A place to chat about gear and the philosphy of ultralight. Ultralight bushwalking or backpacking focuses on carrying the lightest and simplest kit. There is still a good focus on safety and skill.
Forum rules
Ultralight Bushwalking/backpacking is about more than just gear lists. Ultralight walkers carefully consider gear based on the environment they are entering, the weather forecast, their own skill, other people in the group. Gear and systems are tested and tweaked.
If you are new to this area then welcome - Please remember that although the same ultralight philosophy can be used in all environments that the specific gear and skill required will vary greatly. It is very dangerous to assume that you can just copy someone else's gear list, but you are encouraged to ask questions, learn and start reducing the pack weight and enjoying the freedom that comes.
Common words
Base pack backpacking the mass of the backpack and the gear inside - not including consumables such as food, water and fuel
light backpacking base weight less than 9.1kg
ultralight backpacking base weight less than 4.5kg
super-ultralight backpacking base weight less than 2.3kg
extreme-ultralight backpacking base weight less than 1.4kg
Sat 31 Aug, 2013 9:18 am
For those who cut the handle off their toothbrush..here's the opposite end of the spectrum (Chris Bray on Victoria Island in 2008).
Sat 31 Aug, 2013 11:27 am
AKA Moondog55
Sat 31 Aug, 2013 12:07 pm
thats nothing compared to an everest expedition and all the tonnes of loads the porters carry...
Sat 31 Aug, 2013 12:33 pm
So what was that big cart for?
Sat 31 Aug, 2013 12:43 pm
gets them over rough terrain, including rocks and ice formations, the wheels can be delflated when not needed...
what they are pulling is held together by the kayaks acting as framework with their gear stashed in bags....
http://www.1000hourday.com/
Sat 31 Aug, 2013 12:46 pm
Amazing!
Sat 31 Aug, 2013 4:04 pm
The opposite end for me. Two years ago carrying 25kg plus on a overnight walk.
Sat 31 Aug, 2013 4:15 pm
reminds me of a guy i saw walking the caples. and mavora tracks doing a 90k flat walk on easy tracks in summer. must have had a 100 litre pack or bigger and it was chocka. had more cookware than i've ever seen any solo hiker carry, carried a full sized tea pot etc.. absolutely massive sleeping pad on the outside of his pack... each to the own, but its not being that kind to your body by over packing that much.... i think i read every extra kilo in your back is another 8 kilos of pressure on your knees....
Sun 03 Nov, 2013 2:24 pm
I was at Pine Valley in Tas the other day and a school group was finishing the OLT. One of the teachers had a wok under the lid of his pack. I don't mean a small wok, a full size large metal asian wok.
I didn't ask why
Sun 03 Nov, 2013 2:28 pm
Scottyk wrote:I was at Pine Valley in Tas the other day and a school group was finishing the OLT. One of the teachers had a wok under the lid of his pack. I don't mean a small wok, a full size large metal asian wok.
I didn't ask why
You may not appreciate, but looking after a bunch of bambinos with hungry mouths is not easy. A large wok may be the only way to do it!
Sun 03 Nov, 2013 2:37 pm
Wok in the hell was he doing with that?
On another note, seeing a 150+kg man walking puffing along the overland in winter was an interesting experience. At that point I would've weight about 105 with my pack on. No wonder there are so many knee replacements on the hospital waiting lists.
Sun 03 Nov, 2013 2:45 pm
GPSGuided wrote:Scottyk wrote:I was at Pine Valley in Tas the other day and a school group was finishing the OLT. One of the teachers had a wok under the lid of his pack. I don't mean a small wok, a full size large metal asian wok.
I didn't ask why
You may not appreciate, but looking after a bunch of bambinos with hungry mouths is not easy. A large wok may be the only way to do it!

Yep maybe so
Just an odd thing to carry. It was a steel one too from what I could see, no aluminium cheap substitutes!
Sun 03 Nov, 2013 3:39 pm
Real Asian chef wouldn't be seen with anything but a big steel wok! Come to think of it, I suspect it'll work very well on top of a camp fire. Stir fry and then portion out to all those starving kids. I can just see it mentally!
Sun 03 Nov, 2013 3:50 pm
yup exactly what woks are designed for, cooking on fires...
Sun 03 Nov, 2013 3:53 pm
Ummm... Opportunity to design and manufacture an ultra-light wok for Scout masters etc!
Sun 03 Nov, 2013 7:19 pm
Not so unusual I know SOAB has and does carry one on his walks.
corvus
Sun 03 Nov, 2013 7:27 pm
Scottyk wrote:I was at Pine Valley in Tas the other day and a school group was finishing the OLT. One of the teachers had a wok under the lid of his pack. I don't mean a small wok, a full size large metal asian wok.
I didn't ask why
Dual purpose - can double as a rain hat
Or to protect from dive bombing nesting maggies
And to wash feet
Mon 04 Nov, 2013 8:56 am
does washing your feet in them add to the flavour of the cooking?
Mon 04 Nov, 2013 10:01 am
We need a wok to satelite dish conversion
Don't forget that the first cheap satelite dish came from slightly modifyed dutsbin lids ( Armstrad)
Tue 05 Nov, 2013 3:30 pm
Scottyk wrote:I was at Pine Valley in Tas the other day and a school group was finishing the OLT. One of the teachers had a wok under the lid of his pack. I don't mean a small wok, a full size large metal asian wok.
I didn't ask why
I often carry a large steel wok on bush walks when catering for a group of friends, which I have done quite a few times. How else would you cook for 6 people?* It sits nicely on the large Trangia stove/stand, and I carry a smaller second stove on those walks for cooking a pot of rice (or other side dish). You can see photos of it both on the pack and in the snow here:
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=4947&p=59053#p59517 and photos of it being used on the stove cooking fried rice here:
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=5940&p=71132If the other members of the group are fit/experienced enough, they can carry more food (or stoves or tents) than me, and I'll carry the wok. Works out well. If the other members are mostly newbies (which I walk with a bit), I'm happy to just cop a bit of extra weight in order to help them get out there and enjoy it.
*
I suppose you could carry 3 times as many stoves and pots, and do 3 times as much work cooking, but for people who like to cook real food even when out bush, that would be very difficult to do properly.
Tue 05 Nov, 2013 4:26 pm
OK, so his wok is a windshield too
I was thinking about and a wok is actually kind of smart. It can be a frypan, a saucepan, you can regulate cooking pretty well by decreasing the heat by pushing food up the sides - useful when your cooking euipment doesn't have a very effective 'low' or 'simmer' option.
Maybe he's the smart one, and we're the sillies for making fun of it..?
At home, we have a big ugly well seasoned one, and hubby gets really mad at me if I wash it in detergent, and if I don't oil it afterwards. And our 'best' frypan is a hefty blackened commercial steel one too. No pretty Jamie Oliver cookware for us at home! They hang on hooks in front of our old cast iron Canberra cooker that we salvaged from the old kitchen - they don't fit anywhere else! (except if I leave them on the Ilve cooker) I have to confess I'd never in a million years think of taking either bushwalking though.
SOAB, when I saw those pics, I was really really tempted to throw a snowball at your very obvious 'target'!
Tue 05 Nov, 2013 8:09 pm
We used to always carry a wok when taking out groups of school kids. Perfect for a large group- especially where weight can be divided with other gear/food. Also most of cooking was done on a fire.
Tue 05 Nov, 2013 8:41 pm
For what it is worth my 31 cm 44 year old real steel Wok weighs 807 gm ,it has been car camping many times but not bushwalking but may be worth considering on a shorter walk so I will give it a test run on a couple of my gas stoves soon and report back.
OSM we also have a 44 year old cast iron fry pan that has also done its duty on fires and we still use on our gas stove at home, it will never go bushwalking
corvus
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