Updated 2024:
AAWT Ultralight Solo Gear List (4.6kg)
Contents
Here is what we would take if we walked the AAWT solo assuming an early summer walk (and not chasing the FKT!). This gear list could also be a good starting point for your own trip. Whilst it is a bit heavier than our normal 3 season gear lists, we think it’s important to have a higher level of redundancy on the AAWT. This is because of how remote the track is, and the lack of towns to fix problems that could arise.
Total weight in list: 5896g
Worn weight: 1338g
Base weight: 4555g
Sleeping
| Item | Product | Weight (g) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tent | Durston X-Mid Pro 1 (DCF Floor) | 448 | Easy setup and excellent weather protection. |
| Stakes | 4 x 160mm DAC J-Stake (10.7g ea) and 4 x RT90 Swiss Piranha (3.2g ea) | 56 | J-Stakes for four corners and RT90 for others. |
| Stake bag | Toaks Peg Bag | 3 | Cheap. |
| Sleeping bag | Cumulus X-Lite 400 | 575 | 400g of down. |
| Sleeping mat | Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT | 375 | 4.5 R-value. In DCF stuff sack. |
| Groundsheet | Polycro | 20 | For protecting sleeping mat when in huts. Cut to size of sleeping mat. |
| Ear plugs | 0 | ||
| Total | 1477 |
Kitchen
| Item | Product | Weight (g) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water bottles | Woolworths 1L | 4 x 34 = 136 | Has pop top. 2L in NSW, 4L in Vic. |
| Spoon | Sea to Summit tea spoon | 7 | Plastic. |
| Rehydration container | Peanut butter container | 48 | 600mL volume. |
| Water filter | Platypus Quickdraw | 63 | |
| Total | 254 |
Packing & Misc Items
| Item | Product | Weight (g) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hiking pack | Nashville Cutaway 30L | 411 | Total volume ~45L. With two elastic sternum straps. |
| Pack liner | Nylofume | 28 | For sleeping bag, clothes, electronics and first aid kit. Can have spares in drops. |
| Sleeping bag stuff sack | DCF dry bag | 18 | 8L. |
| Electronics bag | Ikea Ziplock | 3 | With double seal. |
| First aid bag | Ikea Ziplock | 3 | With double seal. |
| Food bag | Nylofume | 28 | Reduces scent profile. |
| Bidet | CuloClean | 11 | |
| Cards | 6 | ID/debit. | |
| Cash | 5 | ~$200. | |
| Toothbrush | 3 | Short. | |
| Sun umbrella | Montbell Travel UV | 130 | Great for hot days and in the rain. |
| Total | 646 |
Electronics
| Item | Product | Weight (g) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powerbank | Nitecore NB10000 | 150 | Useful to have two outputs. |
| Phone | iPhone 16 Pro | 207 | With a slim case. Excellent cameras and battery life. |
| Head torch | Zebralight H600w Mk IV | 80 | 1600lm. Excellent battery life. Super bright for remote nav on AAWT. Can swap batteries. |
| Head torch battery | Sanyo/Panasonic 18650 NCR18650GA | 48 | NCR18650GA 3500 mAh 10A drain. Good high capacity cell with enough drain for 1600 lm. Swap out in food drops. |
| Headphones | AirPods Pro 2 | 61 | |
| USB battery charger | Nitecore LC10 | 28 | Used to charge 18650s. Also can use 18650s as emergency power bank. |
| Satellite communication | Garmin inReach Mini 2 | 100 | For safety, texting, weather forecasts. |
| Wall plug | HEYMIX 20W Dual Port | 45 | 20W, AU plug (only needed if heading into Thredbo or Hotham to recharge/resupply). |
| USB C cable | Generic | 2 x 7 = 14 | For charging power bank, phone, inReach Mini and AirPods. |
| USB C to Garmin Adapter | Generic | 1 | |
| Total | 734 |
First Aid & Repair
| Item | Product | Weight (g) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pocket knife | Swiss Army Knife Classic | 21 | Knife, scissors, tweezers. Better scissors than classic. |
| Snake bandage | AeroForm | 94 | |
| Needle(s) and thread | 3 | For repairs and popping blisters. | |
| DCF tape | Zpacks DCF tape | 5 | For patching gear. |
| Superglue | 2 | For big cuts and repairing stuff. | |
| Cord | Zpacks 1.3mm | 5 | For repairs. |
| Matches | 10 | ||
| Mat repair kit | Therm-a-Rest mat repair kit | 3 | Included mat repair kit (or Tear Aid Type A patches and glue dots). |
| Ibuprofen | 4 | For pain relief and inflammation. | |
| Paracetamol | 4 | For pain relief. | |
| Antihistamines | 3 | For bites and allergic reactions. | |
| Caffeine tablets | 3 | 200mg. If you need to make a big push. | |
| Total | 157 |
General Consumables
| Item | Product | Weight (g) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lip balm | Carmex Squeeze Tube | 14 | |
| Water purification tablets | Aquatabs | 10 | |
| Sunscreen | 15 | For legs. | |
| Zinc | Key Sun Zinke Sticks | 6 | For face. |
| Toothpaste | 6 | 5mL tube. | |
| Hand sanitiser | 15 | In 15mL dropper bottle. | |
| Insect repellent | Picaridin | 6 | In 5mL dropper bottle. |
| Total | 72 |
Footcare
| Item | Product | Weight (g) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lubricant | Gurney Goo | 30 | |
| Moisturiser | Rawleigh’s Salve | 30 | |
| Friction reduction tape | ENGO patches | 10 | Expensive but highly recommended. |
| Duct tape | 5 | Higher friction and cheaper version of ENGO (also for repairs). | |
| Kinesiology tape | Rock tape | 5 | For blisters and taping for injuries. |
| Breathable tape | Fixomull stretch | 5 | |
| Rigid tape | Leukotape | 5 | |
| Toe gel cap | Scholls Toe Protector | 3 | Multiple sizes. |
| Joint dressing | Livingstone joint dressing | 5 | Small (3.8 x 7.6cm). For edge blisters/hotspots. Also for cuts on rest of body. |
| Total | 98 |
Clothing Carried
| Item | Product | Weight (g) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fleece jacket | Zpacks Octa Fleece Hoody | 132 | More durable than Polartec Alpha. Quarter zip is good for venting. |
| Synthetic jacket | Enlightened Equipment Torrid | 202 | 2oz/yd² CLIMASHIELD APEX synthetic insulation. 7D fabric and full zip make it better suited to active use. |
| Rain jacket | Montbell Versalite Jacket | 182 | US version (fully featured). |
| Fleece pants | Mountain Research Octa Pants | 110 | More durable than Polartec Alpha. |
| Rain pants | Montbell Versalite Pants | 90 | |
| Buff | Outdoor Research Echo Ubertube | 20 | |
| Gloves | Polartec Fleece Flip Top Mittens | 38 | Flip top mitten is versatile and warmer than gloves. |
| Waterproof gloves | Zpacks Vertice Rain Mitts | 28 | Seam taped so no dodgy seam sealing job (unlike MLD, Borah etc). |
| Spare underwear | Royal Robbins | 30 | |
| Spare socks #1 | Injinji Liner Crew | 34 | |
| Spare socks #2 | ArmaSkin | 40 | Excellent for blisters. |
| Poncho | Plastic | 45 | With waist drawstring. Adds a lot of comfort in rain. |
| Total | 951 |
Clothing Worn
| Item | Product | Weight (g) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shorts | Nike Second Sunrise | 120 | 7 pockets. Liner cut out. |
| Long sleeve shirt | Rab Pulse Long Sleeve Zip | 100 | 1/4 zip. SPF 30. Super breathable. |
| Underwear | Royal Robbins | 45 | Or ExOfficio or Montbell. |
| GPS watch | Garmin 955 Solar | 45 | For navigation. MIP screen preferred over AMOLED. With nylon band. |
| Shoes | Hoka Speedgoat 6 | 540 | 2E (wide fit) for more space. |
| Socks | Injinji Liner Crew | 34 | |
| Gaiters | Dirty Girl Gaiters | 35 | |
| Sunglasses | Julbo Shield M | 27 | Cat 2-4 photochromic and polarised. |
| Hat | Sunday Afternoon Ultra Adventure Hat | 60 | Great sun protection. DIY modification to make brim smaller so it doesn't get caught in the wind as much. |
| Trekking poles | Zpacks Minimalist Trekking Pole | 2 x 166 = 332 | Will switch to Durston Iceline when they add the strap 🙂 |
| Total | 1338 |
Cooking
We didn’t add a stove to the list to encourage people to try no cook (because we like it so much!) however if you are keen to take a stove we would take an MLD 850mL Ti Mug with a Trail Designs Caldera Cone and Kojin Alcohol Stove (we like the Trail Designs alcohol stove setup the best). Due to the unpredictability of the weather on the AAWT and lack of towns, it may be nice to have the option to cook something warm in poorer conditions.
Note that if you decide to take a stove, you will need to add fuel to your food drops, and keep on top of total fire bans.
Insulation
As mentioned briefly in the gear list, an alternative to taking a synthetic jacket is to take both a fleece and a down jacket. This could be an attractive option if you are walking in spring or autumn, or simply if you tend to get cold easily. We would recommend the Macpac Nitro Polartec Alpha (90g/m2) alongside either the Timmermade SUL 1.5 or Montbell Ex Light Down Anorak (easier to source for those living in Australia).
By taking a fleece & down jacket combo, you will have more flexibility when it comes to active layering, and can rest assured that you will have a warm, dry down jacket to put on when you stop or get into camp! This will add approximately 130g (4.6oz) to your carried clothing. Either way we would recommend taking a wind jacket!
Sleeping Mat
An alternative to taking an inflatable sleeping mat would be to take a foam mat. The benefits of this gear choice would be its simplicity (you wouldn’t have to inflate your mat for sleeping), and no risk of punctures. Additionally, foam mats can double as a sit pad during the day, as well as a pack frame (if you choose to carry it that way and are using a frameless pack). The downsides of taking a foam mat are that they tend to be less warm, and are less comfortable than an inflatable mat. Additionally, they don’t pack as small and can therefore be more annoying to carry if not used as a pack frame.
If taking a foam mat, we would recommend either the Nemo Switchback or Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol (depends on if you like orange or yellow!). If taking the full length mat, this would add ~60g (2.12oz) to the gear list.
It’s also possible to try out a 3/4 mat. This would save ~45g (1.59oz) if using a foam mat cut to 10 panels, or ~120g if taking the short NeoAir Xlite inflatable mat.
Long hiking pants
The track quality on the AAWT is quite varied, and it is common for some tracks to be overgrown. As such, you might prefer to take long hiking pants rather than wind pants as they will be significantly more durable. Whilst we have been surprised at how tough our wind gear is (and have yet to tear a hole in them), we would personally not wear them through thick scrub. If you would prefer to have a layer to protect your legs when walking through overgrown trails, it might be worth taking a more durable bottom layer!
Taking hiking pants over wind pants would add ~150g (5.29oz) to the gear list.
Electronics
Quite a lot of the weight in this gear list comes from electronics (nearly 1kg!). This comes down to a few choices:
- We would take a heavy phone (iPhone 13 Pro w waterproof case) as we value having good cameras (and multiple lenses).
- Walking solo, our risk tolerance is relatively low and we would want to have a back up method of navigation (e.g. a spare phone or gps), on top of the emergency nav using the inReach Mini.
- We would want to have two methods of recharging electronics (if one breaks, you can’t go into a town to buy another easily)
- We would want to have a bright head torch as we tend to walk at night frequently and it’s useful for overgrown and off-track sections.
You could easily save ~400g by taking a lighter phone, not taking a spare gps/phone, taking a Nitecore NU25 head torch, and buying a charging plug if you go into towns.
If there is some part of your gear you are unsure about, or wonder why we chose X instead of Y, drop us an email! In our opinion, the AAWT isn’t a great walk to be pushing ultralight limits due to its remote nature, patches of thick scrub, fickle weather, and difficulty.
8 thoughts on “AAWT Ultralight Solo Gear List (4.6kg)”
Dear Maddie and Tom,
Last night’s info get together was great!
Thanks so much, lovely to meet you online.
I wish I could have stayed and chatted with everyone afterwards.
Do you have an insurance company that you recommend for this type of trip?
Best of luck with your AAWT tours this season. I looked at your planning and it looks like an amazing trip.
I’m departing 8th October Walhalla solo, hopefully, I meet you on the trail!
Warmly,
Clare
Hey Clare,
Best of luck with your trip! It’s a great question and depends a bit on your situation. Do you want to send us a message through the website and we can chat about this over email? 😁
Thanks,
Tom
Hey Tom and Maddie,
A big thank you for sharing all of your specialized and niche knowledge for free. Hard to find golden gems like these! I’ve learned so much from you two for not only dialing in my kit, but also just general skills and knowledge for bigger km days etc.
Just wanted to ask about how come you guys no longer have windbreakers in this updated list? I noticed you used to have the Montbell tachyon and you seemed to speak pretty highly of it/having a wind shirts/pants.
Also wanted to know if you’ve ever used podgies and if you’d recommend them as an alternative to rain mitts?
P.S. would love it if you guys hosted a snow camping/snowshoeing/ski guided tour in the future! Would be very interesting to see how you two approach the gear side of things there, but also how you would approach navigation, safety etc. I feel like you guys would have some verryy practical and handy tips for dealing with the cold. I’ve learned a bunch from the oates brothers and love that kind of almost “untraditional” but super practical tips.
Cheers!
Hey Sherman!
Thanks for the kind words ☺️
RE wind gear, our general consideration is: what layer do I want as an active layer? For us, the two main contenders are wind gear and modern fleeces (e.g. Polartec Alpha Direct, Octa Fleece). On an FKT we would take neither as they are an extra layer to slow you down. For a normal trip we have come to prefer fleeces over wind layers because of how comfortable they are, especially whilst sleeping and in the rain. However, wind gear is certainly lighter, packs smaller and is more durable on overgrown trails.
One of the things we struggle the most with hiking is staying warm whilst walking in the rain. That has explained a lot of changes in our gear over the years (down->synthetic jackets, wind gear -> fleece, adding ponchos and umbrellas).
We do have some experience with podgies (Yama and Zero G Gear). We don’t tend to use them because we don’t always walk with trekking poles. Indeed, in the rain we like to put our poles away and bring our arms inside our ponchos. They also aren’t as warm for us, or help with tasks like packing up a wet tent. Instead, we use DIY plastic mittens made out of turkey bags (like on the TA FKT) as we don’t trust our ability to seam seal gloves properly!
For the winter trips, stay tuned as it’s in the works. Hopefully we can get 1 or 2 trips up for winter 2025, otherwise it will be 2026 ☺️
Cheers,
Tom
Thanks heaps for the awesome answers! That all makes perfect sense to me, looks like I’ve got some experimenting to do!
Woah, is there somewhere you can point me to to see this DIY turkey bag mitten? I too suck at at seam sealing, and would love to save a couple $$ whenever I can
Ok we’ll cook something up for a post ☺️
I am wondering what stove you use? Or are you going cold soak? I can’t see a stove or fuel on this list
Yes this is a cold soak list! If you want to use a stove then we would recommend a Trail Designs Caldera Cone paired with an alcohol stove and your preferred titanium pot 🙂