Advice on footwear, gloves & tent (mainly for Overland)

[emma_melbourne]

@dagsands I would suggest if you are switching out your cook system, and you're considering titanium, I'd suggest also having a look at:

Toaks 750 mm - which weighs 110 grams - depending on how much of a gram counter you are.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/TOAKS-3 ... 76326.html

or

Toaks set - with fry pan
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/TOAKS-1 ... 60339.html

Best,

Emma

[dagsands]

@dagsands I would suggest if you are switching out your cook system, and you're considering titanium, I'd suggest also having a look at:

Toaks 750 mm - which weighs 110 grams - depending on how much of a gram counter you are.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/TOAKS-3 ... 76326.html

or

Toaks set - with fry pan
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/TOAKS-1 ... 60339.html

Best,

Emma

Yeah no I have a lightweight lidded pot, I wouldn't switch unless I got the cup lid otherwise there's no point (see my post) as with my seperate cup the weight works out the same. I know people are keen on the toaks titanium - good for people that eat and drink from th same pot.

[Moondog55]

Just noting that you can't "cook" in an UL Titanium pot; all you can do is boil water unless you add in a heat spreader /diffuser of some sort; which sort of takes away some of the weight advantage of the thin Titanium. I burnt 3 separate meals while up the snow in June even with the gas turned way down on the Pocket Rocket.
TOAKS 1300ml pot I didn't have the same issue using the cheap ALDI aluminium pot using the same stove and stove setting. Something to keep in the back of your mind when menu planning
BTW It was that new "All-in-one" Continental Pasta & Sauce crapola

[Neo]

I'm sticking with my Companion aluminium pot set, same as Optimus and similar to the Aldi. Is very handy to have two pots.

Short angel hair pasta works well, can soak a bit while brewing down some onion/tomatoes etc. in the smaller pot. Another trick is to add a tomato cuppa soup to make it saucy.

[dagsands]

Hi Moondog Are you wintering at PV this year? Sorry you had some burnt crapola. Re titanium, I have heard/seen that. The only titanium pot I own that I got years ago as a replacement for a lost trangia pot, has been used just to boil water and to eat cereal from. We always use our aluminium billy to cook - it recently had some fun days cooking all sorts over a fire when my other half forgot to pack the fuel for our stove (no point having the windbreak you made for me when there's no fuel!). Steel wool and elbow grease and it came back good as new.

The new furno sets are on their way from Snowys and will no doubt be here before I can say boo.

[wildwanderer]

One other comment, a previous poster said don't use a pack cover. Unless you have a cuben type exy waterproof pack (which I see you don't), I completely disagree with this. A wetted out pack will weigh a lot more than a pack cover. FWIW I use both a liner and a cover.

Interesting.

Ive always believed pack covers don’t really have a lot of benefit unless your pack is canvas (canvas absorbs a very large amount of water weight).

I don’t think a nylon/polyester pack such as the OPs would absorb more water weight than the weight of a wetted out pack cover (don’t forget the pack cover material will absorb water and be heavier in rain).

Be interesting to do a test and see what the truth is.

Also, unless you make your own pack cover (of a robust material).. most modern pack covers use 70D nylon which can rip during encounters with vegetation/rock. YMMV

[Huntsman247]

Haven't read through all the responses so don't know if they have been suggested. But sealskinz makes some great waterproof, durable gloves that work well when worn with merino glove liners. Particularly their 'all season' glove. And they are insulated too. Really impressed with mine. They also do waterproof socks which seems to get great reviews online but haven't personally tried them yet.

For socks though I'd try the armorskin sock liners. Your feet feel better after waking all day and I've never gotten blisters even when walking with wet unbroken-in boots all day. Their about 50 bucks and feel a bit weird initially but I don't go without them anymore.

[ChrisJHC]

A left-field approach would be to take half a dozen chemical hand warmers and, if your boots get wet, put a hand warmer in each one overnight.
Should dry them out nicely.
Plus you can put warm boots on in the morning!

[wildwanderer]

A left-field approach would be to take half a dozen chemical hand warmers and, if your boots get wet, put a hand warmer in each one overnight.
Should dry them out nicely.
Plus you can put warm boots on in the morning!

hmm very interesting. Does this actually work? tested? I wonder how many handwarmers you would need to dry a shoe.. If it works its a good solution to wet shoes/socks when no fire is permitted.

Sorry for drifting offtopic a bit.

[emma_melbourne]

Wow - interesting - hadn't thought to use chemical hand warmers @ChrisJHC. Is that tried and true? It really dries out wet boots if placed inside?

@Huntsman247 I will have a look at Sealskinz - that's a good tip.

I have just yesterday booked and paid for my flights to Launceston, and accommodation at each end, as the bus leaves at 7 am you kind of already need to be in Launceston the night before, and vice-versa on the way back the bus leaves at 2.30 pm which taking 3 hours doesn't easily connect to a flight back. Hence a night in Launceston in each direction.

I also just had a lighter / smaller pack arrive today - a Berghaus Fast Hike 45.

I had previously bought the Granite Gear Crown X60 from a member on here, but unfortunately it didn't fit me well with my torso length and being a men's version, so I sold it on. (Thank you Bushwalk people and website, who make this such an easy and pleasant process to do.)

I bought the Berghaus Fast Hike 45 on a bit of a whim, having had good experience with Berghaus and liking my present Wilderness 60+15 pack by them, and there was a really good deal on it shipped from UK (no longer available or I'd pass on link), and there's a very comprehensive review on Youtube which was favourable. Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5rPpKea-D4&t=1268s

It's 920 grams, and can be stripped down in various ways, to 520 gram lowest weight fully stripped. (Photo attached for the gear geeks' interest)

I figured if I couldn't make it work for the Overland Track, it would be a great pack for shorter trips of 2-3 days, rather than my big Berghaus Wilderness 60+15 L pack. So I'm happy to have both packs, regardless.

However with it now arrived, I love it, and it's comfortable on the bust and fits me albeit with straps at my side fully pulled in to maximum. I want to see if I can make it work. It'll be very tight in terms of 45 L capacity and I think best suits loads under around 10 kg to be comfortable. So I've got an alternative Lighter Pack list with the smaller pack, to run this as a simultaneous option. Currently at a base of around around >6 kg. https://www.lighterpack.com/r/bpa21i

One of the benefits of buying a smaller pack is it forces you to not pack crap or weight you don't truly need, right?! However if I can't fit the food, I'll ditch and revert to my Wilderness 60+15 L pack.

I'm so appreciative to this community's input and ideas. So thank you so much everyone.

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Last edited by emma_melbourne on Tue 24 Jul, 2018 10:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[wildwanderer]

Wow you’re really getting the weight down.

Some further suggestions.

- I’ve heard from several people that the thermo reactor liners dont really add that much warmth. YMMV. You may be better off just wearing your synthetic insulated jacket to bed.

- If you get the toaks spoon get the one with the polished bowl. Its alot more comfortable on your mouth. Titanium can be a bit rough.

- would suggest Picardin based repellent instead of DEET. As Deet will damage any gear that has plastic on it. So far ive only found OFF brand picardin in 170ml but you can pour into a smaller container. Some ideas here - viewtopic.php?f=58&t=27831

- Would really recommend you take a mobile (smart) phone. For downloadable books (to read at night), a mapping application, take photos and for emergency communication.

- if you haven’t already bought the z seat a piece of close cell foam from kmart will be cheaper.

- Id take a spare mini bic lighter (the BIC are small and easy to lose) and water purification tabs (just incase your main filter fails/irreversibly clogs for whatever reason). Very marginal weight increase for added safety margin.

- Not sure if you have another personal care kit but I’d recommend deodorant, baby wipes and moisturizer. Your out in the wilderness for several days, you don’t want dry skin and the baby wipes/deodorant will help you be clean/smell ok. Its nice to be cleanish and your fellow campers in the huts will appreciate it

[Warin]

There are some warmers that can be 'recharged' by putting them in hot water. You'd need to figure that in your gas usage though .. and it all adds weight (and fuss).
I don't think they will completely dry out a wet boot over night .. but they will help.

A phone is handy to have to call the bus/hotel/airline. Things do change and it is nice to be able to call them with all the phone numbers on the phone.
Keep it in aeroplane mode unless you want to call.
I'd not use it for entertainment. Photos if you think the quality is ok. Maps should be good ..including Launceston!

Last edited by Warin on Thu 26 Jul, 2018 8:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Neo]

Cool gear and list Emma. Hope you can make it work comfortably, I'm kinda jealous!
Give the gear a test run, even on a balcony or in a backyard.

Check out Gaia wet wipes from Coles, 100% bamboo. I repackage at two per day.