Western Arthurs 10.5 KG Pack 9 days food

[under10kg]

Hi Guys,

Here is my gear list for my last trip to the western arthurs with 9 days food.
I posted a few photos in the gallery section.
I had a roomy 2 man tent and a very comfortable sleep system using a blow up air matress.
I was suprised how well the light runners performed on wet rock and the mud.

Comments below about the performance of my light gear.

Carried on back (I think I got everything included)

Aarn 2 man pacer tent 1761gms
Titanian pegs 72
Gnv frameless pack 460
nutak top sleeping bag 750
Backpacking light cocoon insulating jacket 250
Raingear parka 166
Raingear overpaints 169
montain windshirt 96
big agnis clear view mummy lilo 404
insulatintg mat 170
beanie 107
pocket rocket stove 117
big agnis dry bag for blowing up lilo and to reduce water vapor intake to mat
and as a water bottle, shower, waterproof bag and pillo 45
gloves 98
2 undies 100
2 spare socks 67
pack cover 85
possum wool gloves 45
First aid and repair kit 112
toilet paper 150
black diamond headlight 33
Smallest swiss army knife 28
compass + micro light 36
titanium spoon fork combo 15
toilet kit 23 (yes I did cut of most of the handle of the toothbrush! !)
titanium billy and cup plus
insulating billy cover to rehydrate dinners 202
thermals top and bottom 285

plastic bags, maps ????

camera and mobile phone carried on person. ?
My walking buddy carried a light 10 mt rope.

Total 5846 gms

Gas 230
Food at 500 gm a day for 9 days

Total 10.576 kg

By taking a one man tent I could reduce the weight to under 10 kgs.
However, I would increase the food as 500 gms is not totally satifying.

I used pacer walking poles that are the tent poles and are not included in the above.

Performance.

As expected, the super light breathable rain gear suffered some wear. The top jacket had a few places where the fabric had seperated from the base layer. The pants got one small tear. I was just warm in the parka with just the windshirt in windy and cold rain when walking. Adding a few layers would have made me warm.

I do feel if I did repeated walks in tasmainia I should upgrade to a light but more durable parka. I would get a large one so the sleives covered my hands. I found I had cold hands at times. I did not try the possum wool gloves walking.

The Pack performed well and was comfortable to 10 kg. I would not like to take much more weight than this in this pack as I would upgrade to a super comfortable aarn pack with front balance pockets.

The US made 460 gm pack had mess side pockets. I used a rain cover on most of the walk and this stopped the mesh catching on branches and this reduced the chance of rips and I got none.

I was warm at nights and one night I put on the insulating jacket and had pants and thermals top and bottom.
I had a very comfortable sleeping system.

Walking this light with light runners made this walk very enjoyable and it saved my suspect knees. It also allowed me to downclimb just about all the scramples without taking the pack off.

[Tony]

Hi Under10kg,

Thankyou for posting your list and your assessment of how your gear performed, you have proved that UL in SW Tasmania can be done, it is great that you had a good enjoyable time.

Tony

[the_camera_poser]

what time of year did you go?

[under10kg]

Last week over easter.
Fine weather for most but some light rain on 2 mornings of the difficult sections.
High winds and cold rain walking out on the plains.

[Darren]

G'Day u10kg
Nice list, I use some things similar (viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1730#p14477)i usually take a couple of luxuries but i have never attempted such a technical walk. I assume the cocoon is part of your sleep system, what temp do you think you could comfortably sleep down to. How do you find the possum gloves? I have heard some durability issues. I use manzella windproof, minimal insulation but durable and functional. What exactly is the raingear you’re using, is that the brand name? I may be missing something.
I work on about 500-550g food/day as well, your walk would be much more physically demanding than I’m used to so i would be interested in your diet
Thanks Mate
Darren

[dee_legg]

Hey,
Would also be interested in the food you took?
I'm always looking for new ideas for out on the trail.

[under10kg]

Nice list, I use some things similar (viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1730#p14477)i usually take a couple of luxuries but i have never attempted such a technical walk. I assume the cocoon is part of your sleep system, what temp do you think you could comfortably sleep down to. How do you find the possum gloves? I have heard some durability issues. I use manzella windproof, minimal insulation but durable and functional. What exactly is the raingear you’re using, is that the brand name? I may be missing something.
I work on about 500-550g food/day as well, your walk would be much more physically demanding than I’m used to so i would be interested in your diet

Hi Daren,

The cocoon is a synthetic insulating jacket that I wear at camp or if needed as part of my sleep system. If I need to , I can wear 3 layers on the legs, and 4 layers on the top plus beanie, possum wool gloves and socks. Since all the gear is light weight, it is a joy to sleep in it compared to a gortex parka for example.

I have never needed to wear all this so I suspect my sleeping system can handle just about any temperture in tasi.

The sleeping bag is a top bag and has no zip so it can expand to cover extra clothing without compacting.

Raingear is a brand name and a search should bring it up. Parker was $20 US
Backpacking light is selling a similar parka but it could be a bit more durable for a similar price.
I would order a larger size than normal so you can layer clothing under it and have long sleeves covering your hands.

These types of parkas are very breathable but the issue is durability in scrub.

The possum gloves are very nice to wear and are super light. I did not test them while walking so I cant comment on the durability issues.

I was not totally happy with my food.

I was fine energy wise but we walked slow and longer times than chatmans mainly due to my walking companions and their heavy packs. I do like to walk slow and enyoy the views.

However, I felt I would run out of energy if I did try to walk fast.

Breakfast soaked muslie, milk powder, protein powder.
Lunch dried hummus, cheese, rivita
Dinner dried main meal, apples and custurd

When walking Chocolate and scrogin with ginger and goni berries added.

Perhaps adding ghee or butter would increase the calories.

I would be interested in your 550 gms food list as I feel mine needs refining.

[Darren]

G'Day u10kg
I also have a bmw cocoon pullover and I now use it as part of my sleep system. I use a Golite feather lite sleeping bag that has no hood or zip but is surprisingly warm, I think I roll around too much for a top bag. I also have a Montbell light down jacket. It is about the same weight as the cocoon and a bit warmer as it is down. I have slept in the snow with this but i prefer the security of synthetic for some ware wet like Tassie .
My usual food list , Not much different to yours

Breakfast 2x instant porridge
mornings 100g home made scroggin
lunch ainsley harriot cus cus and a slice of salami diced
arvo apricot bar (keeps you fluid)
tea cupa soup, freeze dried meal vacuum sealed
afters space food stick

Tea with breaky
tang powdered lemon in the arvo with dinner
(I have discovered that lemon tang and vodka is not too bad, Yes.. i have a problem)

Have a look at my Frenchman’s list for pics
Thanks
Darren

[under10kg]

Hi Daren,

Sounds like we got very similar gear.

I got a Golite feather lite sleeping bag too for my woman when the exchange rate was good.
I found my nutak bag has more loft and would be warmer than the go light.

Yes I forgot, I add psylum hulls to my morning muslie for the fluid reason.
I have a cus cus meal at night as a variation but it might be interesting to try it for lunch.
Having a bigger lunch meal could be a good improvement.
I feel adding ghee could be a way of improving the energy level for harder walks.

Taking a one man 1kg tent or sharing the tent would give up to an extra 800 gms of food available and the pack still be about 10kg. So my food for a 9 day walk would increase to 600gms a day.

[Darren]

G'Day
I thought of peanut butter for the same reason @ 2500kj per 100g its good bang for you buck and travels well. A 30 or 50g spoonful mid morning might be a help. I might try it on my SCT walk this summer
Darren

[Franco]

Nice list.
Some olive oil is a good way to boost calories and add flavour to your dinners, if you like that taste.
Those possumdown gloves are a bit fragile not recommended if you use trekking poles. I noticed signs of wear after not that many hours of use . (somewhere between 10 and 20). But they are warm even when totally soaked. I use a pair Polyester mittens on top, they were made by Paddy Pallin years ago. 80g for the pair.
Franco

[under10kg]

Olive oil is a good idea.
Yes I used to use wool mittens and overmits and this worked well ski touring.
I will look out for some overmits.
I had a thought of large kitchen rubber gloves over the possum wool gloves. Not sure how they would cope with scrambling and holding onto rocks. One walker I met used neoprene canoeing gloves that seems to work OK.
The gloves were the only bit of my gear that I need to improve apart from the parka durability issue.

[Franco]

Oh yes, no mitts scrambling.. and definitely no possumdown
Outdoor Research have a good selection of mitts, some if not all available at Bogong, here in Melbourne
http://www.outdoorresearch.com/site/bro ... scent.html
Maybe the Endeavour are the ones i looked at.
I prefer just the shell with no liner attached. That combo (mitts with liners attached) was the only piece of gear (apart from the bike) that failed a friend of mine in Alaska a few weeks ago. When he pulled his hand out the inner followed and then was hard to push the fingers back , particularly because he was at temperatures between -20 to -40 so a lot of effort just to take them off and putting them back on.
A cheaper alternative could be (not tested...) gloves from a hardware store, like heavy duty gardening gloves or the stuff they use for handling chemicals ( Bunnings)
If you don't mind sweaty hands, but the wool will help there.
Franco

[Darren]

G'Day
This is what i have MANZELLA SILK WEIGHT WINDSTOPPER MZ-099
Darren

[Ent]

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[under10kg]

Thanks guys. I will add this to my gear soon.

[robl]

Regarding handware,

If things are cold, wether wet or dry I use polypropylene gloves (38 gm)- very tough.
If things become very cold or windy I use nylon mitts as well. (torpeako brand- 48gm)
They are windproof but not seam sealed. My hands are usually wet but always warm.
They are always in my parka pockets.

robl