Family UL. Sleeping, shelter, pack and child carrier.

My wife and I have a Exped duo Synmat hyperlite, and are happy with it so far. She’s only done a few trips with me since we got it last December, so we don’t have a lot of use out of it yes, but I can still confidently say we like it a lot better than two separate mats. It makes it easier to cuddle, and it feels like we’ve got a lot more room than two separate maps. Based on limited use, I highly recommend a double mat.

Big Agnes also make sure a double wide mat, which is thicker and heavier than the Exped. I have never used the BA.

Santa also brought us an Enlightened Equipment Accomplice 20° (their double quilt), but we haven’t taken any trips together where it’s been cold enough to use it. But our living room trial suggests it holds promise.

I don’t have any experience or recommendations for child carriers. My son in a teenager, so he’s too big for a child carrier. I’m waiting for him to get big enough that he can carry me if I start to drag.

Having used several child carriers, my concern with that model is it does not have a stabilizing bar for loading the kid up.  When you put a child in the backpack, the pack is very top heavy and tippy.  That is why most models have these large frames for when it sets on the ground.  This one does not have those bars.  You are going to have to be careful loading and unloading your child.  I guess in a thru hike you will have the experience with the pack to use it adeptly after a short time.

The other concern with this pack is the child sits very close to you.  That could be uncomfortably hot for both of you.  It would make the pack more stable however.

The EE Accomplice is a great UL double quilt and reasonably priced.

If your daughter is sleeping between you two then a double mat would be better so she doesn’t get cold spots in the gap. Straps work well enough to join two pads for adults.

I tried the Exped HL double but it was way too narrow for my wife and I. The long wide wasn’t available at the time and would work fine for us. I also go solo so it’s more economical to have two pads vs one double.

You may get better local knowledge of the Cape to Cape Track if you post your questions on http://bushwalk.com which is the main Australian bushwalking forum site. Most Australians on bpl will also be reading and posting on bushwalk.com – even Roger and franco.

In my experience the *insulated* static V Lite was not compatible with a quilt. The cold comes up through the flat welded sections. The night I tried it I was car camping, it was spring, but not crazy cold or anything, but I was clearly cold from underneath and I was so much warmer when I slipped a spare Ridge Rest under it. Luckily Klymt CS was super nice about taking it back.

That BA SLX double pad is on my wish list for trips with my 7 year old daughter.

Good luck with your trip!

Feathered Friends have a two models of sleeping bags that can open up to be used as a double bag: the Penguin (tapers at the foot) and the Condor (rectangular). There are add-ons such as a ground sheet (accommodates 20″ wide pads) and hoods that you can zip to the bag. The Penguin comes in 10F, 20F, 30F and 40F. The Condor comes in 20F and 30F.

I have a Western Mountaineering Ponderosa 15F and Summer Coupler which is comfortable to 55F. The microfiber outershell feels luxurious. The Summer Coupler has slots for 20″ wide pads. However, if I could do it over, I would probably buy the FF Penguin and get the optional hoods for extra warmth when in lower temperatures.

If you need primarily more volume (rather than weight-carrying capacity), there are 8.5-ounce, 35-liter, largish daypack on eBay for $7.85 with free shipping.  Most people don’t consider it, but I rather like have some of my weight and volume on my chest with a day pack worn backwards because it balances out the weight on my back.  Especially early in a trip, after a re-supply, or when the kids were young and I was carrying a lot of the family gear.  Those very light, inexpensive daypacks also let your kids, by age 3 or 4 take some volume, feel like they are participating and a year or two later, some useful fraction of the weight.  5 years old maybe 3-4 pounds.  10 years old, 6-8 pounds.  Then they’ll have a growth spurt and can take 10-15-20 pounds depending on their fitness level and how much they’ve filled out.

I disagree with the “get them a good pack” (great straps, hip belt, etc and weighing 2.5-3 pounds) philosophy for the same reasons I disagree with an adult carrying a 7-pound pack: you can’t eat your pack, use it as shelter, or stay warm with it.  It does nothing but weigh you down.  Especially for age 4 to 8: half the weight on their back will be the pack itself.  No one needs a great suspension system to carry 5 pounds and it’s better to carry 3 pounds in a 1/2 pound pack for a total of 3.5 pounds than 3 pounds in a 3-pound pack for a total of 6 pounds.