March 26, 2019

Gear - Miscellaneous

Post trail update

We had major problems with solar panels. The Suntactics S5-Lite was underpowered and almost completely useless. We switched to using the 21W panels at one of the early resupply points, however these also caused problems. See the FAQ: Power.

Many of the water sources along the trek are silty and would clog a filter, so we switched to using chlorine tablets at the first resupply point and continued like this for the rest of the trek.

We'll be taking a Suntactics S5-Lite solar panel, and an Anker 13,000 mAh power bank. This is rather an unknown for me - I've never done a trek that relied on solar charging before. During the Annapurna Circuit last year, it was quite common to have power provided in the tea houses, but I've heard this isn't the case for much of the country. I'd like to be as self-sufficient as possible so the solar panel is a necessity.

We'll be taking a Garmin InReach satellite communicator. I've had three iterations of the InReach devices, and they've got better each time. This version is almost identical in functionality but much smaller and lighter than it's predecessors. It uses the Iridium satellite network to send or receive short messages, even when without a mobile network. You can read more about the features on the Communication page. We'll use it to communicate with our logistical assistance company, and to post regular updates to Twitter.

We'll use the Sawyer Micro water filter to clean stream water - it attaches perfectly to the Cnoc Vecto bladders we'll be carrying. It's worth remembering that these filters can be damaged by freezing, so we'll have to store it inside our sleeping bag overnight on the cold nights. We'll take chlorine tablets for 100L of water in case we lose the filter - that will easily take us to the next resupply stop where we can get a replacement filter delivered.

We'll take a small, light USB adapter to recharge all our devices and power bang when mains is available. Some small 5g ESBIT fire starting tablets will come in handy when building a campfire. The Opinel knife we'll take is all we need, and incredibly lightweight. We'll also take 10m of 2mm Dyneema accessory cord (the same as I've used as guy-lines on the tent).

Dental floss and a sewing needle is useful for repairs to gear. Nitecore NU32 headlamps are a great light source, recharging from USB. We'll organise all the misc gear in a Zpacks DCF dry-bag.

I'll be using Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z hiking poles, which are a great lightweight non-adjustable pole.

Itemkg
Suntactics S5-Lite solar panel0.159
Anker PowerCore 130000.246
InReach Mini0.100
Shower bottle cap0.008
Sawyer Micro Squeeze with gravity feed attachment0.068
Chlorine tablets x 1000.026
Himalaya Map House map with cover removed0.078
Flashcards (one section)0.022
Therm-a-Rest puncture repair kit, cuban tape0.025
Mini duct tape0.016
iPod Touch with GPS app, maps etc.0.087
Cables: 2 x Lightning, 2 x Mini-USB, 1 x Garmin0.079
Konky 3-port 36W USB charger (euro 2-pin)0.064
8 x 5g ESBIT fire starting tablets0.044
Opinel #6 knife0.026
10m 2mm Dyneema cord (200kg)0.022
Superglue0.006
50ml Piz Buin Mountain Sun Cream SPF500.063
Medical kit0.080
Toothpaste 50ml0.079
Mini nail clippers0.018
Dental floss0.013
Needle for dental floss0.001
Medium Plus ZPacks dry bag0.027
Nitecore NU32 headlamp0.103
Toilet paper (10 sheets per day)0.090
Mini soap 20g0.020
BIC mini lighter0.011
4 x DMM XSRE carribiners0.032
Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z 130cm0.311
iPhone Xs Max with silicone case0.238
Garmin Fenix 5, velcro strap and compass0.079
Phone stylus0.011
Joby GripTight One0.072
Purple Panda lav microphone0.015
Sure SE535 in pouch with splitter and lightning0.055
Cards, passes etc.0.030
Nepali money0.100
Julbo Explorer 2.0 Camelion sunglasses0.046
2 x Chap Stick0.018
Toothbrush0.019
Packtowl ultralite hand0.044
Packtowl ultralite face0.013
Ear plugs (4 sets)0.004
Dave

Dave

Normally a software engineer, recently I've been spending a bit more time in nature.

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