Hi everyone,

My wife and I are beginning to plan a trek of the Larapinta Trail in central Australia for June/July next year. It is a 223KM trail and average temps are 0C-20C (32-68) but can can go below freezing and a bit warmer (up to 30C/86F).
This is a preliminary gear list using only what we currently have.
The worst weight offenders I see at the moment are the tent and the rain gear. I think the heavy packs will be needed if we are carrying food for ~2 weeks.
There is the possibility of food drops but I'm not sure how secure they are or if we want to use them anyway as it is a thru-hike and would require us to travel along it by car first and then back to the beginning to start walking.
We might look at replacing our neo-air regulars with shorts also.

http://www.geargrams.com/list?id=3441


Any help lightening our pack would be great!

Thanks

Benen

Edited by benen on 07/07/2011 07:14:19 MDT.

I think you've doubled up on the Neo Air's there? My girlfriends regular only weighs 345g? I've got a short. You'll probably need some sort of padding under your heels with it.

The Osprey pack cover seems heavy. My Sea to summit one is 125g. Could go even lighter with a Cuben one.

Could possibly trim the packs down a bit. Maybe ditch the lids or at least the bum bag straps from the lids if you don't need the space but still want the suspension of the big bags.

Maybe go for a simpler tyvek tent footprint if you're not planning on setting the tent fly up by itself.

Maybe some lighter rainwear if there isn't going to be much bush bashing? Poncho maybe?

That's two regular neo airs so far. Trimming my pack has crossed my mind for sure. Something I've been meaning to do. The excess is quite long.
The Sea to Summit Duo tent really interests me. I'm waiting for a review of it to come out. I only heard about it the other day but it looks promising!
Cheers for pointing out the pack covers. They are a bit heavy. Might go of a light liner instead?
How does esbit compare to alcohol on longe trips? That's another option that has crossed my mind.
Our rain gear is also our wind shell for the cool nights so a poncho is probably out. A lighter jacket/pant option is definitely on the cards though and I'm very open to suggestion!

Thanks for the reply.

Benen

Edited by benen on 07/07/2011 03:25:26 MDT.

Ok. Sorry. I'm only just understanding how that table works with the weights and quantities. So the pack covers are only 110g each? That's better than mine. But yeah, because the packs aren't canvas hopefully they won't absorb much water so it might be better to just go with liners.

Maybe consider a tarp tent?

zpacks rain kilt instead of the rain pants?

Do you know how much rain the track usually gets that time of year?

It's still a long time away but I really enjoy the planning side of things too. The better prepared we are the more we will enjoy the hike I think.
Gear Grams seems great so far but It can be a bit confusing when you are listing gear for two people!
Rain is possible but unlikely. They average 2 rainy days per month during winter.

Edited by benen on 07/07/2011 20:44:30 MDT.