Many of the threads on equipment have talked about what will and won’t work in Tasmania. The implication is that Tasmania is a bit different to elsewhere in Australia.
Recently five of us (aged 45 to 69) did the Southern range track onto the South West track. This is a fantastic walk but is very demanding on walker and equipment. Between us we had walked many of the iconic walks in Tasmania. We found the track between Pinder’s Peak and prion beach very rough on our equipment. A combination of head high scaparia, narrow tracks, bogs, sharp limestone rocks, and finally a seven hour wade in waist deep water down New River Lagoon. While at Low Camp under the shadow of Precipitous Bluff we were hit by an electrical storm that dumped about 100mm of rain on us over a four hour period with gusty wind.
The damage was:
1. An older Fairydown pack had one of the rear straps ripped off
2. A new MacPac Torro ended up with a rip in the outer canvass layer of the bottom of the pack
3. A set of brand new Columbia light walking boots started falling apart after two days and just got worse
4. All gaiters started to fail: WE, MacPac and Sea to Summit. The press studs gummed up. The velcro on the tops stopped functioning. The various methods going under the boots frayed and broke.
5. Kathmandu and Mountain Design trousers ripped.
What surprised us was how well the tents stood up to the storm. All tents (two MacPac Microligths, a Mountain Designs Nurtino 1, a Mountain Designs Pass and a Big Agnes Sierra) are rated as three season. The 1992 Microlight and the Neutrino did leak a little. The other tents were dry inside. As one of the party said: “the tents really danced about that night”.
The three of us with leather/nubuck boots were happy with our footwear. No blisters etc. We did suffer sore soles of our feet once the boots became saturated. Still no definitive answer of light weight footwear
What track have people fond that pushed their equipment to the design limits?
Now we need to find a decent gaiter – any ideas?
Oh, and the people got a bit damaged too…..