Our Bibbulmun Two Person Gear List (3.1kg/6.8lb each)

Real winners for this trip were our Goretex Shakedry rain jackets. We really do think they live up to the hype and keep you noticeably dryer and cooler for much longer than the slew of rain jackets we have used previously. For us, one of the biggest problems with Shakedry jackets is the cost. We were fortunate find some good deals online, as we were unwilling to spend $300-500 on a rain jacket. Additionally it can be hard to find a Shakedry jacket with pockets, something that we find very useful. Most companies producing ~100-120g jackets do not include pockets. Maddie was lucky to grab a Gore R7 ladies jacket which has two zip pockets (oddly the male has only a single chest pocket). Tom picked up a Zeolite, which was his first bit of Kathmandu gear purchased in a long time! The Zeolite is much heavier (190g after some cutting vs 121g) and has an odd pocket inside the jacket at the bottom which is quite difficult to operate. The Zeolite is made of the tougher ‘hiking approved’ Shakedry and definitely feels sturdier. However, if given the choice, Tom would have taken a Gore R7 as Maddie’s R7 has proven durable enough for on trail hiking.

We were glad we permethrin soaked our clothes as we feel we got fewer ticks and experienced significantly lower bug pressure than others around us. We weren’t sure what to take as an ultralight method to safely remove ticks and ended up taking Tick Tox spray (20g). It takes up a decent amount of room and doesn’t feel ultralight but we wanted a method of being able to remove ticks without the risk of them injecting nasties into you. If you have a better suggestion let us know!

This was also the first long hike where we completely ditched hiking pants and went for the wind pants + rain pants combo (total 150g). We slept in the wind pants and used them for warmth and bug protection in the day. If it was raining, we would opt to wear our rain pants, leaving our wind pants in our packs so they would stay dry for sleeping in later than night. We were frankly very surprised at how well this system worked and solved the problem for us of carrying heavy hiking pants (200g+), only to use them for sleeping at night and bug protection. Unless we are doing a walk with lots of scrub and off track, we don’t plan on carrying hiking pants any time soon.

Since our spring was colder than average we would have been more comfortable with a warmer quilt. Our Zpacks twin quilt is rated as 0C/30F but in our opinion is more like 5C/40F. We also would have preferred 90g/m² Polartech Alpha fleeces compared to our 60g/m² ones for staying warmer in cold driving rain. Furthermore, Tom decided that the Montbell Plasma 1000 down jacket was not very useful. At 130g it does provide more warmth than a comparable fleece. However, for only 30-50g more you get a whole lot more down jacket and will be super toasty rather than just warm enough.

We found that our eVent rain mitts didn’t work very well, something we already knew from 3 months in South America but seemed to have forgotten. The problem is that our models (MLD and Borah Gear) require seam sealing at home. This task sounds simple enough but from experience we just don’t think seam sealing mitts works very well. In our opinion, they need to be seam taped. We would be keen to try the Zpacks rain mitts to see if that makes a difference. A few months after finishing the Bibbulmun, Tom used disposable plastic food handling gloves on the AAWT FKT and they worked much better.

On top of having issues with our rain mitts, we continued our trend of having issues with inflatable mats. Our Exped Synmat HL Duo LW had two baffles blow out. This is the second time we have had an Exped baffle blow and the fourth in total including our NeoAir mats. After roughly 4 months of use, we have concluded that the fabrics used on the Exped HL Duo LW are not durable enough for our liking, as we have had to patch these mats several times and the fabric feels very fragile. This is disappointing for us because the two person Exped mat is incredibly comfy and we sleep better on it than any other mat combo. It eliminates the draft issue between two single person mats which is important when using a twin quilt. However, it’s heavier than two single person NeoAir Xlite mats, less warm, less durable, bulkier, and is more annoying to inflate with the pump sack vs blowing up by mouth. We would be very keen to try out a two person NeoAir Xlite! From these experiences, we think we will give foam mats more of a go in 3 season conditions.

On this hike we also decided to try no cook. This meant instead of taking a pot and stove we took containers to rehydrate cold food. For us, this was not so much about saving weight (it only saves about 100g per person), but more about simplicity. On our last long trip, 3 months in South America, we grew tired of cooking meals at the end of each day, and the associated cleaning and managing/acquiring fuel. One of the things we love about hiking is simplicity and no stove means one less thing to do. Maddie was the driving force behind trying no cook. Tom was open to the idea, but was pretty sure ‘no cook would be no good’.

Our first week of going stoveless was pretty miserable as we figured out what did and didn’t work. However, once we figured out some tasty meals we both were extremely surprised how much we enjoyed going stoveless. We definitely plan on going stoveless in 3 season conditions for the foreseeable future. The only exception would be on trips to less developed countries where good stoveless food options aren’t always as readily available. For example, on the Greater Patagonia Trail we pretty much lived on pasta as it was one of the only foods we could purchase in remote villages.

We also wouldn’t go stoveless on short and more social hikes. Stopping, cooking and sharing a meal is one of the best parts of hiking with other people and we wouldn’t want to give that up. No cook is appealing to us on long hikes where simplicity is a much stronger driving factor and we find our standards are a lot lower! We are in the process of doing a more detailed no cook post.