Latest / Everyday Hiker / Overnight Hiking Gear Advice: Part 2

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Overnight Hiking Gear Advice: Part 2 · Everyday Hiker

• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, welcome everyone.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: This is part two in our episode on gear that you will need to set out on an overnight or multi-day hike.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: And last week I'm with my special guest Van DeSilva from K2 Base Camp.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: And last week we looked at the big three tents, sleeping mat, and sleeping bags.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: And that was a really great start.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: And we probably accounted for at least half, maybe two-thirds of our pack weight with those three big items.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: So today we're going to talk about everything else you're going to need to take on your overnight hike.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: And Babe and I were just talking before, and one of the problems is, and firstly, I'll start by saying welcome, Bam.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, thanks for having me again.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_02: One of the problems we're going to have is there are the must-haves and the nice to haves.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: We're going to start with the must-haves.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: And we thought the most important thing to talk about was water, because that is going to account for quite a bit of weight in your pack.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's an unavoidable necessity of any hype, whether it be during the day or overnight.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: So, Ben, last week we talked about that you would really need, as a minimum, three to four litres of water.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: Worst case scenario, you're carrying that much in, but that's a really bad scenario in terms of weight.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: What's your suggestion if you've if you've got to start off with a lot of water because it's a while before you get to a water source, or there's not one at all?
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, the the first point is preparation.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, knowing where you're going, what time of the year that you're going, try and get as much feedback from any hikers that have done the same walk, um, they've done the same campsite in um in the past few months or in the past few weeks, and be mindful that particularly in Queensland, conditions change drastically with water availability and where areas that you think you might have water and there was water a week ago, you might get there and not have water.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: So um just be mindful of that.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh read any sort of notes that you can find.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people use all trails or other um other apps and do give detailed information or what's what sort of levels you uh you're expecting.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um and go prepared for the worse and enjoy it if if it's if it's better than that.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and if it's a national park, you might get some information on national park's site.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um the other thing is though is not to forget that there's just not natural water sources.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: There's water sources potentially at the campsite.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: Now they may not be drinkable, they may not be um you know peria water, but um it we can do something with that.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so some areas will have rain um uh rain water tanks uh just at the campsite, which you just need to be mindful of the the treatment of of that water before before consumption.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um and yeah, you kind of just hope.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's been quite rainy the last few weeks here in in late late April in Queensland, but um so you can kind of guarantee that if there's a water tank, it's gonna be full.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you yeah, again, just don't um don't just count on it.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: And so do you need to take two water bottles or is it bottles?
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: You know, what are your suggestions?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: Is there one that you're going to consume during the hike itself and another where you're going to need to treat that water?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um there's different ways that you could do it.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you could have your hydration bladder, which will carry two to three liters depending on how how big it is, and you can use that as your drinking water to and from uh the uh the hike, depending on how long uh the hike in the temperature, if if it's in summer, obviously you're going to be drinking a lot of water.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you're carrying a bigger load than maybe you used to, if this is your first overnighter.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: So you keep those things in mind, um, though you might consume more water than you're expecting.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, your your bladder is the best way.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: If you prefer bottles, obviously a one-liter null gene bottle.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's the the essential of any outdoors person.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so having at least one, ideally two, even if you want to use it, uh, the other second one for electrolytes, also something to be mindful of.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but those are going to be the the best, simplest ways.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: You don't necessarily need that water bottle to filter uh water.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: There's plenty of other systems you can use um to do that.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: You can have a small flexible um uh a small flexible bottle with a filter.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, life straw, catadyne, um, many other brands, hydropack all make uh bottles like that.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's just very convenient because you can fill them up and squeeze them into your normal bottle uh or into your hydration pack.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: So those are going to be very, very accessible solutions if you if you're out there, even on on a day hike to just have as a as a backup plan.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: They are inexpensive under$100, sometimes even cheaper.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they guarantee that most of the water that you're drinking will be uh will be safe, or if not all the water.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you know if if it is really, really tainted water, very uh very dirty, you still need a bigger system, and nothing beats boiling water anyway.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I was gonna say because that's your other option, isn't it?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: It is to collect water and then boil it.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: There's also hydration tablets, but I think anybody who's tried them will know that they're perhaps not the best tasting solution in the world.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Hydration tablets are not bad if you have the time as well.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: They just take they just take time, uh around half an hour if they're a chlorine tablet, less if it iodine, uh, but as as we know, iodine tablets taste like diluted uh betadine.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not the best, but it does work.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um very good at getting rid of uh germs and and viruses.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: So um in in some areas of the world it's still the best option.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, but there's so many good options nowadays.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much more availability and different brands, different systems that you really don't need to use tablets.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, what about cooking with water?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're wanting to add water to dehydrated meals and things like that, do you think it's generally safe to use water from natural sources or tanks if you boil it for long enough?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: That's what you're saying to add to your meals.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, you can yeah, you can easily do that as long as the water is boiling.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: If you have, say, a jet boil flash, which is you know really a very fancy, expensive kettle, um, you're basically boiling that water anyway.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's that's the best water for you to use because you're not using the reserves that you brought with you.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: You want to leave the campsite the next morning with water reserves for the hike back.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: So you never want, particularly at night, to use every single drop of water because you don't know what the next day is going to bring.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, you want to make sure you want to use the resources available to you as much as possible.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: So that's what you've got to think about.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: You've got to think about how much you're gonna carry in, how much might you be able to collect along the way, how you're gonna treat it, how long that'll take, and um and and it's so that you can set off the next day with the right amount of water.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: So, as you said, there's so many good hydration solutions now, but they're gonna be a very, very important part of your pack.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: So let's go straight to stoves, because apart from boiling water, most people like a hot meal when they're out camping, and particularly because camping's so popular in you know, sort of autumn, winter, and not the the middle of summer.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: What what's your recommendation with stove?
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: Just with weight in mind as well.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: So you have you have two options really when you're looking at stoves.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: You and the your stove choice is going to influence your food choice, and vice versa.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: If you are a dehydrated meal um sort of person, you want to go with the lightest system possible, then you will get a dehydrated meal.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: You'll know exactly you're going to need roughly 200-250 mils of water for uh to produce a one person a one-person meal.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and for that you only need something that boils water.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: So you need an unregulated stove, such as a jet boil flash, which is you can get a one liter, a two-liter, a 0.8 liter, uh, depending on how much water you're wanting to uh to to use.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: The advantage of that is that it's portable, it's super lightweight, it boils water faster than anything else.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you're gonna have your meal cooked and prepped very quickly.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: If you're not a dehydrated meal sort of person, you do want to take uh a bit more of a um a nicer meal, either being couscous, pasta.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: You wanna you want to use the opportunity to to cook while you're out, and a lot of people find that very satisfying, and it's part of the reason why they go out.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, then you want to get something better, you want to get something that is at least regulated.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and by that I mean it has a fuel regulator, uh, which means that you can simmer, control the temperature a lot better.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: You will, however, then need uh somewhere to cook in.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: So then you need to add pots to that equation, you need to have plates.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: So do you have room meals that great because you cut the top, you fill it up, you wait 10 minutes, you open it, tear it again, you use a long spoon, and you have a bowl.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: You just need to carry the trash with you when you um when you're finished and uh leave the campsite as you found it.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's going to be your most simplistic way.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: But if you do take pleasure in eating and enjoying the campsite around food, um then yeah, there's a few more things to carry.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: So, what are we talking weight-wise?
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like we all know the jet boil is really lightweight, but if you're taking a regulated stove and you need to take sort of a half-decent pot that would do a meal for two, are we adding a kilo here or two kilos?
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: You can easily keep it under the the kilo mark.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, you can still get say.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so jet ball just released the new 1.2 and 2 litre troll cooks, uh, which are regulated stoves.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the main advantage of those they come with a pot, they're a very well thought-out system.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so everything comes nice and neatly packed, uh, and it comes with a comes with a pot already.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: So uh that goes one more thing to uh to get.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but if you already own a stove, a small, uh small stove, or a friend of yours has one that is lending you.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you also can option look at options from say Citizum, their frontier range is fantastic.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: You can get kits with one, two pots, with plates, cups, everything already included that kind of nests all in itself, and it's lightweight, lightweight aluminium.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: So um they're not overly expensive, last for a very long time.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: I think I still have one that is at least 10 years old that I keep using.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you don't don't need more.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: So let's talk about fuel source then.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: Because I know one of my panics is that I'll run out of gas.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: How many meals could you cook?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm thinking before we talked about boiling up water overnight.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: Now, if you're only if you can only boil a litre and you want three for the next day, you're gonna have to boil um or use that stove four times.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, to to boil three litres of water plus maybe a meal.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: How many times do you think you can use a small gas canister before you've got to start thinking about taking a spare?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: So if we'll if we're looking at the smallest canister, we're looking at around a 120 gram um canister.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's the smallest one that will fit inside the uh inside a jet boil.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: On the side, if particularly if you buy the jet boil stove, on the side of the canister, it will tell you how many boils do you have out of each level of the um of the canister.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: This is easy to identify if you put your canister inside water, you'll see the condensation and will kind of give you the level.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: It will tell you the level the level at your your your water is at, uh your your fuel is at.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: You if you bought the stove, you do not have to worry about having enough fuel for a few um a few trips.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that they'll last for a long time.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think a maximum one of 120 grams is 24 boils, I believe.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so as long as you're boiling within a certain amount at a decent temperature, obviously the colder you go, the more fuel you use, uh, particularly with an unregulated stove.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, you're gonna have plenty, uh plenty of fuel for eat meals.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: Even if you were boiling up a few litres of water a night and a meal, it's gonna last you five nights pretty comfortably.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, on the focus of an overnighter, you don't need to stress that you're gonna run out of fuel.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, something might happen to to that um to that fuel.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: The same thing that can happen to your stove, you know.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: So you always you can carry redundancies with you.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but at the end of the day, uh, whatever food you can get, even if it's not hydrated, you will still keep you but with enough nutrients.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: And and most of them have got you know self-igniting mechanisms these days.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: So the days of needing to take flint and matches are pretty much over.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: Until the day they're at work, though.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: So you still need to pack a little box of matches just to be sure.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Always carry redundancies for almost everything.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: My favorite one is headlamp, the headlamp redundancy, always carry another one because you never know.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and really we can't really see that well at night.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: So the headlamp is a basic one, it's a basic one for me.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, the same thing, and we know particularly all generations of stove, some what they call the piezo igniter, is quite exposed.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: So you all you need to do is knock it with the rock or knock it, packing it up, and all of a sudden it's not working, and it's the worst thing.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: You have everything available to cook a nice meal, but you can't make fire.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, particularly if you're in a national park, obviously, then you're limited to not be able to make fire.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: And if you could, you don't have a flint to ignite it.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: So there's nothing worse than a cold dehydrated meal.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: I can imagine if I would have to do it, but it just sounds awful.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's um it's not nice unless it's a breakfast.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: Some breakfasts don't need to be uh don't need to be hot.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but um yeah, to carry some matches with you.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: And you talked a bit about um cookware that's really compact and and nests in um each other, so it's um it's really practical.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: I think one of the most beloved utensils has got to be the spork um for hikers.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's generally the recommendation, a long one with a really long stem on it so that you can get into those packets if you need to and not need another bowl.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: You have you have different options.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: If you use the dehydrated uh food, the most popular is going to be the for example, the Citar Summit uh titanium long spork.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's big enough that you can get to the bottom of a um dehydrated meal, no problem.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's going to be nice and easy to carry, it's lightweight, you barely notice that it's there, and you don't need to carry any any more cutlery with you, maybe a cup, but you can also drink out of your water bottle.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, that that would be your minimalist get-in-get-out approach.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, a spork, yeah, it could be a plastic spork, doesn't need to be anything fancy.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as long as you can get food, um, food in, that's all that matters.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: Now I would classify this as a must-have.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: Others might see it as a luxury item, but you've got to wash this up somehow.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_02: And you've also got to take out, so you've you've you've you've got your minimalist dehydrated meal, you've still got your packet.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: The best way to wash up is obviously with some water, but what about wipes these days?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: They're a little bit controversial because people worry about you know them being left behind and the time they take to break down.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: What's the best way if you're taking wipes, if you want to use wipes for a little bit more sanity, what's the best rubbish disposal?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what do you recommend?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: Is it just sealing a plastic bag or is there something better these days that's going to reduce odor?
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, there's two options, obviously.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: If you are staying near an abundant source of water, you can get a very lightweight wash-up basket.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, several brands do it.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Cedar Summit, probably one of the first brands to develop every single accessory you need in a lightweight form.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you have some that weigh less than 20 grams in siliconized nylon.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: You can just have a bucket, use that bucket with water that doesn't need to be clean water because you're just washing the dishes, um, and then get just uh just get rid of the water.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: If not that, then something like wilderness wipes, wipes that are biodegradable and that don't leave any sort of scent um at the campsite are gonna be your best option.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um you can also use wilderness wash, um which is again a non-uh odor-free uh soap and uh and biodegradable that you can use to clean your dishes a little bit more.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: Ideally, you would gonna take those wipes back with you.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: You can have a dry bag specifically designed to be your your rubbish bag.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: You can just have a rubbish bag.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, mindful that some are quite quite thin, so you want something uh strong.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, whatever you take in, try and take out.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_02: All right, so that's cooking.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: Let's let's say we've covered cooking.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: Some of the other absolutely essential items, and you've mentioned one of them, the headlamp, or you're taking two.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they're pretty they're pretty light now these days, aren't they?
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: And LED, so you know, we don't have to worry about the old clunky battery ones.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, what's the what's the sort of minimum requirement you would recommend for a headlamp?
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh for a campsite, you don't need a lot.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: You don't need to see very far when you're at a campsite.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: You're really just doing most of the tasks at arm's way.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so you don't need anything more than 400 lumens comfortably.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but you also might need the headlamp if you do need to go if you're walking.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: If you're walking at night, if you get caught out.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so it's good to have something with with a lot of power.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I, for example, have an 800 lumen one uh which when you look at maximum power, you're really never in maximum power unless you really need it.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: So 800 will likely do a 400 and 600 lumen setting, last for you know at least 12 hours.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, mine in particular is a Phoenix headlamp, which is uh HL18, which is a fantastic headlamp.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: One thing to be mindful of, particularly now that there's a lot of trail running specific headlamps, a lot of them don't have a red light, uh, which is very, very useful when you're at camp, particularly if you need to get up in the middle of a night.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: Last thing you want is to affect your vision by turning on a big bright white light.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so by having a red light means that you keep your eyes still able to see at night, still able to um uh to see very well.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure that your your headlamp has a red light.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, that's a great tip.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_02: All right, so I'm not gonna talk too much about first aid.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: We did an episode a little while ago on what to put in your first aid kit, except to mention that you really need one when you're going overnight and you're not you're not coming out because you know at night is when you might be more likely to trip over something or stand on a stick or whatever it may be.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, some other things that are useful to have.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: Multi-tool.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: Is that is that a must-have or a nice to have?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's that that to me is a must-have.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um because you never you never know.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: You never know what situation you're gonna find yourself in, um, what little things you might end up having to fix, and that being a screw on your headlamp, being a screw on your on your stove that is a liquid stove, for example, so you haven't used it in a while.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so having a multi-tool or a small Swiss Army knife, it's always useful, I think, even even for life in general.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um having uh self-bonding tape.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I think we spoke about with your tent, make sure you have a few spares, make sure you have a um a tent um splinter, which is what you use if a pole breaks, and then self-adhesive tape just allows you to put a lot of things together that's supposed to be together and no longer are, and a bit of um and a bit of uh gaffer tape or you know, uh uh duct tape.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: Tape up those shoes that you know inevitably break break, you know, just when you need them not to pull off those soles.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um what about some basic safety stuff?
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: And we you know and we already have talked about this a little bit, but one that I don't think we've mentioned that's really important is a whistle.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: Because I was looking at your packing list and a whistle came up first, and especially if overnight, I guess, and you're in the dark and you need to attract attention, i a whistle just Plain old little plastic one, but something that people might not think about?
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: Most people will be going out with a backpack, and most backpacks from most brands nowadays will have a whistle.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: I know that all the alpine and rav backpacks will have a whistle on their sternum strap.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it is an essential item because it's gonna attract attention from it further than you trying to yell out.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: Or you might not be able to yell out, or your the sound of your yelling may be confused with uh the sound of a uh nocturnal bird.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: So uh your the whistle is very recognizable, it's heard from a long distance.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: So if you are in trouble and if you think that someone will be looking for you now, uh, because you either activated your PLB or you have uh you have a phone.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: I know the Wes uh on the previous episode spoke about how there's a lot of phones nowadays with satellite connections.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: So uh you you can use that.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, a whistle is gonna be very, very useful.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: And on that same vein, a compass.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: How often do people go out with a compass these days?
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: How many people go out with a map to be able to then use the compass?
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um not as essential.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think nowadays most people will have a watch capable of having a compass, even if they're not, even if they don't have a map loaded onto their watch.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: Most smart watches will have a compass set.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, obviously, always the depending on something that is battery operated, can leave you um, can leave you stranded.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, compasses are nice to have.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: I know I'm gonna take a compass when I go camping with my four-year-old soon, just because I know how much you'll enjoy understanding a compass when uh when being at camp.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but as long as you know where you came from, you're likely going to be able to know where you came from.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, that's a good tip because you got a compass on a phone too.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly to some extent.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: So, but maybe download a good app for that.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_02: Download a good app.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and yeah, if you if you have it on your watch, just be familiar with uh with the things that you have available to you.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: And if you like compasses, just take one.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_02: And you need a power bank to uh power all this, of course, if you're gonna rely on a phone and a watch.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so now let's look at the luxury items, probably top of the list.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm I'm in this camp.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: Some people just need a pillow.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um they've they've got a lot better, but how how often do you think, or how many people take a pillow out with them?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't seen anyone take a home pillow.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we've certainly there's such a an array of different pillows that you can get.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: XPed makes I want to say 10 different models of pillow from the lightest weight 50 gram pillow to a very, very comfortable mega pillow, which similar to the Xbed Mega Mats, which is the most comfortable pillow I've ever had, and also triple the price of the pillows I have at home.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so you can absolutely have the best comfort in uh in a night out uh with a pillow, or you can just shove your clothes in uh in a dry bag or just inside your t-shirt and uh and they'll do.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh they're lightweight these days though, aren't they?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's not really adding weight now.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: You're looking at maximum 50 grams for a lightweight uh pillow, and there's no excuse to not be comfortable.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and a pillow is is a negligible weight uh increase uh from that point of view, and not that expensive.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: You're looking at about$50.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh for a Ben, what you're saying is you're not soft if you want to take a pillow.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, you're not soft at all.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I can it's all about being fresh the next time.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: I can sleep in the dirt, so I don't I'm not too concerned, but some people do need those um to even have a good night's sleep, and most important thing is uh isn't a good night's sleep.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Probably the one the one luxury that I really like to carry with me is a chair, just to being around.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, yeah.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: A chair is just makes your night so much easier because you're not sitting, um not sitting there, you can move a lot easier.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you're not directly on the ground where you might get cold or it might be uh it might be wet.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um so having a a compact a compact chair that doesn't weigh a ton, like just over one kilo with a Hillinox chair, um is is a great luxury.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: And if you don't want the luxury option, you can just get an expat sit pad, which you know costs you sixteen dollars.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's a bit of foam, but it's a very convenient bit of bit of foam.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and that can that can really attach to the outside of your pack too, so it's not taking up much space.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, if if you know at a scratch, that's what you can do.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: And then lastly, I guess what's the latest and greatest in towels?
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: Because that's that's the other item that you know, I I remember when we a camping towel first came out and it was no bigger than a tea towel.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, it's not great when you when you're wanting to have a you know, you want to bathe in the the river or something somewhere along the way.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's just but these days they're they're really absorbent and they're a lot bigger, aren't they?
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_02: But not at great weight.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can get you can get the smallest pocket towels, um Cita Summit, Life Venture, uh Um Mont or make great towels that pack down to to a very small small weights.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: A very um you have synthetic towels that kind of feel like a chamois.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: As you use them, it dries you so quickly.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that yeah, you kind of just really only need to use them once, and they dry very quickly as well.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: Particularly if you're not if you're on the trail for multiple days, you want something that doesn't smell as well.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: So some of them will be uh will have some um some treatments to allow to um to not smell.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: You have some that uh a blend with cotton if you do like that that softer feel um of cotton, but at the end of the day, you have many options that are not gonna break the bank but also not be you know a weight that you don't want to carry.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and and the key there I guess is the quick try, isn't it?
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: Because when you pack up the next morning, the last thing you want to be dragging around with you is a wet towel, and they're likely not to dry overnight.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, particularly if you leave them if you leave it out overnight.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's likely that it's going to have a lot of moisture uh in the morning from from from the morning dew.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um so make sure you pack away your clothing that you've just hung on the line or just just on the uh just on the tent uh before uh before night time, just so that in the morning you don't have an unpleasant surprise of everything being wet, particularly in in winter.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_02: Worst way to start out the next day.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: Particularly your socks and shoes.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_02: We have whizzed through that.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_02: We really were at 30 minutes again, and and we talked at the start of the episode that we haven't even started talking clothing and food.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_02: So it's another episode um to go with.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: But I do want to point out that on the K2 website, and I'll put a link last week, I'll put it there again this week, there are some incredibly useful packing lists.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: And with each packing list, with each packing item, sorry, you can click through and actually see relevant products so and prices and get ideas from them, but nothing beats coming in and getting some expertise in store.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: But it's a really great resource to get you thinking.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_02: And really, my aim with this episode was to um get you thinking about you know, and not to be put off by it, but there's a there's a bit to take, there's a bit to think out, and there's a bit of planning involved, isn't there?
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: Can I just mention one that we didn't speak about that I guarantee a lot of first-time overnight campers are thinking of?
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: How do I go to the toilet?
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: If you're out at camp and it's a bush camp, how am I going to the toilet?
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: So one essential that you want to carry with you is a trowel, a little uh a little trowel.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: You have plastic one, a titanium one, whatever, whatever how fancy you want to be.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: Just take a trial so you can make yourself uh a hole somewhere quiet, somewhere hopefully with a good view, um, and toilet paper.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and make sure the toilet paper is inside a dry bag that don't allow it to get wet.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you can still use it.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then obviously we spoke about wilderness wipes, um, something that doesn't have odor in that uh it's biodegradable.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and um please don't leave the wipes out there.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think we need to say this, but an incredibly helpful thing when camping is naffy bags because they are designed, you know, your naffy disposal bags, they are designed to get rid of odor.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, or the other one is doggy bags, but it's not as good with the odor.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: The naffy bags are better for that.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, you're you're quite right.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_02: I had it on my list.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of like a delicate topic though that uh not everybody wants to think about, but it's quite important when you're overnight.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: Guaranteed that everyone's gonna be thinking, How am I doing this?
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: Particularly if they've been roped in by someone else.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_02: All right, well, bam, thank you again for your time.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_02: It's been really great today.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_02: Get some more insights on gear that you have to take.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_02: And like I said, I'm gonna put all those links on the website.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so if you've enjoyed listening today, please share with your friends, give me a like, support the podcast.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_02: Appreciate you listening.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_02: And in the meantime, beautiful um autumn weather.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: So get out there and happy hiking.