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My other half wants to bring a hootchie to cover our packs at the campsite. Our tent is a small tent to fit the pair of us, but nothing else – so our packs won't fit in there with us.
He wants the hootchie to cover our packs so that they are not out in the open in the weather and available to the local animals in the area.
Thoughts on this please…
fluppy
In my view weather protection of packs overnight is important. If they cannot be fitted within your tent then a hootchie is a good idea. Packs with any food in them will always be a magnet for animals etc if left unattended.
Geoff Hardie.
Thanks Geoff.
I was initially going to take the hootchie to sleep under as opposed to a tent (to save space in/on my pack) but it worked out better if we took the tent for the pair of us and the hootchie for the packs. That way, his pack would take the tent and mine the hootchie.
just back from the 8 night trip and besides another guy using his tent 3 nights and myself once, everyone else chose the huts along the route. plus we had 5 seconds of rain and spent more time covering our packs then it did rain. use some scotchgard on the top and just go with a rain cover. cheap and easy to soruce from good camping stores or internet.
Hi Fluppy,
Lots of fun with tents and packs. What sort of tent have you got?.
Most of the time up there you can get away with an extra garbage bag or go to the vets and get a large body bag fopr about $2. They are extra thick and strong. Put your clothes etc in them inside you pack. They will keep everything dry inside your pack and keep a spare one to put your pack in at night. Hootchies are heavy and of limited use. Remeber you HAVE to keep the weight to a minimum.You should be able to get into a hut most nights so you might also want to consider just covering your packs with a disposable poncho as well , they are cheap and light and really when it rains up there nothing will keep you dry.Hubby now wants a bigger tent than the one we already purchased for Kokoda (which was a black-wolf Stealth Mesh tent or something to that effect).
He now wants to buy a 2 person Exped Aries Mesh tent. RRP – $599, weight: min 2.2kg, packed: 2.67kg because we will now be buying an extra daypack each.
http://exped.com/exped/web/exped_homepage….eE?openframeset Sorry – couldn't find the link to the tent itself. It is under 'Products' then under 'Tents' then under 2+ person and then under 'Aries Mesh'. It gave a PDF for me – but I don't know how to copy/paste this into here.
I want to keep the weight down, but admittedly, this tent does look like it will better suit our needs. We will be sharing the tent – so he will most likely have it in his pack and would take out unnessesary stuff like guide ropes, awnings and half the tent pegs as the tent is mostly free-standing.
Just wondering what other's thoughts are on this brand/type of tent?
Hi Fluppy,
Just saw your post about the Exped Tent. They are a good tent and a very common style. Excellent choice and it will negate the need for the heavy Hootchies to cover your packs etc.The front and rear entrances to these type of tents ( vestibules) serves to store you pack and boots in and keeps them out of the rain and more importantly stops you dragging the wet stuff inside the tent.
While Exped is a good overseas brand I have a couple of One Planet Caddis tents. These are of similar design and are made in Melbourne. They are slighly heavier but are far more bulletproof than the Exped. I have had mine all over the world and back and thet have never failed to keep me dry and warm. They would be my choice and they are local Aussie products.
Whatever you settle on you MUST practice with it and hose it down three or four times before you take it away as this settles the stitching in and helps waterproof the tent, also helps you to see if there are any leaks and you can fix them before you end up with a wet butt in the jungle.
Cheers and enjoy.
Peterh13,
A worthwhile suggestion, except as I have previously mentioned, make sure no food is left outside your tent at night for the benefit of wild animals who will devour anything if undisturbed,inside or outside your pack. Not much fun when you are half way into a 9 day hike to have your food fouled by animals as has happened to a hiking companion of mine in the Victorian High Country.
Cheers, Geoff Hardieorganise your tent so that you have your pack accessible and undercover at all times. it makes no sense to leave gear outside your tent. My day clothes were hung each night after washing on a makeshift clothesline and my boots were always undercover between my tent and the flycover of the tent. my crocs were always accessible in the same way. the rest of my gear was with me, stashed in the tent.
regards
Pete Dowling
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