Hiking Gear

An aspect of bushwalking that many people get far too caught up in is the collection of gear that they carry about with them - and I suppose that I'm no exception!!

In my last post, I mentioned that I've jumped at any opportunity to build my collection of gear. In this post, I'll give a bit of a run down of the gear that I own and some other gear that I will borrow from the collection at my Scout Group.

• Pack

I've currently on my second pack that I purchased prior to my trip to South American in January. My current pack is a Mountain Designs Columbus 75L hybrid pack with a detachable 10L expansion/day pack. It's a little on the heavy side weighing in at 4.1kg, but I really like how it is kitted out - built in harness containment to keep the straps out of baggage conveyors and built in raincover both with their own zipped compartments in the pack. The front and top access panels have come in really handy - it's great not having to try and find something at the very bottom of my pack through the top opening!!

My MD Columbus 75L & 10L day pack in use over in Brazil, Jan 2011

• Sleeping bag and liner

I've had my current sleeping bag since 2007, and haven't been cold since then! My sleeping bag is an Outer Limits Micro Smart Jumbo 225, rated to -5 deg C.

In preparation for a week in hostels over in South America in Jan 2011, I went out and bought a sleeping bag liner - also will serve to add a few degrees to my sleeping bag, and will mean I don't have to wash it as often. Hopefully less washing means my sleeping bag will remain warm for a few more years. 

I ended up wandering into Mountain Designs again (might have become a little hooked on Mountain Designs in the preparation for my South America trip!), and bought a silk liner to match the dimensions of my sleeping bag. 

I've got to admit, it's well worth having a sleeping bag liner when staying in hostels. The first night I spent in a hostel in Peru, I chose not to use my liner, as the hostel looked nice and clean - mistake number one! I've since found out that bed bugs thrive in a clean environment...so whether it was bed bugs or fleas, I woke up with a bite covered torso. Moral of this story is to use your inner sheet/sleeping bag liner every night in a hostel. I'm yet to use the liner inside my sleeping bag as I've been using a lighter sleeping bag inside m swag for the last few camps I've been on.

• Sleeping mat

When I first hiked as a Scout and Venturer, I started out with one of the good ol' $10 blue foam mats. I then upgraded to a Denali (Anaconda home brand) self-inflating full length mat. I bought the full length mat so I could use it on top of my stretcher or on the ground for standing camps, as well as for a bit of walking.

Last week, I decided to lash out and get a more compact hiking sleeping mat. I went into Anaconda and it took me quite some time to decide! I put a couple of mats through the ropes - sat on, laid down on, rolled up and unrolled two of the 3/4 length self inflating mats - the Denali branded mat for $70 (122cm x 51cm x 2.5cm) and the Black Wolf mat for $105 (122cm x 51 x 3.8cm). Believe me, the extra 1.3cm of the Black Wolf mat offered a world of difference in comfort to the Denali mat!! The surprising thing here was that both mats rolled up to pretty much the same size and the Black Wolf mat was only 40 grams heavier than the Denali!! The decision to part with an extra $35 was easy to make!!

I'm yet to sleep on my new mat, but I'm looking forward to testing it out in July after exam period is done and dusted!

Black Wolf 3/4 length Lightweight Hike Mat

• Tent

I bought my Caribee Tourer 2 hike tent in 2005 and have had a fair bit of use out of it - it's been lent out a bit as well, so others have had a fair bit of use out of it as well! It's your run of the mill 'coffin' type hike tent that can squeeze two people with packs left outside. One feature of this tent that I really like is that the fly has buckles that allow you to attach the fly to the inner tent, rather than relying on pegging the fly down separately - the fly is physically connected to the tent.

The black fibreglass tent poles are fairly rubbish, so a few sections have been replaced and fitted with new elastic. One day I'll get around to replacing the black fibreglass rubbish with the better reinforced poles (see the OzTrail website). These reinforced poles are still fibreglass, but there is an additional reinforcing mesh incorporated around the outside of the poles.

• Boots

Currently I'm using a pair of Hard Yakka hiking boots that I got cheap a few years ago at Rays Outdoors. 

They are good boots with heaps of cushioning and ankle support. After a liberal coating every now and then of waterproofing spray, they manage to keep the water out relatively well.

• Stove

Presently, I've been reduced to borrowing the Denali branded metho stove (exactly the same as a Trangia stove - every element is as though it's been stamped from the moulds in the Trangia factory - for a fraction of the cost) from the Scout Group that I'm a leader at.

I had my own Denali "trangia" stove that I leant to a mate who was headed to the Grampians for a few nights. He was desperate to find a stove to get a lend of, so I played the good samaritan and gave him a lend of mine to save the day. Long story short, in the process of moving out of Melbourne a few months later, my stove never got returned. Worst thing is this person swears black and blue that it has been returned.

Lesson learnt here - don't loan gear out to people that have a tendency to be a little dodgey, even if they are a good mate.

As a back up/additional stove, I bought a little butane/propane stove just to chuck in and use with my trangia when the need arises to have two pots on the go at once. For $10 I'm more than impressed with the quality of the stove!!

eBay cheapo butane back-up stove

So that's pretty much the list of the main gear items I own in my hiking collection at this point in time. I've got heaps of little odds and ends that I might share at a later stage, once I start getting out after exam period!