Fernman, thanks, but I'm still fit enough to regard 36 lbs as quite manageable. The thing is, if I exclude boots and the clothes I'm wearing, plus penknife, wallet etc, then I can remain within the 20%. If not, I have to ditch things like waterproof trousers and gaiters. Bearing in mind I need to take tent, sleeping bag, stove etc.
, but I'm still fit enough to regard 36 lbs as quite manageable.
Jim Bob, sound advice, thanks but, at 64 some would say that I'm already in later life! Not sure about getting a coffee whenever needed (ProPlus tabs just ain't the same), and will want to camp in north Scotland en route. Also I want to average 18 miles per day and sometimes there aren't pubs and shops in the right places to maintain that average.
Good point, NeilC, about differential carrying capacity. I came across this (https://www.gotscience.org/2014/10/hikers-best-backpack-weight/) item which kinda confirms your view. Using that calculation, I could carry up to 41lbs, but the weight of opinion seems to lean heavily (!) towards a much lighter load.
For books get a kindle and consider getting yourself a solar panel to attach to your rucksack for recharging a portable charger. There are also chargers that use standard batteries. Of course if you're gonna stay in B&Bs then you don't even need to worry about that. I wouldn't be carrying a month's worth of paperbacks!
Much as I love books and reading, I won't be carrying one any more because I simply never opened the ones I carried on my last two trips, while on the trip previous to themI only read a few pages of the book I carried .
I always used to read a bit during and just after my lunch stop, but these days I'm happy to just sit and admire the landscape, while I also guiltily feel I should be getting on with the walk instead of spending time sitting on my backside with my nose in a book.
My overnight wild camping is usually timed so that it is just beginning to get dark as I finish my dinner, after which I used to bed down and read for anything up to an hour. Maybe it's an age thing, but I find it too uncomfortable now and I'm quite content to go to sleep early. Sometimes I find a good pitch early, and then there's an hour or an hour-and-a-half to kill; this would be a good time to read, but after the day's exertions it is also a good time to lay down and have a nap.
So, that will be a few more grammes weight saved!
l... and two mats - a foam one in an attempt to prevent the lightweight inflatable from being punctured and as backup if it does. There's the Jetboil. ....
The gaiters are because I got very wet and cold on both Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike when the rain ran off waterproof trousers straight into boots!
Thank you.
For anyone who may be interested, here's my account (https://whiteacorns.wordpress.com/) of tackling the Pennine Way in 2015. The blog has lain fallow for a while, but I'll shortly take up tools again to give an account of preparations for both the SWCP and LEJOG.
Islandplodder..........it was John Hillaby's book Journey Through Britain which inspired me to do my LeJog in 2005.Thanks sparnel for this reference, I got the book off Amazon for £0.02 plus P&P and it is a cracking read. It's one of those books that I say 'I'll just read to the end of this chapter' and then read another chapter and another :)
Still think it is a masterpiece! (Sorry for moving off subject!)
I could lower the pack weight further but I would then have to make new purchases which I don't want to do.