Bushwalk Australia

Uni holidays are coming up and I'm finally about to do the Overland track! I've booked tickets and will be starting the walk on July 1st and finishing on July 8th so I have plenty of time for a rest day, side trip or to potentially sit out bad weather. If those of you who have experience walking in this area in winter can offer any advice on gear or anything in general that could be helpful.

I'll be wearing hagloffs rugged mountain pants (possibly full size gaiters too), scarpa goretex boots, ect.. so I haven't included those on the list and after reading other posts on the forums I'll decide if I'm taking snowshoes/microspikes once I check the weather close to the date. I may be hiring a warmer bag too as I'm getting one for my partner who sleeps cold but haven't decided.

So here is my gear list at the moment..

Here's a copy of the list:
EDIT: You've got it working

EDIT: My thoughts:
Looks like a decent setup, light, warm and almost perfect.

I'm all for lightness, but you'll probably cause unnecessary strain on your jacket if you wear it for 5 days with a 13kg pack. Paclite tends not to be as tough with continuous friction.

Cheers icefest I'll keep that in mind

A couple of things I can't see on the list
A tent
Waterproof pants
A beanie
Gloves

Just a 0 deg C rated bag for mid winter? Is that adequate if not in the hut?

sorry I missed the tent!

GPSGuided wrote:Just a 0 deg C rated bag for mid winter? Is that adequate if not in the hut?

sleeping bag looks a bit slim, if weather turns very cold, you need to sleep in the tent, or if there is no heating in the huts.

I'll be buying gloves soon. The sleeping bag I was a bit on the fence about but I'll play it safe and hire a much warmer one for myself as well as my partner.

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With the gloves I can highly recommend Extremities Tuff Bags with a thin liner glove underneath. Great to have layering options

Strider wrote:With the gloves I can highly recommend Extremities Tuff Bags with a thin liner glove underneath. Great to have layering options

The lack of individual fingers doesn't bother you?

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kyubi wrote:

Strider wrote:With the gloves I can highly recommend Extremities Tuff Bags with a thin liner glove underneath. Great to have layering options

The lack of individual fingers doesn't bother you?

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Not at all. It's not like I'm rolling cigarettes or anything requiring great dexterity. Being able to feel my fingers is much more important IMO.

Strider wrote:

kyubi wrote:

Strider wrote:With the gloves I can highly recommend Extremities Tuff Bags with a thin liner glove underneath. Great to have layering options

The lack of individual fingers doesn't bother you?

Not at all. It's not like I'm rolling cigarettes or anything requiring great dexterity. Being able to feel my fingersNot loosing my fingers through frostbite is much more important IMO.

Fixed.

Map or GPS loaded with Map?

I have the map provided by the park and a compass, no GPS.. one of these birthdays or xmas

kyubi wrote:I have the map provided by the park and a compass, no GPS.. one of these birthdays or xmas

You don't need a GPS for the Overland. As long as you're not hit by a blizzard whilst walking you'd have to really work hard at it to get lost on the OT.

A couple extra thoughts,

Get lithium triple A's they tend to do much better in the cold and weigh half as much (and have 30% extra capacity to boot)
and get your partner to take a second Bic mini - at 12 grams that's a useful backup.
Store each of them in a warm pocket, so that if one person falls into lake windermere when they just wanted to take a photo, you still have a dry one.

@NNW, yep. I was happy to have one at nightfall on the track to scott kilvert. 

... that reminds me, Kyubi, try to leave before lunchtime, so you have enough time to get there in daylight as the sun sets early.
The cradle area is annoying to navigate at night in a blizzard. 

Also, if you are the first to walk after a decent dump of snow, it will be hard and take much longer than expected. The eastern route to Scott Kilvert Hut can get harder to follow as the trees will obscure the path under the snow loads. The ascent up via the face track can be impossible to find. 

Thanks icefest, that all sounds like good advice. We will be leaving from Launceston around 7. 30 to make sure we have enough daylight and so I don't need to push my partner too hard.

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Why aren't snow shoes on the list?
This query (from one who walked the OT alone in May 2007) is not a criticism.

How many sheets of toilet paper in 0.05kg? haha!

Wollemi wrote:Why aren't snow shoes on the list?
This query (from one who walked the OT alone in May 2007) is not a criticism.

I think you missed this sentence:

The devil can be in the detail. 50 grams of toilet paper is very likely to lead to unpleasantness

A roll of luxurious 3 ply paper weighs around 125grams, and lasts me around seven to eight days.

Not something you want to be without .

I always take a backup light. On the OLT it would simply be an E-Lite. If a lot of night walking is likely on a trip I would take two "proper" lights.

And I endorse the early start reminder. It takes the pressure off the first day and makes for a more pleasant walk. There is also the safety issue which has been alluded to and which has reared its head in some of the problems on that first leg of the track.

Missing:
First aid kit
Overpants
Beanie
gloves/mitts
Hand sanitizer
Dry bags/pack liner
(I assume much of what you will be wearing isn't listed? i.e. base layer top)

Other thoughts:
There are no camp pants listed, Icebreakers alone aren't particularly warm. But if you are tenting then I guess you'll have your legs in your sleeping bag?

Yeah, sleeping bag is likely to be not warm enough, particularly given no pants to wear if needed.

Is the tent inner mesh? or are you staying in the huts? If so the above statements are much more of an issue. (yes I mean it - the huts are like giant fridges when the heaters are not working!)

Only 3xAAA for a week? Probably more a personal thing, I like a bright head lamp, and that won't be bright after a week of winter camping. If you need to walk in the dark on one of the last days it will probably be a bit useless for the task. But if you are the sort of person who crawls into your tent and goes to sleep with the sun then no prob. Depends a lot on what you eat etc. as well, as generally all cooking in July is in the dark. I'd still pack a set of lithium AAAs just in case. Actually as the Revolt is not waterproof I'd pack a spare headlamp too.

I'd recommend the gaiters in July, but if those Hagloffs and or your overpants seal pretty well at the cuff perhaps not necessary?

Pitching an SL3 on platforms won't be a barrel of laughs, pack some extra cord.

Spare undies?

Ear plugs if staying in huts.

Money for a drink and some hot chips at Lake St.Clair

I think it may be wise to include some fuel for your stove? (and if it is gas - then you can buy it from the Cradle Visitor Centre)

I would think 50 g of toilet paper would be plenty for one person for a week or so.

It does get dark early and could be dark when you get up - so a spare set of batteries for your lamp could be good. Especially if you want to read/play cards etc in the evenings. I would not bother with a backup torch (modern LED headlamps of good brands are very reliable) - but a spare lighter for your stove could be a good idea - but there will be others in the hut that you can borrow a light for your stove from.

And - Most (all?) seem to stay in the huts in winter.

Dave

Oh and a water bottle/bladder or whatever is missing. On the track if you like just using a cup that will be okay as there is heaps of water around in July, but at camp a water carrier of some sort will save a lot of trips to the tanks in the rain!

DaveNoble wrote:I think it may be wise to include some fuel for your stove? (and if it is gas - then you can buy it from the Cradle Visitor Centre)

And some food would go down well too

I wouldn't rely on others for anything, in July you can find yourself alone for a night in a hut, but rarely.

The Hex shelters are especially hard to pitch without some way to pin them down right at each corner. Cup hooks work well on the platforms.

Ok, my fault for not properly updating my gear list to reflect what I'm taking for my first week long trip
There are also some missing items that should be on there:

- Toilet paper (a roll or so to share between two)
- Customized first aid kit
- Dead dog bag for a pack liner (even typing that feels creepy..)
- Outdoor research dry bag (for sleeping gear/clothes I guess?)
- North face beanie
- Batteries listed are spares in addition to the ones already in the headlamp.
- Another set of clothes in addition to the layers listed which I'll be wearing every day (base layer, pants, socks, boots, buff).
- Some chord
- Gas canisters (probably two of the large ones to share between two people)
- Camelbak 3l bladder
- Nalgene 1l water bottle
- A book to read/playing cards

Things I'll be shopping for soon or hiring:
- Liner gloves and mitts
- Overpants
- More decent hiking undies
- Proper winter sleeping bag (hire)
- Gaiters (maybe)

At the moment the plan is to stay in the huts so I'll definitely need the warmer bag considering how cold they will get (the tent was just in case). I guess it would be wise to bring an extra pair of camp pants in case my main pair are wet. I've never worn overpants before, will wearing these over my haglofs (with or without gaiters) turn me into a giant sweat box? I'm beginning to think that maybe shorts with long gaiters may be a better option while walking and keep the haglofs for camp pants..

Thoughts?

kyubi wrote:I'm beginning to think that maybe shorts with long gaiters may be a better option while walking and keep the haglofs for camp pants..

Spot on! Then and add some thermals if it's cold.

But if it isn't going to rain/snow the Hagloffs would be ideal for walking in, but then when doesn't it rain in July on the OT?!

My favourite glove set up for the OTL is a good thick fleece liner (preferably with a smooth finish like these http://eu.blackdiamondequipment.com/en/gloves/midweight-BD801068_cfg.html) with black washing up gloves over the top. Works like a dream for me.
I carry two pairs of the fleece gloves so I always have a dry pair for when I'm not walking.

Have a great trip! I miss it out there.

Make the gaiters a definite, not a maybe. If (?) you get snow the gaiters will go a long way toward to keeping the stuff out of your boots.

I also endorse the shorts/long johns/gaiters combo. Thermals under overpants can be pretty warm. Carry a spare set of thermals to wear in camp - odds on that the spare thermals will be lighter and more compact than the Haglofs. If it's really cold in camp, both pairs of thermals plus your overpants should keep it at bay.

kyubi wrote:I guess it would be wise to bring an extra pair of camp pants in case my main pair are wet. I've never worn overpants before, will wearing these over my haglofs (with or without gaiters) turn me into a giant sweat box? I'm beginning to think that maybe shorts with long gaiters may be a better option while walking and keep the haglofs for camp pants..

Thoughts?

I thing camp pants are a waster of time, others may disagree.
I would carry 2 pairs of thermal long johns. Walk in quick dry shorts and gaiters and then wear the thermals around camp. If you get really cold when walking then put a pair of log johns on and over pants as well. Thermal pants work well in camp so why carry others?
I am always surprised how warm I stay when walking in shorts, even in light snow they are fine. I just really hate the sweaty feeling of walking in rain pants.

Scottyk wrote:

kyubi wrote:I guess it would be wise to bring an extra pair of camp pants in case my main pair are wet. I've never worn overpants before, will wearing these over my haglofs (with or without gaiters) turn me into a giant sweat box? I'm beginning to think that maybe shorts with long gaiters may be a better option while walking and keep the haglofs for camp pants..

Thoughts?

I thing camp pants are a waster of time, others may disagree.
I would carry 2 pairs of thermal long johns. Walk in quick dry shorts and gaiters and then wear the thermals around camp. If you get really cold when walking then put a pair of log johns on and over pants as well. Thermal pants work well in camp so why carry others?
I am always surprised how warm I stay when walking in shorts, even in light snow they are fine. I just really hate the sweaty feeling of walking in rain pants.

I totally agree, sweaty legs are mighty uncomfortable. I did some shopping over the weekend so I can add these to the list now:

OR crocodile gaiters
Extremities tuff bags and liner gloves

Although I shopped for hours that's all I ended up having time to get for myself, that's what happens when you go shopping with the mrs (she managed to leave with a few bags full of gear)