Hi all, a few gear questions for an upcoming (January) Western Arthurs walk (Alpha to Kappa).
Firstly pack choice. People talk about this walk being really hard on packs, dragging against abrasive rock etc. I imagine though that keeping pack size and weight down means pack hauling and dragging will be minimised. The pack I’m planning to take is my Osprey Exos 58. Not the most durable but a lot lighter and more comfy than my old 75 litre Lowe Alpine pack. I’m interested in thoughts on this.
Similar dilemma with footwear. I’ve mostly stopped wearing boots in favour of trail runners, but worry that my Salomon XA Pros will get torn to bits. Apart from the weight, I’m reluctant to wear my Asolo boots because if it’s really wet then they’ll remain waterlogged and be very heavy and squelchy. (Last year I wore Gore-Tex trail runners on the South Coast Track and vowed to never again wear Gore-Tex on such a wet track. In my opinion Gore-Tex is good for snow, dewy grass in cold weather, and a bit of rain, but not days of rain or calf-deep muddy tracks!) But, if my Salomons are likely to end in pieces (they’re fairly new) then I’d consider the Asolos.
A couple of options on tents. I’m walking with one friend, and we’d prefer to have separate tents. She has a Z-Packs Triplex, I have an X-Mid and a Tarptent Stratospire 2. While the Triplex is big, it’s light enough for one person, so we could take the Triplex and the X-Mid and each have our own, with space to hang out for meals, card games etc in the Triplex on tent bound days. My feeling though is that the Triplex is probably the least storm worthy of these - I’d be interested to hear if people think it’s suitable. If not, we could take the Stratospire 2 and share. My understanding is that most campsites are reasonably sheltered, is that right? I also imagine that it will be pretty busy (with so many other areas closed at the moment) and keeping to one platform could be good.
My last question is to do with pitching non-freestanding tents on tent platforms. The only other time I’ve camped on platforms was in a mostly freestanding tent. I used cup hooks for the door pegs and guy ropes on that trip. Are cup hooks the way to go, or are the Arthurs platforms well enough equipped with wires, tensioners etc? Do I need extra bits of cord to make sure I can get a decent pitch?
Thanks!