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The place for bushwalking topics that are not location specific.first aussie walk, lessons learned.
Mon 14 Jul, 2014 9:36 am
Okay, so I did my first "serious" aussie walk since moving here, and since I can't really walk today, I figured I'd go over what I did, what worked and what didn't so that maybe some of you guys can give me some suggestions, or whatever.
Some background on the trip, three days of the Conondale walk, Booloumba to wongai first day, wongai to summer falls second day (using the track that cuts across to tallowwood) and third day out and home. 12 guys involved ranging from 5 to 76.
Basic gear (not bothering to list everything but just the stuff that was important to the events at hand)
Pack, MEC Brio 75, way to heavy but rides really nice once dialed in, barely felt the load even after my injury, was able to keep going quite well (or so I felt) It did everything I needed it to do, so that is a win.
Hammock and tarp, didn't really need the tarp as both nights were dry, but didn't know if I was going to get a dew fall and didn't want the risk. DIY UQP did a fair job, and played an important role, described later.
Sleeping bag..... unmitigated disaster. worse than useless and a kg that I could have better spend on anything else. but that was kinda the point. lessons learned. Important factors for the TQ and UQ project, are going to be weight, and wind resistance. Even the slightest breeze went right through the sleeping bag and stole the heat. So that sucked but I've been cold before, and I know what my body does, and when to act, so I wasn't too concerned, on a safety side, even as cold as it got, I don't feel that I was ever in any real danger. And in fact I slept quite well both nights, once some adaptations were made.
The Hero piece of gear: AMK heatsheet bivy. I always take at least some sort of space blanket type thing, and I'm really liking the AMK ones. Good value considering you can re-use them, they are tough, and get the job done. First night I pulled it into the UQP as I just needed something take the edge off the butt chill, and it did that well. The second night I started with it there, then moved it right under me, and finally around midnight I had to crawl right into it. So some lessons learned there as well. Its not comfortable, at all. If you are going to use one, I would loose whatever clothes you could, as they are going to be soaked, so its far better to have them dry for later, than loose all the ground you made up by being warm. I only needed to pull it up to about my armpits, and that was enough. But by about 5am or so, I had run out of extra calories and started to chill again. I'm a pretty skinny guy, so when I run out of food, I get cold regardless of insulation. But that was alright, since it was about near breakfast time anyway. And I did sleep quite well, next time with better sleeping gear, I'll sleep better! One thing I've found about sleeping in the cold, is that it is far better to get up, do something, change something, or otherwise fully wake up, then go back to bed. I think its better than dozing while chilled, at least for minimizing fatigue. Plus tense muscles over night suck. I'd rather sleep warm in one hour shifts than all night being chilly and only half asleep.
Stove and such. Micro-rocket preformed flawlessly. We had far too many stoves for the group, we could have done with less, but it was nice to all be able to cook at once. I did all my cooking from a 1l stainless kettle, which was overkill considering, but did come in handy to do a few teas and meals at a shot. I could have done with just a steel cup, but not as conveniently. Cutlery was a brunton folding spork, and orkaso cup and bowl. Dinner one was a semi-dried quinoa curry Id made the day before. Cooked some quinoa with chicken stock, then dried it half way in the oven. Added powdered coconut milk and curry powder at home. Then just added boiling water at camp. Worked really well, but the quinoa was a bit crunchy. I think a simmer would have done it well. But it tasted good. I think that part cooked quinoa or red lentils in the same seasoning will be a good option for me in future. Second dinner was a back country beef strganoff. Not bad, beef stayed a bit crunchy. I took a relectix steering wheel cover as a pouch cozy and it worked really well. dessert was some "stewed" finest quality dried apples. not 5 star, but pretty good considering. i think a little brown sugar and cinnamon would have been tops. Breakfasts were nut bars and peanut butter, and coffee. Lunch was salami and aged cheddar. Trail food was some dried fruit I'd made and mixed nuts: macadamias, cashews and almonds. I also had a witakers dark bar. I'm a fan of really dark chocolate, and that was pretty good.
Important bits of clothing, Craghopper kiwi pants. Did very well, I'm really happy with them. Good value, and even though you can tell they are synthetic the moment you warm up, they do breath pretty well, and dry fast. One small problem was it was easy to over-load the one cargo pocket, and that would move the waistband down, into the pinch zone of the pack belt, causing some pressure points. Not a huge deal, but something to keep in mind. This meant that my plan of having a pocket survival kit always there had to be adjusted.
Merino Buff, one of my favorite bits of gear. very comfy and multi-use, whats not to love?
Water system, MSR mini-works XE, sea to summit 10l bucket and 4L dromedary bag, and 1l platy soft bottle. Only carried 3L max during the walk, and the filter was overkill, BUT knowing we had the ability to get water for the whole group was a nice to know for me at least. there are better, faster lighter filter systems, and ones better for a group. But I've always been very happy with the mini-works, and the water tastes great.
All of the rest of my gear preformed as expected, There were a few things not used, but its always hard to know, and a spare set of batteries is never a bad idea.
Gear I need to get:
A walking pole. I'm pretty sure my knee went bad from a tumble I took while crossing a log. as I got my back foot over it, I hooked my toe on a vine I hadn't seen, and went over. Nothing noticed at the time, but I think the few kms to camp, and then the hill out the next day did it in. I think it was just swelling that caused the problem. formed elastic knee bandages are great! and a good pole would have helped with walking after. all I had was a heavy branch that was found.
Under and Top Quilts, for obvious reasons.
A smallish straight wall pot, Given the capability's of my stove to simmer, I think it makes sense to use that to eat healthier food on trips, even if it means a bit more cooking.
Rain gear. I opted to not take any rain gear (besides my pack cover) as the forcast was very good, and all I have is a very heavy poncho. So that will be important for other trips going forward.
map-case. I missed the trail turn coming up mt allan, because I was not checking the map often enough. (already in a lot of pain so I was focused on walking) Being better able to keep the map easily to hand would have saved a km of limping.
Thermal pants. I left all my long underwear in canada, which wasn't smart. I picked up a pair from BCF for 5$ right before I left, and of course, they were totally unwearable, so they didn't go. I'll have to save up for a good pair of merinos. Its one of those things that you forget about, but I realized that over the last two years, I've acclimated quite a lot, so I now need the warmer gear. The advantage is that I can handle the heat a bit better than I used to.
So anyways, thats the gear side of my trip, apart from needing more fitness, I'm not too worried about my performance.
Suggestions or questions welcome, If you want to know about other bits of gear I took, I'm happy to share.
Some background on the trip, three days of the Conondale walk, Booloumba to wongai first day, wongai to summer falls second day (using the track that cuts across to tallowwood) and third day out and home. 12 guys involved ranging from 5 to 76.
Basic gear (not bothering to list everything but just the stuff that was important to the events at hand)
Pack, MEC Brio 75, way to heavy but rides really nice once dialed in, barely felt the load even after my injury, was able to keep going quite well (or so I felt) It did everything I needed it to do, so that is a win.
Hammock and tarp, didn't really need the tarp as both nights were dry, but didn't know if I was going to get a dew fall and didn't want the risk. DIY UQP did a fair job, and played an important role, described later.
Sleeping bag..... unmitigated disaster. worse than useless and a kg that I could have better spend on anything else. but that was kinda the point. lessons learned. Important factors for the TQ and UQ project, are going to be weight, and wind resistance. Even the slightest breeze went right through the sleeping bag and stole the heat. So that sucked but I've been cold before, and I know what my body does, and when to act, so I wasn't too concerned, on a safety side, even as cold as it got, I don't feel that I was ever in any real danger. And in fact I slept quite well both nights, once some adaptations were made.
The Hero piece of gear: AMK heatsheet bivy. I always take at least some sort of space blanket type thing, and I'm really liking the AMK ones. Good value considering you can re-use them, they are tough, and get the job done. First night I pulled it into the UQP as I just needed something take the edge off the butt chill, and it did that well. The second night I started with it there, then moved it right under me, and finally around midnight I had to crawl right into it. So some lessons learned there as well. Its not comfortable, at all. If you are going to use one, I would loose whatever clothes you could, as they are going to be soaked, so its far better to have them dry for later, than loose all the ground you made up by being warm. I only needed to pull it up to about my armpits, and that was enough. But by about 5am or so, I had run out of extra calories and started to chill again. I'm a pretty skinny guy, so when I run out of food, I get cold regardless of insulation. But that was alright, since it was about near breakfast time anyway. And I did sleep quite well, next time with better sleeping gear, I'll sleep better! One thing I've found about sleeping in the cold, is that it is far better to get up, do something, change something, or otherwise fully wake up, then go back to bed. I think its better than dozing while chilled, at least for minimizing fatigue. Plus tense muscles over night suck. I'd rather sleep warm in one hour shifts than all night being chilly and only half asleep.
Stove and such. Micro-rocket preformed flawlessly. We had far too many stoves for the group, we could have done with less, but it was nice to all be able to cook at once. I did all my cooking from a 1l stainless kettle, which was overkill considering, but did come in handy to do a few teas and meals at a shot. I could have done with just a steel cup, but not as conveniently. Cutlery was a brunton folding spork, and orkaso cup and bowl. Dinner one was a semi-dried quinoa curry Id made the day before. Cooked some quinoa with chicken stock, then dried it half way in the oven. Added powdered coconut milk and curry powder at home. Then just added boiling water at camp. Worked really well, but the quinoa was a bit crunchy. I think a simmer would have done it well. But it tasted good. I think that part cooked quinoa or red lentils in the same seasoning will be a good option for me in future. Second dinner was a back country beef strganoff. Not bad, beef stayed a bit crunchy. I took a relectix steering wheel cover as a pouch cozy and it worked really well. dessert was some "stewed" finest quality dried apples. not 5 star, but pretty good considering. i think a little brown sugar and cinnamon would have been tops. Breakfasts were nut bars and peanut butter, and coffee. Lunch was salami and aged cheddar. Trail food was some dried fruit I'd made and mixed nuts: macadamias, cashews and almonds. I also had a witakers dark bar. I'm a fan of really dark chocolate, and that was pretty good.
Important bits of clothing, Craghopper kiwi pants. Did very well, I'm really happy with them. Good value, and even though you can tell they are synthetic the moment you warm up, they do breath pretty well, and dry fast. One small problem was it was easy to over-load the one cargo pocket, and that would move the waistband down, into the pinch zone of the pack belt, causing some pressure points. Not a huge deal, but something to keep in mind. This meant that my plan of having a pocket survival kit always there had to be adjusted.
Merino Buff, one of my favorite bits of gear. very comfy and multi-use, whats not to love?
Water system, MSR mini-works XE, sea to summit 10l bucket and 4L dromedary bag, and 1l platy soft bottle. Only carried 3L max during the walk, and the filter was overkill, BUT knowing we had the ability to get water for the whole group was a nice to know for me at least. there are better, faster lighter filter systems, and ones better for a group. But I've always been very happy with the mini-works, and the water tastes great.
All of the rest of my gear preformed as expected, There were a few things not used, but its always hard to know, and a spare set of batteries is never a bad idea.
Gear I need to get:
A walking pole. I'm pretty sure my knee went bad from a tumble I took while crossing a log. as I got my back foot over it, I hooked my toe on a vine I hadn't seen, and went over. Nothing noticed at the time, but I think the few kms to camp, and then the hill out the next day did it in. I think it was just swelling that caused the problem. formed elastic knee bandages are great! and a good pole would have helped with walking after. all I had was a heavy branch that was found.
Under and Top Quilts, for obvious reasons.
A smallish straight wall pot, Given the capability's of my stove to simmer, I think it makes sense to use that to eat healthier food on trips, even if it means a bit more cooking.
Rain gear. I opted to not take any rain gear (besides my pack cover) as the forcast was very good, and all I have is a very heavy poncho. So that will be important for other trips going forward.
map-case. I missed the trail turn coming up mt allan, because I was not checking the map often enough. (already in a lot of pain so I was focused on walking) Being better able to keep the map easily to hand would have saved a km of limping.
Thermal pants. I left all my long underwear in canada, which wasn't smart. I picked up a pair from BCF for 5$ right before I left, and of course, they were totally unwearable, so they didn't go. I'll have to save up for a good pair of merinos. Its one of those things that you forget about, but I realized that over the last two years, I've acclimated quite a lot, so I now need the warmer gear. The advantage is that I can handle the heat a bit better than I used to.
So anyways, thats the gear side of my trip, apart from needing more fitness, I'm not too worried about my performance.
Suggestions or questions welcome, If you want to know about other bits of gear I took, I'm happy to share.
Re: first aussie walk, lessons learned.
Mon 14 Jul, 2014 10:22 am
Any member in the group use a GPS with Topo maps loaded? Any comments re battery types, reception etc.
(I have recently purchased a GPS and then loaded it with Topo maps purchased off feebay for $30. I haven't had a break to try it yet.)
(I have recently purchased a GPS and then loaded it with Topo maps purchased off feebay for $30. I haven't had a break to try it yet.)
Re: first aussie walk, lessons learned.
Mon 14 Jul, 2014 10:48 am
GPPJ wrote:Any member in the group use a GPS with Topo maps loaded? Any comments re battery types, reception etc.
(I have recently purchased a GPS and then loaded it with Topo maps purchased off feebay for $30. I haven't had a break to try it yet.)
Unfortunately, quality topo costs money (OzTopo). Freebie 5m version can be had when asked around the forum (big file). Not sure which version that $30 got you.
Re: first aussie walk, lessons learned.
Mon 14 Jul, 2014 11:08 am
due to the nature of the track we did it all analog. When I was using my park map and compass, it was quite easy to stay on track, so I don't think a GPS would have solved anything for me. If it was a more technical track, or there was any chance of needing to wayfind, than possibly, but even so, It didn't worry me at all. If you wanted to, it would be easy enough to location track on the map in most places, and give you a reasonable estimate of where you were on the track.
Re: first aussie walk, lessons learned.
Mon 14 Jul, 2014 8:53 pm
Gadgetgeek wrote:Gear I need to get:
A walking pole. I'm pretty sure my knee went bad from a tumble I took while crossing a log. as I got my back foot over it, I hooked my toe on a vine I hadn't seen, and went over. Nothing noticed at the time, but I think the few kms to camp, and then the hill out the next day did it in. I think it was just swelling that caused the problem. formed elastic knee bandages are great! and a good pole would have helped with walking after. all I had was a heavy branch that was found.
Thermal pants. I left all my long underwear in canada, which wasn't smart. I picked up a pair from BCF for 5$ right before I left, and of course, they were totally unwearable, so they didn't go. I'll have to save up for a good pair of merinos. Its one of those things that you forget about, but I realized that over the last two years, I've acclimated quite a lot, so I now need the warmer gear. The advantage is that I can handle the heat a bit better than I used to.
Mate get 2 poles - I have been converted since a double hip replacement. Thing is that if you use them properly you can minimize some of that wear and tear on the joints in the first place.
Thermals - It's b%$@^y cold in SE Qld at the moment, certainly the coldest I have felt here for years if not ever. I have bought them, my first, for later this year down south and I'm certainly taking them on all walks at the moment.
Re: first aussie walk, lessons learned.
Mon 14 Jul, 2014 11:13 pm
I figure I'll get poles in a set, and see if I prefer one or two. But that is definitely a consideration. My dad is going though the knee replacement process and its not fun, I'd like to keep mine in good shape.
Funny how in Canada I'd have thought nothing of dropping cash on good thermals, and consider it very near to life insurance. Here I can't be stuffed and payed for it in discomfort. But it was a great temp to walk in, not cold enough to chill when stopped in the shade, but cool enough to keep up a pace without getting to hot. And not a bug in sight!
Funny how in Canada I'd have thought nothing of dropping cash on good thermals, and consider it very near to life insurance. Here I can't be stuffed and payed for it in discomfort. But it was a great temp to walk in, not cold enough to chill when stopped in the shade, but cool enough to keep up a pace without getting to hot. And not a bug in sight!
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