First time doing OLT. Newbie with lots of questions

[tassie kate]

Hi everyone, I’m a complete newbie to anything more that day hike/over nighter trip. So doing the Overland Track is huuuuge for me.

Background; 29 year old female who works as a nurse so active on my feet all day, 158 cm tall, 68 kg medium build with just an average fitness level. Will be doing the track with my boyfriend (has done a 4 nighter before) his best friend and girlfriend, 3x 30 year olds and a 50 year old who’s done the track 3 times before. We are planning on starting Sunday the 29th May and coming out Friday 3rd/Saturday 4th depending on side tracks ect…someone in our group is planning the days and side tracks so I’m not sure of details yet.
I have lots and lots of questions so if anyone can help me out it’d be great.

We’ve already got a 2 person quality hiking tent so the boyfriend will be carrying that. We’ve got pretty good sleeping bags that should….should keep us warm. I’ve got thermals and beanie, waterproof jacket, hiking boots and gaiters.

Suggestions for the following:
Sleeping mat
Pillow of some sorts??
We need to organise something for cooking…last time used a trangia that we borrowed. What options are there for light weight but really good/reliable? This is a part that’s totally foreign so will need lots of research as to how they work.
What type of water container/flask do you suggest and how much water should I carry?? Are there plenty of places to fill up water bottles? Also do you suggest water tabs or boiling?
Brands or hints around what type of hiking pack to buy…what should I look for that’s good/bad?
Things that MUST be taken
Meal ideas/snack ideas
Any general helpful information or tips/tricks to packing lightly and knowing what to take…I’m freaking out I’ll forget something important and will be miserable for 6 days

[Nuts]

Hi tassie kate,

I'd like to be helpful but you've covered a lot of forum content in questions

I'd suggest an insulated sleeping pad, a pillow can be made from spare clothes (even raingear) in a bag or there are buyable options.

Ideally, a gas stove with a (iso-butane) canister separated by a line/tube to the stove for colder weather.
Alternatively a simple screw-on-top stove will also work well enough in the usual range of temps out there, then.

I'd suggest water won't be such an issue (hopefully). A litre is more than enough and there are many good water sources.

Try searching those topics individually here?, opinions, brands and models will come up.

[bumpingbill]

Suggestions for the following:
Sleeping mat
Pillow of some sorts??
We need to organise something for cooking…last time used a trangia that we borrowed. What options are there for light weight but really good/reliable? This is a part that’s totally foreign so will need lots of research as to how they work.
What type of water container/flask do you suggest and how much water should I carry?? Are there plenty of places to fill up water bottles? Also do you suggest water tabs or boiling?
Brands or hints around what type of hiking pack to buy…what should I look for that’s good/bad?
Things that MUST be taken
Meal ideas/snack ideas
Any general helpful information or tips/tricks to packing lightly and knowing what to take…I’m freaking out I’ll forget something important and will be miserable for 6 days

For cooking, I use a simple isopropane/butane gas burner. The gas the cheap (enough) and the burner can be purchased on eBay for about $70. Look for the MSR pocket rocket, for something that's light (enough) and cheap (enough). Alternatively you could just borrow the trangia again - keeps the costs down.

For food (mainly dinner) check out Strive Foods. It's local Tassie business. http://www.strivefood.com.au/shop/main-meals

Many of the meals are great. I'd avoid the Beef Massaman Curry though. Also, if you're going to use Strive it's a good idea to let it soak as long as possible. Make sure that everything is re-hydrated. Also, to save fuel you can bring the pot to a boil then turn the burner off and wait 20 mins. Then turn the burner on again, warm it up and you'll be done.

Water - I use a 1 or sometimes a 1.5L PET bottle from Coles. It's 80 cents. It's light. Fill up from lakes or tanks at the hut. Finding water is never an issue. There's been a bit of chat here about water treatment (viewtopic.php?f=25&t=597). Best bet is to avoid getting water from popular areas or if it's downhill from one of them. I've never treated water in Tasmania, and I've never had an issue

For packing lightly, take layers of clothes. You'll need to make sure you've got a coat too. The Overland can get pretty cold, even in May.

Have you had a look at Chapman's Overland Track guide yet? Might get some tips there too?

[north-north-west]

Re the sleeping mats: Nuts has a number of used Thermarest NeoAir AllSeason mats for sale in the Market Place section of the forum. They're very good mats (use one myself) and will cost a fraction of what you'd pay for new.

[Strider]

You can get a simple gas stove for much less than $70. Have a look at Fire Maple and Kovea units on Ebay.

Waterproof pants would also be worth carrying.

[tassie kate]

Thank you everyone for their quick responses. I've heard of strive and I live near by so i'll pop in on Monday and pick some up!! I wonder why avoid the curry....because its a curry??

I've still got lots to research when it comes to cookers/burners ect there are so many out there to think about...i'd like the lightest, quickest at boiling water and one that uses as little fuel as possible so we don't have to carry crazy amounts in.

Off on Monday to look at a hiking pack...currently I don't have a big enough one...any tips from people for packs??
Cheers again

[Overlandman]

Hi Tassie Kate

Put all the heavy stuff in your boyfriends pack.
Keep yours nice & lite.
Regards OLM

[bumpingbill]

Thank you everyone for their quick responses. I've heard of strive and I live near by so i'll pop in on Monday and pick some up!! I wonder why avoid the curry....because its a curry??

I've still got lots to research when it comes to cookers/burners ect there are so many out there to think about...i'd like the lightest, quickest at boiling water and one that uses as little fuel as possible so we don't have to carry crazy amounts in.

Off on Monday to look at a hiking pack...currently I don't have a big enough one...any tips from people for packs??
Cheers again

The curry just gets really watery. It's not so much curry, but soup. This isn't just a one time observation - I've seen it happen several times Maybe it's just how we cooked it, to be fair.

I think with stoves, the choice is: cheap, fast, fuel efficient - but you can only pick two of those!

For fuel usage, I've found the 100g canisters last me about 4 or 5 days of usages for coffee (x2) and dinner at night. YMMV. There are heaps of videos out there, so have a look.

[DanShell]

+1 for strive foods and I also agree the Beef Massaman Curry is not my favourite but the Laksa is nice.

As for cooking, dont over complicate it.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Folding-Tita ... Sw~bFWJL4o

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Snow-Peak-70 ... SwL7VWm08~

There you go, for around $50 you will be fine on the OLT and light. Use a 230g canister and that will see you through easily.

[Lophophaps]

Bushwalking cook book
http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=22057