New to backpacking

[Chris Gray]

What are your weights listed in? I am not really following.

Anyway:

– Nix the rain covers- use trash compactor bags as liners
– Nix the stove- look into something lighter (Alcohol, Pocket rocket, giga power etc)
– Nix the footprint. Use Tyvek, Polycro or nothing at all.
– Nix both Hydromedary's and use 3L Platypus' or even regular water bottles.
– 3-flex as been covered.
– 550 gram/20 ounce FAK– is my math correct? If so then pair this down to 3oz or less.
– Filter/purification– look into Chlorine tabs.
– Nix the Firesteel– just take a mini bic and waterproof matches.
-Tissues and wet wipes?? Nix one and put the other in your FAK/personal bag.
– 4oz of sunscreen? This seems like a lot.

No poles, compass, knife, sunglasses, sun hat, camera, map, deet, bear bag??

Carbon reflex is far more tent that you need and the cost is ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with the brands previously listed.

[Robert Cowman]

I used to love the old Aether in the 65, just under 4lbs for a lot of bag. The new ones suck almost 6lbs to add a front access zipper. they have way to much space. For a 5 day trip we used a gregory jade 50 and a golite jam2 and our packs always looked half empty, that was with a kelty grand mesa tent, prolite pads and kelty light year 40Xp sleeping bags. with spliting the tent into 2 stuff sacks and those sleeping bags you'll have lots of room. try packing everything in the store and you'll see.

Also Osprey has the best warranty. if you trash the crap out of your bag send it back and they fix it or replace it forever(at least in North America). I screwed up altering my Talon 33 and they sent me a new one…

[Michael Williams]

Maybe check out this video Osprey posted on youtube. He does at least throw it around to show its durability.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QILKDzXPbj4

[Rog Tallbloke]

"I screwed up altering my Talon 33 and they sent me a new one…"

Now that's what I call service! You wouldn't get that in the UK.

[Ben]

It's not a complete list yet. A massive work in progress.

The list is all in grams. We don't use imperial in Australia but on the right i have totals in kg, oz and #

– The rain covers will more than likely disappear
– The stove i already have but also have an 88gram (3oz) canister stove. I just trust my dragonfly a lot more than the kovea so will eventually go for something lighter.
– I'm sceptical of the platypus durability due to their being half the weight of the hydromedary. But am considering it. I also chose the hydromedary because the hyper flow is made to fit to it.
– The first aid kit is our car camping one but will be taking much less when I get around to it.
– My wife will refuse to leave the house without her beloved wet wipes and im not blowing my nose on a wet cloth haha. They weight next to nothing anyways.
– the water over here is often very coloured from gum leaves so I'm not sure how a steripen or tablets would go. I'd have to get some feedback from someone first.
– I only just bought that firesteel last week :( I love it! I don't trust lighters as far as I can throw them but water proof matches are an option.
– You're right, that is a stupid amount of sunscreen. That's just the size of my smallest bottle to date but will definitely lose 75% of that.
– Haven't got around to getting a decent hat each yet. Or weighing our sun glasses or camera etc.
I have to get a small can of deet as ours is about 2 pounds haha.
– We dont get bears in australia. I've never had a problem with animals trying to get to my food etc.

Im still up in the air a lot with the tent and packs. I'm not bothered with the money side of things. We've saved our butts off for this so are happy to fork out for anything to do with what we love doing!
Very seriously considering the Osprey Exos 58 each as it would save us 2 pounds each.
I've had a look at the scarp 2, the double rainbow and the squall 2. They all look great. The scarp 2 is the same weight as the msr cr2 though but they other 2 are very light!

I've not read anything or looked into trekking poles at all. Are they even necessary?

Thanks chris for such a large post.
I still can't get over how helpful the people on this forum have been.

Well I'm down to splitting 35 pounds in winter and 27 pounds in summer with my wife. Getting there slowly. It's a lot less than I had originally though. Cant see it ever getting as low as some of you though!

[Mike Clelland]

Trekking poles?

These are NOT necessary.

[Greg Mihalik]

"I've not read anything or looked into trekking poles at all. Are they even necessary?"

Not until after your first knee surgery. So, maybe, never. It's on on-going discussion with no easy answer. It's influence by choice of grandparents, hiking style, age, agility, strength, etc. You'll probably know when it's time to give them a try.

They are helpful in setting up a tarp, or some UL tent.

[Dean F.]

A lot of Oz natives here have mentioned that they can get away with a lot less tent than, say, someone in Scotland. Doesn't it tend to be hot and dry there? Thus TarpTents tend to be popular. Great conditions for a single-walled tent. Likewise, unlike others, I understand the need to carry a lot of water on most of that continent. But, geez, you're worried about the durability of a Platypus? Those things are nigh indestructable (though I like the Evernew stuff, myself).

I'll take the opportnuity to pimp the Sawyer filters over the Hyperflow. Ahem. The Hyperflow has gotten some horrible reviews, though they were a few years ago, so perhaps the newer model is better. I LOVE my Sawyer. I use the 4-way filter in their dedicated bottle, so I just have to scoop and keep walking. If I have to carry more water I carry it "dirty". But, again, I'm not hiking in a desert. It's also not a pump filter, so it can be hard to share unless you rig it as a gravity filter, thus loosing the scoop-and-go functionality that I like.

I love Mike- big hug, Mike- but a lot of people like trek poles. You have to know how to use them to get any real benefit from them, though, beyond just balance-aids. But, mind you, sometimes its really nice to have them as balance aids, too. Google "nordic walking." Sometimes I use them, and sometimes not. Of course, if you get a tent that uses them as poles, you're kind of committed. I also have a hiking staff that doubles as a center-pole when I'm using my pyramid tent. Unlike trek poles, though, a staff is pretty much purely a balance aid.

I have an Osprey Exos (among many others) and I like it. If you want a pack that is indestrucable, though, I don't think that's it. I'd take a decent cottage UL pack over it on durability any day. The suspension works well (though many others would disagree) but since it uses a lot of mesh under tension I can't help but think that small tears will propagate wildly, or more likely that the spot where the cloth folds over the frame spars under tension will be a high-wear area. I use mine as a winter/high-volume pack, for when I have to carry a lot of insulation in various forms. Seriously, look at the bigger ULA and MLD packs. They are made of Dyneema-X and/or ripstop just like the mainstream packs, though slightly thinner than the heavy mainstream packs, and are plently durable. They tend to be frameless, though, so when you start pushing 30 pounds load they can get uncomfortable.

Another nice thing about simple, cottage packs is thatt they tend to be cheaper, so that if you DO destroy one it doesn't hurt so much to replace it.

[Ben]

Hey dean,
yes it does tend to be hot and dry in summer but can also get quite cool and wet during the cooler months. Down to below freezing in many areas in fact. This is why I would like something that can handle decent winds and rain. I've never seen snow in my life but I plan on going to tassie where it does snow and gets much wetter and colder.

Thanks for the info on the Exos. It would save so much weight going for that instead of the ariel and aether but if its not something that's going to last then perhaps I should give it a miss considering the high price.

Thanks

benen

[Dean F.]

As I said, though, my only worry about the Exos is that mesh under tension. Otherwise it's an awesome pack. Maybe someone who uses theirs more regularly could comment.

If you do want a more mainstream yet still reasonably light pack like the Exos, the REI Flash series is well though of hereabouts. I know nothing about it, though, except what I've read.

BPL has great reviews of both the Exos and Flash, but I think you have to be a member. (Best A$27.50 you'll ever spend.)

[Author]

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