by Son of a Beach » Fri 06 Feb, 2009 8:02 am
I would advise people to always take a tent on the Overland Track, especially if you are not familiar with the area. If you plan to sleep in huts all the way, the chances are you will have no problem finding spots in the huts to sleep each night, and will not need your tent. However, it is a remote area, and having a tent is like life insurance for many of the problems that can (and do!) occur in this area where there is no other help available.
The other reason I would advise taking a tent is that it's a lot more pleasant to sleep in than most of the huts most of the time. The huts are noisy, they are too warm early in the night, and too cold late in the night. They stink of sweaty socks hanging around the heaters, there is a wide variety of snoring and farting noises (and smells) all night. There is always at least one group who likes to stay up late talking or playing cards late into the night, and there is always at least one other group who gets up very early to cook their breakfast while clomping around in heavy boots (yes, I sometimes fit into one or the other, or even both, of these groups). Tents are much more pleasant most of the time.