Here's my top five essentials that are always part of my kit for several nights in the New Zealand wilderness.
You're off on a classic Kiwi tramp and the daunting feeling of what to pack creeps in when you see everything strewn all over the floor. No matter how many times you hike on multi-night adventures, panic generally sets in when you can't possibly see food, sleeping bags, clothes, wet weather gear etc actually fitting into your backpack. Everyone has their favourites, their must-haves they take with them when they hike. So here's mine which might help you on your next adventure in Godzone.
1. Tramping in New Zealand by Shaun Barnett. I call it the green bible and it highlights 40 of the best New Zealand Great Walks and back-country hikes from around New Zealand. Husband and I are on a mission to complete as many of these as we can. What's awesome about this publication is that it's updated from time to time and has a pretty good description of what you are about to embark on with notes on where to park, what the huts are like, if there are good camping spots and how hard it might be. It also gives an indication of times it takes - which helps you plan your multi-day hike. (NB Some of these times could possible be set my Usain Bolt without a 15kg back pack on but they are a general guide). If you are keen on doing more hikes in New Zealand, get yourself a copy. While I don't take it hiking - its for inspiration and preparation - husband and I make sure we photocopy the appropriate pages and take them with us to compare with Department of Conversation (DOC) times.
2. Anker compact portable charger. This might seem a little extravagant and irrelevant since you are heading out into the technology free wilderness, however hear me out. A cameraman I work with put me on to the Schneider iPro Lens system, it's an amazing kit for iPhone where you buy a cover and use different lens to take some pretty amazing shots.
3. Sea to Summit X-Cup.These light weight silicon cups are perfect as they squash down flat, so perfect for stashing in your shorts pocket when you are tramping near rivers for a quick drink. Saves you carrying a heavy full water bladder in your pack or heavy drink bottles.
Sea to Summit has a great range of products for camping and hiking. There are the bowl versions of these cups too which are easy to pack and when you turn them over you can cut food like a chopping board on their base.
4. Dry Sacks. We use Kathmandu dry sacks - there are a range of sizes and all of them are great from small versions for phones, wallets, valuables etc through to the larger 25LT sizes. I put my clothes in one, sleeping kit in the other and that way you don't have to haul out everything individually - they are compartmentalised and can double as pillows too.
Even if your pack gets wet and you aren't using a liner or a pack cover, these dry sacks mean you keep everything in your pack dry, even in the worst downpour.
5. The Jetboil Flash cooking system. For years I have used a stove, screwed onto a gas canister and its a perfect system which still works well. We used to take a lot of different ingredients to cook like rice, pasta or fry up some things but I'm now sold on the lightweight easy and pretty tasty Back Country Cuisine. Freeze dried food isn't too bad and these meals for a 2 person portion run at around $NZD12 or $USD8. Two years ago I saw a guy boil some water in a hut on the Jetboil and I was fascinated - it took seconds for him to get a hot cup of tea. We only use the water system, but it does have attachments for using pans, however, it just means all we have to do is boil water and this system does it super quick and then packs away into itself. You can fly with it but obviously not carrying the gas canister. It has been worth the investment (around $NZD150 or $USD100, you are not sitting around waiting for water to boil - it takes around 2 minutes - and the helpful colour changing heat indicator on the side of the unit tells you when it's done.
