Bibbulmun Track end to end in spring 2019

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Re: Bibbulmun Track end to end in spring 2019

Postby Rileyr » Thu 24 Oct, 2019 12:27 pm

Full gear review

Refer to previous posts or lighter pack link for gear list and weights. This is written in order of the gear list from lighter pack.
My gear list found here: https://lighterpack.com/r/rhpx03
Mon’s gear list found here: https://lighterpack.com/r/5u0p17

Carriage
Pack: osprey exos 58L (old version, no pack brain). Great pack, the hip and shoulder pouches are great. I wish I had the 48L version, but it can also be nice to have the extra space if needed.
Pack liner: gossamer gear pack liner. Performed well, was nice and light and kept everything dry. Would probably need to replace it every 1500-2000km or so. Or every 40 or 50 days.
Coles water bottles: light, cheap and reliable.
1L sawyer bladder: both of ours failed! Don’t use these! We purchased cnoc vargo’s as replacements.

Shelter and sleep system
Tarp: We love tarping! However we would like to replace this DWR nylon one with a cuben fibre (DCF) one to prevent stretch and so it doesn’t soak up water.
Pegs: the ebay alloy Y shape pegs are great. The Ti sheppard hooks were good for mid tie outs (not structural)
Polycro ground sheet: worked well! Cheap, light. Got no rips.
Sea to summit nano mosquito nets: didn’t use them down to Collie (not quite half way) so we sent them home! We had one night with bad mozzies further south and then bought mozzie coils. Mozzie coils worked well.
Quilts: My -1 Enlightened equipment climashield apex quilt was fantastic! Never cold even at close to 0 deg. Mons -6 was adequate. She wasn’t toasty some nights, but was always able to get good sleep.
Sleeping mats: our ½ z-lite and ½ thin mats worked well. We did have to move and roll, but we got good sleep.
Pillow: my ebay inflatable was too thin! Sent it home and replaced with S2S aeros like Mons. Worked well! Mons failed on the 2nd last night.

Clothing carried
Insulated Jackets: probably our favourite piece of gear on the trip! So warm, so versatile! EE Torrid Apex
Rain jackets: the frog togs were great! Water proof even through a section of over 100mm of rain in 4 days. No rips despite some mild scrub bashing. Can’t beat them for $50!
Balaclavas: EE Hoodlums. Mon loved hers when in bed. I found mine too hot and also a pain when not in bed. I sent it home and bought a beanie
Socks: injinji were great!
Underwear: exoficio sucked! I sent mine home and so did Mon. I just wore shorts with inner mesh .
Wind pants: good and bad. Worked well for cold weather to keep wind off bare legs. Gets sweaty when wearing them to bed

Kits
Emergency first aid kit: didn’t need to use it thankfully!
Repairs kit: had to use some patches to fix Mon’s pack after a rat ate holes in it!
Personal first aid: only used the ibuprofen for a back problem I had half way through
Toiletries: I sent home the chafing cream. I used the rest
Toilet Kit: used it all regularly

Electronics
Phone: used guthook guides as maps worked flawlessly
PLB: didn’t have to use it thankfully
Battery Bank: only needed to use it a couple of times. Could have gone without it
Wall charger: fast charge was a good thing
Cables: short but worked

Cooking
Cooking pot: toaks 750 TI: works great, all we needed for boiling water for dehydrated meals, coffee in the morning etc
BRS Stove: worked flawlessly as always

Misc
Watch: I liked the cut down pocked watch
Head torch: cheap one from somewhere. worked fine but mon’s is nicer
Water filter: sawyer squeeze. We started off filtering but stopped after the 2nd week
Knife: gerber mini thing. Was good, all that’s needed
Mini deck of cards: didn’t use, sent them home
Wallet: plastic sleeve great on trail not great afterwards
FRED: didn’t use it, but good to have in case you need to eat canned food
S2S head net: worked well when mozzies attacked

Clothing worn
Patagonia shirt: long sleeves, button up, vented. Was a good shirt
UA shorts: I liked the shorts and having mesh undies. Great for warm weather not bad in cold weather. Good in wet weather too!
Hat: broad brim – worked
Hiking stick: we used 1 each and that worked well. I liked having a hand free and often walked without it.
Pocket compass: more for emergency use and never used it.
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Re: Bibbulmun Track end to end in spring 2019

Postby crollsurf » Sun 27 Oct, 2019 5:24 pm

Epic, what a great resource for anyone else attempting the walk. Thanks for spending the time posting all of this

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Re: Bibbulmun Track end to end in spring 2019

Postby Al M » Sun 27 Oct, 2019 10:56 pm

Great gear test write up providing plenty of tips and considerations.

The synthetic fill sleeping bags are food of thought vs down feather fill considerations when the former weighs around 640g (possibly 600g for me shorty but wide) for the -1 C rated model. I have a Western Mountaineering 0 C 550g bag and -2 C 520g Under-cling Mikes quilt both down feather but feel guilty and use a 90-250g silk/poly stretch liner so it’s similar as the synth fill bag but needs more care. It might be time to try the synth fill bag option again given latest design and tech. I tried this many years ago with a different brand supposedly rated to 0 C but it wasn’t warm enough.

I still have thoughts the down bag/quilt (0 to -2C) plus 90g silk liner (2 C warmth) = -2 to -4C potential total rating is slightly ahead for the same weight as the synthetic fill option. I have been to many overseas trekking and cold temperature sub zero places with the WM bag and recently Mikes quilt with liners and they performed well for me as a warm sleeper. Only one way to find out is to try the modern day synth fill but it’s really splitting hairs in terms of what I already have.
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Re: Bibbulmun Track end to end in spring 2019

Postby Rileyr » Mon 28 Oct, 2019 5:38 am

Thanks AI M,

In relation to the synth v down choice I do think synth technology (primarily the climashield apex) has changed the game somewhat. I like the continuous fillament, no baffles, no down to move around. Apex is more durable than other synthetic insulation as well.

Though the age old observations of warmth to weight and compressability are still definitely factors, and synth still doesn't compete in those areas. But for us we prefer the cost saving and versatility of synth.

If you do decide to give them a go, just make sure that when selecting a climashield apex quilt or bag you check what thickness (measured in oz per yard) of the insulation is for the proposed warmth rating. Terra Rosa gear is now only making apex quilts, but their warmth ratings are different to Enlightened Equipment and worth noting. If you can sew making your own gear is easy with apex as well as no baffling is required. Ripstopbytheroll.com has heaps of options.

I tend to agree with EE ratings of 6oz per yard apex = -1deg, 8oz per yard apex = -6deg. For Mon (and maybe other women and cold sleepers) 8oz per yard might be comfortable to 0deg.

I have considered making a 5oz hoodless sleeping bag and a 3.6oz quilt to clip onto it. At a guess the 3.6oz should be ok to +10deg or so, 5oz should be fine to +5deg or lower, combined =8.6oz which should mske -7 or -8 or so (male sleepers)
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Re: Bibbulmun Track end to end in spring 2019

Postby Ms_Mudd » Sun 20 Sep, 2020 2:28 pm

A rainy Sunday here, so just reading all sorts of bits and pieces. Enjoyed this thread immensely. It was great to follow through your preparation and then read how the trip actually went for you. Well done Monica and Rileyr.
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Re: Bibbulmun Track end to end in spring 2019

Postby Mongoose » Sun 25 Oct, 2020 6:23 pm

Not sure how people get their weight down so much, maybe being a fairly big guy doesn’t help.

I am currently looking at doing an E2E of the bib track and only seem to be able to get my base weight to 9kg short of spending massive dollars on a 950 fill power down quilt, not sure I can get any lighter.
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Re: Bibbulmun Track end to end in spring 2019

Postby Equivocator » Tue 17 Nov, 2020 2:37 pm

Have you got it all in a nice, easy to read format?
LighterPack.com is pretty good to organise it and have weights so you can see what you have and where you can save. THen you could ask for a Pack Shake Down and others might see some cheap replacements to save weight.

Leaving behind stuff you don't need (but think you might) is also a great way to save weight, though some people go a bit overboard on that bit.
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Re: Bibbulmun Track end to end in spring 2019

Postby Bam » Tue 17 Nov, 2020 8:23 pm

Mongoose wrote:Not sure how people get their weight down so much, maybe being a fairly big guy doesn’t help.

I am currently looking at doing an E2E of the bib track and only seem to be able to get my base weight to 9kg short of spending massive dollars on a 950 fill power down quilt, not sure I can get any lighter.


If that’s your “true” base weight inclusive of everything that you carry apart from food & water then I think that doesn’t sound too bad at all.

I was in a similar position myself a few months ago & wondered why I just couldn’t get my own cold conditions base weight below 9kg no matter how ruthless (not at the expense of safety though) I was with culling gear out of my pack.
Just like you mention, the one item of gear that I purchased that saw my base weight finally come down to 8.5kg was one of Undercling-Mikes fantastic quilts, a purchase that I’ve been extremely happy with as its a top quality piece of kit that allows me to move around all night & still get a good nights sleep ...money very well spent IMO..!

The more I looked into it the more that I came to realise that quite a few people that state that they have far lower base weights only do so because they either don’t include every little item that they carry or are prepared to sacrifice safety equipment or their own comfort or both to save weight!

Only you can really decide what is & isn’t important in your base weight saving endeavours, after all it’s you that will be carrying both the load & the risk based upon what you decide to take or leave behind.

Personally, by the sound of it I think that you’ve probably already done a good job with you gear culling, all you probably can do now is to tinker around the edges to shave off a few grams here & there or replace some larger items with expensive lightweight gear.

In saying that though, if you do post your Lighterpack.com I’m sure that you receive some useful advice from those far more experienced than myself.

In the last few months I’ve completed several sectional hikes on the Bibb & have recently just past the halfway point (>500kms) so if you have any Bibb specific questions feel free to PM me, not saying that I’ll be able to answer all of your questions but am more than happy to assist where ever I can.
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Re: Bibbulmun Track end to end in spring 2019

Postby BarryK » Thu 04 Feb, 2021 8:51 pm

@Rileyr
Thanks for posting about those EE quilts.

Does anyone know what the "Draft Collar" is?:

https://enlightenedequipment.com/enigma-custom/

I guess that it is something around the neck, but wonder if it is worth having.

Note, I currently own a S2S Micro III, at 695g in its stuff sack, which is great, but going through my gear wondering where weight can be shaved off.

Ha ha, answering my own question, found this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/com ... t_collars/
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Re: Bibbulmun Track end to end in spring 2019

Postby Bam » Fri 05 Feb, 2021 10:30 am

BarryK wrote:
Does anyone know what the "Draft Collar" is?:

I guess that it is something around the neck, but wonder if it is worth having.


It’s something that you will really wish you had on your quilt once temps start to drop!

IMO a draft collar is an essential option on all quilts other than absummer quilt especially as the weight increase would be hardly noticeable whereas the benefits gained for lower temp usage definitely would be.
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