Tag Archives: repair

Gear talk: ditty bag contents

On longer lonelier trails, with habitation potentially days away, a handful of carefully thought out simple and lightweight pieces of gear can solve a problem, make life a little more comfortable, or even prevent injury or worse, photographed Scottish Highlands

It is a number of years since I showed the contents of my hiking ditty bag. That place where I keep this ‘n’ that, bits ‘n’ pieces, spare stuff, repair stuff, essential stuff, non-essential stuff and ‘where the hell else can I keep this?’ stuff while on trail.

Ditty bag

I am not going to delve much into weights here. These contents are the type of thing that is personal to everyone. What I show here is pretty lightweight and what I have evolved to what I like to have with me. Every single item listed here has been used by myself on trail but I am more than aware that many would not even bother to pack along the type of things I do, fine.

Quilt cords and line

Three lengths of cordage are packed in the ditty bag. The two yellow lengths are quilt cords for me to attach my Katabatic quilt to the pad on colder or draughtier nights.

Quilt cord used to hand food bag away from rodents in bothy on South West Coast Path

It is seldom that these have to be used as my quilt is wide enough to tuck around the small of my back etc if there is a lazy breeze working through my Duplex shelter. I usually have a door or two on the shelter open at night to keep down condensation and give me a view outside. The cords are occasionally used around the pad in shoulder seasons and in winter. One of the cords has had to do double duty on a particularly long hike a couple of years back- over two thousand miles I lost so much weight that my non-elasticated town trousers, with no waist draw cord, were so loose that I had to tie them up to prevent them falling down.

I have also used one of the cords as a rough and ready way of measuring a distance on a paper map. Simply flex the cord around the bends and turns and trails of tomorrows path, pinch where you get to between finger and thumb, then measure off against the scale at the base of the map. Old school, but easy and reasonably accurate.

Quick and easy attachment method for thin drying line. Can also be used as an extra guy

The 6g of green cord shown is usually used as a washing line, often strung between shelter and whatever is nearest. My hiking shirt is often sweat soaked at the end of a day’s hike. I will also try and wash or at least rinse skiddies and socks each evening.

300lb breaking strain braided line. A lifetimes backpacking supply

A lifetimes backpacking supply of line

The green cord is actually 10 metres of tough and thin braided fishing line with a 300lb breaking strain. Really slippery stuff, I could use a knot but tend to rely on a couple of little plastic ‘thingies’ slid on, to which the line is simply returned and wound around a couple of times. This holds it securely.

Gear drying on final day of The Ridgeway. Town Farm campsite, below Ivinghoe Beacon 2016

On a five mile hike in 2018 Three Points of the Compass lost so much weight that town trousers became too loose to wear and had to be cinched up with a quilt cord to prevent offending sensibilities

On a five month hike in 2018 Three Points of the Compass lost so much weight that town trousers became too loose to wear and had to be cinched up with a quilt cord to avoid offending sensibilities

Peaty brown water may look unpalatable but is fine to drink, particularly after the addition of a couple of chemical sterilisation tablets. Sandwood Bay, Sutherland, NW Scotland

I use a Katadyn BeFree water filter on trail. I touched on that in a recent post looking at my hydration set-up. But, accidents and loss of filter can occur, so I also pack along a half-dozen or so chemical water treatment tablets. These are Chlorine Dioxide, each tablet will treat a litre of water.

It is not often that I chemically treat water, preferring to filter. But it is a fool that doesn’t try to look to ensuring that water is safe to drink. Regardless of stomach upsets that may occur, there is growing incidences of viruses in our water supplies and the former reliance of a ‘cast-iron’ stomach wont cut it today.

The orange items are ear plugs. Some hostels and bothies, and close camped pitches too, can get pretty noisy with snorers. I confess to hating using these but they are included for last, desperate, resort. These are kept clean in a small baggie.

Ear plugs can also be helpful in trying to get a good nights kip when the wind is blowing and the tent is rattling and flapping like a good ‘un. Though I tend to just pull a beenie further down over my ears instead.

Emergency water treatment and ear plugs. Infrequently required but extremely useful on occasion

Another tiny baggie keeps a plethora of little ‘stuff’. My sewing kit comprises two needles; a No. 7 embroidery/crewel needle (that has occasionally been pulled into blister duty) and a large eye No. 18 chenille needle. These are kept in a small plastic tube with end caps, along with a trimmed needle threader and a back-up pen. I say pen, this is one of the tiny 1g pressurised pens that pops into a 58mm Victorinox knife scale.

Small stuff

The remainder of my sewing kit comprises a single medium sized button and around five metres of black Gütermann Extra-strong polyester thread on a 0.4g bobbin. I have overdone the sewing kit in the past but am happy with what I have pared down to. The larger chenille needle will still handle tougher fabrics that will shrug off the No. 7 embroidery needle.

On longer hikes, some damage and wear to clothes and gear will occur. Sewing the crotch of my shorts midway along the Cape Wrath Trail

A sterilised needle passed through a blister and the thread left behind, stops the holes closing up and enables the blister to drain overnight, a bit of tape over the blister the following day enables a hike to continue almost pain free, provided the problem that caused it has been dealt with

The needle and thread can also be used for work on any blisters, though I seldom suffer from these there has still been the combination of events that has led to problems. I think the last time was walking through the surf on sloping beach shingle for more miles that I would have preferred to. Catching it way too late to tape over, the sodden skin had become loose and hot. Increasingly I find I am having to assist fellow hikers as few seem to have any clue how to prevent blisters, deal with them, or carry anything with which to treat them.

I carry a little P-38 tin opener, not often used, but if I have an infrequent opportunity of finding a tin of food that lacks a ring pull, I want to get into it. I have learnt my mistake on this, and for the sake of 4.5g, I’ll continue to pack it along now.

Bobby pin being used to hand a washed Darn Tuff sock at tent door to allow it to dry

Bobby pin being used to hang a washed Darn Tuff sock at tent door to allow it to dry. Another sock hangs from the other door

Two bobby pins are used as simple clothes pegs. They work adequately well. Also tucked in to my ditty bag is a spare o-ring for my BRS-3000T stove. If that were lost or damaged and I have no spare, it is goodbye to hot meals and drinks for the remainder of my walk. My final item carried is a spare type 400 bottle cap (shallow, one thread turn).

Three Points of the Compass carries a small knife or multi-tool on trail. For many years I have favoured the key-chain sized Leatherman Squirt S4 because the selection of tools on this is almost exactly what I want. Usually, the only tools I require are scissors, modest blade, small screwdriver for my glasses, nailfile and a bottle opener on occasion. Just occasionally I have required a screwdriver to fix a stove or trekking poles. The S4 is now discontinued though it has been replaced with others in the Leatherman line up. If I am not carrying this I am invariably carrying one of the terrific little 58mm Victorinox tools.

However I am currently looking at returning to what I used when I first started off backpacking decades ago, taking separate dedicated tools. More on that in a future post.

Leatherman Squirt S4 multi-tool

I carry a little wallet. I am on my third of these as zips do fail and they hole quite often. They have varied in material from X-Pac to 70D Liteskin to my current which is DCF Cuben Fiber. These are all simple zippered pouches containing travel/bus/train tickets (and Gold discount card if necessary), house key (and British Waterways water key on occasion), cash and a variety of cards- I probably carry more cards than most as I like to visit places on my trails and you never know what you may unexpectedly happen upon. Current cards are YHA membership, English Heritage, Museums Association membership and bank card.

Wallet and contents

A squirt of gel super glue kept a trail shoe that was coming apart from progressing further

Another baggie contains repair tape. This varies according to length of trail but is currently a 11cm x 7.5cm rectangle of clear tenacious tape, 10.5cm x 8cm rectangle of clear DCF (Dyneema Composite Fabric) repair tape, 30cm thin strip of camo DCF repair tape, that matches my shelter, and a single square of Thermarest fabric repair patch for my sleeping mat. On occasion I have added some self adhesive hook and loop velcro.

Like many others, I keep a few turns of duct or Gorilla tape around the shafts of my trekking poles. This gets changed out each season.

I also include a tiny 1g tube of super glue gel. I have tried the 0.5g tubes but they do not include enough to effect most repairs and the larger tubes contain too much. I also find the gel easier to control than the runny glue. At a pinch, this could also be used for skin repair in the event of a particularly bad injury.

Repair tape and glue

Disaster averted. When a guy pulled out on my shelter, leaving a large hole in the side, it was only having a large patch of adhesive repair cuben tape that prevetned a series of damp nights following. Offas Dyke Path

Disaster averted. When a guy pulled out on my shelter, leaving a large hole in the side, it was only having a large patch of adhesive repair DCF tape that prevented a series of damp nights following. Offas Dyke Path

The small journal that Three Points of the Compass carries will vary according the to the length of trail, but is always pretty small

The small journal that Three Points of the Compass carries will vary according to the length of trail, but is always pretty small

Three Points of the Compass seems to be amongst a declining number of hikers who still likes to keep a written journal. Most people simply record their memories on their phone, if at all. Size of journal varies according to how long a trail is, but it is usually a modest sized journal that will be filed away on my shelf back home, dedicated to that trail and those memories. It takes dedication to fill out a days record each evening, and I have skipped days when simply too tired or finishing late. I will also have a hostel or museum stamp a page, ask people to write their contact details on occasion, record train and bus times. Phone numbers for hostels, draw small town maps on exactly how to find a place. Record insects, birds and animals seen, tuck in receipts, feathers. I have even glued in volcanic dust from the trail. On occasion, I will sketch a church, a sea stack or the view before me. To accompany the journal, I have a simple pen.

Fire kit in baggie

In the shoulder months and winter I also include a small emergency fire kit. This contains just a small selection of items that may get me out of a sticky situation. I used to also carry this in summer months when carrying an alcohol/meths set-up as I would then also have the ability to set up for wood burning for cooking. However the past couple of years have seen some extraordinarily dry periods with bans on both open and meths cooking in favour of a cooking set-up that allows for it to be instantly extinguished, which means gas. So I find that I am now using a gas set-up for the majority of my backpacking excursions these days.

The simple and minimal contents of my fire kit include tinder and matches

The simple and minimal contents of my fire kit include three Tinder-Quik fire starters, a little tinder, Lifeboat or stormproof matches, with sealed match strike card, and a minute ferrocerium rod

These are the contents of the ditty bag being carried by Three Points of the Compass in 2020, not that any of us are getting out much in this coronavirus year. I used to include a spare pair of glasses in this but I now pack them deep within my clothes bag for added protection.

The ditty bag will no doubt continue to evolve in the future, though I suspect little will change much. My next post looking at the smaller pouches and bags carried on my backpacking trips will peek inside my hygiene pouch/wash kit.

A notebook forms an important part of the contents of my ditty bag. A scrappy sketch of High Cup Nick on the Pennine Way in 2018 takes me back to the moment I drew it. Above, the carefully scrawled name of the little girl who spent that night in Gregs Hut bothy with her father and me, reminds me of Lexi’s overwhelming excitement at toasting marshmallows that night with ‘daddy’

Gear talk: Revisiting ‘the small stuff’- the sewing kit

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A carefully thought out sewing kit for extended hikes

A more carefully thought out sewing kit for extended hikes

I have chatted before on various pieces of repair kit that I include in my ditty bag. At that time I expressed a wish to improve on my small sewing kit. It was really just a small collection of poor quality items I picked up in a hotel and encased in a small plastic container alongside a couple of extra buttons and needles. I strongly suspect that this is exactly what most hikers do, if they even bother to take a sewing kit with them on trips.

The sewing kit will be refined further. It isn't perhaps the best I can manage and for 11g I can do far better.

The 11g sewing kit that Three Points of the Compass used to carry. Deemed imperfect, it was time to refine the contents

The cotton threads and selection of needles in the 11g kit had not been looked at as regards suitability and each time I had needed to put it to use, certain aspects had often been found wanting. Even the buttons I had been packing along were largely not required because of those already present on baselayers etc.

I have never yet had to repair a pack’s shoulder strap or belt ‘on the trail’, most such small repairs being effected at home. But buttons have come adrift, trouser belt loops come undone, tent loops have come unstitched, socks have holed. Nothing ever disastrous, but I prefer to look on myself as fortunate rather than anything else and I had the means to fix some, if not all, items while on the trail. It was time, I felt, to spend a few minutes looking at exactly what it is I include in my little sewing kit, what I hope to achieve with it, and what I could, or should, include.

Spare ‘little white button’ on Icebreaker base-layer

The first thing to mention is that I never include any form of sewing kit on a day hike. I only take such a thing on multi-day hikes where wear and tear is extended, or damage potentially sustained. I am not looking at fashion statements so have no real need to match button or thread colours. All I want is a sturdy repair job. Most outdoor clothing and kit is pretty tough, some items, such as webbing straps extremely so, and it is difficult to force a needle through them by hand. You can use a rubber ‘needle grabber’, but even these are not really up to some more difficult jobs, such as pushing in, or pulling out, a needle from composite shoe or boot soles, or even leather. A little lightweight thimble is useful for pushing in, but not for pulling out. In addition, a needle that is up to difficult-to-work materials is also required.

A typical ‘hotel’ sewing kit. There is little here that is of practical use on outdoor clothing. Cotton thread isn’t robust enough, solitary needle lacks strength, safety pin is tiny and buttons are poor quality and mostly unrepresentative of what will have actually got lost. being also too small in most instances

Thread

Thread is a prime example of why it is wise to look again at what is contained within a small ‘hotel’ type sewing kit as the contents are usually cotton, of a bewildering range of bright and largely useless colours. There are far better options to include. Kevlar thread is one of the strongest threads available and flame resistant up to 425°C and can be purchased in fairly short lengths in different colours. It is, however, badly affected by ultra-violet (u/v) light and loses strength when exposed for long periods, so is probably not best suited for use on outdoor gear. Most Nylon thread too, is affected by u/v to its detriment. A 100% Polyester thread would seem to be the best type to include as this has good resistance to u/v, mildew and abrasion. Cotton thread is not suitable at all.

Cotton sewing thread plaits are of no practical use for outdoors work. The cotton thread isn’t robust, while the length, ideal for the odd dress shirt button, is too short. The striking array of colours is also mostly not required

For those who sew, particularly machine users, there is as much brand loyalty for specific brands of thread as for any other discipline. Some swear by Mettler or Coats & Clark. I prefer to use Gütermann- a family-run company with over 150 years of experience. Their Sew-All polyester sewing thread is suitable for all materials and seams and can be used for any stitch type. They also produce a 12wt Extra-strong polyester thread with a high break point that is suited for highly stressed seams or heavy duty application. These threads are extremely suited to use on outdoor gear.

The Coarse (No. 150) and Fine (No 1700 waxed polyester theads produced by Stewart Manufacturing for use with their Speedy Stitcher

The Coarse (No. 150) and Fine (No 170) waxed polyester threads produced by Stewart Manufacturing for use with their Speedy Stitcher

In anticipation of potentially requiring something even more robust than this, with greater resistance to abrasion, I have also included a short length of one of the waxed polyester threads supplied by Stewart Manufacturing for use with their Speedy Stitcher Awl. These two products are a three (Fine) and four (Coarse) filament high tensile threads that can be put to good use on shoes etc. Thread size is about 207 (Tex 210). Awl-for-all also produce three-strand waxed polyester threads, though in a wider range of colours. Other similar thread is available elsewhere with a bit of searching. I have included a good length of the finer of the two Stewart options.

There other alternatives. Many hikers will make use of dental floss for sewing jobs. This is strong stuff. Mono filament fishing line could be packed and used but some can suffer over time under u/v. Some hikers also take along a length of wire for sewing with but I cannot, as yet, ascertain why.

When looking at thread specification, Tex is probably the most consistent method though difficult to simply correlate to Gütermann products. Tex is the weight in grams of 1000 metres of thread. So if a gram of thread measured 1000 metres, it would be 1 Tex. The higher the Tex, the thicker the thread.

Polyester thread sizes, tensile strength and weights
Size	Size	TEX	Tensile (lbs)	Weight (yds/lb)	Diameter (in)
V- 15	0	16	1.5	30000	0.0047
V- 23	AA	24	2	21000	0.0059
V- 33	AA	30	3	12200	0.0070
V- 46	B	45	7	9500	0.0080
V- 69	E	70	11	6000	0.0107
V- 92	F	90	15	4500	0.0124
V- 138	FF	135	21	3000	0.0152
V- 207	3 cord	210	31	2100	0.0186
V- 277	4 cord	270	44	1500	0.0231
V- 346	5 cord	350	53	1300	0.0258
V- 415	6 cord	410	73	1000	0.0283
V- 554	8 cord	600	98	630	0.0330

100m of Gütermann Sew-All and 30m of Gütermann Extra Strong thread. Enough for a thousand hikes

While it is perfectly possible to wind a few metres of thread around a piece of card, or a little less around a needle itself, a better way to keep greater quantities is wound around a dedicated thread bobbin. Because my kit is specifically designed to suit longer hikes, I have included the lightest plastic bobbins I could find, produced by Hemline (Type 120.14), each weighing 0.4g.

I included three bobbins in my kit. One has around ten metres of black Gütermann Sew-All thread on it, mostly for buttons, repairing loose zips, and some seams. For more demanding work a second bobbin contains around six metres of black Gütermann Extra-strong polyester thread and the third bobbin has three metres of tan coloured Stewart Fine waxed filament. This is for those, hopefully never encountered, really demanding repair jobs.

Needle threader

For someone as cack-handed as I, combined with a degree of myopia, then anything that can aid in threading a needle is a welcome piece of kit. I have sat in darkened tents, with the wind whistling through, and struggled in vain to make the thread pass through the barely discernible eye of a needle. In addition to large eye needles it is wise to include one of these tiny little threaders in a sewing kit. They are not particularly robust but weigh only 0.3g. Put one, or even two, in your kit. More robust examples are available, but their weight and size preclude inclusion when balanced against frequency of use. Otherwise, you could consider using Spiral Eye needles or self threading needles. Where possible I have included large-eyed needle alternatives.

Needles

There is no ‘one size fits all needs’ needle. A needle suitable for sewing back an errant small button is simply not up to the thicker and stronger threads often necessary for fixing back loose soles on trail shoes or a pack’s waist buckle that is beginning to come adrift. However the inclusion of a fine needle is also required for use for teasing out splinters or popping blisters (after sterilizing over a flame of course).

There are two main types of needle. Those for hand sewing, with the eye (hole) for the thread in the butt, and the needles normally used in sewing machines, with the eye for the thread just behind the point. Within these two main types there are then a bewildering array of classes, styles, cross-overs and even materials. Needles sizes are defined by number, the higher the number the smaller the needle. In general, within a specific class of needle, the length and thickness of a needle increases as the size number decreases. In addition to this, due to a lack of standardisation, a size 10 needle in one class of needle may actually be thinner than a size 12 in another class.

Two types of needles are taken for hand sewing. The two at the top are No. 7 embroidery/crewel needles, the two with particularly large eyes at the bottom are No. 18 chenille needles

For hand sewing, particularly with my eyes and possibly for use with thicker threads, I am also looking at a large eye to simplify threading, so something like a Chenille needle. These are similar to those used for tapestry or Cross Stitch but have a sharp rather than blunt, rounded point. Possibly more importantly, they are thick, strong needles that resist bending well. A knackered needle is the last thing you want with limited supplies. Chenille needles are useful for heavier fabrics as the sharp point pierces the material well while the thicker body of the needle creates a larger hole through which the thread can pass. In addition, I include a couple of Embroidery/Crewel style, which again, have a longer eye than a general Sharps needle. Embroidery needles are particularly suited to closely woven fabrics.

Chenille needles- sharp point, large eye, broad shank

For the machine needles to be used with my sewing awl. I included a small selection of sewing machine needles. There was no need to include smaller, thinner needles here as these were represented in the hand sewing selection. The sewing awl needles are specifically for forcing thread through tough fabric straps such as those of the pack, or for stitching back and repairing pack body fabric. The trail shoes I favour these days are not as robust as the leather boots of previous years, sadly, it is not an infrequent occasion for seams to suffer or soles to gape at the sides in places. Where a dab of seam grip (if taken) doesn’t do the job, it may be that a few stitches with strong thread are required.

Types of sewing machine needles and their application

Just a little knowledge of sewing machine needle types pointed me at which appeared to be most suited to including in my kit. Jersey needles are suited to machines working on man-made fibres such as polyester or viscose, stretchier fabrics benefit from a Stretch needle. Many sewers will know that the Microtex needles are the (almost) fail safe needle, used in many applications. The Microtex/Sharp and Universal options are favourite but the titanium Topstitch needles produced by Superior also appeared admirable. Where I could, I included titanium nitride coated needles. Titanium nitride is an extremely hard, ceramic, thin coating on a hardened metal needle. With the infrequent if possibly harsh use that these needles get on the trail, such a coating will last indefinitely and ‘should’ enable the needles to pierce fabric more easily and smoothly, prevent thread breaking so easily and strengthen the point, slowing wear.

Needles are sized in metric and imperial. The European system is the metric method and numbers sewing machine needles from 60 to 120. The American system numbers needles from 8 to 20. For both systems, the smaller the number, the finer the needle. Both sizes are shown on most packets. The size of a needle is calculated by its diameter, so the smallest below, the 60 needle, has a 0.6mm diameter.

Size 60/8
Size 70/10
Size 75/11
Size 80/12
Size 90/14
Size 100/16
Size 110/18
Size 120/20

I have included an 80/12 Topstitch needle mostly for use with the Extra strong thread on general purpose duty with the awl, and a Microtex 60/8 needle primarily for use with a finer thread (the Sew-All). This needle has a very thin acute point and is suited to precision work yet is still capable of being pushed in with an awl with care. I also wanted to include at least one leather needle. These are a tougher needle and have a triangular point designed to pierce leather, vinyl and plastic without tearing it.

I was going to include two or three of the extremely tough needles that are supplied with the Speedy Stitcher Awl. These are a curved needle (# 130/8B), a thick straight needle (# 130/8A) and a thinner straight needle (# 130/4). Instead, I have just included the 130A large No. 8 needle. This is a tried and true diamond point needle product and is suited to both the fine and course waxed threads also supplied by Stewart Manufacturing for use with their Speedy Stitcher (though I am only taking one of the threads). The larger needles are especially useful for tougher work.

A small selection of robust machine needles are taken for use in a sewing awl. The top needle is a No. 100 Leather needles, the second is a Titanium coated No. 60/8 Microtex, the third is a Titanium coated No. 80/12 Topstitch while the bottom is a large, strong No. 130/8B needle for more demanding work

While it would be possible to keep the needles on a piece of thin card, I prefer to store these more securely. This is to limit the risk of their piercing my gear from within. I keep machine (awl) and hand needles separate for ease of selection, each type being encased in a small plastic tube with end caps. These are re-purposed from my tool chest where they originally held small drill bits. Each empty case with two end caps weighs 0.5g. Tubes have ‘awl’ and ‘hand’ written on with a Sharpie.

Sewing awl

Home made sewing awl with large diamond point needle

I decide to include a small sewing awl in my kit as this would provide the facility to stitch thicker or tougher items such as pack straps, belt or footwear. It was then a question of sourcing the lightest, yet still practical, awl that I could find.

The Speedy Stitcher (patented 1909) or Awl-for-All (patented 1903) sewing awls are really handy little pieces of kit and both being still in production today demonstrate that each have proved themselves for over a century. But these are more suited to home repairs or simple manufacture, being far too bulky and heavy for including in any more mobile repair kit. However the chuck design and use of, what is in effect, a large sewing machine needle got me thinking as to the possibilities for a more discreet and lightweight kit. I wondered if I could locate a small Dremmel drill type chuck that would take a sewing machine needle and act as a sewing awl. Needless to say a quick search on-line revealed that I was not the first to consider such a project.

Speedy Stitcher Sewing Awl, with coarse four filament thread and No. 130B- 8C curved needle for more awkward sewing spaces

Speedy Stitcher sewing awl, with coarse four filament thread and No. 130/8B curved needle for more awkward sewing spaces. Spare needles are stored behind the head. However this awl is too large to take backpacking

I have also taken considerable inspiration from the famed Chouinard Expedition Sewing Kit, sadly no longer available. In recent years, Patagonia, a company that originally just made tools for climbers and was founded by Yvon Chouinard, did reproduce the kit for the US market but despite emailed pleas to Patagonia, I have found it impossible to purchase their sewing kit in the UK. I am additionally peeved as I was offered one of the original kits some thirty years ago and refused it.

The first thing done was to hacksaw off the superfluous shank to the pin vice. Then a T piece grip was produced by cutting a short titanium peg down to 55mm, cleaning sawn edges with a file to produce the sewing awl

The first thing done was to hacksaw off the superfluous shank to the pin vice, cleaning the sawn end with a file. With collet in place (not shown here) it is now 30mm in length

After a bit of searching, I decided to adapt a pin vice or similar and eventually settled on what is described as a mini mandrel chuck adapter for craft and jewellery tools. This came with three collets for holding drills up to 2.2mm diameter. I would only require one of these once I had adapted the mini chuck to suit my purpose. This was a simple task with a vice, hacksaw and file and has produced a very handy little sewing awl that weighs 12g complete with T-bar handle.

With a little filing, the T-bar handle now has nicely rounded ends so will not poke a hole through the sewing kit pouch. It is pulled out of the hole of the awl when not in use and just lies loose within the kit.

A short titanium tent peg was cut down to 55mm and the whole through the body drilled out to 3mm so that the T piece would fit. Again, all sawn edges cleaned up with a file

A short titanium tent peg was cut down to 55mm and the hole through the body drilled out to 3mm so that the T-piece would fit. Again, all sawn edges were cleaned up with a file

It would even be possible to simplify my arrangement still further. If I took one size (diameter of shank) of needle and a small piece of dowel with a hole drilled out to fit, this could prove enough in itself to act as an in-the-hand awl. However I think the ability to clamp down on the needle, so as to be able to pull it back out of thick gripping material such as webbing or shoe soles, is a requirement so I shall stick with my awl.

Buttons

The ‘Soldier ’95’ style’ buttons have been used by some outdoor clothing manufacturers but are troublesome to replace if they are broken or lost, being designed to be fixed in place with a tape running through them

Most people, myself too for many years, simply cart along one of the small ‘hotel’ sewing kits picked up with ease across the globe. These invariably come complete with one small white and one small black button. How many of us stop to question if the clothes we are wearing on a hike actually have small white and black buttons! Much better to look at what we are actually wearing and if a spare or two is advisable. Many shirts for example have a small tab inside with a spare or two affixed.

I included four buttons from the John Lewis haberdashery range. Simple four hole, black, plastic buttons, there are two 13mm and two 18mm buttons weighing 2g in total once put in a tiny baggie.

For most of my hikes, I like to wear the Montane Terra Pants. About the only button to be found on these is that on the waist.

Before including buttons in a thru-hike sewing kit, have a peak inside clothing to see what is already being carried

Other than these trousers, about the only other buttons on my hiking clothes may appear on a merino polo shirt or a Rohan short sleeve shirt worn as town or camp wear. So, a small white button after all…

Scissors and tweezers

I am not including these in my sewing kit. I rely instead on my knife and the tweezers included in my First Aid Kit. For those who do desire a pair of scissors, these need be minimal in size and a simple scalpel blade would suffice for most work. There is absolutely no need to pack along a seam ripper, though McNett seem to disagree as they sell one for backpackers.

Safety pins

Again, I am mostly relying on the safety pins included in my First Aid Kit but include one here simply to avoid unpacking more than is necessary if a quick fix with a pin is all that is required. To that end I have included a sole, large size, ‘nappy’ pin with sliding plastic cap that prevents it easily opening by itself. I could also look on it that one less pin is packed in the First Aid Kit as I know I can rely on the one included here.

The whole sewing kit is kept together in a small cuben wallet made by Tread Lite. There was a small mitten hook on this but I cut this off together with the short tape through which it passed.

The assembled sewing kit-

The newly assembled sewing kit- 28 in total

The newly assembled sewing kit- 28g in total

Cuben wallet	Tread Lite (with mitten hook removed)	3.6g
2 x Needle case	With end caps	1.0g
2 x #7 embroidery/Crewel	Hand sewing- (by Hemline)	0.2g
2 x #18 Chenille	Hand sewing (by John James)	0.8g
1 x #60/8 Microtex- Titanium coated	Awl sewing (by Superior)	0.3g
1 x #80/12 Topstitch-Titanium coated	Awl sewing (by Superior)	0.3g
1 x #100/10 Leather	Awl sewing (by Klasse)	0.4g
1 x 130/4 long straight	Awl sewing (by Stewart)	1.1g
10m fine polyester thread- on bobbin	Gütermann- Sew-All	0.8g
6m thick polyester thread- on bobbin	Gütermann- Extra strong	1.4g
3m waxed polyester thread- on bobbin	Stewart- Fine	1.8g
‘Threader’	Mounted on thin card	0.7g
1 x ‘Nappy’ safety pin- Large	Hemline	1.4g
2 x button- 18mm	John Lewis	1.3g
2 x button- 13mm	John Lewis	0.7g
Sewing awl	Home made	11.9
	Total	27.7g

I am sure you will have noted that this 28g kit is more elaborate than it possibly needs to be. This is because it is one of those little aspects of preparation for my long walk in 2018. The wear and tear I can expect over a thousand plus mile hike is far in excess of a brief one weeks jaunt of just one hundred miles. For shorter hikes in the interim this kit can be tweaked as I require.

It is very likely that another hiker would consider my sewing kit as overkill, however I would still encourage a glance over the actual contents of any small sewing kit taken. Do ensure that what is in there will actually prove to be useful when pulled out at the end of the day in an attempt to repair something a little more crucial than a missing button.

2020 update:

I found that the kit I pulled together here was overkill for my long hikes so it has been re-assigned to overseas holidays and home use. A much reduced sewing kit is now packed in my ditty bag, I posted on those contents here. There is now only a single nappy pin kept in the First Aid Kit.