Australians … let us rejoice?

Hi Arapiles,

I think it would be a great idea if us Aussie BPL ultra lighters could get together sometime.

Tony

Yup, I agree too. Assuming I have the time/money to get to the meeting I would be there.

It might work better for people from the Northern Hemisphere if such a meeting takes place quite late in the year, in their winter, after the summer backpacking season is over. Less stress on cottage manufacturers to produce gear then.

Adam

Thanks Tony, Adam

Any idea where most of the Australian members are based? There's a fair geographical spread with us three.

Arapiles

yet another excuse to go to austrailia ;-P

I havent seen anyone on BPL yet that is western australian, and i cant remember seeing anyone from NT or tas yet either.
So melbourne might be the most geocentric location.

Melbourne would also mean that One Planet staff could attend, and maybe get some tips on making their UL packs (the Shadow, WBA) a bit more UL, but still tough enough for Australian bush.

"I havent seen anyone on BPL yet that is western australian, and i cant remember seeing anyone from NT or tas yet either.
So melbourne might be the most geocentric location.

Melbourne would also mean that One Planet staff could attend, and maybe get some tips on making their UL packs (the Shadow, WBA) a bit more UL, but still tough enough for Australian bush."

I think that's right in terms of geography but I'll check that thread a while back that everyone weighed into. With regard to the packs, you're right that there has to be a golden mean in there somewhere. There are fabrics like dyneema that are both light and strong – but it's the attention to detail that makes the difference to pack weight. For example, North Face and Gregory both make silnylon packs that are smaller than my GG Miniposa but weigh at least twice as much.

Arapiles

There is at least one West Australian and one Tasmanian that I have seen active on BPL forum. I can only recall one Queenslander though.

I thought I read something on the BPL site that Australia has the highest BPL membership outside the US.

As I live in Canberra Melbourne is ok with me as it is only a days (8 hours) drive away, Sydney is only 3 hours away, Adelaide is 2 days drive away but as I originally come from that part of the world I wouldn’t mind Adelaide either.

Hikelight are another company that could bring some gear along if it is Melbourne.

Tony

Hey, Ill put in a vote for Adelaide!

As a Kiwi, I would rather go to Melbourne than any other city of Oz.

July and Melbourne and I could be there

I'd certainly be interested (even if it is in Melbourne!).
What a great idea, Arapiles.

Thanks Leone

1. Timing

I admit I was thinking June/July because that's far enough away for people to plan for but not so far away as to forget or for things to change.

The Queens Birthday holiday is 9 June, so that's a 3 day long weekend which gives people time to travel etc.

2. Agenda

What do you want to discuss? I was thinking of:

– low water use techniques (e.g., why carry a dehydrated apple if you then have to carry the water as well? (presuming a dry camp))

– making light packs more durable – I think it was Tony who mentioned using a pack cover when pushing through scrub.

– establishing a water location website (e.g., where are the springs on Bogong?)

3. Gear

People could bring their own to show – I have some GG gear for example.

Shall I ask if GG/Tarptent would attend/send samples?

Which Australian manufacturers would want to come along?

4. Venue

Melbourne seems to be OK with most people.

The actual venue depends upon numbers, but there's a school hall near me that may be available so I'll find out what they charge. They also have a grassy outside area. Alternatively my back yard is big-ish and I'm in Brunswick so reasonably central.

Arapiles

The suggestions sound good Arapiles.

I particularly like the suggestions about the Agenda.

I think an article on dry/desert walking on BPL would be a good idea. While it might not benefit many aussies (we do it already), it might open a few eyes OS and open up some possibilities for them, or at least make their experiences more enjoyable.

The water availability website is a good one, for aus. I could imagine this could be a huge amount of work to maintain/set up? I am guessing that bushwalkers could log into it and submit the most recent water information they have seen/receieved for a waterpoint, and also add new waterpoints if they aren't already on the site (esp unmarked springs, etc). In SA I could imagine alot of these could get out of date really quickly, with some places rarely visited. I've climbed plenty of peaks in the Flinders where noone has visited for several years (according to notes in cairns) and I've also climbed peaks on repeat trips years later where I was the last person to visit! I'm sure not all waterpoints get visited aswell.

These dates aren't much good for me…I wouldn't be able to attend until September onwards, most likely. However I wouldn't want anyone to miss out on my account.

Unfortunately I can't make the June long weekend – our annual district scout camp is on then and I'll be running an activity (probably teaching CPR to 100 or so scouts). On long weekends I'd either usually be our walking or have something else on. Whatever date you pick,there'll be people who can't come.

The water info is interesting, but would be very hard to keep up to date. I'm also interested in old tracks – the ones that are gradually disappearing from guide books – and track conditions.

Whatever gear you can get hold of or people are willing to bring would be worth seeing. Bying things on the internet without having seen the product first can be frustrating.

great idea! happy to travel anywhere at any time of the year

Paul

I gotta admit you lost me with the dry camp stuff. most of my hiking involves trying to AVOID water :(

Would be nice if some of the UL gear manufacturers participated though. I'm wondering how much a pack cover made out of Spectra would weigh? It would be perfect for tough scrub and bush-bashing…

Hi,

Stumbled on this thread trying to find a lost contact.

Anyways, dont know about the other WA BPL'er however Im in WA.

Did you all end up meeting?