Gear up. Get out. Go further.
You don't need a £600 jacket to stay warm on a UK winter hill day. Here's a complete four-layer system — base, mid, insulation and shell — built for around £150, with notes on where to spend and where to scrimp.
Another year of peat bog and horizontal drizzle has sorted the good kit from the stuff that only looked good in the shop. Here is our honest 2026 gear audit: the twelve items that have genuinely had it, the five classics that deserve a repair instead of a bin bag, and the UK repair and resale routes that actually work.
Bigger weekends, no car keys, and a station at both ends. Five overnight routes from London, Manchester, Bristol, Glasgow and Leeds that start and finish on a platform, with honest difficulty ratings, realistic timings and a kit list that fits under the seat.