Bushwalk Australia

Hi all

I'm booked in for OLD in December with a friend, some things will be shared between packs (such as the tent). Given the uncertainty, I'm thinking best to assume we won't be able to use huts (bonus if we can).

See my packing list here - https://lighterpack.com/r/c91t8o

I'm keen to hear where I could reasonably lose some weight. A few things to note:

-This is my first OLT & one of only a few multi-day hikes (previous max is 2 nights).
-Things I haven't purchased yet are marked with "NYP" and there are some optional extras that I'm already considering not taking.
-My friend will have a JetBoil & as it gets closer to the trip I'll decide if I need to replace my MSR with one. I figured if we're in the huts, the MSR should be fine as a backup, but potentially not if no huts.
-Am I missing anything important?
-Particular things I'd like some input on are:
*Camp clothes - Do I need something warmer up top? I'm currently just planning on a light jumper & my fleece if I need it (and it isn't wet)
*Is the tent going to be sufficient in Summer? We're borrowing it from a friend, it's reasonably cheap, has decent reviews, but is only a 3 season. If necessary, we can purchase a tent (and in that case, any recommendations for an
alternative?)
*Do I have anything that's overkill?
*Do I want the camp chair? I own this already, so I don't want to buy a different one, but it is heavy. If the hurts aren't open, how useful would it be?
*Is it worth taking the thermos? I was planning on using it as a backup in case of cold weather (in sleeping bag overnight), and also to have hot drinks on the trail.

Thanks in advance!

Looks generally okay.

The chair adds a lot of weight but are a very personal decision.

The food looks too generous. Most people plan on around 700g per day. I think you’ve overdone the snacks. Once again a personal choice.

I alternate between reading on my phone and carrying a Kindle. If solo, I’m more likely to take the Kindle as I’ll be spending more time reading but if with company I’ll be happy with the phone.

ChrisJHC wrote:Looks generally okay.

The chair adds a lot of weight but are a very personal decision.

The food looks too generous. Most people plan on around 700g per day. I think you’ve overdone the snacks. Once again a personal choice.

I alternate between reading on my phone and carrying a Kindle. If solo, I’m more likely to take the Kindle as I’ll be spending more time reading but if with company I’ll be happy with the phone.

Thank you, very helpful.

The food was an interesting exercise for me. I definitely don't want to be hungry, but I know my pack is quite heavy. I found one webpage where the guy had a photo of his "one day of food" and it was a huge amount! Much more than I'm planning for, so that scared me a bit and I think I added a bit more after that!

People talk a lot about base weight, but one thing that people neglect is the total weight. Which is the weight of everything you are carrying, including consumables and water. I don't have a hard and fast answer to this.

One source says "No more than 20% of your body weight" but this is a loose guide. Another rule is to never exceed 16 kgs.

Whichever rule you follow, it gives you a target to aim for in your starting weight. Eg
-Dump the chair
-Dump the thermos (you can carry a little extra fuel to enjoy a cup of tea on the trail)
- Maybe ditch the fleece and stick with the down jacket

Of course it is your back and your knees, so you can take as little or as much as you are prepared to carry.

You really need something like one of these below for walking when it gets nippy I reckon. I am feeling you are not covered for a quick cool down in weather and needing to be active. Your fleece you have may be too hot to move in.
It seems a very hot and heavy item, and not suitable when active but perhaps it works for you when active, if so disregard the following.
mens https://www.macpac.com.au/mens/activity ... 15606.html
womens https://www.macpac.com.au/womens/activi ... 15658.html
Weighs about 130 gms and a little flamethrower, especially when covered by a jacket-if you have never tried one you may be surprised just how warm you can be when it's covered. Can be used when active if the temp drops quite a bit.

tui womens https://www.macpac.com.au/hike/clothing ... 14348.html
Tui mens https://www.macpac.com.au/hike/clothing ... AU&start=5
weighs about 250-280 gms odd and warm, but, can be used when active and nippy-a good balance. Might suit?
Both above will stop you hopefully building up too much sweat when active but keeping you nicely warm-a nice balance.
No affiliation with Macpac by the way.

Gets cooler again chuck on your new jacket over the top of either of the above.
Have a ripper of a time.
G

Lamont,

The Macpac Nitro is my favourite bit of gear. It was awesome on the OT last winter. I wish they would ditch the silly chest pocket though and make some pants!

Just a comment on the food.
At 700 grams of concentrated food a day most people will be loosing weight but 4 to 5 days of short rations never hurt anybody.
Cotton beanie? I'd recomend changing that to a synthetic one for the insulation and I do echo the above comments on active wear as that fleece in your list is maybe to warm to walk in. A polypro long sleeved top under your shirt might work or even two if it was cold enough.
Something often forgotten is to try on everything before you inalise packing. if it gets really bad [ it probably won't] you need to be able to wear everything you carry, no good if you can't layer your rain pants over your longjohns and fleece panta and ditto for the top half

Not cotton for anything. Get a fleece beanie if you can; Thinsulate lined Polartec is the best for warmth and wind.

Petew wrote:Lamont,

The Macpac Nitro is my favourite bit of gear. It was awesome on the OT last winter. I wish they would ditch the silly chest pocket though and make some pants!

Who would have thought something that looks like my daughter's Nonna knitted would be such a remarkable piece of clothing. Highly recommended. Perfect for the OT but caution near scrub and velcro.

where is the large stick of salami?
after 6 days you will crave fat that's all i wanted to eat and only had one stick next time its two sticks
throw out the camp chair and put some meat in, apologies if your a vegan.

commando wrote:where is the large stick of salami?
after 6 days you will crave fat that's all i wanted to eat and only had one stick next time its two sticks
throw out the camp chair and put some meat in, apologies if your a vegan.

Biltong is all about meat, more accessible than Salami (and much better for you!) Plenty of fat

Not vegetarian or vegan, but don't eat a lot of meat.

Edited to add: This is the one I eat https://www.barbellfoods.com.au/collect ... 4287992916

Lamont wrote:You really need something like one of these below for walking when it gets nippy I reckon. I am feeling you are not covered for a quick cool down in weather and needing to be active. Your fleece you have may be too hot to move in.
It seems a very hot and heavy item, and not suitable when active but perhaps it works for you when active, if so disregard the following.
mens https://www.macpac.com.au/mens/activity ... 15606.html
womens https://www.macpac.com.au/womens/activi ... 15658.html
Weighs about 130 gms and a little flamethrower, especially when covered by a jacket-if you have never tried one you may be surprised just how warm you can be when it's covered. Can be used when active if the temp drops quite a bit.

Gets cooler again chuck on your new jacket over the top of either of the above.
Have a ripper of a time.
G

I tried on the Nitro today, felt very nice. Will probably get one & do away with the fleece.
Still worth taking a puffy jacket for around camp I presume?

So far, I've also got:

-Do away with the cotton beanie get a synthetic one (and hopefully save a few grams there?)
-Perhaps cut some of the food (I'll test this on one of my upcoming 3 day hikes and see how I feel.
-Decide whether 700grams for a chair is worth it.
-Pack is likely too heavy (I kind of knew that already, I think)

Also, I don't know if it makes a difference, but the pack is an Aarn and my understanding (although I haven't been able to test this theory yet), is that they can handle a bit more weight due to the design.

Lamont wrote:You really need something like one of these below for walking when it gets nippy I reckon. I am feeling you are not covered for a quick cool down in weather and needing to be active. Your fleece you have may be too hot to move in.
It seems a very hot and heavy item, and not suitable when active but perhaps it works for you when active, if so disregard the following.
mens https://www.macpac.com.au/mens/activity ... 15606.html
womens https://www.macpac.com.au/womens/activi ... 15658.html
Weighs about 130 gms and a little flamethrower, especially when covered by a jacket-if you have never tried one you may be surprised just how warm you can be when it's covered. Can be used when active if the temp drops quite a bit.

Gets cooler again chuck on your new jacket over the top of either of the above.
Have a ripper of a time.
G

I tried on the Nitro today, felt very nice. Will probably get one & do away with the fleece.
Still worth taking a puffy jacket for around camp I presume?

So far, I've also got:

-Do away with the cotton beanie get a synthetic one (and hopefully save a few grams there?)
-Perhaps cut some of the food (I'll test this on one of my upcoming 3 day hikes and see how I feel.
-Decide whether 700grams for a chair is worth it.
-Pack is likely too heavy (I kind of knew that already, I think)

Also, I don't know if it makes a difference, but the pack is an Aarn and my understanding (although I haven't been able to test this theory yet), is that they can handle a bit more weight due to the design.

Lamont wrote:You really need something like one of these below for walking when it gets nippy I reckon. I am feeling you are not covered for a quick cool down in weather and needing to be active. Your fleece you have may be too hot to move in.
It seems a very hot and heavy item, and not suitable when active but perhaps it works for you when active, if so disregard the following.
mens https://www.macpac.com.au/mens/activity ... 15606.html
womens https://www.macpac.com.au/womens/activi ... 15658.html
Weighs about 130 gms and a little flamethrower, especially when covered by a jacket-if you have never tried one you may be surprised just how warm you can be when it's covered. Can be used when active if the temp drops quite a bit.

Gets cooler again chuck on your new jacket over the top of either of the above.
Have a ripper of a time.
G

I tried on the Nitro today, felt very nice. Will probably get one & do away with the fleece.
Still worth taking a puffy jacket for around camp I presume?

So far, I've also got:

-Do away with the cotton beanie get a synthetic one (and hopefully save a few grams there?)
-Perhaps cut some of the food (I'll test this on one of my upcoming 3 day hikes and see how I feel.
-Decide whether 700grams for a chair is worth it.
-Pack is likely too heavy (I kind of knew that already, I think)

Also, I don't know if it makes a difference, but the pack is an Aarn and my understanding (although I haven't been able to test this theory yet), is that they can handle a bit more weight due to the design.

Lamont wrote:You really need something like one of these below for walking when it gets nippy I reckon. I am feeling you are not covered for a quick cool down in weather and needing to be active. Your fleece you have may be too hot to move in.
It seems a very hot and heavy item, and not suitable when active but perhaps it works for you when active, if so disregard the following.
mens https://www.macpac.com.au/mens/activity ... 15606.html
womens https://www.macpac.com.au/womens/activi ... 15658.html
Weighs about 130 gms and a little flamethrower, especially when covered by a jacket-if you have never tried one you may be surprised just how warm you can be when it's covered. Can be used when active if the temp drops quite a bit.

Gets cooler again chuck on your new jacket over the top of either of the above.
Have a ripper of a time.
G

I tried on the Nitro today, felt very nice. Will probably get one & do away with the fleece.
Still worth taking a puffy jacket for around camp I presume?

So far, I've also got:

-Do away with the cotton beanie get a synthetic one (and hopefully save a few grams there?)
-Perhaps cut some of the food (I'll test this on one of my upcoming 3 day hikes and see how I feel.
-Decide whether 700grams for a chair is worth it.
-Pack is likely too heavy (I kind of knew that already, I think)

Also, I don't know if it makes a difference, but the pack is an Aarn and my understanding (although I haven't been able to test this theory yet), is that they can handle a bit more weight due to the design.

Good food makes good morale when everything is wet and your stuck in a hut...
I packed 10 days food and didn't eat the weetbix or dried apricots at all maybe i could have lasted 20 days.
Met a girl in Arthurs Pass NZ she invited me on a 7 day hike and all she carried was porridge, i declined the offer.
Everyone has specialty food requirements, no two people are the same.

Good food makes good morale when everything is wet and your stuck in a hut...
I packed 10 days food and didn't eat the weetbix or dried apricots at all maybe i could have lasted 20 days.
Met a girl in Arthurs Pass NZ she invited me on a 7 day hike and all she carried was porridge, i declined the offer.
Everyone has specialty food requirements, no two people are the same.

Looks good sounds expensive...
Good food makes good morale when everything is wet and your stuck in a hut...
I packed 10 days food and didn't eat the weetbix or dried apricots at all maybe i could have lasted 20 days.
Met a girl in Arthurs Pass NZ she invited me on a 7 day hike and all she carried was porridge, i declined the offer.
Everyone has specialty food requirements, no two people are the same.

Looks good sounds expensive...
Good food makes good morale when everything is wet and your stuck in a hut...
I packed 10 days food and didn't eat the weetbix or dried apricots at all maybe i could have lasted 20 days.
Met a girl in Arthurs Pass NZ she invited me on a 7 day hike and all she carried was porridge, i declined the offer.
Everyone has specialty food requirements, no two people are the same.

Looks good sounds expensive...
Good food makes good morale when everything is wet and your stuck in a hut...
I packed 10 days food and didn't eat the weetbix or dried apricots at all maybe i could have lasted 20 days.
Met a girl in Arthurs Pass NZ she invited me on a 7 day hike and all she carried was porridge, i declined the offer.
Everyone has specialty food requirements, no two people are the same.

duplicate post

A couple of quick observations:
Ditch the soap and the toothpaste, both are environmentally unfriendly. A medium toothbrush is sufficiently abrasive to clean your teeth without the need for toothpaste. I'm assuming the soap is for personal hygiene? If so, look at using tea tree oil - a couple of drops in warm water (use your mug or bowl) will work well for refreshing yourself after a long day of walking.

The chair is a bit heavy - hubby and I avoid the huts when walking the OLT and we both carry a Helinox Ground Chair which weighs 640grams. I know you want avoid buying another chair, but it would be worth it and in my opinion, a chair makes a big difference to your comfort in camp (I should mention that I am 61 years old and not into sitting on hard surfaces for prolonged periods).

Ditch the thermos - it is insulated so will be of limited benefit as a hot water bottle if it gets cold and if you want a hot drink on the trail, just break out the stove and heat up some water. Maybe experiment with the Platypus as a hot water bottle at home.

Look at some lightweight down for camp - jacket and bottoms.

Food - as a comparison, hubby and I took 7.5 kilos for 2 people on our last OLT and that included fresh carrots, celery and salami for lunch as well as a 185 g can (yes a can) of tuna and a lettuce for one of our dinners.

Clothes - absolutely no cotton as outerwear under any circumstances so swap out the cotton beanie for either a merino one (my preference) or a polypro one.

Just a general comment on weather - we did the OLT at the end of Feb this year. We started the walk in high 20s weather and ended it in sleet and sub 10 degree temperatures. It is an alpine area and weather is very unpredictable so make sure you prepare for bad weather including heavy snow.

\duplicate post

What on earth is going on with the multiple copies of posts?

The site has been zonked for a couple of hours.

woyapp1 wrote:

Lamont wrote:You really need something like one of these below for walking when it gets nippy I reckon. I am feeling you are not covered for a quick cool down in weather and needing to be active. Your fleece you have may be too hot to move in.
It seems a very hot and heavy item, and not suitable when active but perhaps it works for you when active, if so disregard the following.
mens https://www.macpac.com.au/mens/activity ... 15606.html
womens https://www.macpac.com.au/womens/activi ... 15658.html
Weighs about 130 gms and a little flamethrower, especially when covered by a jacket-if you have never tried one you may be surprised just how warm you can be when it's covered. Can be used when active if the temp drops quite a bit.

Gets cooler again chuck on your new jacket over the top of either of the above.
Have a ripper of a time.
G

I tried on the Nitro today, felt very nice. Will probably get one & do away with the fleece.
Still worth taking a puffy jacket for around camp I presume?

Hi, depends on the down jacket you intend to use?
Were I you, I would look for the warmest jacket of 80 or so gms of about 800-850 CUIN RDS Responsible Down Standard down jacket.
But, you are going Overseas to get it, so...
this one below looks alright and I think would have enough down-but you could ring and ask them to check.
Cold nights/evenings are not fun-but you will have your bag to jump into so perhaps not?
If it's your first trip of this type and you are learning the ropes I would go with the slight overkill.
https://www.oneplanet.com.au/product/cl ... er-womens/ --on sale-quite heavy but robust and a good price.
But again you would know your needs heat wise best.
Cheers
G

Lamont wrote:

woyapp1 wrote:

Lamont wrote:You really need something like one of these below for walking when it gets nippy I reckon. I am feeling you are not covered for a quick cool down in weather and needing to be active. Your fleece you have may be too hot to move in.
It seems a very hot and heavy item, and not suitable when active but perhaps it works for you when active, if so disregard the following.
mens https://www.macpac.com.au/mens/activity ... 15606.html
womens https://www.macpac.com.au/womens/activi ... 15658.html
Weighs about 130 gms and a little flamethrower, especially when covered by a jacket-if you have never tried one you may be surprised just how warm you can be when it's covered. Can be used when active if the temp drops quite a bit.

Gets cooler again chuck on your new jacket over the top of either of the above.
Have a ripper of a time.
G

I tried on the Nitro today, felt very nice. Will probably get one & do away with the fleece.
Still worth taking a puffy jacket for around camp I presume?

Hi, depends on the down jacket you intend to use?
Were I you, I would look for the warmest jacket of 80 or so gms of about 800-850 CUIN RDS Responsible Down Standard down jacket.
This looks alright and I think would have enough down-but you could ring and ask them to check.
Cold nights/evenings are not fun-but you will have your bag to jump into so perhaps not.
https://www.oneplanet.com.au/product/cl ... er-womens/ on sale-quite heavy but robust and a good price.
But again you would know your needs heat wise.
Cheers
G

Ok, cheers. I'll have a look. Tried on an uber-light one at Macpac today & it felt good. About half the weight (200gms) of the oneplanet with 650 RDS. Also a little cheaper on sale at the moment.

No worries, have a great time.
G

matagi wrote:A couple of quick observations:
Ditch the soap and the toothpaste, both are environmentally unfriendly. A medium toothbrush is sufficiently abrasive to clean your teeth without the need for toothpaste. I'm assuming the soap is for personal hygiene? If so, look at using tea tree oil - a couple of drops in warm water (use your mug or bowl) will work well for refreshing yourself after a long day of walking.

The chair is a bit heavy - hubby and I avoid the huts when walking the OLT and we both carry a Helinox Ground Chair which weighs 640grams. I know you want avoid buying another chair, but it would be worth it and in my opinion, a chair makes a big difference to your comfort in camp (I should mention that I am 61 years old and not into sitting on hard surfaces for prolonged periods).

Ditch the thermos - it is insulated so will be of limited benefit as a hot water bottle if it gets cold and if you want a hot drink on the trail, just break out the stove and heat up some water. Maybe experiment with the Platypus as a hot water bottle at home.

Look at some lightweight down for camp - jacket and bottoms.

Food - as a comparison, hubby and I took 7.5 kilos for 2 people on our last OLT and that included fresh carrots, celery and salami for lunch as well as a 185 g can (yes a can) of tuna and a lettuce for one of our dinners.

Clothes - absolutely no cotton as outerwear under any circumstances so swap out the cotton beanie for either a merino one (my preference) or a polypro one.

Just a general comment on weather - we did the OLT at the end of Feb this year. We started the walk in high 20s weather and ended it in sleet and sub 10 degree temperatures. It is an alpine area and weather is very unpredictable so make sure you prepare for bad weather including heavy snow.

Thanks for that. Helpful suggestions. I don't care too much about the soap tbh, especially as I don't sweat much at all. But my tent-mate may not want to be my friend at the end of the hike without it!

Sounds like I can definitely reduce the food. I'll look into that more.

While the Dumper is an OK down jumper the real value at OP at the moment is their Inversion down parka, I would have bought one, unfortunately they are too damned small.
https://www.oneplanet.com.au/product/cl ... inversion/
At 610 grams for a medium it qualifies as UL when the warmth factor is counted, and there is nothing wrong with a bit of insuarance in your static layer