A few thoughts I happened to scribble down about gear. Mostly a review of the nice stuff borrowed from Dr Fasnacht, I wrote a few things to learn from in my journal as I went.
We've all heard about how getting it right is so important - this trip I found out just how true (and precise) it is. Knowing I always over-pack, this time I was serious and I left out a fair few things I really didn't need, and cut back on snackable treats to a bare minimum, mostly fresh fruit.
My pack felt 'good' on the first day, but then, after discussion with Matthew, I borrowed his excellent gear (a 4 season tent and trangia cooker, more on these below) which were a fair bit heavier than my K-Mart basic tent and gas stove. The next day I found I was tiring very fast - within an hour I'd feel my stamina going, and have to make a conscious effort to keep going. The pack also felt 'heavy' and unwieldy. That night I ate all my fresh food in a bid to reduce the weight. The next day I was ok, but then it was so hot, with limited water available, that I had to carry drinking water. Same problem again.
There seems to be some kind of exact limit, and I was right on the edge of it. Just a kilo, or less would make the difference, or so it seemed. Maybe it was a psychosomatic effect, I don't know. The extra weight in water I carried seemed to make the difference and I was getting noticeably more tired.
Once I got to New River Lagoon, I was a lot better off, and didn't carry water, figuring there'd be plenty of streams and anyway, it was a lagoon right? It should turn fresh closer to New River? Wrong. Although I was lighter and felt better I ended up dehydrated through not getting enough water.
When the weather turned bad later, the worst part of it was having wet gear. While it doesn't sound like much, I'm sure with a wet tent fly, damp clothes and wet pack, the weight would have had to be up by a kilo at least. Again, this seemed to go over the mystery limit and increased fatigue rate.
For the last couple of days of the trip I was plagued by the question - "what does my pack weigh?" One of the first things I did when I got home was to weigh-in. My total weight was 140kg. Ex-pack was 120kg. Weighing the pack alone tallied up with the previous measurements - 20kg.
Based on my experiences in this trip, I will definitely be trying to keep as close to this limit; or even under if I can manage it. I have no idea how we managed back in the old days with 55+lbs (25kg) packs.
Mmmmm... 4 season tent, it's sooo nice, but is it worth the weight? Takes a fair while to set up, this particular one (Kathmandu "Mountain" 4-season) is practically impervious to weather (barring poor fly adjustment which allows rain to drip onto the inner tent) but can't be fastpacked or cut back for 2 season, which is unfortunate. I think I could really get into this kind of tent, knowing rather than hoping than it can withstand any weather condition.
As a top of the line model it also has all the top features - inbuilt gear racks, and hanglines - very handy for tidying up the tent. It also has twin doorways with an extremely configurable fly door (I love it!) allowing the doors to be opened from top to bottom, bottom to top, and pulled out of the way altogether into two open positions (open and fully-open).
The best part was being able to open both doors a bit at the top, and have full flow-through ventilation in even the worst weather; keeping gear and the inner skin dry. At one point I had so much wind going through it was positively chilly! No problem, just close the inner doors most of the way, and let the wind go over the inner skin, and under the fly. Each vestibule was big enough for a pack and some gear, one was enough for the gear, the other made a great kitchen in wet weather; if you were careful with open flames!
Trangia's own. A bit fiddly and heavy, but fool-proof and weather-proof, and a lifesaver when needed.
Each time I came into camp hypothermic, the Trangia was my best friend. Fuel usage is very good, less than one burner-full per
day (with conservative use). I estimate I used about a third of a litre all up over the week.
The ability to be able to have a warm sponge bath out in the wilderness is a real luxury.
I saw so many opportunities for great shots, I really wish I had brought one - for showing visually the PB slopes, it would have been particularly useful. I'm definitely getting one for next season, preferably digital; so I can take hundreds of shots if I want, and easily publish them in this kind of archive. I should have brought a normal camera, but discarded it as too weighty in the pack.
Although I'd always scorned hats, I got one in particular for this trip, knowing how much sun I would be getting. To my surprise, it was more handy than I'd thought. In hot weather it shaded me (of course), but there's more! In cold weather it warmed my head and reduced hypothermia, in wet weather it kept rain off the glasses (critically important for me), stopped eye-tearing in windy weather, in the overgrown trail, it was also very useful for preventing twigs from ripping my glasses off. In the occasional bingle with a thicker branch, it padded my skull from the blow. It was also useful for detecting them, as soon as I felt the hat brush something, I would duck, avoiding a smack upside the head, or getting the pack caught (bloody frustrating). Also handy as a general wipecloth, hot pan holder, handwarmer, emergency toilet paper (no, I didn't... really!) and so on - I will definitely be bringing this along every trip.
I'd always liked having a staff to walk on, and in this trip I found a real beauty, a single sapling, nearly straight and very strong.
It made me feel a bit like Gandalf, striding across the wild lands of Middle-earth.
It was also very handy for determining whether bogs were really MIB-able, and took a lot of strain and shock out of the steep uphill and downhill sections.
I doubt whether I would have been able to do the long sections I did without a staff to help.
Or maybe I'm just getting feeble in my advancing years... 
It lasted me almost the entire trip. Ironically, it broke just as I was MIB-ing one of the very last bogholes in the trip. Although the hole looked ok at first, I soon found out it was man-eater and the staff was destroyed in the "emergency evasion" from hip-deep mud. Alas!
