Newby Neat.

[Neat]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum (and forums in general). I am planning on doing Kokoda next year in winter and am starting my preperation early. I have joined the forum to get as much inforation from more experience Kokoda treckers and to share the excitement. I actually Lay-byed my first bit of equipment for the treck this week. A 75L Black Wolf back pack. I look forward to chatting and sharing experiences with everyone over the coming months.

Cheers
Neat.

[Mrs Moo]

Hi Neat, welcome to the forum. So you have lay-byed your first bit of equipment. This is just the beginning! I am on first name terms with the staff at CampCo now – I think I have shares in the store. I started planning my trek from Feb last year, but am not going now until August this year. In the meantime, I have picked up some really good advice and tips from ex-trekkers in this forum. Good luck and happy trekking.

[Geoff Hardie]

Hi Neat, again.

If your Kokoda Trek is to be a "one off" I would seriously question the need to purchase a full hiking pack. Hiring a good quality Macpac or Fairydown pack from Annaconda or like hiking store is a far cheaper option ($60-$70 for a two week rental). Assuming you are hiring a Porter through your tour company and you are required to supply a full size pack for him to carry your gear,all you need is a 30-40lt day pack to carry misc. personal gear. This pack I am sure will be of far graeter use post Kokoda.

If it is your intention to continue recreational hiking beyond Kokoda I would strongly recommend you look at the quality end of Hiking Packs. Macpac, Kathmandu and Fairydown packs in the $350 plus price range are some of the ones to look at. In over 20 years of hiking in the Victorian High Country and Tassie's Overland track I have seen many of my companions come to grief with poor quality cheap hiking packs. Most split stitching at critical load bearing points. On one of our training walks for our Kokoda crossing in August last, one of our companions suffered such a malfunction with his brand new Black Wolf pack. Annaconda were happy to replace the unit however this would not have been much help had the malfunction occured at Efogi, half way along the Track.
Again, best wishes for you preparation,
Geoff Hardie

[Neat]

Hi Geoff,

Thanks for your advice on the packs and boots (from another thread). I can tell that joining this forum was probably a really good step for me to take in order to prepare and have reliable gear when I do my trek. I have about 16 months before i do Kokoda and an intending on doing as much treking and camping between now and then as possible and aim to keep it up after that as well, so hoving good gear will be very important to me. My biggest problem out here where I live is that we don't have a outdoors or camping shop in town and so when I went to the only store that sells hiking boots they tried to sell me the rockport brand, so it looks like I will be unable to shop locally for most of my gear for this trip, whick is a shame. I went to visit my parents in Lismore over the weekend and went to an outdoors shop over there to have a little look. They seem to have better gear over there, but I may end up buying alot of my gear over the net. Thanks again Geoff for the fantastic advice.

Neat.

[Geoff Hardie]

Hi Neat,

Pleased to hear that my notes have been of assistance. I had noted your home town and understand the difficulty in sourcing the gear you wish to acquire. For your info, I received in mail today, brochure from Kathmandu re their pre Easter Sale starting Friday the 14th March. It is certainly worth looking out for their sales, usually every three months. A lot of items you will find usefull can be up to half price, even though their normal price is high to start with.
Their closest store to you is still a long way away though. Perhaps you can time a trip to Sydney to coincide, I do appreciate even Sydney is still a long way away.
This will be one of my last posts as my wife and I are travelling O/S mid March to Mid May.

Cheers, Geoff Hardie

[Author]

Posts