What Gear is Essential

Bushwalking gear and paraphernalia. Electronic gadget topics (inc. GPS, PLB, chargers) belong in the 'Techno Babble' sub-forum.
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TIP: The online Bushwalk Inventory System can help bushwalkers with a variety of bushwalk planning tasks, including: Manage which items they take bushwalking so that they do not forget anything they might need, plan meals for their walks, and automatically compile food/fuel shopping lists (lists of consumables) required to make and cook the meals for each walk. It is particularly useful for planning for groups who share food or other items, but is also useful for individual walkers.

Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby vicrev » Fri 19 Dec, 2014 8:28 pm

Lophophaps wrote:Many years ago life was simpler. The gear weighed a lot more, it was not as good, and it was harder. Tents were usually single skin japara, sometimes with a fly. Flash tents had walls. Most tents were ridge, with a few Blacks Good companion, which needed about 26 pegs, just like the Bushgear Tawonga. Floors were separate.

Sleeping bags were very heavy, with one from NZ (Hallmark?) weighing 7 pounds. Blizzard jackets were oiled japara. Clothing was wool or cotton. Stoves were not carried often. Food was basic, mainly from the supermarket. Maps were ordinance survey, often an inch to the mile, the very helpful 1:63 360 or 1:100 000. Compasses were prismatic or a flat Silva, no mirror. Track notes were hard to come by and sketchy.

No GPS, no PLB, no comms, no lightweight gear, and a heap of other things that many today regard as essential.

However, most people survived, and it did not seem hard as that was all we knew. One thing that is no longer present is the adventure of going into the unknown, bereft of outside support.
Thanks Lophophaps ,just read this post,made me all nostalgic,& jogged what's left of the memory bank......We used to hike, with most of the gear coming from the local Army Disposal store,packs that weighed a ton,tents of canvas,that weighed two tons,when it rained,someone would say "don't touch the roof of the tent",sure enough, someone would & we would have a steady drip all night :lol: ....The clothing was also army surplus & as hot & itchy as anything,I used to wear pants called "jodphurs" (anyone remember them ?)......Also an essential part of our gear,a 22 rifle :shock: I think I was about 12 yrs old when I started.........They were uncomplicated, good,fun,times :) ...........
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Earwig » Wed 21 Jan, 2015 2:42 pm

Well, when I say 'tent' it was only a hole in the ground covered by a sheet of tarpaulin, but it was a tent to us.
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Lophophaps » Wed 21 Jan, 2015 7:28 pm

Earwig wrote:Well, when I say 'tent' it was only a hole in the ground covered by a sheet of tarpaulin, but it was a tent to us.


LOL! Ah, when I was a lad... And don't forget the old Lancastrian art of Ecky Thump. This theme could be developed.
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Moondog55 » Wed 21 Jan, 2015 7:56 pm

An 'Ole inna ground covered with an old sack but it was a palace to us'ns
Ve are too soon old und too late schmart
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Gadgetgeek » Wed 21 Jan, 2015 8:27 pm

We wished for a hole! the rocks were too hard to dig through so we had no choice but to pile them upon ourselves as a blanket. and the only way to keep warm was to light our socks on fire.
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby icefest » Wed 21 Jan, 2015 8:34 pm

How we wished for such niceties as rocks, all we had to insulate us from the frigid tempest was the that snow we could painstakingly sculpt around our bare feet for the slight insulation that it gave. Until the wind blew it away.

But we were thankful for every flake, we were. The's'sum's that don't even got that.
Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful.
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Moondog55 » Wed 21 Jan, 2015 9:01 pm

I just tried to explain the significance of the old and honoured Ecky Thump to my beloved and all I got in return was a bemused look. Obviously she never had to walk 20 miles to school barefooted though the mud and slime to save a ha'penny on the bus fare and save the shoes for Sunday best
Ve are too soon old und too late schmart
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby flywire » Wed 20 May, 2015 9:48 pm

Depends on the situation but hardly anything in this post is 'essential'. In my experience, for real bushmen that know the conditions, appropriate clothing - that's it! Food certainly isn't on a short trip.

Now a few more things make it 'comfortable'.
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Sat 08 Aug, 2015 9:35 pm

I second the vote for icebreaker merino wool thermals. They do wick the moisture away in all weather be it minus 5 and snowing or 35 and sweating. They are Not cheap but still worth it. I used them as layers when trekking at high altitude in Southern Spain in July 2015. They breathe well too so just adding another icebreaker layer often works better than putting on a 'polartec' fleece garment. I use the icebreaker thermal tops , long johns and gloves.
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Tue 11 Aug, 2015 9:46 pm

Luxury ! I had to sleep on broken glass to keep warm while camping in a lake ! Try to tell kids these days and they won't believe you , eee by gum !!
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Lophophaps » Wed 12 Aug, 2015 11:50 am

paidal_chalne_vala wrote:Luxury ! I had to sleep on broken glass to keep warm while camping in a lake ! Try to tell kids these days and they won't believe you , eee by gum !!


Luxury! today's walkers probably drive to the walk area. We had to run! Walks in Tasmania and NZ involved a lot of swimming to get there. I attribute my lack of children to the cold waters of Bass Strait and the Tasman Sea. Our PLBs were two tin cans with a length of tent guy. Instead of attracting the helicopter with a mirror, my mate once flashed them, with a raincoat bought specially for this purpose. And on the OLT the mud was deep. Harry once went in up to his ankles, head first. We pulled him out and he was hanging onto another person, lost from an earlier party. You're right, the wimpy walkers of today are not in the same category. And they will not believe me.
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby north-north-west » Wed 12 Aug, 2015 6:41 pm

Well, o' course, we 'ad it tough.
We 'ad to pack up camp at 10pm, a full two hours before we reached it, sprint all day and night week in, week out, carrying a Park Ranger with all his gear so he could make sure we were behaving and, when we got to camp, he'd shoot us in the head with both barrells of his elephant rifle for getting dust on his boots if we were lucky!
"Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens."
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby cajun » Wed 12 Aug, 2015 7:00 pm

for those who are wondering what this is about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHFZBUTA4k

This one predates Monty Python, and features Marty Feldman. Very cool and very funny.
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,
And at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars.
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Lophophaps » Wed 12 Aug, 2015 10:02 pm

north-north-west wrote:Well, o' course, we 'ad it tough.
We 'ad to pack up camp at 10pm, a full two hours before we reached it, sprint all day and night week in, week out, carrying a Park Ranger with all his gear so he could make sure we were behaving and, when we got to camp, he'd shoot us in the head with both barrells of his elephant rifle for getting dust on his boots if we were lucky!


Ow, I think I've ruptured something laughing. I suppose the chair will dry overnight. I may rinse it.

For those of you who have just tuned in, the above posts are not to be used as a guide to conduct on a walk. Guns are not allowed in Australian national parks. The rest is pretty accurate.
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby JohnStrider » Thu 13 Aug, 2015 11:44 pm

What gear is essential? The big 4 are non-negotiables. The remaining gear depends on different variables such as weather, location, how long you are going for etc etc
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby JD The Bushwalker » Fri 14 Aug, 2015 8:09 am

Thanks for the link Cajun! It all makes sense now - absolutely hilarious! :lol:
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What Gear is Essential

Postby GPSGuided » Fri 14 Aug, 2015 9:07 am

May I suggest the most essential gear is a good practical thinking cap? The rest will follow. Not sure if it's readily available for purchase though and know not of its weight in grams. :)
Just move it!
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby vicrev » Wed 02 Sep, 2015 8:10 pm

Sense of humour is very essential gear...... :D
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Zone-5 » Sat 05 Sep, 2015 4:04 am

GPSGuided wrote:May I suggest the most essential gear is a good practical thinking cap?

vicrev wrote:Sense of humour is very essential gear...... :D


Yep, got both covered...

Image

:lol:
... moved to another forum @ 10/10/2015
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby paul_gee » Wed 11 Nov, 2015 4:52 pm

A Platypus soft bottle full of port or red wine! :)
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby wayno » Thu 12 Nov, 2015 3:20 am

paul_gee wrote:A Platypus soft bottle full of port or red wine! :)


how did we all miss that? we should be ashamed of ourselves...
from the land of the long white clouds...
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby paul_gee » Thu 12 Nov, 2015 11:18 am

"how did we all miss that? we should be ashamed of ourselves..."

Too right! :)
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Flipper Hands » Mon 07 Dec, 2015 10:36 pm

Moved to general Equipment forum.
Mods please remove.
Last edited by Flipper Hands on Thu 10 Dec, 2015 5:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Eljimberino » Thu 10 Dec, 2015 9:35 am

You're taking a solar panel but not a sleeping bag?
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Flipper Hands » Thu 10 Dec, 2015 10:00 am

Moved to general Equipment forum.
Mods please remove.
Last edited by Flipper Hands on Thu 10 Dec, 2015 5:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Eljimberino » Thu 10 Dec, 2015 10:31 am

This is the 'what gear is essential' thread:

essential
ɪˈsɛnʃ(ə)l/
adjective
adjective: essential

1.
absolutely necessary; extremely important.
"it is essential to keep up-to-date records"
synonyms: crucial, necessary, key, vital, indispensable, needed, required, called for, requisite, important, all-important, vitally important, of the utmost importance, of great consequence, of the essence, critical, life-and-death, imperative, mandatory, compulsory, obligatory, compelling, urgent, pressing, burning, acute, paramount, pre-eminent, high-priority, significant, consequential
"it is essential to remove all the old plaster"
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Alittleruff » Thu 10 Dec, 2015 11:34 am

Personal/ First Aid needs some work.
Include- A space blanket... you know, just in case. And well, if you are even contemplating not taking a sleeping bag you may just need it! Also, a triangular bandage (multitude of uses for first aid), some crepe bandages, tape, scissors, tape, bushmans/ airogaurd, hydration tablets, some water purification tabs as a back up to your straw (which you may get rather frustrated with, kind of like drinking heavy ice cream through a straw at McD's!). You will need some band aids, and some gauze, disposable gloves, and possibly some antiseptic creme and some alcohol wipes (can be used to help start a fire if you need in an emergency as well as the usual), Panadol, aspirin (aspirin can be used in first aid to help anyone with a suspected heart attack, and well, you are in that age category, take some.) String can be handy too.

First aid gear is a priority not an after thought.

You haven't included toothpaste, toothbrush, comb, hand sanitizer. All of this is not essential I guess, but I take it.

I don't know why you have all that water collecting kit. Personally I wouldn't bother with having more than one filter, if that.

Just my opinion.
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Sandbars » Thu 10 Dec, 2015 1:22 pm

Alittleruff wrote:
I don't know why you have all that water collecting kit. Personally I wouldn't bother with having more than one filter, if that.

Just my opinion.


hmm... what I see is one water filter. With a back up lifestraw incase of water filter failure, which is 40g heavier than the Nalgene. 40g hardly seems excessive. In hot weather 6 litres of carry capacity seems appropriate too.
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Alittleruff » Thu 10 Dec, 2015 3:18 pm

Agreed, 40g of water filter seems fine to me. But then I've never used water filters.
So I was wondering why would you have 1. A filter in your drink bottle (40g). Then 2. A larger (299g) Filter for collecting water. Then a 4L bag that weighs in at 199g + tubing for it at 55g. Seems like a lot to me. But I'm only new to this stuff, and generally just carry a 2L bladder and a few larger water bottles and some Aqua Pure tabs. I could go lighter & better by using an old cask wine bladder. But... I have to drink the wine first, and I'm not much of a drinker.

Is the area that Flipper Hands is travelling into particularly hard to find clean water in? Looking at the web site, drinking water is available at Burbie Camp, Camp Pincham & Camp Walaay by the looks, but maybe he is headed a bit more remote?
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Re: What Gear is Essential

Postby Lophophaps » Thu 10 Dec, 2015 5:13 pm

While there are certainly some questionable water sources, with care the risk of becoming ill due to drinking untreated water is greatly reduced. I usually camp well away from huts and often tracks. When camping near a hut or track, if at all possible I obtain water above the hut or track, preferably well away. Hence I don't carry any water purificatoin devices or chemicals. Water is carried in a four litre wine cask in a light nylon carry bag, with one spare. The two containers and bags weigh just under 200 grams. The wine casks last 6-12 months.

Alitteruff, I'm quite happy to assist with emptying the wine cask the first time.
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