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| Whichever way you look at this, it is heavy! |
Camping Tent, Mattress
Cooking Stove and Fuel, Cooking pot, knife, spoon and several lighters.
Personal Sunglasses, headlamp, cord, Hiking poles, Watch
Medical First Aid Kit, Hygiene (not greatly used)
Documents Passport, Cash and ATM cards
Clothing Base layers, Midlayers, Insulation, Extremities, Shell layer, Extras
Footwear Hiking shoes, Socks
Technology Navigation, Photography, Communication, Entertainment
Luggage Pack, Small waist pouch, drybags, ziplock bags
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| Most of my gear laid out ready to be packed. |
Camping
Ignoring advice to the contrary (thorns being the concern) I used a Thermarest mattress and had no problem. I did take a reasonable amount of care but in reality rarely camped in a thorny area.
There are places where a freestanding tent would have been handy. Mine requires pegs to stand up, and I mutilated most of them in the course of this journey. At times I used quite big piles of rocks (around 6-10kg) to ensure that it stayed taut throughout the night.
Due to the nature of my very lightweight tent (TarpTent Contrail) there was sometimes condensation in and on the tent in the desert. Curiously there was more condensation when it was beautiful dry weather than when it actually rained (which was only on two very brief occasions up north).
Cooking
Initially I had a choice of three types of stove: Alcohol/Tablet/Wood, Gas or Liquid Multi-fuel. I decided to leave the Alcohol store with my touring bike (fuel availability being the concern) so that narrowed the choice to an MSR Superfly gas stove and an MSR Wisperlite International.
From a fuel availability point of view my MSR Wisperlite International is probably the best choice. But it is heavier to carry and less convenient to operate.
So I took the Superfly whose principal advantages are weight and convenience. This model also fits both screw type and click type canisters, which is very useful in Europe.
Gas canisters were relatively expensive (ranging from ₪38 ($7-8) in Mizpe Ramon to ₪27 in Tel Aviv and ₪29 in Be’er Ora). Both 230g and 460g sizes are available but the 230g ones are more common. I could get about 5 days from a small canister with reasonably heavy use in the evening, light use in the morning and little or no use at lunchtime.
Personal
Sunglasses are really essential in such a sunny climate and also useful in the desert for dust as well as glare. I used a headlamp nightly, and walked with poles 99.99% of the time.
Medical
Other than the odd minor cut and the usual cracking fingers I didn't need anything. However I would recommend carrying a firm elastic bandage in case of a twisted ankle, and a pair of tick removal "spanners". Although when it actually came to it I was unable to reach the tick as it was behind my shoulder.
Hygiene
This was not a top priority, especially in the desert, where any water was reserved for drinking or cooking rather than cleaning. It was indeed good to get a shower at the end. Earlier in the trip I did manage to find a few pools to bathe in, and whenever I stayed in a house I managed to get a shower.
Clothing
My base layers were either Merino wool or lightweight quick drying synthetics.
I had a synthetic Mid layer sweater, which I wore once my Merino layers had developed large enough holes.
For insulation (and as a boost to my lightweight sleeping bag) I had a down jacket and a down vest. I needed both on the coldest nights.
I only took a shell jacket (not pants), and rarely used it. When I did I was very glad of it.
I carried about 5 pairs of socks (4 wool and one synthetic). I had a couple of hats (sun and warmth) which were essential, but barely uses my lightweight gloves at all. My two buffs were always in use as usual.
Footwear
I wore lightweight Salomon Ultra-X hiking shoes. They are very comfortable. As they are also non-Goretex they are very breathable and quick drying.
I’m a bit disappointed that after only 1,000km the soles are a bit thin. I have had other hiking shoes that have lasted 2,300km before being trashed. These were more or less perfect for this particular trip.
However in the latter half I used double wool socks and this made up for the increasing thinness of the sole and inner sole. The inner was pretty well spent by the end of the trip. I am still using them with better inner soles installed and hope to squeeze a few more months use out of them.
Technology
This has a section of its own.
Luggage
For this trip I used a new pack (Crux AK57). At first I was concerned that it was too small and also did not have some of the features of a hiking pack. It is a climbing pack and I bought it with three features in mind. Tough, waterproof and light (1.2kg). By the end I was able to somehow get everything in or on the pack quite successfully. It took a bit of practice to reach this point though.
I also have a small waist pouch for valuables and my phone, so those are always to hand. This worked very well.
As well as the pack itself being waterproof, I used a big "builder's rubble bag" to line the pack. This is partly to protect the pack from wear, but also because my so-called dry bag stuff sacks are not all that dry any longer. Still they are good to keep things organised.
Initially I had a choice of three types of stove: Alcohol/Tablet/Wood, Gas or Liquid Multi-fuel. I decided to leave the Alcohol store with my touring bike (fuel availability being the concern) so that narrowed the choice to an MSR Superfly gas stove and an MSR Wisperlite International.
From a fuel availability point of view my MSR Wisperlite International is probably the best choice. But it is heavier to carry and less convenient to operate.
So I took the Superfly whose principal advantages are weight and convenience. This model also fits both screw type and click type canisters, which is very useful in Europe.
Gas canisters were relatively expensive (ranging from ₪38 ($7-8) in Mizpe Ramon to ₪27 in Tel Aviv and ₪29 in Be’er Ora). Both 230g and 460g sizes are available but the 230g ones are more common. I could get about 5 days from a small canister with reasonably heavy use in the evening, light use in the morning and little or no use at lunchtime.
Personal
Sunglasses are really essential in such a sunny climate and also useful in the desert for dust as well as glare. I used a headlamp nightly, and walked with poles 99.99% of the time.
Medical
Other than the odd minor cut and the usual cracking fingers I didn't need anything. However I would recommend carrying a firm elastic bandage in case of a twisted ankle, and a pair of tick removal "spanners". Although when it actually came to it I was unable to reach the tick as it was behind my shoulder.
Hygiene
This was not a top priority, especially in the desert, where any water was reserved for drinking or cooking rather than cleaning. It was indeed good to get a shower at the end. Earlier in the trip I did manage to find a few pools to bathe in, and whenever I stayed in a house I managed to get a shower.
Clothing
My base layers were either Merino wool or lightweight quick drying synthetics.
I had a synthetic Mid layer sweater, which I wore once my Merino layers had developed large enough holes.
For insulation (and as a boost to my lightweight sleeping bag) I had a down jacket and a down vest. I needed both on the coldest nights.
I only took a shell jacket (not pants), and rarely used it. When I did I was very glad of it.
I carried about 5 pairs of socks (4 wool and one synthetic). I had a couple of hats (sun and warmth) which were essential, but barely uses my lightweight gloves at all. My two buffs were always in use as usual.
Footwear
I wore lightweight Salomon Ultra-X hiking shoes. They are very comfortable. As they are also non-Goretex they are very breathable and quick drying.
I’m a bit disappointed that after only 1,000km the soles are a bit thin. I have had other hiking shoes that have lasted 2,300km before being trashed. These were more or less perfect for this particular trip.
However in the latter half I used double wool socks and this made up for the increasing thinness of the sole and inner sole. The inner was pretty well spent by the end of the trip. I am still using them with better inner soles installed and hope to squeeze a few more months use out of them.
Technology
This has a section of its own.
Luggage
For this trip I used a new pack (Crux AK57). At first I was concerned that it was too small and also did not have some of the features of a hiking pack. It is a climbing pack and I bought it with three features in mind. Tough, waterproof and light (1.2kg). By the end I was able to somehow get everything in or on the pack quite successfully. It took a bit of practice to reach this point though.
I also have a small waist pouch for valuables and my phone, so those are always to hand. This worked very well.
As well as the pack itself being waterproof, I used a big "builder's rubble bag" to line the pack. This is partly to protect the pack from wear, but also because my so-called dry bag stuff sacks are not all that dry any longer. Still they are good to keep things organised.
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