I was keen to carry my own pack on the Track. After having completed many ten plus day walks in Australia and overseas, plus an Army Reserve background, I am quite comfortable with a pack with a starting weight well above 20 kilograms.
Based on the heat and humidity on the Kokoda track, plus the mountainous terrain, it made sense to aim for the lowest pack starting weight possible.
After many packings and re-packings in Australia, we ended up getting my pack starting weight to about 14 kilograms. In hindsight, I could have made it even lower (less food etc).
We ended up with about 4kg of food in my pack (about 400 grams per day). This is using freeze dried food to keep weight down.
Our technology weighed north of 2kg. The medical kit was nearly one kilo. We carried every conceivable medicine, bandages, splints and creme. Other weight was made up of clothes (two sets), tent, sleeping bag etc. An additional items I carried was a 20 metre rope (for river crossings).
Our technology weighed north of 2kg. The medical kit was nearly one kilo. We carried every conceivable medicine, bandages, splints and creme. Other weight was made up of clothes (two sets), tent, sleeping bag etc. An additional items I carried was a 20 metre rope (for river crossings).
My thoughts on this are
1) Pack as light as possible
2) Practice with this pack back home before you head to Kokoda to get confident with the weight
3) If not confident with the pack, hire a porter when you get to Kokoda.
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