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Hi everyone,
Well my dad and I have decided to do Kokoda in May 2010 (I need the time to get fit!), and have been doing my homework for the past couple of months.
However, since talking with a customer of mine, I am now confused.
Dad and I are looking to carry our own pack (no personal porter) and I thought this would mean I would need to carry around 18kg's in the pack. I'm not so sure I'll be fit enough for carrying full pack so will make up my mind closer to date.
Talking with my customer, who has done the track, he tells me this weight is the "day pack" only and the porter will carry similar.
Surely this is incorrect? Wouldn't 18kg's be the total weight as a guide?
Thanks for clarifying this for me. I am just a little confused now.
Hi
You most certainly have been informed wrong a 18kg Daypack is one hell of a daypack that is for sure.
When I trekked my daypack with a full compliment of water (4 litres) started off at 8kgs although I did get it down to nearer 7kgs including water, when I go again next year it will be even lower.
My porter carried my backpack which would have started off around 15-16kgs but he did add some of his personal items to that I imagine making it around 20kgs which he had no apparent problem with.
My advice and I am sure that of 99% of those who have trekked Kokoda would be that you use a personal porter for if you do not start out with one there is a very good chance that you will be requiring one very soon after starting and it costs extra then to do so.
Have a great trek use a pesonal porter you will not be sorry you did.
Brian
This week we saw one of our trekkers air lifted off the track who thought he was really fit and healthy. His comments, I will be back and next time I will hire a porter!
Your day pack per Brian's comments should be definitely no more than 10kg or less.
On average most backpacks go out around the 15-17kg mark. By the time the porters adds his own gear of approximately 5kg, it ends up being about 20kg he is carrying. We do not recommend any more than this and if you can get your pack lighter then great.
We always know when we have an experienced hiker on our hands as they get their packs down to around the 13kg mark by purchasing really lightweight gear and few clothes. It all comes with experience and knowing what works for you.
Thats also where training comes in. Get used to your gear and work out what works for you and what you really need to carry. For example first aid. Some people head out with a box of bandaids when they only need 10 at the most. As one trekker remarked tonight, more socks as its your feet that need the most care to get you home.
Hope this helps.
My daughter carried her own pack (about 15kgs) and had no trouble, but she is in the army and EXTREMELY fit.
When we came to creek crossings, she mostly had to make her own way without the helping hand of a porter (except on the more dangerous ones, where the guide gave her a hand). She also had to negotiate the steep, muddy downhills without the helping hand of a porter. Spent a bit of time on her butt in the mud!
Unless you are super fit, I would seriously re-think carrying your own pack. Some of those mountains are pretty darn BIG, and even a few kilos more will give you pains in the calves and hips, increase the soreness of your feet, and generally take the fun out of the trek for you. No-one wants to flop into camp at night too exhausted to move.
Thanks guys for the advice. I knew that just wasn't right.
I am seriously considering a porter but with 9 more months before I go, I figure no need to make decision just yet.
As a side note, what size pack did you have for the day pack and general pack?
Hi
Just for interest I have a group of 6 friends going to trek next July as I am taking my packs to show some of them next week what I actually took I have it all together weighing in today at 12.5kgs.
My main pack is a Blackwolf "Bugaboo" 60+10 litre which I found just right to fit everything inside including tent and sleeping mat (Blow Up) but when I gave the pack to my porter Brendan Buka he took tha tent out and strapped it underneath the pack allowing him more room to get his small amount of gear in. Brendan's gear was not much at all so I guess the maximum weight would have been around 18kgs all up.
My day pack is a Camelbak 2litre Bladder "Trail Blazer" which I find ideal for a normal days walk can strap extras on the outside if need be. Trekking Kokoda I also carried 2x1ltre water bottles one in each of the day pack side pockets giving me a total of 4 litres (Use Puratabs all the time regardless). Whilst slightly higher last time next time I go including a full compliment of water I would keep the day pack weight down to below 7kgs.
For interest I did wear half height gattors, with short legs the full height ones would have been too big for me. I also used two walking poles and am very pleased that I did as they were for me a big bonus.
Bite the bullet get a porter not only will you be pleased you did so will the porter for the work that you give him is more than often the only way he can earn anything to support himself and family.
Enjoy your trek
Goal2010
Good luck with your trek next year. It might seem to be too early to start training but if I can give you 1 piece of advice is that it is NEVER too early. You cannot under estimate the value of getting hills in your legs. And if you are seriously thinking about carrying your own pack you will need some serious hills under your legs with as much/ if not more weight than you will be carrying.
I carried my pack for the 1st 4 days and finally had to offload 5 kgs after day 4. Easily the hardest day of my life – 13 hours of walking fom Nauro -> Efogi 2 – which included the swamp/ the wall and brigade hill and I burnt 8270 calories. After off loading the 5kg's the next day I travelled much better for the rest of the trek.
You really need to weigh up (no pun intended) whether you have the fitness and are looking for the challenge of carrying your own pack. I did feel carrying my own pack for those 1st 4 challenging days was a real achievement but I was not really enjoying the trek – I was just barely surviving it. After offloading the 5kg's I actually started to enjoy the trek and began taking in some of the surroundings.
I trained with the weight I was going to carry on the trek but came up against the 1 factor that is hard to replicate – the heat/humidity. It is the big X factor that turns carrying 15kg's back here in Aust into feeling like 30kg's on the track. We started with 7 people carrying their own packs and ended with 1.
The other benefit of a personal porter is the stories they tell about their village/people. I was lucky enough to have a general porter "attach" himself to me from day 1 and he helped me over the trickier parts – log crossing, river/creek crossings. Each day he wanted to take my pack or some weight – he couldn't understand that I really did want to challenge myself and keep carrying it all. On day 5 he took 5kg's from me without a complaint. He showed my all sorts of things that other people on my trek missed out on seeing – e.g coffee, vanilla plants, foxhole,etc and whenever it got hard going (often) he sang inspirational songs.
Hope this gives you some more insights into what is a hard decision. I would recommend getting a personal porter but no one can make that decision except you – it depends upon the above factors. If you do carry your own make some tough calls on what you take (you really don't need that much) and you will thank yourself on the track – each gram counts in your pack. You can really tell when you fill up your water bladders/bottles – the weight increase is felt.
As a side issue I wore a Polar heart rate monitor and used it to count the calories burnt for the trek. Over 7 days I burnt 39617 calories (35yr old male with full pack). I also used it to keep an eye on my heart rate and whenever it got too high I stopped and rested – this helped prevent me burning out too early in the day.
I just got back from PNG 3 days ago, I carried my own pack, it was rough going but I managed to get through it ok.
Carrying your own pack does give you a sense of acheivement but it also slows you down and you don't have a porter to help you over the rough stuff.
I trained for a full year with about 18 kgs on my back every time I went for a walk or a run.
On the trek I had about 14 kgs all up and one of the guides humped my sleeping bag for me when he could find some room in his pack, he was very helpful.
Your heaviest peice of kit will be your water, I had a 3 litre bladder but didnt start off with it full every morning. Your guide will tell you how much water you need in between stops.
Back in my youth I did the jungle warfare school at Canungra in Qld and special forces school in the USA. I knew how hard the trek would be and planned for it. If youve not done this kind of thing before, then you have no idea, so listen to the people on the forum, and people who have done the track and then modify their advice to suit yourself, just don't underestimate how hard its going to be, because it bloody well is.
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