Te Araroa Gear Review

Just some quick thoughts about our gear, including where we changed things along the way. Apart from changing some items we didn't really add a great deal of new items. What we finished with is pretty much what we started with. We didn't go ultralight, but we tried to save weight where possible. For another $1000ish we could have reduced our base weight by maybe 2 kgish each but it's all about trade offs. 

Note that we are not sponsored by anyone, and we actually paid out of pocket for everything here, so you can actually trust our comments.

That being said, if anyone wants to sponsor us for a future adventure...

Pack: We both had Osprey packs. Eliza used an Aura 65 litre (L) but left her brain (detachable, top mounted day pack) at home, and Vaughan used an Aether 60L but took his brain with him. We both love these. Even though there are lighter packs out there, the "Anti-gravity" hip-hugging waist belt and support structure really do make a difference when carrying these packs. It makes a normal weight load feel like ultra-light, with absolutely no weight on your shoulders. These packs got put through a lot during this journey, and they're both very much still in the prime of their usefulness. The mesh outers got ripped by tree branches (centre back for Vaughan's, one of the side pockets for Eliza) but a bit of sewing patched those up and the tears haven't continued to rip. Both packs have adjustable waist belts which were both tightened up pretty much to their smallest point by a couple of months in.

Clothes: Having two full sets of clothing may have been a bit extravagant, but it allowed us to have "town" clothes, as well as having something to wear while washing our walking clothes. We highly recommend merino shirts because they take a long time to get stinky. We each had a thin, long-sleeved shirt that served alternately as a bit of extra warmth, or sun-block. Eliza's had a hood, which actually came in really handy, both for sunshade and sometimes blocking dust from her mouth and nose. The only problem with Eliza's shirt (Champion brand, synthetic material) was that it held on to moisture, meaning it took a long time to dry, and also was cold to wear if it was cool and wet outside.

Hiking Skirt: There have been a few questions about why Eliza changed to a skirt halfway through. Honestly, she would have liked to hike in a skirt the whole time, but until she lost a bit of circumferance in her thighs, the shorts were a rash-preventing measure (Macpac Stretch Mountain Bike Shorts were brilliant, until I got too small for them. The very adjustable waist kept them fitted for longer than most shorts). Skirts are great to hike in! First, it's whimsical. I mean, that's reason enough, right? But also they're practical. Shorts are often, even if only a little bit, restrictive when stepping over large logs or boulders, or climbing up or down steep slopes. Skirts, at least the good ones, let you do everything your body can do without getting in the way. Finally, the right skirt can actually give you more privacy on the trail, as a woman, when going to the bathroom. And on those sweaty days, in a cramped and stinky long drop (or on an exposed highway shoulder), not having to pull up shorts that get stuck to your legs is... a bonus. 

Shoes: Trail shoes, running shoes or boots? It's all down to personal preference because there are pros and cons for each. We each wore three pairs along the trip. We both started with leather boots (Vaughan wore Teva, Eliza had Keen), then changed to synthetic boots (Vaughan, Inov8) and trail runners (Eliza, also Inov8) and finished with trail walking shoes (Vaughan, Merrell; Eliza, On). Vaughan had Crocs for off-trail use. Eliza had Keen sandles for hut use but ended up using these for walking on roads and beaches as well as some river crossings.

Boots: a bit more padding underfoot, and some ankle support. But the leather and inner stays wet once it gets wet, and with the mud and rivers we were wading through, wet boots was a near-daily occurance. Trail runners dry out more quickly, but that under-foot padding might need to be supplemented by an extra insole or two.

Biggest tip? Take extra time to ensure you get the fit exactly right. Vaughan got it wrong twice and paid the price.

Socks: Eliza wore the same two pairs of Smartwool socks for the entire trip. One sock was starting to wear thin in the heel, the other three were still as good as new (well, except for the smell. That's still another five or six washes before it'll go away, if it ever does. That Longwoods mud is still in there, I swear!). Despite the blisters in the first week, which probably no socks could really prevent given what we did, these are awesome. Vaughan used natural fibre blends such as merino, alpaca or bamboo. Hand-knitted woolen socks for the huts were so nice to have - cozy hugs for our feet at the end of a long day.

Gloves: we each had a pair of poly-pro gloves (also known as glove liners) to keep our hands warm. These were fine for 90% of the time, but on very cold wet mornings especially Eliza's hands got extra cold. So towards the end she took a note from Linsey and bought some dishwashing rubber gloves, which were actually really good to have on that last day of rain, as they keep your hands dry. Good note for the future!

Hats: we each had a sun hat, and a warm hat. Any of these could be supplemented by a Buff, for a bit extra warmth. Vaughan's Kathmandu running hat may be at the end of its life; it has been used for trail running for years. Eliza's sun hat is going on 20 years old and still going strong (although it's probably faded about 20 shades of yellow in that time)!

Trekking poles: We both purchased a pair of Leki poles with the twist lock action. They make a noticeable difference for steep uphillls and downhills, and long road walks when your legs don't want to work properly.  Also, wanna know how deep that mud is or how high hat lupin is? Use a pole. They got a lot of use and were put under a lot of strain at times but they stood up to it all.

They stowed easily and conveniently onto the Osprey packs. The cork handles were great and we didn't get any blisters. We found that the twist lock poles needed regular tightening (every few hours) otherwise they would collapse suddenly (and occasionally at just the worst time!). 

Tents: We started with a Marmot Catalyst 2 person tent which we've had for years and really like. It's sturdy, spacious for a 2P tent and our packs fit under the fly overnight. The downside is that it weighs 2.14kg which was 15% of Vaughan's base weight. Unfortunately it lost its waterproofness.

Which is why we switched to the MSR Carbon Flex 2 when we got to Wellington. To be fair it was the only 2P lightweight tent left in town. At 800g it made a substantial difference to the weight of Vaughan's pack. It only took 5 min to set up and about the same to pack down. However, features that made it light also made it annoying. The smaller overall volume and lower roof made it cramped for two people and difficult to move in. The inner tent was made of a light mesh and anything heavier than a phone in the pocket caused it to sag. The fly wasn't quite big enough to fit the packs under. Every morning there was condensation on the inside of the fly and when we banged our heads on the roof a little water came through. The carbon fibre poles broke easily during a storm. This tent would be ideal for one person in pleasant to moderately bad weather.

We kept the ground sheet from the Marmot tent to put under the MSR tent in case of rough or rocky surface, and ended up using the ground sheet also as a picnic blanket for many a lunchtime.

Sleeping bags:

Vaughan had a One Planet, rated down to -2C for comfort. Pretty good for most of the trip, but only really tested on a few occasions with near (or just below) 0C temperatures, when the bag was just warm enough. Really nice being able to unzip the bottom to stick feet out if they get too warm in the night. Packs down really well and is quite light to carry.

Eliza had a Kathmandu Globetrotter, rated down to -4C for comfort. Eliza sleeps cold, so this barely did the trick. She often slept with her long johns, merino top, hand-knitted hut socks just to be warm enough. It also takes up quite a bit of room in the pack, about twice the volume of Vaughan's bag. But for the majority of the nights, maybe 4C and higher, it was about perfect, and pretty light so good to carry for 5 months.

Both of our bags are left-hand zip, so in the future we may look for bags that can actually zip together so Vaughan can share some of his body heat with Eliza.

We both had silk sleeping bag liners, that kept us from putting muddy legs directly into our sleeping bags. For the warmer nights, having just a "sheet" to sleep under was pretty nice, too.

Sleeping mats: Vaughan slept on a Thermarest NeoAir Camper. It was adequately comfortable, pretty durable for what we put it through, but really annoying to inflate by mouth.

Eliza slept on a Sea to Summit insulated Ultralight Ether Light XT, and the carry bag turns into an inflation device. It took four breaths to fill up the entire thing, and deflates in about 0.25 seconds. Good temperature insulation, hardy material that held up well, and pretty comfortable to sleep on. Only drawbacks are that it's a bit noisy when you shift position at night; and the carry bag is really tight, so you have to roll it up very well each morning. Definitely recommend! Bonus - we figured out how to use the inflation bag on Vaughan's mat, so that it only took 6 breaths to fill up, instead of the 20-30 if you just use the nozzle normally. 

Keyboard: Not a standard piece of hiking equipment, but you have this beauty to thank for all of these blogs. It's a Logitech Keys-to-Go Bluetooth keyboard. It's a standard USB recharger port, so no extra batteries or cables to carry. We recharged this maybe twice in the five months, having used it for an hour-ish each night, and it probably didn't even need those recharges. We like it so much we're even using it to write up these last posts, even though we have access to proper keyboards and computers.  

Underwear:

After starting with merino boxer-briefs, Vaughan went commando for pretty much the entire trail. The boxer-briefs only came out for town days.

Eliza wore Modibodi period undies - this is an Australian brand. They held up ok, but the inner crotch wore out on all three pairs (and then on the other two pairs she picked up from home in that one-day diversion), probably from being chafed against rocks in rivers to wash them. Period undies were 100% the way to go, both as backup for her menstrual cup, but also just for everyday wear. Given how many times toilet paper was not available or convenient for a pee break, the extra absorbency - with no smell - was a blessing. The only drawback is that they take longer to dry than normal undies (because of the extra absorbent material in the crotch) so these spent a fair amount of time hanging off of Eliza's pack to dry out.  

Dry bags:

Definitely superior to having one big internal pack liner, especially when used in combination with the pack cover. These not only keep the contents dry, they also organise the inside of your pack.  Also, they double as shopping bags for those food runs... (You can see the red and blue "food" bags next to Vaughan, seen here cooking in the middle of a forest)

Pack covers: In heavy rain, these were probably necessary given just how heavy the rain was a few times; and also kept the things in the outer stow pockets, that weren't in dry bags, pretty dry. Also, an absolute must for any road walking, the bright orange of these Macpac covers were visible from a long way off.

Rain coats: 

Eliza had a Macpac women's Dispatch Rain Jacket, which has Reflex water repellent that was just good enough to keep her mostly dry. Tough material that never got ripped, seam seals stayed good throughout, a good wind-breaker, and while definitely heavier than an ultra-light at 330g, this was a good choice for this trail.

Vaughan bought a pricey Rab brand jacket which performed really well in the heavy rain. The only downside was that the pockets were located low down where the hip belt crossed over so they couldn't be used.

First Aid Kits:

We just put these together ourselves, keeping all of the supplies in an extra-thick sandwich size ziploc-style bag. We basically followed the requirement list for a trail marathon run, and added things like a sewing needle and thread; nail clippers; anti-biotic drops.

Camera:

All of the stunning photos you saw, along with a whole bunch more that we didn't overload you with, were taken by a Samsung Galaxy A52. With a good rubber case and a glass screen protector, this thing held up great to the rigours of the trail. It served as entertainment (podcasts, music, as well as e-books and audio books - thanks, Auckland Libraries!!), blog-writing platform, map and GPS device, holder of knitting patterns, note-taker for shopping trips... the list goes on! (For example, here is a screenshot of a "shopping list" we relied on for a section worth of food)

Knitting kit:

Despite this being "extra weight", Eliza has no regrets about bringing this. Without the yarn, it weighed maybe 20g, and was not only perfect "entertainment" for many a long evening, it resulted in useful hut socks and gloves.

If you have any questions about any gear we've reviewed, or anything else you saw us use on the trail, in person or in pictures, leave a comment here or get in contact with us.