I have an Osprey Exos 58 Large that I’m very happy with. I’m 6’3” and 205 lbs at 69 years of age.

I’m wondering about DIYing a lighter smaller pack, somewhere between 40–50 litres.

I’m heading to Southern England for this coming month of May, ambling along three ‘pilgrimages’. I’ll spend a week or so along the Old Way Pilgrimage, leaving Canterbury and walking down to the south coast and partway along that. I’m concocting an ecological pilgrimage to Charles Darwin’s home, to Gilbert White’s Selborne, and to Knepp Castle, a remarkable example of modern yet old-style re-wilding and biodiversity restoration. Then I’m doing a week on the South West Coast Path through the Exmoor and north Devon portion in which I used to teach. Overall, I’m looking forward to understanding a much older human-modified landscape than my Ontario, Canada lands.

Though I love my Hennessy hammock, I’m wondering about trimming down to a tarp, a mat, and a quilt. Since all of the three routes are through populated areas, I’m not going to have to carry more than a couple of days of food, and very little water.

I could happily continue with my Exos 58. But I’m itching to try something lighter and smaller, to travel simply and lightly.

I have seen my own hammock underquilt. I have excellent tutelage from my wife and one of my daughters.

Thoughts? Patterns? Resources?


Traillium
Ontario, Canada