New to hiking

[discoveryadventure]

Hey everyone this is my first post on the forum.
I am new to hiking and really want to get into it more.

Just wondering I am doing Wilsons Prom a five day hike so its my first time carrying tent, food, clothes and water and actually being away for a couple of days. Doing the overland track and hopefully a few others in January.

Just wondering where you all started for basic info and how to get into it on a budget. Second hand gear, clubs, Facebook pages..

Anyone happy to share info on what they learnt when they started out??
What things will I stuff up?
What will I forget?
What are common errors beginners do?

I know I want as little as possible, I want to get to meet and talk to other hikers ad learn from them so please go ahead share your info with me..

Cheers Justin

P.S Im travelling around Australia for a year with a mate so we are going to start doing a lot more hikes

[newhue]

Good on you Justin, bushwalking it's a very addictive and a cheap, clean, healthy interest to get into. It can take you all over the country or world at a fraction of the cost of conventional holidaying. And you will find places that people would pay a $1000 per night happily, and you have all to yourself.
Sniff around here, you will get a good feeling for what's required and what's excess. Weight and weight distribution is king. Your carrying it so it matters. Some pay huge money to save another 50g, others just get fitter and carry it but there is a standard. Things like a quality water resistant sleeping bag can compensate for the mesh side walls on a tent which is lighter, but lets the draft and a bit of rain splash in. However you have saved weight compared to a fully lined tent and a quality sleeping bag. You can do it as cheap or as expansive as you like. Generally cheap is heavy, and usually after it eventually lets you down many upgrade to better quality and expense. Personally I'd suggest try and buy the best you can, it can be as simple as it's your life on the line, and a good night sleep at worst is always nice. My first shop ended up costing $1500 and I only bought a tent, rucksack, and thermarest. I was a bit stunned for a few days but when you start using it the cost is irrelevant and breaks down to nothing per night the more you do. I still use all that gear 10 years on. Shop second hand perhaps, plenty of people have done Nepal and returned to do nothing with their gear. Wealthy school kids are great for this.
There are plenty of tips to pick up along the way, and probably unrealistic to hit the track fully decked out and prepared. Join a club is what I did. Go through walking as much as you can, you will be an experianced expert within a short period of time. Then there is a whole heap of other outdoor pursuits that link into walking and the world opens again.

PS, wilsons prom, go anyway but the straight service road to the lighthouse. Walking is about the journey first, destination second.

[discoveryadventure]

Hey Newhue
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply really excited by it, was great to read mainly because myself and a friend just spent about the same on a pack each and some new gear hehe. I see it as an investment though! We did a lot of research and it's funny how I thought I new what I wanted in a pack until I started learning more about them.
They are bigger packs then I initially thought I needed but it will give us the option to go on bigger trips and I can always downsize the pack, it's a 75 liter pack.
It is pretty heavy at the moment but as you said we will learn and get better and lighter gear as we continue and I'm sure after this trip we will realize what we need and don't need!!
Now as for a few more questions I have a few.

Now what do people store there food in? This trip we are using zip lock bags but I don't like the idea of using them every time I might keep a lockout for some lightweight durable plastic containers? Or perhaps a soft reusable cotton bag or something as it will store better for things like rice pasta oats nuts dried fruit.

Thanks again still open to anyone else wanting to share there experience what they have learnt so far since getting into hiking? More discussion the better.

Cheers all on our way to the prom now

[Sandbars]

Welcome to the expensive world of walking! A five nighter as a first experience is.. brave/optimistic? A lot of people find their first overnight a steep learning curve, and are happy to head home and evaluate after a couple of days. What feels comfortable for an hour or two at home might be quite different in the field. A lot of bushwalking clubs have gear that you can hire at reasonable costs (just because I can find their hire list online: http://www.mumc.org.au/node/26 ) which is helpful because you will learn what you like and what you don't like without a big commitment. I think one of my best investments was a dehydrator, ($100 investment, means I can do meals for $2.50, and its done over 400 meals and going strong!) but if you are long term travelling then maybe you will have to get good at supermarket food?? Mostly - have fun, and find the way that works for you.

[discoveryadventure]

Hey sandbars
Thanks for the welcome, I should mention we have both been traveling around Australia for 8months living out of our 4wD so we are pretty well tuned to the elements.
Please check out our Facebook page:
(discovery adventure 328). Great to have you follow our journey and see if we survive Wilsons Prom and our first hike hehe Have a great vid from the west coast we put together as well

I will admit though I'm still nervous/ really excited about this trip as we haven't done anything like this

I will defiantly keep getting info of the forums, have already learnt a heap reading it all this morning!
But as i read somewhere nothing beats learning how to do something by getting out there and doing it!!!
Yewwww can't wait!!!

Cheers Justin

[Hermione]

Now what do people store there food in? This trip we are using zip lock bags but I don't like the idea of using them every time I might keep a lockout for some lightweight durable plastic containers? Or perhaps a soft reusable cotton bag or something as it will store better for things like rice pasta oats nuts dried fruit. /quote]

I find the problem with plastic containers is the space they take up in your pack, one can be useful for crushable things like biscuits etc. Since we dehydrate most of our food for bushwalking I put each meal in a ziploc bag and then put the whole trip's food into another dry bag. I then use the empty ziploc bags to carry out rubbish. All those plastic bags, not great for the environment I know but I haven't figured out anything else yet. I'm not sure a cotton bag would be ideal, your food may get wet (depending on where you're walking) and in some places I think the marauding possums would sniff it out very quickly! Anyway once you get out there a few times you'll figure out what works best for you.

[Lophophaps]

Discoveryadventure, welcome to the forum. Nuehue has a lot of very good points, and i agree with all of them, though perhaps not in all the fine details. You will not get 100% agreement in anything, so this is not a criticism. My tent has solid inner walls at the bottom and then mesh, no drafts of any significance.

Amid all the good advice in that post one stands out: " Personally I'd suggest try and buy the best you can". Some of my gear has lasted decades. pack 30 years (disintegrate, damn it, so I can buy a lighter one!); snow tent 20 years (see prec); sleeping bag 20 years; Thermarest 15-20 years; tent before current one, replaced last year, 15-20 years; thermal underwear, 20 years; compass 35 years; head torch, on number three now in 30+ years. As Nuehue said, over time the cost is minimal. Buy the best and you get reliability

My food is nearly all in plastic bags, all recycled, none zip-lock. For example, I have two days of powdered milk in a small bag, sugar in another, both inside a third bag with tea bags. I have food in two day bags so that if I eat too much or too little on day one it evens out on day two.

Aim for about 2000 kJ per meal, plus nibbles to bring it to 7-8000 kJ/day. Some things add up, like full cream milk and not skim milk, toasted muesli and not non-toasted. Closely scrutinise the kJ/100 gram nutrition information panel on all food, and aim high. (Edited: had 7-80000!)

For some really yummy recipes see the magazine, top of this website, on the right. Sonya Muhlsimmer was a professional cook and works in the food industry. She has brilliant recipes in the magazine, and these are in her new book, out soon.

You have approached the matter in the right way. The best use of time before a trip is planning. The more planning you have the more you will enjoy the trip. Be mentally ready to be hot, cold, thirsty, tired and unhappy. They may not happen, but if you are ready the shock will not be as great. Pace yourself on hills, step breathe in, step breathe out. It's not a race, it's a slow journey. Set destinations just ahead - the next creek, track junction, or mountain top. That way you get a slow trickle of achievements on the walk, which is mentally more satisfying than having one goal - the end. Enjoy the slow pace and take in the surroundings.

[newhue]

yeh discoveryadventure chuck that plastic container idea in the recycling bin. Unnecessary weight, and bulky when empty. Might be ok to take the Pavlova however. We double zip lock bag everything, then use a bigger zip bag to keep Day 1, Day 2 and so on. Or all breakfast in one, all dinners in another, and so on. Protein powder, milk powder, muesli, oats, hi bran weetbix whatever your flavour is our usual breakfast. Not all together but a mix of the before mentioned all in their own bag for each day. Uncle Tobies quick oats are easy and tasty, but have heaps of sugar in them. But you just add water and boil the crap out of them so it's easy. Well we tend to do that will all our meals actually. Sometimes we add sultanas to breakfast, but no usually good for longer walks as they can get heavy.
Generally your looking for slow burn food like nuts, or dehydrated fruits, beef jerkies. Or lots of power to weight type foods. Chocolate is popular but we chuck it over as the little bit you get each day for the weight doesn't add up for us. We have found more worthy foods to carry. Custard powder and crushed up ginger nut biscuits make for a nice treat, and doesn't melt. A nice little ritual watching the sun set as you slobber over desert being made.

When it's cool you can take cheese, but not so good in summer. Lunch we often use dehydrated homemade hummus. Dehydrated tomatoes with herbs a little oil and salt, with or without cheese on a cracker. But you need a dehydrator as mentioned by others. Easydry have been a reasonable brand for us. Many years of hard work from it. Get the solid tray inserts and mesh tray inserts however for all trays, or you will be breaking trays pretty soon. The food sticks to them, and you can't spread out spag bog or a lamb curry on a mesh tray anyway. Also makes sense to do 5 meals in one session instead of just one. The unit comes with one of each insert. Dehydrated apples (needs a light diluted vinegar dip first to stop going black), pineapples, pears, are all good. By the sweetest almost on the turn fruit from the grocer, cheaper as well, he will be happy to see it go.
With crackers read the box for power to weight ratio, as some of them are lite, and have nothing but crunch in them. You can always get a bushwalking food book from the library, or there seems to be an endless supply of them on line. Again there is probably somewhere on this forum discussing food.

Good on you for buying decent pack. Mine is an 80lt and has done me for a 16 days through the Arthurs in Tassie. Treated like it owed me money and still performs faultlessly.
Water, stay away from the tablets. They nuke the water and your guts along the way, and can cause issues if used for long periods. We are slack, or trusting, or go upstream a lot. We tend to use nothing, never been crook from water but have look at the Camelback UV light purification. It won't filter crap from the water, but makes clean water that bit safer. Well I think that is what I will go for. I have a couple mates who have had the UV pen version and fail reasonably early after purchase. I have also had a hand filter pump, it was OK but slow, plus filters are a bit rich.

[MartyGwynne]

Hello adventure dudes enjoy your trip around the country (very envious) I total agree what everyone else has said and I know you will work out what suits you and your budget. Always keep and eye out on gumtree fleabay etc for secondhand gear, though I have always been able to buy new stuff mostly. Not sure if you drink hot drinks such as tea or coffee, I gave up using tea bags and now just use loose leaf tea (a pinch of tea in the cup add hot water and spit the leaves out (I use a big flavoursome leaf tea - T2 Earl Grey sometimes mixed with LapSong Souchong - warning big flavours here). I don't have milk so that makes it easy for me.
OK back on track again cooking pots - you should have two for cooking and one for boiling water for a cuppa. Idealy the cooking ones fit into each other and a billy which holds the gas canister and stove. My billy is just a cheap aluminium one which can go straight onto a fire if one is allowed to be lit where you are.
OK foood. I do a lot of dehydrating, see the bush tucker section in this forum for food ideas. As you are going to be travelling dehydrating your own food may be a bit hard to do sometimes. I make up my own plastic packaging with a vacuum sealer and several sized bags or rolls to make bags. I cut the big roll bags to suit and you can also re-use them if you want to. You can reseal your bulk bags using the vacuum sealer as well. This helps you to pack what you want to make one meal for either one or two people. You can even vacuum seal a days food in one bag which helps to reduce the size of your food. Write down what it is on a scrap of paper so you know what it is first. I even walked with someone who had vacuum sealed his toilet paper (OK his kids did it on him as a joke) but if you want to keep a separate emergency supply.
Enjoy.

[paul_gee]

What things will I stuff up?

You'll probably carry too much stuff (read: weight) early in your hiking career. But you'll soon realise what you can drop.

What will I forget?

Probably not something vital, but something that will make your hikes more enjoyable. It took my a few multi-day hikes to realise that I could take a little wine or port with me.

What are common errors beginners do?

Carry too much of the unnecessary stuff and not enough of the good stuff. I once met a guy - a fellow Aussie - on the Rees Dart who had a change of clothes for each day of the track. That's 5 pairs of pants/shorts, 5 tops, 5 pairs of undies, 5 pairs of socks. And, if I recall, a couple of jumpers! To top it off, he was carrying it all in a travel style pack rather than a hiking pack. I cringed watching him on the track.

[north-north-west]

Carry too much of the unnecessary stuff and not enough of the good stuff. I once met a guy - a fellow Aussie - on the Rees Dart who had a change of clothes for each day of the track. That's 5 pairs of pants/shorts, 5 tops, 5 pairs of undies, 5 pairs of socks. And, if I recall, a couple of jumpers! To top it off, he was carrying it all in a travel style pack rather than a hiking pack. I cringed watching him on the track.

I've seen that on the Overland, too. For a one-off walker it's understandable, but if they make a habit of it . . .

[paul_gee]

I've seen that on the Overland, too. For a one-off walker it's understandable, but if they make a habit of it . . .

I guess it comes from a place of wanting to ensure you're covered for all situations. Well, perhaps not carrying so many sets of clothes. I measure unnecessary clothes and kit in weight in chocolate or wine!

[north-north-west]

I've seen that on the Overland, too. For a one-off walker it's understandable, but if they make a habit of it . . .

I measure unnecessary clothes and kit in weight in chocolate...

+1

Other than knickers I don't carry spare clothes except occasionally a pair of socks if I know I'll be doing a lot of wading over multiple days. Thermals & down jacket are for camp wear.

[Lophophaps]

What are common errors beginners do?

Carry too much of the unnecessary stuff and not enough of the good stuff. I once met a guy - a fellow Aussie - on the Rees Dart who had a change of clothes for each day of the track. That's 5 pairs of pants/shorts, 5 tops, 5 pairs of undies, 5 pairs of socks. And, if I recall, a couple of jumpers! To top it off, he was carrying it all in a travel style pack rather than a hiking pack. I cringed watching him on the track.

At the start of the OLT I saw a walker with a small pack and much gear lashed or dangling on the outside, including a sleeping bag without any waterproof cover or plastic bag. With a bit of effort we got the bag inside the pack.

One year Mac Springs on the Snowy Plains, Victoria, was dry. About 200 metres from the Mac Springs car park I saw a walker attempting to move - carry is not the word - 20 litres of water to Mac Springs, 500 mm at a time. This was not just slow it was impossible. The walker had a pack with three days of food. Oops. On my advice the walker went back to the car park and found a place that had water.

[discoveryadventure]

Hey everyone thanks for all the great advice.
I have a quick rundown from our first hike. I have written some details and there is plenty of pictures on our Facebook page (DiscoveryAdventure328) Im not trying to plug my page but I have written a spill about the hike on there and there are some nice photos if interested.

Thanks Hermione for the advice and
Thanks Lophophaps, Newhue, Marty and Paul. Great to read all of this.

Ill give you all a bit of a run down on what we learnt. We ended up doing the full Southern Loop of Wilsons Prom it was a lot tougher then we thought it took us three nights and four days. We both struggled with the weight of the packs and my body was pretty sore afterwards I had marks on the top of my Iliac Crest and shoulder Im pretty skinny so this does not surprise me.

Initially we both had camel packs 3litres plus two water bottles each, we quickly dumped the camel packs after realising there was plenty of water at each camp.
Food wise everything was ok we actually ate really well but that is why our packs were so heavy hehe (see photo attached). Broccoli, zucchini, carrots just some of what we brought.

I now feel I defiantly need a dehydrater further down the track anyway as you all have said and I need to pack lighter food. We did end up using zip lock bags and they worked great, we broke the dinner meals up separately pasta, cous cous, rice noodles. and then kept a big bag for snacks easily accesable in front of pack and another bag for lunches and one for sweet treats such as nuts and little chocolate covered fruit and M&M's to have with a tea after dinner.

We learnt that Ryvita is not the best to carry for lunch they just crushed up by day two hehe. Vita weets next time.. Our MSR whisper light cooker was great Im really happy with it also the MSR pots we bought worked a treat.

This being our first hike It was successful and we loved it.

It felt *&%$#! awesome walking on a beach knowing that no-one else can get there unless they walk there also we had a lot of the hike to ourself, that is until our last day Saturday. Then it didn't feel quite as special however we were just finishing up then so it was great, must say I will hike a lot more now.

We were walking by 7 or 8 am and it was perfect nice and cool and misty and I felt it was the easiest time to walk.

I also learnt I need a new sleeping bag, I was to cold and it is just an old cheap denali bag.

It is a bummer I didnt weigh the packs before the hike I reckon they would have been around 17kg not sure though I may be way of. mine is a 75litre and my mate had an 80 litre.

Cheers all can't wait for the overland track.

My other question without doing any research I was shattered at how much it cost us per night, surely there are a heap of free hikes around, I guess you pay for signage and toilets and maintenance of the track which is fair enough Im just used to living out of the car for free haha

[newhue]

Well done. Good o you. Walking is also a mind set. Once you have endured a bit of hardship with the feet, shoulders, back, legs, and whatever else huts you mind becomes strong along with your body. And it all start to feel a whole lot better. First walks are always tuff if you give it a good crack.
You are on the right path with a dehydrator. All that fresh veg full of water can be made into meals a fraction of the weight with a same bang. I'd get rid of that cup for a lightweight plastic one as well.

onwards and upwards hey....

[Lophophaps]

Discoveryadventure, as mentioned above, the first walks can be the hardest. You've learned a lot about gear, food, weight, what's possible, fitness and other things. Despite all the adverse events it seems that you enjoyed the remote feeling. You wait! It's quite possible that in the next year or so you will be several days from the nearest road. I've been several days from the nearest track, camping where very few if any have camped, and it felt really good.

Considering that you had four days and a heap of fresh food, I reckon 17 kilograms is acceptable. You can go much lighter with the food, maybe taking two-thirds or half the weight that you had. Aim for about 8-900 grams a day. Weigh the food. A 75 litre pack should do you for 10-12 days, if not longer if you're careful with what you take. You should weigh the pack before and after each trip to get a feel for what you are taking.

The sore body could be due to the unusual nature of the exercise, an ill-fitting pack, lack of fitnees and stamina, or some combination. If you go on walks regularly you'll develop higher levels of fitness and stamina.

Planning is crucial, and you may have been able to determine where the water was located. Yesterday I spent an hour planning the first week of a walk checking where water was located and possible campsites. Now I know how much water I need to carry - not much at all.

A dehydrater is useful - I've had one for about 20 years - but it's not crucial. You can get excellent dried food from many shops. Look for a high energy/mass; I try for 1500 kJ/100 grams or higher, with high carbo content. With time and mistakes you'll learn what you need.

I regularly carry biscuits on trips, and they don't break. Wrap the biscuits in newspaper. Make up a box to fit the biccies and newspaper, out of light cardboard, such as that which Vita Weat comes in. Pad one end of the box with crumpled newspaper and make it fit snugly around the newspaper. Put more crumpled newspaper at the other end and seal. When you want a biccy, open an end and remove one. Then fold back the biscuit plastic bag, with the biccies going in a spare placcy bag. As you eat the biccies, excess cardboard and paper can be carefully burnt. I've carried wafers like this, intact, for 14 days. At the end of 11 days I had 110 grams of excess packaging, with the rest in use.

There are an enormous number of free walks everywhere. Some areas have a fair park fee, like Tassie, and some are total rip-offs, like the Hotham-Falls Creek crossing. Apart from Tassie I don't pay fees.

[GBW]

Well done discoveryadventure. You'll get better each trip and figure out what works best...I'm still at that stage myself.

I tried the biscuits and had the same problem so now I use flat breads with peanut butter and honey.
Def lose some of the fresh vegies for dehydrated. I buy a big bag of frozen precut vegies and dehydrate them to add to noodles, rice, potato with tuna sachet (not tins) and various dehydrated mince recipes like bolognaise, curry, chilli. I've tried the freeze dried stuff and wasn't a big fan...it's a lot cheaper and better to make your own. It also cuts down on the food prep required when you get to camp...no cutting involved...chuck it into a pot of boiling water and stir until done...that's it!

Where to next?

[Lophophaps]

I've tried the freeze dried stuff and wasn't a big fan...it's a lot cheaper and better to make your own. It also cuts down on the food prep required when you get to camp...no cutting involved...chuck it into a pot of boiling water and stir until done...that's it!

GBW, good advice. No cutting means that a knife is not necessary, less weight. Freeze dried food his very expensive and has low energy values, with small serves. Home-dried food (and probably that you buy) is cooked, so at a pinch there does not need to be cooking. If possible, soak the food prior to cooking as this reduces cooking time. I rarely do more than bring the pre-soaked food to the boil and then then turn the stove off. Pres-soaking thus reduces fuel which reduces weight. My fuel, stove, and all cooking items for two weeks is about 1500 grams.

Freed dried food also has a lot of packaging. In her new book Xtreme gourmet Sonya Muhlsimmer advises about weights. A freeze dried package 22 X 18 cm weighs about 20 grams. A large snap-lock bag 18 X 17 cm weighs about 3 grams. My system with two light plastic bags without snap-lock is lighter than one snap-lock bag the same size. Whatever works.

[north-north-west]

Cans and a hell of a lot of fresh food. 17kg would be light considering that.

[Xplora]

I am not a minimalist but I like to cut down on the weight so I can carry other nice things for the end of a day. The dehydrator is a must (as stated - see forum here on it in "Bush tucker") and with it you can do all your fruits as well as veg plus jerky, meats and fruit. Ditch the cans. Zip lock bags are good but we have a vacuum sealer and can make bags to suit. I have found you need to get the air out of zip locks if you use them as sometimes they open under pressure. We like them for the things you need to reseal like lollies. Flat breads are great but make sure you get the ones with a reseal bag and also ones that roll well instead of tearing. Salmon and cream cheese is good or even heat treated salami. When is someone going to put cream cheese (not the Philly stuff) in a tube like the vegemite? We decant it into a food tube. Lots of good advice and it is good not to be scared to ask. I too have seen some shockers in the bush and was probably one myself when I first started. I have seen someone carry a 4 man tent and enough can food to stock a supermarket. I have also seen a 2 burner primus stove with stand and a gas bottle with bucket chairs all strapped to the outside of a pack. BTW 17kg is a good effort and you will only get better. The important thing is having a go and learning what works for you.

[Lophophaps]

I have also seen a 2 burner primus stove with stand and a gas bottle with bucket chairs all strapped to the outside of a pack. BTW 17kg is a good effort and you will only get better. The important thing is having a go and learning what works for you.

Yikes, what a lot of extra stuff to carry! I agree with your last two sentences. I had a closer look at the food picture. The noodles in the bottom left seem to be the sort that require 15-20 minutes to cook, which is a lot of fuel compared to noodles and other food that essentially just needs to be brought to the boil.

[Alittleruff]

I like the sneaky block of chocolate... hiding under the tea bags hey! Can't excape my eyes. Yes a full size family block would have been the order of the day.

[MartyGwynne]

HI there if you have the funds buy a cheap set of scales so you can weigh each item separately and then write down what it weighs then tally up the total to give you your pack weight. By recording it it gives you a god idea of how much you need to take next time. Take notes on your daily meals etc, did I take too much breakfast too little dinner over estimated lunch or what ever. This way you can remember what you need next time rather than guess (lots of experience in taking 2 or 3 days of food back home with me).
I even downloaded a free app called gramweenie which you can enter all your weights in for a certain trip and tally up your pack weight, you enter in how much stuff weighs and then just make up your pack list to see how much weight you carry. Ive found for some foodstuff like muesli etc I will weigh up how much I have at home for breaky then lessen or increase the amount a bit for the track as you see fit. This gives you a good idea of how much you normally would use. Love all the fresh for though big points for doing that but I reckon your pack was closer to 25 Kgs, I remember taking my two kids 13&15 year olds along the OLT my pack was 35 Kgs at the start in a 75 litre pack. Now that was heavy but it kept them well fed - 4kgs of m&ms if I remember correctly... Cheers.

[neilmny]

Hey everyone thanks for all the great advice.
I have a quick rundown from our first hike. I have written some details and there is plenty of pictures on our Facebook page (DiscoveryAdventure328) Im not trying to plug my page but I have written a spill about the hike on there and there are some nice photos if interested. ............

Some nice photos there.
The guy with the flys on his back looks like Joe Cocker in spooky sort of way.
Hope you know who that is.....I'm an OF.

[discoveryadventure]

Cans and a hell of a lot of fresh food. 17kg would be light considering that.

Hey Everyone, thanks for all the advice, this has been so helpful,

I am of to buy a dehydrater today or this week sometime!!!!!

Im also getting myself a new sleeping bag and mattress. As mine was awful

Hey (MartyGwyneen) (North north west), to correct a few things, I did not weigh my pack before or after the trip so I was guessing 17kg but I think I am way of. Im sure it would have been more like 25kg maybe even more not sure why I guessed 17kg. ?

Hey (GBW) the overland track or the Southern track or another one in Tassie will be next. : ) like our Facebook page and then you can have a laugh or at least see the photos from our next hike, or our instagram page justin_lucas1987. Thanks for all the info.

Thanks (Neilmny) haha about Joe Cocker.

One other question, survival/safety gear. There are so many things you "may need" but what do people actually bring? Hehe I have done a lot of walking and day trips around and have a few things I always pack and have a fair idea of what I may include but Im wondering what you guys think? Or feel is essential. Ill have a look at some previous posts as well Im sure there is a heap of info on here already.

Cheers everyone

[Lophophaps]

I am of to buy a dehydrater today or this week sometime!!!!!

Im also getting myself a new sleeping bag and mattress. As mine was awful

I strongly suggest that you proceed slowly, seeking advice, what I call due diligence. Whilst many items these days do not last as long as those a decade or three ago, most will (or should) last for 5-10 years, if not longer. You could spend $2-4000 on gear that may not be quite what you want or need, a long-term item partially wasted. Quality gear will certainly do the job, but may not suit your requirements, which appear to be a work in progress.

Hey (GBW) the overland track or the Southern track or another one in Tassie will be next. : )

The OLT is not that hard, sort of a longish Prom, with huts. However, it is 6-8 days, and as such you may wish to get more experience before thinking of trips this long. Unlike The Prom the OLT may have very bad weather. The South Coast Track is much more serious, far more remote with a small bump called The Ironbounds. No huts.

One other question, survival/safety gear. There are so many things you "may need" but what do people actually bring? Hehe I have done a lot of walking and day trips around and have a few things I always pack and have a fair idea of what I may include but Im wondering what you guys think? Or feel is essential. Ill have a look at some previous posts as well Im sure there is a heap of info on here already.

There's most probably many posts about gear, in the Equipment forums. As mentioned above, undertake due diligence. Also, my essential may not be so for another person. For example, I carry a tripod, essential. Another person has a Kindle, not in my pack.

[north-north-west]

For example, I carry a tripod, essential. Another person has a Kindle, not in my pack.

A Kindle is a lot lighter than a tripod.

[discoveryadventure]

Thanks for this Lophophaps
I am super happy with the pack and bought a nice sleeping bag today also from one planet. Im just going to hold of for a while on the mattress. Get a bit more advice and shop around see what I like before I get one of them. Also I jumped the gun a bit with the dehydrator. I am not buying one yet but I am going to start looking into them.

As for the trails in Tassie I answered your question before I had even done much research : / as you can tell hehe... The OLT is booked out when we want to do it and the South Coast Trail is far to experienced and big for our second hike. I really like the three cape hike but think there is only cabins otherwise I'm still looking around and doing research I'm wanting something around 3-4 days and Coastal. : ) Also free is possible and not as well known hehe.

Ill keep looking Cheers again

Yeah ill do some research into the safety gear and search the forums..

[north-north-west]

Free and coastal . . . there's the Tasman Coastal trail, which runs between the Watefall Bay carpark (actually, you can start at the Arch, but officially that's not part of the track) and Fortescue Bay. Time your arrival at Fortescue right - or, even better, start there - and you can do Cape Pillar as well (that section of the track is still subject to partial closures).
Or Freycinet, or course. Will be crowded, but it is lovely. Or Mount William.

If you want something a bit different you could try some part of the Penguin-Cradle Trail. The track is of varying standard and runs between Pencil Pine and the main Dial Range carpark near Penguin. The stretch across the Black Bluff Range from Taylors Flat is pretty good - rougher than the Overland, far fewer people and some lovely country. If you started at Belvoir Rd and walking up to Paddy's and back you'd have three or four pleasant and not too difficult days - provided the weather co-operated.
Another good high traverse is Roland. While the Face Tract is steep you could go up from O'Neills and camp up top, walk over to the summit and across to the start of the steep bit, then back past Vandyke. Either continue over the Fosseys and past Claude, or drop down the loop west of Vandyke track to return to O'Neills.

Or go into Cynthia Bay, up to Narcissus and explore some of the country accessible from there. You have the Lake Marion and Gould Plateau tracks, plus the Acropolis and Labyrinth from Pine Valley, and even the Byron Gap track (with a rough track up Byron, but best leave that until you have a bit more experience). You don't need a booking to do that.