[TAS] WTB Hiking Gear - Starting out

[JRusty]

Hi,

First post on here after reading a lot of great information.
I'm just getting into hiking, feel ashamed that I haven't explored what my backyard of Tasmania has to offer!

I'm looking for some gear to get me started, have a pack but that's about it...
Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Looking at doing the OLT and a couple 4 day hikes into the western lakes in a few months.

Cheers

[GPSGuided]

You have pack, bring some water and food, off you go on some shorter day walks. Only then (with reading on the web and forums) will you know what gears you need for longer walks. A straight jump to multi day walks is not very practical unless you already have plenty of experiences.


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[Lophophaps]

JRusty, welcome to the forum. GPSGuided has good advice. Start slowly and learn through doing, books, websites and people. Consider joining a bushwalking club. The usual path is easy day walks, harder day walks, easy base camps, harder base camps, easy overnight, and then anything that suits. The path is a bit flexible, but not much. Experience is not gained lightly. When you have a bit of experience you will know what you want. There a good chance of buying good second-hand gear for a low price here. If in doubt about what to buy, ask.

[JRusty]

Thanks for the replies..
Sorry, I should have mentioned that I've been doing full day hikes. Keen to get out more and start with a few overnight hikes before diving into a bigger multi-day adventure.

Cheers

[GPSGuided]

There are plenty of lists out there and here. Find one and start to add and subtract to your desire. For a start, you'll probably need a bigger pack when moving to overnight/s. Many suggest 45L and above for a single night but depends on your equipment. UL can get quite expensive but small and light, a 34L may be enough. Otherwise some needed 60L packs to carry single overnight of gears. Then there's tent, sleeping and cooking gears. Put together your list, check new and secondhand prices and work out what your budget allows. Plenty to discuss here but you'll need to initiate the discussion with some more specifics.


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[Lophophaps]

JRusty, good. You are showing caution about doing longer walks, always a good thing. I've seen too many bumblies thinking that they can do this or that and they cannot. As you have probably learned, gear is expensive. Buy the best you can as in the long term - assuming that you and BW have a long-term relationship - the cost per walk drops. My expensive head torch cost 5-10 cents a day for each walk.

Walking with a club may place less financial hardship on you in that people may be able to share or have spare gear. I think I have about eight sleeping mats, about five tents, about four sleeping bags, maybe five stoves ... None except the ones i use regularly are much good but they will do for someone like you on a short-term basis. Clubs have people like me, lots of gear, happy to loan.

For overnight walks you will need:
* Boots, socks and gaiters
* Long pants or shorts
* Thermals for day and night
* A water container (send me a PM if you can sew with a sewing machine, a DIY cost not much)
* A tent
* A sleeping bag and sleeping mat
* A stove (cheap solution - a meths burner in a tin)
* Sundry other items.
These will be $1500-2000 new, and less second-hand. It's now a question of watching the Market square thread, ebay, shop bargains, and being patient.

[Moondog55]

Good advice
Welcome
Comfortable boots or walking shoes
Raincoat, perhaps rain pants, a windproof top and always something extra in the warm wear department
Op-Shops are your friend when starting out, I've found goodish sleeping bags for as little as $25- and summer ones for $5-

Cheap is easy if you can carry the weight, the lighter the load on your back the thinner your wallet will be but when you know what you want buy the best quality you can afford, unlike computers the half-life of walking gear is measured in decades

[GPSGuided]

... unlike computers the half-life of walking gear is measured in decades

Depends. Some plastic/polymer components and fabric will age in time, especially when exposed to the sun for extended period of time. Often don't last into the decade.

[Neo]

Stay up at night conparing products. Lose sleep. Starting out for me was weighing up price vs weight. A year or so on I upgraded my tent then sleep system, original kit still going strong.

[bigwallclimber]

JRusty,

All the information contained above is very valuable, back many many many years ago when I started climbing I used other peoples gear, joined a group of people i knew who taught me how to climb. I then slowly bought equipment in my priority order and that suited my budget, I duid exactly the same when I started hiking as a side hobby to climbing.

Like any outdoor activity there is the budget and the not budget option. If I look back I started at Budget in climbing and outdoors and now I have amassed a ridiculous amount of equipment for both pursuits stored over three continents. All I can say is research is the key, if I am buying a new mat I will literally spend weeks looking, reading and talking to find the right one.

At the end of the day there are five things I will not compromise on, Pack, boots, tent, sleeping bag and stove. these I see I require to survive and hence no compromise.

If you have any questions or are in Victoria let me know and I can share information.

Dave