Fighting Gravity

As the years go by, I find myself attempting to reduce the weight of my pack more and more. In years gone past when I used a medium format view camera (heavy like a brick )I carried a pack sometimes approaching 30kgs without problem but now I find it much more enjoyable to carry a lighter pack. 

The trend these days is to go ultra lightweight and there are many people that take on serious walks in Tasmania and elsewhere using super light tents and lightweight footwear, packs etc.

The number of times I have seen people, particularly on the Western Arthurs Facebook Forum, espousing their ultra lightweight gear is to me, a worrying trend. Ultra lightweight is fine until conditions change and then suddenly that gossamer weight tent doesn’t look quite so attractive.

I went for an overnight walk this week trying out some new gear from Mont. The aim was to have a lighter pack but to still be prepared for most conditions that a Tasmanian summer is likely to provide (bearing in mind that wind, rain and snow are all possible in summer in Tassie).

Swapping my trusty Mont Backcountry pack for its lighter and simpler cousin, the Flyte, saved me almost a kilogram in weight but I still had heaps of room for all of my gear including camera equipment. The Flyte is a nice simple canvas pack that is very comfortable to wear. 

Leaving my usual MSR Windburner stove at home and instead teaming an MSR Pocket Rocket with a lightweight heat exchanger pot saved some more weight.

I chose to take Mont’s amazing Zero Superlight 1000 loft down sleeping bag, rated down to 2°C but good for a few degrees lower if teamed with my Mont Ultralight Zero down jacket. Throw in a Polartec Powertretch Pro Slinx top along with Powerdry long sleeve top, pants and balaclava and I knew I was equipped for a pretty wide temperature range. I still took my heavyweight waterproofs, Odyssey jacket and Austral pants because sometimes there is no substitute for quality outer gear.

I packed Mont’s new Hypermid Ultralight Pyramid tent, a 2 person 1.35kg shelter which should be exceptionally wind stable due to its proven design. It can use walking poles (which I always use) once again saving the weight of an extra pole.

And the end result? 15.6kgs total pack weight including 4.5kgs of camera gear so that is a pack weight of 11.1kgs for the average bushwalker while still using quality gear capable of withstanding fairly harsh conditions. Not bad…

Geoff Murray
Mont Ambassador