Thanks for the feedback everyone, much appreciated. Thanks, George for the offer of a White Box stove, I’ll take you up on the offer and email you. I don’t think I’ll ever be a true meths convert, but I’ll give it a go as a backup.

I’m extremely grateful to Holdfast (Joe) for pointing out the Jim Wood article. It’s an absolutely fascinating read. It makes me think that I’m actually not over cautious. It’s interesting to know that silnylon is not very waterproof under pressure, which may mean that the silnylon pack liner I’ve bought may not be the best way to go. I may go back to my original Exped XXL roll top for sleeping bag/clothes. Even so, I will do the conversion of the Alpkit Apollo bags into roll tops for non-essential gear. I may keep one Exped bag for hats/gloves though.

Pack covers are quite controversial. I agree with Jerry that 225g is too heavy for a cover, but that was all I had. I didn’t encounter heavy or persistent rain while I was walking, so it wasn’t strictly necessary, but I would have been grateful if the weather had been worse. However, a 76g (69g without the tiny stuff sack) pack cover is much more like it. I reckon it is worth it to keep the rain out of the mesh pockets and the main pack of the Mariposa, although I certainly wouldn’t rely on it completely for waterproofing.

I’m thinking of another Carneddau trip in August for a long weekend. I’ll probably take my Exos as I’ve not really used it yet. If I do, I won’t bother with a pack cover as the material feels quite water resistant and there won’t be much in the mesh pockets. To be honest, May was only the second time I’ve bothered with a pack cover and it was only because of the way the Mariposa is constructed. I think for more conventional packs like the Osprey, it is probably not worth it.

Returning to Jim Wood’s article, paranoia about keeping gear is very justified when you consider the risks of hypothermia, especially travelling solo. My one experience of incipient hypothermia taught me a valuable lesson to be careful. Admittedly it was not through getting my gear soaked; rather it was through not having enough layers.

Anyway thanks for all the feedback. It’s been interesting to read.