What sort of tent should I take on Overland?

[matto]

Hello Im planning to do Overland in September. Im relatively new to trekking and need tent advice please...I really dont want to spent hundreds of dollars! Has anyone just used a cheapy which did the job? Some people have told me it might be better to sleep in your tent even if the huts are empty because it will be warmer in the tent as the heat is kept in. Does this sound right?

Also Im curious if the bunks at the huts have mattresses? Just seeing if I should invest in a decent inflating sleeping mat... Thank you everyone!

[Nuts]

My first trip was with a cheap A frame tent. We were caught in a blizzard at Pinestone Valley. I needed to get out and put rocks on the pegs, we didn't sleep anyway because the leeches were crawling up and dropping in through the mesh.

So.. yes, it is possible, especially as the campsites are now in the vicinity of public huts. I wouldn't let cheap gear stop me (for that track) but the better quality = piece of mind. Some of the cheap dome style tents are probably much better in bad weather than that old A frame.

You will need some sort of mattress. Closed cell foam is ok, something that inflates is better as the campsites are all hard timber platforms (as are the hut bunks)

Hope this helps, have a good time!!

[Strider]

September is snow season. I personally wouldn't be headed out there at that time of year with anything less than the best tent and sleeping gear that you can muster.

[Tortoise]

Some people have told me it might be better to sleep in your tent even if the huts are empty because it will be warmer in the tent as the heat is kept in. Does this sound right?

In the bunk rooms at Pelion in August, I don't think the temperature went above 1 degree C in 6 days/nights. Wasn't there the whole time of course, but the puddle of water on the floor when we got there was still there when we left.

I expect a good tent would be warmer than that, a cheap or drafty tent (some good but lighter weight ones with mesh inners) may not be at night.
Certainly in non-insulated huts, it was always warmer in a tent by the wee small hours. Not sure re the OLT huts now though.

But huts with a heater in the same room as the bunks - eg Kiaora & Pine Valley IIRC - can be toasty - too much so for some of us.
But not all the heaters are working all the time.

Last edited by Tortoise on Fri 08 Feb, 2013 9:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Erica]

Just a thought, and I don't know the answer, but can you hire good tents? I know you can hire a pretty big range of outdoors gear.

[alanoutgear]

You can't afford to muck around if planning to do the Overland in winter. Even though it is a well trodden path, September can get mighty cold, mighty windy, mighty wet, and also mighty white. I wouldn't consider anything other than a well made four season tent with proven capacity to carry a snow load. I'd also recommend a decent mattress, such as a Exped Downmat 7 or similar. Some on the forum will say the Downmat is too heavy, but I've had mine for 4 or 5 years and it has never let me down, and always kept me warm. Take a good quality sleeping bag as well, I use a Down bag, but there are good synthetic bags too. The same temperature in the day and in the night will feel colder in the night because you are less active then, and there's something about darkness that seems to intensify the way we feel cold.

You can stay in the huts if there is room, but they can be pretty stuffy if the heater is working, and feel colder than staying in your tent if it isn't.

The Overland can be beautiful in winter, but also potentially dangerous for the unprepared. Take or hire a PLB!

[Nuts]

lol, yes, good post, i should have said just that !!!
(sept is spring ftr)