I will give information about individual items as best I can. There will at least be enough that you can google a piece of gear and dive into the vast pool of information that is the internet!
As I have mentioned in previous posts I have tried to buy Australian products in Australia as much as possible. While I could have found cheaper gear over in the States, I am a proud Australian and as futile as it sometimes seems, want to support our country. I am sure there will be some adjustments to my gear as I go along and the USA will be getting their fair share of my hard earned penny...
I will also try to explain my reasoning behind certain choices as I go.
Ok. First up an overview:
At the very top are my trekking poles (Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork 490gms). These are an adjustable pole that will also double as the supports for my tarp.
Far left, the Platatac Trakpak by Tatonka (2.3kgs). There are much lighter packs out there but unfortunately out there means they were either overseas or outside my budget. Having said that I am very happy with the pack and it is half the weight of my last pack! Oh and I like the embroided Australian flag and platypus on it. :-)
Right next to the pack are my water
Bottles. The ones shown are for illustrative purposes. I will be carrying the three litre Camelbak but will get some additional water bottles over there (probably just Gatorade bottles).
The green bag above the water bottles is my 'catch all' bag. I will go through that in detail later. Next to that is my sleeping bag, A Western Mounaineering Alpinlite (880gms), which is rated down to -7degC. I have it in a Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Compression Dry Sack (medium 90gms)
Below the sleeping bag is my sleeping mat (Sea to Summit Comfort Light insulated 580gms) and next to that it's pump (Jet Stream Pump Sack 46gms). While it isn't the lightest mat available, I chose that particular sleeping mat because it is incredibly comfortable!
Next row down is my shelter, from left to right: peg bag (see below), tarp (Sea to Summit Escapist medium 300gms) and a bug net (Sea to Summit Escapist Bug Net 140gms).
The peg bag which includes: some spare cord, 1 snow stake, 6 skewer style stakes and 4 macpac pegs. The bags can also be filled with rocks or sand and used as a weight for securing tie out points.
At the bottom in the middle is my clothing sack (Sea to Summit Evac Dry Sack 13 litre 69gms) and it contains:
Spare socks, merino wool thermal top, thermal pants, fleece hoody and down vest (Macpac Uberlight 180gms).
Stored seperately in the top of my pack and not shown above is my cold weather kit:
From left to right, snow baskets for my trekking poles, Platatac cold weather gloves, merino wool beanie and merino wool neck buff.
Back up the top next to my sleeping bag is my cookset a Snowpeak 900 pot with lid (165gms) and it contains:
Nalgene bottle for olive oil, cut down scourer/sponge, MSR Micro Rocket with its piezo igniter (75gms) and a titanium long handled spoon.
Next to the cookset is my journal.
Under the cookset and journal is my wet weather gear. Macpac Traverse jacket (365gms) and Alpine Lowe Meron rain pants (175gms). I will probably have the pants posted on for the colder sections. The little blue thing there is my mosquito head net.
Then in the bottom right is my hygiene kit:
Toilet paper, soap, small pack towel and trowel.
Ok. Back to my 'catch all' bag:
On top of the bag are: mosquito head net, baby wipe things (I know I hate them but I won't be leaving them on the table for some poor waitress to pick up!), Petzl Tikka head lamp (85gms) and spare batteries for headlamp.
Under the bag left to right are blister kit which includes moleskins, alcohol swabs a couple of bandaids and a first aid quick reference guide. Toothbrush and paste. Ear plugs. Then Tenacious Tape and a sewing kit in a 120 film canister (see below). On the bottom row are compression bandage, crepe bandage, leuko tape and cordage.
Here is a view of what's inside the tape and sewing kit:
Tenacious Tape is good for repairing sleeping bags, tarps, down jackets and whatever else. Inside it I have super glue (good for severe wound closure!) and safety pins. The sewing kit has Leukosilk wrapped around it and contains a spare button, spare barrel lock thingy, spare mosquito netting and needles and thread wrapped around a cork.
Then finally the clothes I'll be wearing. My training shoes (New Balance 710) and Outdoor Research gaiters can be seen on the bottom left. I will get new shoes in the states as the range and price is much better than here. My pants are Mont Adventure Light nylon pants. My shirt is a Mont Lifestyle nylon shirt. My hat is of course an Akubra Stockman (I think). It holds a lot of sentimental value to me. I will also have a cotton scarf/bandana thingy.
In my chest pockets (secured by a leather strap behind my neck) are my Victorinox Spartan knife and Marbles compass.
Ok. That is pretty much it. One glaring omission is water filtration. I will probably get a Sawyer Squeeze, they are much cheaper over there. Also, the first aid needs bulking out with Ibuprofen, antihistamines, vagisil (for chaffing) and other medications I personally need. My maps and compass (balanced for northern hemisphere) I will get over there.
Soon I will weigh the things I missed and edit the post to reflect that. And anything I realise I forgot!!!
Thanks for looking!
Richard
No comments:
Post a Comment