Bushwalk Australia

In June I'm doing the Larapinta Trail (5 other forum members are sharing the transport so they might also get something from this thread)

So here's my torso clothing list, I'm just unsure on the early morning's and windy ridges if it will be enough.
Never before have I experienced the desert cold winds and temperature extreme's all in one trip.
Leg's, feet, hands, head, All good and I'm confident with my clothing for those area's.
In camp at night I'm not that worried as I'll have plenty of down to wrap myself in.
It's just this cold active thing I've never really had an issue with, looking at others who have done the Larapinta it appears they are wearing a lot of clothes on some of the hills and ridges.
I've done plenty of colder trips, Kosci Main Range, Tassie, NZ, Barrington tops etc. Always in pretty decent weather though by chance. I guess I just haven't been smashed with completely feral weather when a baselayer and shell is inadequate.

I'll be wearing the usual shirt - Rab MeCo 120 Baselayer (65% Merino / 35% poly)
Spare warmer baselayer / mid layer I will have a grid fleece hoodie. It's actually a NW Alpine Spider Hoodie, It's a tiny little bit lighter than 100wt fleece.
For main insulation I'll have my Blackrock down vest and sleeves. This I know is warm, All up there is 3.8oz of 900 fill in the sleeves and vest. Obviously though this is not an item that I would wear whist moving or when I'm still sweaty etc. Wet down = bad.
I'm taking a windshirt which I have found very good ontop of my Rab shirt in cold weather locally. This is a Montbell Tachyon Anorak hooded jacket.
And for a light rain shell I'm just taking my OR Helium II.

So for those with more experience in icy winds etc do you think the Rab baselayer, light fleece hoodie and windshell will be enough whilst active or slightly at rest for the odd break ??
I'm yet to experience conditions where I have needed the fleece whilst active but it has been mighty handy when stopping for breaks.

Do people find themselves either on the Larapinta or even in the snowy peaks of Tassie actively walking wearing fleece under a shell jacket of some kind ??

I do have a light synthetic fill jacket I have just purchased which I could take for breaks etc but I just think that would be insulation overkill.

you won't feel as cold in a dry desert environment as much you would in a more humid environment for the same temp, once your'e insulated what little air gets under your clothes or is in contact with exposed skin won't conduct the heat away from your body as fast,
in NZ i seldom need more than a thick polypro under a raincoat walking in the cold. if i do need more, a thin fleece is enough but it also comes don to whats on your legs, with long johns and over trousers again i seldom need more than a thick polypro under a raincoat in the cold.

wayno wrote:in NZ i seldom need more than a thick polypro under a raincoat walking in the cold. if i do need more, a thin fleece is enough but it also comes don to whats on your legs, with long johns and over trousers again i seldom need more than a thick polypro under a raincoat in the cold.

That's the same as I have found, I've always got long johns and wind pants anyway. For Larapinta I'm actually considering walking in long skinz pants (with shorts of course) for the sun protection as I'm from Scottish stock, I burn very well.....
I've taken a shining to the skinz as they feel great in the heat, better so than wearing long pants just for sun protection. Layed with wind pants the skinz are nice and warm too so that's a bonus.

dunno about wearing tight clothing if its hot. it can the effects of the heat worse. not the same for bikers they have more wind chill effect so not so much of an issue. i'm more likely to wear three quarter length pants if i'm worried about the sun, gives the air a chance to get under them. i've seen zip off trouses that have two zip off options giving you three choices in leg length, can't recall what brand they were.
take anti oxidants and bioflavonoids, they help reduce the effects of burning on the skin. plants make bioflavonoids as protection against the sun...
coconut oil is another one keeps your skin healthy.

wayno wrote:dunno about wearing tight clothing if its hot.

I've given the light skinz a pretty good test this past summer and I think you would be suprised how cool they feel Even climbing hills in the 30's. Lets face it, that's hot work regardless and the skinz I didn't feel made me any hotter. If anything the slightest breeze makes them feel cool in the heat.
Much, much cooler than any polypro or merino I have worn, The slightest air movement feels like aircon.

can you get them in pale colours? dark colours will heat up more
did you see my comments about the queen charlotte track as well?

wayno wrote:can you get them in pale colours? dark colours will heat up more
did you see my comments about the queen charlotte track as well?

Yeh thanks for the QCT comments Wayno, I figured as much for that one though. I'm looking forward to it.

You can get some pale colours but I get them sooo dirty quickly, I guess that's no huge deal though, I have a blue pair of skinz copies (Take Five, Ebay $15, Bargin)
I like them but between a blue Rab shirt, black short running shorts and blue tights (lets face it, they are tights ) my wife will not be seen within a nautical mile. Says I look like a smurf
Add a blue golite jam pack when I use that and I think it's an acceptable look

UM YEAH.... no comment mate.....

While the Centre can get remarkably cold I don't think you will need down trousers at all, even at night.
During active walking longjohns, shorts and windpants so you can doff the long pants quickly when you warm up.
Good thick soled boots and really high, solid gaiters are far more important in the Red Heart, well at least in my experience. Any combination of tops and windproofs will work if it's dry.
Just remember if the wind is blowing there will be a lot of dust and sand in the air, safety glasses/goggles may be needed as well as bandannas or shemaqks so you can breath

why the heavy, high boots and gaiters?

wayno wrote:why the heavy, high boots and gaiters?

Gaiters for wind blown sand and snakes, I presume?

Runners and little pebble gaiters it shall be... seriously that's what I wear. Gone are my boot wearing days but that's a whole other topic.
My mates did it last year and yes they wore boots but they at no time put on the high gaiters they packed. Larapinta is getting pretty well worn in now and it's a clearly marked trail.

wayno wrote:why the heavy, high boots and gaiters?

Gibber, Bindi and Spinifex

The stones on the ground are usually a very hard and very sharp Quartzite and spinifex barbs will penetrate normal trouser fabric as if it wasn't there.
The ends of the spinifex grass are usually covered in rat urine and the ends break off after penetrating the skin and infect readily therefore heavy canvas gaiters needed over the boots Walking on the gibber can get very tiring after a while; and the sharp edges can cut through the rubber sole of a lightweight boots quickly and while parts of the area are very sandy; the sand hides lots of sharp, pointy and bitey things. On a well walked track I suppose any comfortable shoe or boot will do but if I was going back I would choose the boot with the thickest sole I could find, some of that Bindi will penetrate runners like a hot knife through warm butter, this is not country for bare feet unless you were born to it and have feet like shoe leather.
We climbed a lot of the cliffs in the area back in the late 70s and I contributed to the first guide book of the area so I got to do a lot of off track walking in the time I spent working at Pine Gap

I love the area and have always wanted to go back

Why windshirt and the helium? Granted neither are particularly heavy, but the helium does a pretty good job of being a (waterproof) windshirt.

heliums not as breathable, less likely to build up sweat in a windshirt.
IMO if he went for something like a westcomb Focus , 2.5 layer event DVL shell at 250 gm or a neoshell shift hoody at 340gm, he would do away with the windshirt because of the extra breathability in the rainshells

iGBH wrote:Why windshirt and the helium? Granted neither are particularly heavy, but the helium does a pretty good job of being a (waterproof) windshirt.

No where near as breathable as the montbell windshirt. I did consider this but after trialing different layers the windshirt is the better option for me when active.

I find a thin base layer (polypro or merino), 100 weight fleece (Kathmandu Altica Tech grid pattern fabric) and a Wind shirt (Montbell) covers cool weather to below freezing when active. I am contemplating the Larapinta for winter 2014 and think a light coloured wind shirt (rather than my current black one) may be in order for those windy/dusty times when the temps are moderate.

I do know that spinifex is a problem and needs solid gaiters but I suspect a pair of Dirty Girls and runners will work well on the trail.

Dirty girl gaiters are great! http://www.dirtygirlgaiters.com/buy-it.html
There's even one fabric design called 'Run Forrest Run'

maybe look for a men's equivalent of this? This top is made for rockclimbing http://www.outdoorresearch.com/en/or-ge ... hoody.html, and it's fantastic. Light, stretch, breathes well, windproof, water resistant.
I have the purple one (to match my new OR jacket - thanks Blugum Mic for your suggestion)

Getting back to your OP, you wear your pack on top of your marino or polypro without a collared shirt over it?

Think i'd be wanting some canvas gaiters (as m'dog says). I'd love to do this walk (if I was up to it). We've spent 5 winters (3-6mths each) camping in country to the west of there and plodding through spinifex will even test canvas and the sides of synthetic boots (if the track involves actually walking 'through' spinifex?..).

Does get surprisingly cold at night, i'd take the insulated jacket for night/early morning but can't imagine wearing much actually walking with the sun up. I generally would wear a thermal top under a shirt until mid-morning. If you do get rain the night temperature will likely be warmer.

Is the LPT camping on sand, if so it gets very cold quickly overnight, a well insulated mat?

I'm a pinky too, always wear a hat but iv'e never found UV as bad as it is in Tassie.

So its a BWA central meetup eh? Should have some nice piccies between you all, have fun.

Onestepmore wrote:Dirty girl gaiters are great!

I wear these but they are very similar http://www.montbell.us/products/disp.ph ... id=1129415
Minimal protection (would do nothing for spinifex) but they are great at keeping out sand and unwanted debris. I've replaced the strap with spectra cord though as the stock bungie lasts a whole day before it's all torn up.

Rob A wrote:Getting back to your OP, you wear your pack on top of your marino or polypro without a collared shirt over it?

In short, yes. Only the Rab merino/poly long sleeve shirt. Covers me for a baselayer / sunshirt. It's nice and light and wicks like crazy so I'm never too sweaty for long. It's both great in cool and hot weather. Actually it's the best hot weather shirt I've worn to tell the truth.
I used to do the collared shirt and still do (MH canyon shirt) for off track walks involving scrub but find for all other walks this shirt is much better.
No issues with pack wear but I'm pretty much UL now so I'm not lugging 20kgs on an actual trip abrading on the shirt, not sure how that would effect it in the long run. I do train with a 16kg pack though and wear the shirt, no issues yet in the 18 months I've been using the same shirt. Only 2 small sewn rips on the sleeves from pointy, freshly clippered lantana on the GNW.

Nuts wrote:(if the track involves actually walking 'through' spinifex?..).

That's the key thing right there. I could be wrong but from all reports I'm getting off people that completed the track it's just track with maybe a little overhang.
I think there is no shortage of sharp pointy savage rock though.

Nuts wrote:Is the LPT camping on sand, if so it gets very cold quickly overnight, a well insulated mat?

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I think there is a fair bit of sandy camping. I'm taking my little Exped UL downmat so should have plenty of heat from below

Thanks for all the tips guys. Keep em coming as this is all a learning experience.

this is a new technology synthetic insulated jacket coming out for our spring... uses polartec alpha insulaton.. sort of a tufted version of primaloft with a more breathable inner shell

http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/gear-blog/ ... 10816.html