Lets face it the title sounds a little daft but who hasn’t got halfway around a particular hike or walk & felt peckish? I know I have a few times. And the problem with myself is on day hikes I like to travel light with just the bare minimum when I can. Just keeping enough food and water on me to make the hike enjoyable without feeling weighted down with plenty of provisions. Admittedly the last few day hikes have been around London & Kent where its easy to stock up supplies as your hiking down the Saxon path. But even when I use to live in Nepal I was always the one who headed for the trails stopping at small local shops along the way because enjoying the journey was always more important than self comfort.
Then a couple of years ago I was heading out for a training hike (mainly because I had been stuck at work for weeks) just around my local area with a plan to cover 20 miles or so. Deciding to travel light yet again I packed my Mountop portable water filter bottle (I knew of several streams along the way which I could refill) and several snack bars (Nakd fruit & nut bars being my favourite) because they are so light, easy to fit in the pocket and well enough just to satisfy the hunger until you get home making the total weight I needed to carry just a couple of kgs which included the water.
So as usual I set off just before 5 am being an early riser all my life the first 10 miles nice and easy through the woods and parks in Kent. By then I had drunk most of my water so at the first small stream down in Thamesmead I was able to fill up and carry on. It just makes life so much easier being able to do this (though I really do like how the mountop works I wouldn’t use it in streams in built up areas because even though its a great piece of equipment the mental image of what maybe in that stream just puts me off.
But I am planning to go hiking again early next year if I am lucky in the hills above Kathmandu and will be taking it with me for a good trial just to see how it fares. Having personally drunk straight from the streams higher up without any major problems because I had run out of water and the nearest little shop is a few miles away I feel the Mountop water filter bottle will come in very handy.
My thoughts a great addition to your hiking equipment and environmentally friendly as it reduces the need for plastic throwaway bottles.
