Gear

What gear should I take?

Oh, if only it were simple. I have agonised over what gear to take and what to leave behind for years.

I have surfed the net and read everyones opinion on what to take and what not to. I have read the whole "ultralight" walking debate and looked at the other end of the spectrum which says that you should not go into the bush without "this and that".

Everyone makes it sound so simple but it just does not seem simple to me. On the one hand I desperately want to keep the weight down because it is the weight more than anything that makes the walk difficult. If we did not have to carry anything I am sure the walk we be almost easy. On the otherhand, there are many things that I feel that a necessary to take even if it means carrying the extra weight.

I am still formulating exactly what I will take but I am getting pretty close to a final manifest. I have decided, for better or worse, to be on the "heavier but safer/comfortable" end of the spectrum to the "lighter but rougher" end of the specturm. My plan is to take a maximum 25kg back pack.

I have seen some people say they took a 16kg backpack. To be honest, I just don't know how they do it. I look at my manifest and can not see that there is much weight left to trim. By the time you have taken a 3kg tent, 4kg backpack, 1.5km sleeping bag, 3kg clothing and approximately 7kg of food, plus a couple more kilos for other miscellaneous items (maps, gps, epirb, cooking) there is not much left to leave out. It is amazing how it adds up so quickly.

I know some would say that you do not need some of this stuff (you do not need a full tent - just a fly) or you can cut down considerably (e.g buy lighter backpacks or strip them down), but I do not think it is all that realistic. I personally do not feel all the comfortable with the idea of being in a snow/rainstorm for a couple of days under just a fly. Similarly, I can by lighter gear eg. backpack but they are too small and too flimsy to rely upon for 6 weeks of serious walking).

I admit that I am taking a couple of little things that some people consider luxuries (e.g a small travel pillow) but I know that I am taking these things for other good reasons (e.g to get a good nights sleep).

If there is just one consolation to the heavy weight that I will be taking is that 7kg of the total weight is food and that as such it should get lighter every day until by the last day the pack is 16kg.

It does not matter what you do with gear - damned if you do and damned if you don't!

It will be interesting to see what my thinking is after the walk!