Below you can find the complete gear list for our Te Araroa and Bibbulmun hikes. This was our first thru-hike and we learned a lot about gear and weight along the way. We underestimated the importance of weight, especially if you have to sustain it in your pack for months on end, so many things are not the same as they were when we initially set out. We also explained our choices and preferences a bit in the list.
For more info on sleeping bags, backpacks etc. you can also check out our gear reviews.
Eef’s backpack:
Clothing, worn:
- Base layer: Ice Breaker short sleeve t-shirt, 150g/m2
- Middle layer: Macpac Sefton Lightweight Softshell jacket
- Shell layer: Norrøna Bitihorn Dri1 jacket
- socks: Icebreaker hiking socks with anatomical support
- Norrøna Bitihorn hiking pants
- Salewa Mountain Trainer (non Gore-tex version, I think boots will frequently get wet and this will enable them to dry much faster)
Clothing, extra:
- extra underwear
- Ice Breaker merino base layers long johns and long sleeve 150g/m2
- Socks: we found that merino works best, and I always have one extra thicker pair and two pairs of liners at hand
- Macpac Pulsar Insulator Women’s Primaloft Hoody’s
- Icebreaker Apex liner gloves
- a beanie
- Aclima woollen buff
- Teva sandals (for the evening, long road walks and river crossings)
Gear:
- Aarn Peak Aspiration small(42l) + compact balance pockets (6l/pair)
- Thermarest NeoAir X-Lite Regular
- Cumulus Light Line 300 sleeping bag
- Sea to Summit Thermolite Reactor Plus Liner
- microfibre towel
- Snow Peak Titanium mini solo combo (pot, bowl and cup) and a spork
- camel bag and Nalgene water bottle
- mosquito head net
- Swiss army knife
- 3 dry bags ( Sea to Summit Ultrasil, the Nanosil rips easily) and 2 pack bags
- sunglasses
- hooks
- Petzl Tikka
- phone
- travel documents and chargers
- Komperdell carbon hiking poles: we’ve seen them all break – Black Diamond, Leki, Macpac, Gabel, … – but these Komperdells, even though they were not new, made it to the end of Te Araroa and over halfway on the Bibbulmun while taking a good few falls and without losing a single tip or point. Dearly impressed.
- support soles
- gaiters (short ones)
- hygienic items: toothbrush, toothpaste, comb
Camera:
- Canon 16G
- GoPro Hero 3+ Silver
PJ’s backpack:
Clothing, worn:
- Base Layer: Ice Breaker Aero SS Crew Cadet
- Middle Layer: soft shell
- Shell layer: Norrøna Bitihorn Dri1 jacket
- Icebreaker hiking socks
- Bergans Imingen zip-off pants
- a belt
- Crispi Skarven hiking boots. Waterproof, sturdy, very good ancle support. Boots worked well for me.
Clothing, extra:
- underwear
- Devold Sport merino wool long johns
- Devold Sport merino long sleeve
- one extra pair of IceBreaker socks
- Lowe Alpine Rain Pants Triplepoin 2
Bergans Primaloft ECO jacket from Trysil 3 in 1 jacket (bounce box)→ lighter primaloft jacket- beanie
- Tegera 295 gloves
- hat
- buff
- Teva sandals
Gear:
- Aarn Peak Aspiration large (47l) + Sports Balance Pockets (12l/pair)
- Thermarest NeoAir X-lite Large
- Cumulus Lite Line 300 sleeping bag (x-long)
- Lifeventure Trek Towel
- Komperdell hiking poles
- Nalgene water bottle and camel bag
- Snow Peak Titanium mini solo combo and spork
- sunglasses
- Silva headtorch
- Swiss army knife
6dry bags → 4- chargers and travel documents (bounce box)
- mp3
- phone
- hygienic items
Common items:
- Helsport Reinsfjell Superlight 2
- Snow Peak Titanium Litemax Stove
- Hygienic items such as toothpaste, Sea to Summit shampoo and soap leaves, hand disinfection, mosquito spray, sunscreen, etc
- Sawyer water filter with a big bag
- 2 first aid kits including plasters, disinfection, bandages, compression bandages, tape, Voltaren gel, antihistamine, Imodium, Motilium, pain killers, blister aid, throat tablets, an emergency blanket and cream against insect bites
- tape
- maps and map case
- Goal Zero Nomad Switch 8 kit
- SPOT Gen3 Personal Locator Beacon
- Kindle Paperwhite e-reader (very useful for trail notes etc.)
Lost in the Hills 