Sitting at work, thinking about escaping to the forest for a hike, a climb in the mountains, a packrafting trip down an idyllic river, a mountain bike ride down a fine single track or a skiing trip across vast, snow-covered landscapes? I hear you. Lets goof off together. This is an invitation to slack off at work, university or in your freetime and post your ultimate gearlist and destination to use it. Anything goes. Post it in the comments, write a post on your own blog and let us know where you'd now rather be! And to keep the reality of work & studies far away, money is of no concern - so that hike in Fiji is as realistic as the local trail in front of the door. I'll start =)
Deciding where to go is the hardest part, I think - there are thousands of beautiful places on this planet, so picking just one is hard. I always wanted to go to Papua New Guinea, so I reckon I will pack my backpack and fly there for this trip. Lush rain forests, mountains, secluded beaches and all of it in pristine condition. Exotic wild life. Yeah, I'm in.
For the gear then: I will stick to my tried and tested LAUFBURSCHE huckePACK in Dyneema X Gridstop as my rucksack, no sense in changing a winner. The pack is big enough for my UL gear and ten days of food, and I also can fit a packraft and paddles in so it is the way to go.
The shelter question on the other hand is a bit more difficult. What should I expect in Papua New Guinea? Rain, I hear. Bugs, here and there. Humidity. Wind. So it should be spacious to keep my stuff dry, airy to minimize condensation, there should be some mesh to keep the bugs out and me sane and it should be able to cope with wind. Well, even if I haven't yet slept in one, I think I might go for a yellow TrailStar from MLD. Steven, Roger and many others rave about it, and I am a smart guy who knows to trust fellow Nordic Lightpacking mates and friends. I forgo a groundsheet - still think they're useless - and for bug protection, well, a MLD Superlight bivy with its bug netting would seal the deal and allow me to sleep under the stars when the weather is fine.
For sleeping, you know me, a quilt is the only way. Temps might drop under 0°C when I camp high in Papua New Guinea, so bringing a warm quilt seems smart. A Katabatic Gear Palisade should be perfect for my needs thus. Together with a set of BPL Cocoon Hoody and Pants, and those Integral Designs Hot socks, they should allow me to stay toasty even if the thermometer drops a lot under 0°C. For pads I will trust on the Multimat Adventure and the six segments of TAR Z Lite to keep my butt of the ground and well isolated. That seals the deal on the big three.
Clothing then. I'm not a big user of normal trekking pants, that is until I tried the Arc'teryx Palisade pants and the BPL Thorofare pants. They both rock, and I shall take both for being able to switch if the need arises - at 99 g for the Thorofare it is an acceptable weight to carry extra. I'll round it out with a Arc'teryx Ether Crew shirt, a BPL Thorofare button-down shirt and a BPL Beartooth Merino hoody. A bitihorn aero100 jacket from Norrona, ultralight and in great colours, will be my windshirt of choice. Socks will have to be Merino, I will look at the usual suspects like Woolpower, Darn Tough, Bridgedale and Smartwool to keep my feet in perfect condition. Trailrunners from Inov-8 will round out the clothing department, likely the X-Talon 190 will be the shoes of choice. For the rain I take a set of eVent pants and jacket, Rab has so far not disappointed me so I will take the Demand Pull-On and the Drillium pants.
Trekking poles for yours truly, it must be the Gossamer Gear LT4s, I'd say. A compass in a country like Papua New Guinea is mandatory, as a well-integrated foreigner in Finland the choice shall fall on a Suunto compass, accompanied by a Suunto clock to tell me what time it is (not that I'd want to know). A trekking umbrella for that less-than-torrential rain will be with me as well, as will be my Tenkara fly-fishing rod and flies.
Other basics for Hendrik include his trusted Puukko knife, his Kuksa and his BushBuddy Ultra. If you see someone on a trail calling himself Hendrik without a wood burning stove, you know he's an impostor! Other small stuff includes a Petzl eLite and a Princeton Tec Remix for light at night, a good book (Terry Pratchett to make me laugh), sunglasses, a notebook and pen to plot down my thoughts, a merino Buff, a packtowel from MSR, 1st Aid, Hygiene and Repair stuff.
Butterflies!
Because I will be walking where not many have walked before, a good camera comes along, with plenty of spare batteries, memory cards, as well as a pancake and tele lens to catch those fine panoramas and exotic birds of paradise & monkeys swinging along over my head. I think the camera might be called Panasonic Lumix GF2. That should ensure superb photos to keep those memories alive.
Voilá! That is my contribution to "Goof-Off-Tuesday"! I'm looking forward to read yours =)
Deciding where to go is the hardest part, I think - there are thousands of beautiful places on this planet, so picking just one is hard. I always wanted to go to Papua New Guinea, so I reckon I will pack my backpack and fly there for this trip. Lush rain forests, mountains, secluded beaches and all of it in pristine condition. Exotic wild life. Yeah, I'm in.
For the gear then: I will stick to my tried and tested LAUFBURSCHE huckePACK in Dyneema X Gridstop as my rucksack, no sense in changing a winner. The pack is big enough for my UL gear and ten days of food, and I also can fit a packraft and paddles in so it is the way to go.
The shelter question on the other hand is a bit more difficult. What should I expect in Papua New Guinea? Rain, I hear. Bugs, here and there. Humidity. Wind. So it should be spacious to keep my stuff dry, airy to minimize condensation, there should be some mesh to keep the bugs out and me sane and it should be able to cope with wind. Well, even if I haven't yet slept in one, I think I might go for a yellow TrailStar from MLD. Steven, Roger and many others rave about it, and I am a smart guy who knows to trust fellow Nordic Lightpacking mates and friends. I forgo a groundsheet - still think they're useless - and for bug protection, well, a MLD Superlight bivy with its bug netting would seal the deal and allow me to sleep under the stars when the weather is fine.
For sleeping, you know me, a quilt is the only way. Temps might drop under 0°C when I camp high in Papua New Guinea, so bringing a warm quilt seems smart. A Katabatic Gear Palisade should be perfect for my needs thus. Together with a set of BPL Cocoon Hoody and Pants, and those Integral Designs Hot socks, they should allow me to stay toasty even if the thermometer drops a lot under 0°C. For pads I will trust on the Multimat Adventure and the six segments of TAR Z Lite to keep my butt of the ground and well isolated. That seals the deal on the big three.
Clothing then. I'm not a big user of normal trekking pants, that is until I tried the Arc'teryx Palisade pants and the BPL Thorofare pants. They both rock, and I shall take both for being able to switch if the need arises - at 99 g for the Thorofare it is an acceptable weight to carry extra. I'll round it out with a Arc'teryx Ether Crew shirt, a BPL Thorofare button-down shirt and a BPL Beartooth Merino hoody. A bitihorn aero100 jacket from Norrona, ultralight and in great colours, will be my windshirt of choice. Socks will have to be Merino, I will look at the usual suspects like Woolpower, Darn Tough, Bridgedale and Smartwool to keep my feet in perfect condition. Trailrunners from Inov-8 will round out the clothing department, likely the X-Talon 190 will be the shoes of choice. For the rain I take a set of eVent pants and jacket, Rab has so far not disappointed me so I will take the Demand Pull-On and the Drillium pants.
Trekking poles for yours truly, it must be the Gossamer Gear LT4s, I'd say. A compass in a country like Papua New Guinea is mandatory, as a well-integrated foreigner in Finland the choice shall fall on a Suunto compass, accompanied by a Suunto clock to tell me what time it is (not that I'd want to know). A trekking umbrella for that less-than-torrential rain will be with me as well, as will be my Tenkara fly-fishing rod and flies.
Other basics for Hendrik include his trusted Puukko knife, his Kuksa and his BushBuddy Ultra. If you see someone on a trail calling himself Hendrik without a wood burning stove, you know he's an impostor! Other small stuff includes a Petzl eLite and a Princeton Tec Remix for light at night, a good book (Terry Pratchett to make me laugh), sunglasses, a notebook and pen to plot down my thoughts, a merino Buff, a packtowel from MSR, 1st Aid, Hygiene and Repair stuff.
Butterflies!
Because I will be walking where not many have walked before, a good camera comes along, with plenty of spare batteries, memory cards, as well as a pancake and tele lens to catch those fine panoramas and exotic birds of paradise & monkeys swinging along over my head. I think the camera might be called Panasonic Lumix GF2. That should ensure superb photos to keep those memories alive.
Voilá! That is my contribution to "Goof-Off-Tuesday"! I'm looking forward to read yours =)