Rakiura Stewart Island Gear List – North West and Southern Circuits
Following is my gear list for the ten-day, nine-night Rakiura / Stewart Island North West Circuit tramp in March 2022. On day one, my pack including 10 days’ food and 600ml water weighed around 16 kg. The main photo above is taken on day two of our trip. Rich carried a 68L pack which weighed about 20kgs.
Also check out the post on food supplies we took for two people, on the North West Circuit.
Pack:
- Lowe Alpine 45-55L
- Black Diamond carbon cork poles
Clothes Worn:
- Icebreaker cool-lite merino singlet
- Smartwool 150g merino long sleeve crew
- Champion no wire sports bra
- Patagonia Barely Baggies shorts
- Patagonia Active undies
- Smartwool hike light cushion ankle socks
- Dirty Girl ankle gaiters and/or Outdoor Research long gaiters
- Salomon X Ultra 3 mid Gore-Tex boots
- Asiics runners cap
- Oakley sunglasses
Clothes Outer:
- Sea to Summit Hydrophobia raincoat
- Outdoor Research Helium rainpants (used mostly as windproof)
- Mountain Hardware Ghost Whisperer puffa jacket (doubles as pillow)
- Cotton Buff
- Hand knitted fingerless gloves
- Earth Sea Sky fleece beanie (not worn)
- Earth Sea Sky windproof mittens (not worn)
Clothes Evening/Night:
- Macpac kids long johns
- Macpac fleece trousers
- Dry pair Smartwool hike light cushion ankle socks
- Icebreaker 150g long sleeve merino
- Hunting & Fishing kids sleeveless fleece (doubles as pillow)
- Xero ultralight sandals (camp shoes)
Spare:
- 1x pair Patagonia Active undies
- Outdoor research 50spf ultralight long sleeve (worn for 2 hours, wouldn’t bother next time)
- MacPac Fast Track shorts (didn’t use, wouldn’t bother next time)
- Skins leggings/tights (didn’t use)
Cooking:
- Pocket Rocket stove
- Gas – A 230g canister lasted two of us 5-6 days with the pocket rocket. Carried 1x each.
- Sea to Summit 1 litre titanium pot (big enough for 2 home-made dehy meals)
- Sea to Summit titanium spork
- Kmart large plastic cup
- MSR Mug Mate – for coffee
- Ultralight plastic bowl (that your mum probably used for bbqs in days gone by)
- A 1 inch piece of kitchen scrubby
Camping:
- Hilleberg Enan 1 person tent – incl footprint (3 season)
- Thermarest Neo Air X Therm sleeping mat
- Sea to Summit Flame III sleeping bag
- Home-made muslin sleep liner
- Black diamond head torch
- First aid kit
- Repair kit (tent, mattress, sewing kit)
- Ocean Signal – Rescue Me PLB
- Samsung Galaxy S10 – Photos, map, weather, blog, Yahtzee scores
- NZTopo 50 Maps – used offline for maps
- Anker 20,000 mAh powerbank – to charge phone
- Plastic 1.5 litre water bottle
- 1x Sawyer Squeeze water pouch
Other:
- Toiletries – sunscreen, small piece of soap and kitchen cloth, small toothpaste, toothbrush, 2xsets of earplugs, 2x tiny vials of contact lens solution, spare lenses, eye drops, contact lens case with one side moisturiser and the other side eczema cream
- Pee cloth – half a chux kitchen cloth tied to outside of pack
- 1x toilet roll
- Entertainment – Yahtzee dice and ’13 Rounds Scoresheet’ app
Trying to save a bit of weight?
No towel is necessary – you can dry yourself with the kitchen cloth you washed with. I never take a hairbrush tramping, I always brush my (long) hair with my fingers. I never take deodorant, because everyone smells natural in the backcountry.
