Bushwalk Australia

I am curious about people's favourite pieces of equipment that are technically a luxury?

Or are heavier than needed for the item, but add to their comfort and enjoyment so they're prepared to take the hit on the extra weight?

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This is my necessity/indulgence. Nice pic with back Addis in the background, fifth from the top. 130 grams of raw caffeine power.

Given that my base weight was around 4Kg it is not too serious - still UL but now on the edge.

The area I have added back a bit of weight is in my sleeping mat and a proper pillow - nothing more important than a good nights sleep. I have gone from a short Neoair to to a full length Wide Exped +200 grams plus 55g for the pillow (Exped UL). The wide mat makes an incredible difference for me. As an antidote I now only carry my phone for photos unless it is a particularly special trip.

I have also added a bit to my cook kit to provide a more flexible setup - from 200g up to 300g.

My 68 yo bones are currently arguing about a Equinox Chair Zero (+520 grams) - I suspect only for longer trips but I haven't succumbed yet.

nitecore EC4GT torch, I hike at night and the beam nice to have, also can deter dogs at close range. Also a maxpedition FRP pouch as a hip pouch. Its overbuilt mall ninja tacticool style but I wanted the internal structure to protect my GPS, phone, optics, compass etc. They bang around too much in light pouches when pushing hard scrub.

Lil' hiking chair. No better feeling than comfortably watching an incredible sunset from a comfy chair. Also there's no better way to make people jealous after a hard days walk than to pull up a chair next to someone's dusty, wobbly, pointy, not quite level rock that they call an uncivilised stool. It's also a good way to be threatened that your chair will be burnt during the night.

A hip flash of spirits. Can get 2 nights out of an 8oz but 1 night is better Current favourite is Havana Club Rum.

Rope. Usually Spectra, sometimes static nylon cord if I might be rappelling. Often also a nylon sling and a carabiner or two. 5-6mm, about 20m. VERY useful, multipurpose stuff. Might go 9 trips without touching the stuff, on the tenth it saves your life. Good for washing lines to lifelines. Build rafts, improvised shelters, move logs. Makes a great pillowtop too.

Extra cellophane groundsheet. Nice to have somewhere dry and clean to park, if the tarp isn't up. Lighter than a chair. Very cheap. Also multipurpose as emergency rain poncho/shelter, vapor liner, water storage, boot liners etc

DLSR. I like photos. God its a pig tho....

Steak. Scotch fillet, fatty. Bit of HP sauce. Tasty. More nutritionally dense than more folk realize. Lighter than whole cow. Usually bring some freshish greens and bacon too. Smell makes other hikers very jelly...except the vegans, which is even better evening entertainment.

A second vote for good coffee - there's nothing like watching other people's faces when you brew up an espresso and they're trying to digest International Roast!

I did carry Easter eggs one trip when my son was a bit younger. He still talks about waking up to find Easter eggs spread around the tent!

ChrisJHC wrote:I did carry Easter eggs one trip when my son was a bit younger. He still talks about waking up to find Easter eggs spread around the tent!

We had the opposite reaction from our kids when we did this (although we never even got around to getting the eggs out of the bag). Our kids still talk about the Easter when the wallabies ate all the Easter eggs and they got none!

Mark F wrote:My 68 yo bones are currently arguing about a Equinox Chair Zero (+520 grams) - I suspect only for longer trips but I haven't succumbed yet.

I hear you Mark! My 65 yo bones are still rejoicing after my first use of my Helinox Chair Zero. Admittedly the walk in/out was only 3 hours or so, and we base-camped, but I will have trouble not including this on all future walks. So delightful at the end of the day ... and the beginning ... and pretty much any other time you want to relax without retiring to the tent. A brilliant birthday purchase from my wife!

cheers

Peter

My weighty luxury is my wide sleep pad. It weighs in at 728 g, which I know is massively weighted compared to what most people would be happy with. However, that mat makes all the difference to me on a trip.
I have abdo wall weakness from carrying my giant babies, so my core even with as much work as I can give it, will never be "strong". This weakness predisposes me to lower back and hip issues, I also work in health so do work that can be physically demanding. My back is everything. I cannot afford to be sore from an uncomfortable nights sleep so am extremely happy to take on some extra grams to ensure blissful slumber.

Oh and I carry TWO UL pillows. Oooo la laaa, so indulgent! One is the S2S Ul and the other is a Naturehike knockoff of the S2S. I use the NH pillow for my head and the S2S to bolster my hips when I side sleep, so the second pillow is also serving to help my back and hips stay comfortable.

Ms_Mudd wrote:My weighty luxury is my wide sleep pad. It weighs in at 728 g, which I know is massively weighted compared to what most people would be happy with.

If its any consolation SIM is 950g, guess I should add that to the list too. I'm an xxxl sized guy.

Interesting - appears the priorities for luxuries are (understandably...)

DECENT COFFEE / COFFEE MAKING EQUIP
CHAIR (Helinox Chair Zero)
WIDE SLEEPING MAT FOR EXTRA COMFORT (65 cm width, rather than regular 50/55 cm width)
LITTLE TREATS (STEAK, ALCOHOL, EASTER EGGS etc)
TECHNOLOGY (GOOD DSR CAMERA, GOOD TORCH)
VERSATILE SURVIVAL STUFF (ROPE, CELLOPHANE GROUDSHEET ETC)

@Ms_Mudd Out of curiosity, what type of mat is your 728 gram mat?

I recently bought a Zero chair, and love it. I use it casually for taking along while my daughter plays in the park, and not just for hiking. At around 500 grams it's amazing. I'm thinking I may lug it on the Overland Track even, and pay the weight penalty for taking it.

I'm not sure where one draws the line on what "technically" constitutes a luxury.
Is it just something you could carry on safely without?

If that's it then I often carry the following luxuries:

- stove/pot/fuel
- headlamp
- fully enclosed tent
- change of socks
- hiking poles
- sunscreen
- toilet paper
- camera
- phone

But whisky is not in that list. When that runs out I have to leave the wilderness.

emma_melbourne wrote:
@Ms_Mudd Out of curiosity, what type of mat is your 728 gram mat?

A relatively cheap mat compared to some out there https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-k ... tralight-v

I got the long/wide. It is far too long for my actual height, I considered shortening it to cut some weight, but honestly, if it all went pearshaped and I ruined the mat, I would cry- it really is my favourite mat out of the many,many I have tried. The insulation isn't the crinkly, noisy stuff that some manufacturers use and the fabric isn't noisy or too slippery either.

My 68 yo bones are currently arguing about a Equinox Chair Zero (+520 grams) - I suspect only for longer trips but I haven't succumbed yet.

Seen the Sea to Summit chair - you just put your mattress in it

Bacon, good coffee and port wine are not luxuries but the essentials of a good walk. The S2S comfort plus lets me sleep, not well but good enough. I suppose the crystal glassware could be left behind tho but a port glass weighs very little

Ms_Mudd wrote: My back is everything. I cannot afford to be sore from an uncomfortable nights sleep so am extremely happy to take on some extra grams to ensure blissful slumber.

Ms_Mudd - have a think about moving to a hammock. Many people find that it does wonders for their back issues when camping.
There are pros and cons as in all things but it's worth having a look.

In my case, I won't go back to the ground unless there are no trees to hang from.

whynotwalk wrote:

Mark F wrote:My 68 yo bones are currently arguing about a Equinox Chair Zero (+520 grams) - I suspect only for longer trips but I haven't succumbed yet.

I hear you Mark! My 65 yo bones are still rejoicing after my first use of my Helinox Chair Zero. Admittedly the walk in/out was only 3 hours or so, and we base-camped, but I will have trouble not including this on all future walks. So delightful at the end of the day ... and the beginning ... and pretty much any other time you want to relax without retiring to the tent. A brilliant birthday purchase from my wife!

cheers

Peter

+1. My 64 yo bones are also rejoicing the last few overnight trips with my Aldi knock off of the Helinox Chair One. OK it's a bit heavier around 800 gms I think, but what luxury!
The fist time I used it the looks from my companions were priceless. Since then one or two more chairs have started to appear

ChrisJHC wrote:

Ms_Mudd wrote: My back is everything. I cannot afford to be sore from an uncomfortable nights sleep so am extremely happy to take on some extra grams to ensure blissful slumber.

Ms_Mudd - have a think about moving to a hammock. Many people find that it does wonders for their back issues when camping.
There are pros and cons as in all things but it's worth having a look.

In my case, I won't go back to the ground unless there are no trees to hang from.

I have been intrigued by hammocks for quite some time, but haven't given it a go. I worried about finding likely looking trees and not being tall enough to tie it up high enough etc. We did have a hammock between some fruit trees here at home and I would often sleep in it after night shift if the weather was nice , I found it extremely comfortable.

I usually take a small set of watercolour paints, a few bits of good watercolour paper and two brushes. I like to tinker with some botanical drawing- with all it's terribly fine detail- after walking all day with the panorama of the landscape. It's very relaxing. When I get back home I stitch the papers together to make a small book... So I now have a few of these small books from different trips.

It's all made even more relaxing with a sip of almond rum from a small, plastic hipflask. Topped off with reading a bit of book before bed. Three luxuries!

Wow Zzoe- your pictures look great! Definitely worth the weight

Lovely way to keep yourself amused, Zzoe.

Thanks Lizzy and ofuros . I'm quite hopeless with weights on things... We have a horribly old fashioned hiking saucepan set which weighs quite a bit but we're sentimentally attached to it .... Also my husband carries an SLR camera which weighs a ton, and then additionally I carry a small camera that fits in the pocket so I can happy-snap things. We are most definitely *not* light weight!

But we're really good at keeping weight down on food and clothes. We just finished a nice long stretch of the Bibbulmun Track and our longest section without resupply was eight days. I know that many here have done three times that (amazing!), but we were carrying food for the family of four... One of whom is an almost-teenage boys who eats more than my husband and I together (now we just have to get him to carry it!). So I sort of felt justified in lugging along my watercolour set

Hi Zzoe,

Watercolour is not easy but you look like you have mastered the technique for sure. Lovely work.
And 8 days with a family and no resupply would be a stretch for most anyone here!

johnw wrote:

whynotwalk wrote:

Mark F wrote:My 68 yo bones are currently arguing about a Equinox Chair Zero (+520 grams) - I suspect only for longer trips but I haven't succumbed yet.

I hear you Mark! My 65 yo bones are still rejoicing after my first use of my Helinox Chair Zero. Admittedly the walk in/out was only 3 hours or so, and we base-camped, but I will have trouble not including this on all future walks. So delightful at the end of the day ... and the beginning ... and pretty much any other time you want to relax without retiring to the tent. A brilliant birthday purchase from my wife!

cheers

Peter

+1. My 64 yo bones are also rejoicing the last few overnight trips with my Aldi knock off of the Helinox Chair One. OK it's a bit heavier around 800 gms I think, but what luxury!
The fist time I used it the looks from my companions were priceless. Since then one or two more chairs have started to appear

My walking companions are always asking me how much my chair weighs.. as they try and find a comfortable seat on damp logs.. Not seen a chair appear yet but Im sure its just a matter of time. The chair will inherit the earth

Zzoe wrote:I usually take a small set of watercolour paints, a few bits of good watercolour paper and two brushes. I like to tinker with some botanical drawing- with all it's terribly fine detail- after walking all day with the panorama of the landscape. It's very relaxing. When I get back home I stitch the papers together to make a small book... So I now have a few of these small books from different trips.

It's all made even more relaxing with a sip of almond rum from a small, plastic hipflask. Topped off with reading a bit of book before bed. Three luxuries!

Amazing work. Those paints aren't a luxury to my way of thinking, they are a purpose.

My last "luxury" was a paperback copy of Wuthering Heights.

Yep, a 45 year old tradesman galavanting around the Southern Blue mountains for 3 days reading an Emily bronte novel...the bush can do weird things to people.

What's wrong with Wuthering Heights? Obsessional fidelity, deification,tortuous social manipulation, everyone should read it. Now if any human male or female was carrying around fifty shades of manilla that might be bothersome.

Zzoe wrote:I usually take a small set of watercolour paints, a few bits of good watercolour paper and two brushes. I like to tinker with some botanical drawing- with all it's terribly fine detail

image.jpeg

Wow. V beautiful.

My mother, who died last year at the grand age of 92, spent a lot of time doing botanical illustrations....I’m just in the process of moving all her stuff out of her house, for settlement next weekend, and there seem to be a gazillion botanical watercolours. Also v taken with your banksia nut - I’ve been using them for making knife handles.

Anyway, back to the OP, my helinox chair zero...lighter then my chair one.....in fact, so light that on my last trip it blew in to the fire, and now has some significant melt spots and the seat needs to be replaced.

A