviceable, had also already seen many miles of trail. I don’t know what it was about this particular trip, but it seemed like most of what I took, all decided to expire at the same time.

My mont-bell Cool Full-Zip Hoodie, that I chose as one of my favourite items of gear in 2023, decided to wear through over the eleven days I was on trail. You can see it in the header image above. I had originally thought that it might eventually wear out across the chest, as this is where the clips holding my chest pack, that I wear lower, across my waist, swing to and fro, rubbing the material. But no, the material actually wore through on my right, at the back of my waist. This was probably due to the fact that I am, ahem, slightly chunky around here, pushing the material against the lower part of the shoulder strap, where it rejoins the pack. A large hole wore through. Fortunately I carry a couple of metres of duct tape wound around the shafts of my poles. A temporary fix with tape lasted the length of the trail and the hoodie was thrown away at the end, in Stornoway. It is such a good top that I already have a replacement.

Gear talk: five favourite pieces of gear in 2023

So, almost in sympathy with my hiking top wearing out, my hiking trousers also wore through. I often wear Patagonia Terrebonne Joggers. They are only 185g but this weight is achieved by using lightweight materials. Unsurprisingly, this will eventually wear out. It has taken a few hikes but pulling them off one night I saw the material had worn through at the rear. I suspect from constant abrasion from the pack. Again, duct tape to the rescue. Again, they were thrown away at the end of the hike and I already had a replacement waiting at home.

I carry extremely lightweight dedicated sleep clothes on trail. These keep my body funk separated from my quilt. They are only worn in the tent and while sleeping. Never during the day or for hiking. As a result, I have been using the same top and bottoms for at least ten years. But no longer, the arse on my Rohan Ultra Silver leggings completely split. I didn’t dispose of these and I’ll have a stab at resewing them, as I have never come across anything as light as these to replace them with. Needless to say, Rohan haven’t made them for many years.

As you can see. Some of my gear is pretty old. This includes my small selection of three insulating puffy jackets. Two synthetic, one with hood, one without, and a down hoody. All of which are many years old now. I carry a puffy on just about every hike I go on, regardless of conditions. For often wet Scotland, this is invariably a synthetic fill rather than down, as that suffers if it gets wet.

I took my old Rab Xenon X Hoodie on this recent hike. Again, the material simply wore through, though I never noticed it until putting it in the washing machine on my return. I am unsure what to do about this. If the fabric and stitching is beginning to break down, any repair I make might very likely be followed by another failure, but I am loathe to simply chuck it and buy another. As far as I am aware, this model hasn’t been made for some time and finding a similar replacement could be an expensive process.

I do like DCF for some uses. It has it’s faults, punctures easily, loathes abrasion and it is expensive for example. But it is also incredibly strong, light and (usually) 100% waterproof. But not for ever. I sometimes carry a quite large DCF zip pouch for documents, passport etc. It is light, strong, far more durable than most alternatives and keeps the important ‘stuff’ protected from water ingress. Always something to guard against, especially in Scotland. This pouch was made by Wild Sky Gear and, again, it has covered thousands of miles with me. I am not sure why this failed, I think a few of the dyneema threads pulled and that was the beginning of it losing its integrity. It happened in a week. I have appreciated it in the past but it is now retired. I’ll buy another, despite the cost. And yes, I know a zip lock bag does a similar job.

In the week prior to travelling to Scotland I put my chosen shelter up in the garden to check guys, pegs/stakes etc. Wary of the strong winds that the Western Isles are known for, I decided to take my MLD Duomid, which can handle wind well. In retrospect, the right choice I feel. I must have missed the pin holes in the fly, that I found while actually on trail. I suspect these have been there, un-noticed, since I used the shelter on the Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls Trails in Iceland two years ago.

The fine volcanic grit on the island holed the inner bathtub floor at the time, also causing the zip to jam. I thought I had dealt with that on my return by washing and lubricating the zip, but I think the plastic teeth might be damaged and it again jammed on me on this recent trip. The holes are easily repaired with cuben repair tape, the zip is going to be more problematic.

It is six years since I wrote a post on gear wearing out on multi-day hikes. That following a five month hike I did in 2018. I note that most of those failures were ‘gear’ as opposed to clothing. Though again, DCF fraying and wearing is a repeated theme. But I do like the stuff. As for the rest, perhaps I have got better at choosing gear for my hikes. Or perhaps not.

Gear talk: What gear wears out on a long hike?

So what lessons can I learn from this? I am not too sure. Gear, shelters, clothing, apparel, is expensive stuff. We can’t simply use brand new gear for every trail, that would be unacceptable and unrealistic. None of these failures were the result of poor manufacture or materials. Some of these items that failed on me have accompanied me for thousands of trail miles. Things simply wear out, that is the truth of the matter. The trail can be hard on ‘stuff’. Sometimes a failure happens alongside something else failing, by coincidence. I have to simply expect such things on occasion. Oh yes, and carry duct tape.