1400 Posts

My daughter Merrin started this blog for me four years ago on 26 May 2016 so I am surprised I/we have been so busy, but today this is my 1400th post! Just thought I would take a few lines to highlight the last 100 posts which have occurred over the last six months or so:

I guess the highlight in our memories of the last 100 was our walk on the Everest Base Camp Trail back in November 2019. This was Della’s favourite pic:

There are plenty of other excellent pics in the numerous posts we did about it as well as some important advice: An Ultralight Gear List’ for the EBC – and elsewhere and (a must) if you plan to venture that way: Dos and Don’ts on the EBC Here is a ‘Don’t’. This was not her favourite pic – but it was mine!

The cover pic (top) is of my lovely wife Della enjoying herself on the EBC somewhere near Phakding, Nepal.

And an important innovation about Preventing Batteries from Going Flat at High Altitudes – which they otherwise do! This simple trick will prevent it.

Useful ideas:

An Ultralight Mobile Clothes Line

A handy way to Make a Tent Pole

All about backpacks in Backpack Tips and Tricks – in any case they should definitely be under 500 grams!

Here is a Superlight Hunting Pack: 193 Grams which cost <$20, but is 40 litres.

A guest post from Tim the  Tinker about a wonderful new stove which also heats your tent and weighs just a few grams: in the Lay Flat Kettle and Pudding Bowl Stove

Of course the bushfires and then the Covid lockdown prevented us from doing many things away from home, but we did get out now and then:

We had some Canoeing Trips like the Latrobe River: Messing about in boats…

and I had three days on the Mitchell River:

I also compiled all our Wonnangatta-Mitchell canoeing advice into a single post: Fourteen Days of White Water

Gerard White had an excellent guest post about a trip on the Upper Yarra Track:

Even at home you can have some fine adventures. I managed one of the Classic Vehicle Bogs My daughter Merrin (pictured) enjoyed it a lot!

and I did some work on a lovely walking track along Our Creek Lockdown ain’t so bad!

There were some handy DIY ideas such as a DIY Ultralight Pillow which weighs 27 grams

a Flat-Felled Seam Alternative I came up with which is so much easier

DIY Stuff Sacks which weigh <5 grams. This one on one of my new tents – see below.

and a neat new way of DIY Seam Sealing which you will want to try.

At last two brand new tent ideas both of which can also double as hammock tarps

The Silnylon Hammock Tent which Spot is enjoying

and at last the long-awaited The Deer Hunter’s Tent #2 which I am very proud of: 438 grams including the guylines in 1.25 oz/yd2 silnylon! Cost me under A$25!

Seen here in action on a misty morning in the Deer Hunter’s Tent Goes Bush

Some good advice about hiking power supplies such as Amps are Everything

and The Tyvek Solar Reflector which is just about the greatest innovation since the power bank!

and the  Keweisi USB Amp Tester – which is about a lot of other things besides. Taken together these three posts go a long way to solving your hiking power needs. You should read them.

Finally, the perfect Cookset Solution

Of course there is much, much more but I think you will agree that it has been a productive six months (for a hobby), though we do hope to get out and about a bit more the next six months. However there are a lot of jobs around the farm to do: finish fox-proof fencing, tree planting, walking paths, greenhouse…and we move a bit slower than we once did. Stay Tuned.

Cheers, Steve & Della.