The Feathertop circuit this week?

[Moondog55]

I'm leaving Wednesday and going to amble from Falls to Hotham and around.
Having just looked at the weather and knowing that I may be walking quite slowly I have just added a half kilo to my pack and put in a Nanopuff and a set of winter weight long-johns and an extra pair of socks.
This after taking most of the cold weather gear out.
For those of you with experience of the Macpac Alpha pullover how does it work out as an active layer? I only just bought it and haven't worn it in bad weather yet and I am trying to decide between that and an older Polartec100 top. Yes I have an UL windshirt.

[ggorgeman]

Have a great walk MD, enjoy getting out and I’m looking forward to a write-up upon return. Stay safe. Sorry I can’t comment on the gear, but your experience should hold you in good stead.

[Moondog55]

The pack is much heavier than I would like at 23 kilos but as I can't afford to get even slightly chilled [ that damned recurring tropical fever from Nuigini] I've added an couple of extra hairspray canisters of gas and my winter belay parka back in there. Water add another 2 kilos
Also I decided not to go lite on the calories and there's a kilo plus a day of food and fuel and no Mars bars

[sandym]

As a person with virtually no ultralight gear even I think that is heavy.

[Moondog55]

Base weight is light enough at 11 kilos, it's all those consumables and that extra warm layer, the DeadBird parka weighs 950 grams in XXL.
Forecast is for cold, windy and miserable so I swapped out the lightweight shell for my winter shell.

[Moondog55]

I couldn't do it.
I spent a couple of nights at the Horseyards camp site getting used to the alitiude but just couldn't sleep and woke up each morning groggy and debilitated
I thought I could, but after leaving out the CPAP machine and battery to drop the base weight I had absolutely no oomph at all.
If I am going to keep bushwalking I am going to have to save up and spend some serious money on an UL packable machine and a modern powerpack and mini solar panel; but even so I can't see it weighing much less that a couple of kilos
I sold the small panel and powerpack I had because all it was good for was keeping my phone charged
Since I was diagnosed with very severe sleep apnea I have been sort of tied to a damned machine at nite
If there are any other suffers here who have found an ultra lite solution I'd love to hear about it

[ggorgeman]

Sorry to hear that MD, you've probably already tried car-camping (for base camp) with some solid day-walk loops. Can you run the CPAP on 12v from spare battery?

[Moondog55]

I can but the small battery I have is only good of about 10 hours of use and takes a while to charge up again.
It's a 70VA draw because I need the maximum Positive pressure
I couldn't afford the dedicated LW battery when I bought the portable machine but it's only good for an overnite anyway and not much change from a thousand dollars when they come back into stock here
Battery weight is high no matter what technology is used but naturally lead-Acid is the heaviest. Like carrying an extra 4 litres of water
Car camping I'll have to buy a decent deep cycle battery.