Here is what I’m taking with me for this walk, maybe useful to anyone else doing this walk. If you are going to camp along the way and spend the usual week or two doing the walk, you’ll obviously need a lot more gear:
Equipment
Pack: Macpac Amp Race 40
Shoes: Saucony Xodus 3.0
Headtorch: Petzl Tikka 2
Spare headtorch: Princeton Tec Remix
Handtorch: Arlec 9 LED
Camera: Sony Cybershot
GPS: Garmin Etrex Vista mapping
PLB: Acusat
Hydration: Osprey Hydraform 3L and 3x 600ml drinking bottles
Other gear:
- Day/Night reflective safety vest
- Compass
- Whistle
- Mobile phone
- First aid kit. Includes bandages for snake bite & blister tape, among other things.
- Space blanket (as emergency tarp shelter)
- Emergency bag (bag version of blanket)
- No Doz and No Doz Plus caffeine tablets
- Paracetemol tablets
- ipod nano x 2
- a tiny radio
- Insect and leech repellant
- Sunscreen
- Bodyglide and vasoline
- Pocket knife
- Chlorine tabs for cleaning water
- Track notes for the unclear section Warners Bay to Charlestown
- Map of Basin area, Somersby – Yarramalong, and Watagan HQ – Heaton lookout which have less clear track
Nutrition
- Gu Gels
- Gu Roctane Gels
- Hammer Perpetuem Solids food tablets
- Hammer Endurolytes electrolyte tablets
- Energy bars: Hammer & Raw Food brands
- Peanut butter sandwiches
- Plain flat bread
- Vita weet biscuits
- Coconut flavoured peanuts
- Shrimp flavoured peanuts
- Rice crackers
- Fruit cake
- Mango/coconut jellies
- 600ml bottle of potato & leek soup
- two small packets of BSC recovery protein
Clothes
In addition to the shoes mentioned above
- Board shorts (quick-drying, but much tougher than running shorts so more resistant to scrub and sitting on rough surfaces)
- Lightweight rain jacket, with hood
- Drymax socks
- Compressport calf sleeves
- Lightweight cap
- Sunglasses
- T Shirt
- Spare socks x 3 pairs
- Thermals, top and bottoms
- Ultra light fleece jacket
- Change of clothes for afterwards
There are a few places along the way where I can buy food and drink. There are also some taps and several creeks with good water.
Figured they’d be in there, just worth the reminder.
Ha, ha. I keep on forgetting that other people have eyelashes and don’t need goggles to walk in the bush.
Looking good if that stuff is ‘covered’!
pocket knife (or at least scissors for nail snags/cutting tape)
paper map / track notes / map case
Parachute/blind cord for tying tarp shelter to tree, or tying stuff to pack, or for splints
beanie
clear/night glasses to keep branches from tearing your eyeballs out (saves lower arms a bit)
medicare card, money for return trip
any routine medications
steritabs
protein food apart from peanuts? cheese?
thanks for the advice, Most of those things are already in the kit, live permanently in the pack anyway – neglected to list them. Night glasses etc overkill: it is GNW so no scrub bashing. GPS is mainly for tracking distance, not navigation.
About half of the food items listed contain protein, so that is fine. Cheese is too heavy! Also, walking/running nonstop is a slightly different proposition to camping. When you are moving, your body cannot efficiently take in and use nearly as much protein, or calories in general, as when you are resting. It is impossible and unwise to try to replace what you are using, only to “top it up”. Real protein recovery happens after the event. Try to eat too much on the move and you risk getting sick.
My “menu” is based on pretty extensive trial and error over lots of walks, and I’m comfortable it works for me.
List updated.