The actual speed at which you walk is a personal and idiosyncratic matter. Settle for whatever seems to suit you best. It is really a question of finding out what you can keep up hour after hour in various kinds of terrain carrying various loads. Until you know your own limits, aim for a slow, rhythmic, almost effortless pace. You’ll be surprised, I think, at the ground you cover. The miles will come to meet you. In time you’ll learn that, generally speaking, the way to hurry is not to hurry but to keep going. To this end I have two walking speeds: slow and slower.
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For some time the trend in the best packs has been toward broad, contoured or
“curvilinear” belts designed to fit snugly on the hips. But practical difficulties have emerged. The new belts look magnificent. They feel fine too—in the store. Yet I have found, in common with many people, that under a heavy load most of them tend, after a while, to slide downward in a way their contouring is specifically designed to prevent. The result is crampingly uncomfortable. At first I thought the trouble might lie in my shape. Everybody’s hips and arse are idiosyncratic. (Women, with their broader hips
