This is part three of a three-part series going over the hiking gear I’ll be taking with me to New Zealand.
You can read all about Part One here, and read everything in Part Two here.
The third and final part of this blog series will be looking at what First Aid, navigation, hydration, and other miscellaneous hiking gear I will be taking with me.
First Aid
This is absolutely important whether you are going on a day hike or a multi-day hike. There are plenty of outdoor stores where you can buy a ready-made kit.
However, you can sometimes end up with items that you don’t need or will never use.
This is why I always make my own First Aid kit by picking and choosing my items.
- Triangular bandage
- Tweezers
- Scissors
- Nurofen
- Band-Aids
- Elastoplast Blister Pads (acts like a second skin and reduce the pressure of existing blisters)
- Dettol
- Hydrolite sachets
- Leukoplast bandages
- Sunscreen (and plenty of it!)
- Hat
- Mother’s Grace Ortho Rub oil (awesome for sore muscles)
Navigation
On this trip, we’ll be sharing navigation tools among the three of us. Keith and Matt are looking after GPS and PLB, while I’ll be taking care of the NZ topographical paper maps and compass.
There are a number of ways to get a hold of these NZ paper maps: download them from the LINZ website or buy them from an online retailer such as Bivouac.
Of course, you can always pick them up somewhere when you get over there but if you like to pre-plan as I do, then downloading or buying them pre-hike is the way to go.
Hydration
If you’ve ever been on a hike with our adventure company, you’ll know I’m big on everyone carrying as much water as possible to stay hydrated.
On this trip, carrying adequate water supplies will be incredibly important, especially during those 25+ degree days when the heat gets intense.
Furthermore, we won’t always have access to clean water so there will be plenty of instances where we will need to filter it from a stream.
- Source Widepac Filter Hydration System. Not only is this a hydration bladder but it also has a filter attached to it as well. A majority of my water will be carried in this. We’ll be near plenty of streams on the Timber Trail and the 42 Traverse, so having something like this on hand is important so we don’t get sick.
- Mountain Designs One Litre Bottle. I’ve had this water bottle for many years now and it’s basically one of those Nalgene bottles. Rarely do I rely on it as my sole water carrier, but I do use it as a supplement to my hydration pack or for boiling water at dinner. I also use it at breakfast when I drink one litre of water on top of the food I’m eating as well.
- Sawyer Select S2 Water filter. A little similar to the one-litre bottle, this water filter will complement the hydration pack. However, the fact that it also has a filter attached to it makes it a little more effective. I’ll be able to use it in a number of places along the trail, as well as filter water for dinner/breakfast where we won’t have access to clean running water. The only downside is that it takes a little while longer to fill up.
Miscellaneous Hiking Gear
- Hiking poles. I don’t use them very often but they’re a handy piece of hiking gear to have in the event of a river crossing or a fairly steep hill.
- Nikon D5200 DSLR with a 16-85mm lens. The last time I went to NZ, I had my point-and-shoot digital camera and my iPhone 6, and while they both served their purpose I’m keen to ensure I get some high-quality photos of such an amazing country.
- Manfretto tripod.
- iPhone 8s 256gb. Plenty of storage space = plenty of photos and videos. I’ll also be bringing a few sim cards with me for emergency phone calls and social media use.
- Xiaomi Power Bank. With a camera and a phone on me, I’m going to need a pretty decent power charger to get me through. This will do this and then some.
- Pack cover. For when the rain kicks in and I need to protect my backpack and the gear inside.
- Cooking pot with a mini burner. We’ll be picking up cooking gas over there and sharing it amongst the three of us. The mini burner is incredibly compact and the pot is small enough so it doesn’t take up a heap of room in my bag.
