r/UltralightAus

I’m planning an overnight hike with my 6-year old, which means I need to be able to carry almost all the gear for both of us. I’m currently planning on the assumption that he will carry his own water, trail snacks, waterproof jacket, head lamp and comfort items (ie teddy). So I’m looking for any and every way to bring down the weight I’ll be carrying.

Looking at sleep systems, I came across this two-person quilt (https://youtu.be/RKzbtNNGAMQ?si=-ZM4yJNUs-CIFrMG).

It looks *amazing* - a double quilt is about the same size and weight as *one* sleeping bag, I reckon it would be more comfortable, and huddling in together means we can share body heat. But … the only brands I can find are out of stock or don’t ship to Australia.

Has anyone seen anything like this in Australia? Or could you recommend any other ways to bring the weight down on a sleep system for 2 people (well, kinda 1.5 people really)?

What: Australian Alps Walking track - Thru Hike from Walhalla (VIC) to Namadgi Visitor Centre (ACT)

>The Australian Alps Walking Track winds through the high country of Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT. It traverses rugged remote alpine country and bushwalkers must always be experienced, self reliant and have good navigation skills. On the Australian Alps Walking Track you will visit some of Australia’s finest alpine national parks. The track climbs our highest mountains and crosses exposed high plains. It passes through magnificent tall forests and stunted snow gum woodlands, and discovers sites rich in history.

>The 650 kilometre track generally follows ridges and high plains through some of the highest country in Australia. It is mostly far from any towns or other settlement.

Where: AAWT Overview Map

When: March 30th 2026 Start date, May 5th finish. 38 days (2 full zero days, ~6 half days)
Distance: Officially ~650km ish, Farout ~700 ish, Plus side trips ~720 ish.

Conditions: Rain, Snow, Heat - - - The usual.
Frost in the mornings. some mornings had quite a bit of frost (n.b. This was a poor site choice by me, if I went under the tree cover I still would have had frost, but less. I thought this location would get good morning sun, but there was one large tree blocking the sunrise...)
Some days we didn't see the sun through the low misty cloud. Other days where there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Very Cold wind. Quite a few very overgrown sections, many where the path is still fairly clear (under the scrub) but you're still pushing through scrub/ferns almost as if there was no trail. Some sections (section just north of Buckwong Creek) where there is no trail and you're also bush bashing. Other sections where it's an open field/meadow, and there is an occasional track marker, but no trail to speak of. Can you see it?
Plenty of leeches (when it rained at least 25-30mm for ~3 days in a row around the apparently so called "Dry Barrys", wasn't fucking dry for me...) they came out in force and were hungry.

Temperature Min/Max I had my water bladder freeze inside my tent. So it got a bit cold I guess.
Temperature gauge was in the shoulder pocket of my pack, which was kept in the tent over night. So data reflects that (less accurate) tracking. Max temp (23/04/2026 at 2pm) pack was probably sitting in the sun. Also wasn't tracking for my 2 day stay at Asgaard in Hotham (waiting out snow and "Feels like" -11°c) and ~24 hours in Thredbo (got in at lunch, left by lunch the next day.)

Useful Pre-Trip Information:
No Permits for the "AAWT" on the whole, but you pass through different areas with different restrictions. Lots of places with dispersed camping, others with specific requirements/permits and some no-camping sections.

Getting to/from the north end it pretty easy. ~25min from Canberra, some Track Angels can help and you can even get an Uber.
Getting to/from the south end is a little harder. Again some track angels can help out (check their facebook page) Public transport can get you as close as Moe (Mo-EE, not 'Moe', apparently) I was lucky and had my in-laws drop me off and make a day of it. They did the Gold mine tour etc after seeing me off.

The Chapman-Siesman Australian Alps Walking Track guidebook is commonly referred to as 'The Track Bible' and has a lot of overall great track information in it. Worth the purchase for me. It is a little... traditional. Still very useful information and descriptions. Many people carried it. Many people ripped it apart and carried it in sections. They also have a website with a bunch of info

Tom and Maddie from The Adventure Gene have a bunch of useful information too. Things like expected sections where you'll have long water carries etc. All laid out pretty simply on their page.

Expenses: Many could do it cheaper I guess

Navigation
This one gets a lot of fear surrounding it for the AAWT on facebook and elsewhere online. I think it's a lot of hikers first introduction to non-groomed, not-100% maintained, trail.
For the most part I found it was a non-issue, for me. I would say there is a pretty well defined footpad for a good 90%-95% of the trail, maybe even 98%. Hell probably more than half the trail is Fire/Forest Management 4wd track... Keep in mind I did it at the end of the season though. So if you're early season (early spring) the trail might be less defined. Though I have a little experience I guess with off trail navigation/reading maps etc too, so your experience might be different.

However there are some sections where you might have to think a bit (or let navigation apps like Farout think for you...) and should really have and know how to use a map. Compass too if you aren't fantastic with orientation. There are some 4wd tracks that deviate from the 4wd track you're walking on, not listed/shown on the maps I had and just as well used. Simple to check with the app, pretty easy to look at a paper map and go "whelp, I need to be right of that knoll up ahead, so right it is"

Other sections like the ~1.5km south of the Viking Saddle I'm sure there was a trail, underneath ~150 of so fallen trees. You might be able to see the one cut trunk (for times long ago...) indicating where the trail sort of could be.

Track Markers are pretty hit and miss I found. There were a few sections where we didn't see one for hours (or all day.) Some sections (i.e pictured above) and especially the climb out of Buckwong creek, I actually found a few track markers and there was absolutely zero evidence of trail 50m either side of the marker. Then other sections (like ~3km past that Buckwong section) there were THREE markers on the one tree. Two on the same side pointing north, and a third on the opposite side for SOBO hikers... With a dozen more markers in a ~200m stretch. Where the track maint crew even had time to carve smiley faces into trunks I considered ripping a few off, hiking back over the hill and dropping them on the other side down to Buckwong......... Though for that particular sections it's "Head uphill-ish until you hit the next 4wd road that runs the entire ridge line" so it's hard to get lost-lost.
Some intersections/turns/junctions didn't have a marker, others had 3 in a 20m stretch; One approaching 10m before, one at road crossing itself, another 10m past.
Other junctions had one, but it was hidden behind scrub/blackberry bush and unless you were specifically looking for it could miss it pretty easily.

Caution on Farout - Sometimes I found errors in the base topo map (road names different, creeks not shown) and as the trail was provided (I believe in part/whole by the Adventure Gene that also post here sometimes) it differs sometimes from the "Official' track. Sometimes the trail shown was wrong (I was standing on a marker and the 'Red Line' on the app was more than 100m away, and there wasn't a footpad there) other times the app shows a sensible alternative route (Champion Spur 4wd track, before Black river) as the actual track, but officially the track is down a very overgrown, seldom used, single foot track.

Gear Notes:
Lighterpack Link A bit heavier with my winter gear weighing in at ~6.3kg

New-ish Gear for this hike
Montbell Versalite - I was warned by a few that my Frogg Toggs were unsuitable and would have been shreds by lunch time if I had to wear it on the trail. Those warnings were correct. It was cold, windy and wet a few days (many days...) and up in SEQ it would have been just cool windy and wet. So I hike without a jacket. In Vic I needed it for warmth management and I was glad I made the purchase because the Frogg Toggs would have been tatters in about 10min pushing through the stiff scrub on Square Top (as seen from the Nobs)
I hadn't really had the chance to properly use it (especially not on the go) but it seemed to go well. Pit zips were definitely a welcome addition, wrist velcro was a bit annoying but I found it useful (often had the sleaves pushed up to my elbows.) Hood was ok, but a little small (as I wear it over my wide brim hat.)
It did cop quite a few errant branches, that I know would have destroyed my frogg toggs, and only came away with one small nick/scratch.

I will probably retire the frogg toggs (keep as spare) and make it my primary rain jacket.

Macpac Nitro Alpha - This thing was very light, very warm, very comfortable. Probably too warm to use around QLD except for the middle of winter in the granite belt, but I had it on pretty much every afternoon at camp on the AAWT. Pretty much replaced the need for my puffy. Though it was more a general purpose purchase, not just for this particular hike.

That's it. Everything else was old (though I got a new pair, of the same shoe, in Thredbo)

Shorts vs Pants
I can understand why some people wear gaiters/long pants for the AAWT. My legs got pretty scratched up in parts. Blood dripping a few times, not just from leeches... But they healed up pretty good.

Tent space/Camping sites
Some spaces were a bit tight when you had multiple people there. Black River 3x 1 person tents was a little squeeze, Gil River you'd barely fit 2 1p walls almost touching. Most other areas had plenty of space though. Lot of people follow the Chapman Book, or Farout camp sites, but there's lots of other suitable tent pads to stop at if you have water.
Stretch after Barry Saddle to Hotham was affected by a recent fire, and a lot of the track had preventative (bulldozer pushing over anything and everything) work so a lot of what could have been suitable spots had rocks, deep bulldozer tread or trees laying over everything. Some spots (South Selwyn) still had a good camp, but other spots in the area were a complete muddy mess.
There wasn't a single location I had any issue with a non free-standing tent.
Wilsons Creek (just past Kosi) is a crowded toilet bowl. Though I was there Anzac long weekend. Collect water from up hill...

Power
This is another one that a lot of people fret about online... and sadly (despite previous power experience) I let it get the better of me. I ended up carrying two 10,000mAh power banks. On the 11 day stretch between Thredbo and Tharwa I had remaining; Phone was ~87%, GPS Watch was ~80%, head torch had more than a third left and the primary battery pack still had 26% left. My secondary battery pack... was untouched.
I use my phone fairly heavily. Samsung S23+. It's on Flight, Power saver and 'Light' performance modes. I turn it off when I sleep and back on when I'm having breakfast. I take many pictures, I use it to take my notes etc and it's my primary navigation as well.

Sawyer Squeeze Dirty End Cap
Not sure where I saw it here (on reddit somewhere) but this Squeeze end cap made it a lot easier to throw my squeeze into the sleeping bag at night. Not much more weight than a ziplock bag, and much less chance of leaking.

Unused / under-utilised gear I carried for almost no reason
Mitts
I had merino wool liner gloves (with a few moth holes) that I primarily used to keep hands worm at camp and a little on the go. They are cactus now (though, they weren't fantastic when I started...) but kept my hands warm enough. So I didn't have to bust out the mitts. That said, if I DID get caught in the snow storm (rather than chicken out in a warm bed in Hotham for 2 days) they would have come in very useful. So although I didn't wear them, not even once, I am glad I carried them. I think...

MH Ghost Whisperer Puffy
It was very useful as an 'under the pillow' stuffer (and that alone probably made it worth it) but with the Macpac Nitro I only used it about 4-5 mornings and maybe 7-8 times in the afternoon (when a few more people were at camp so out of the tent a little longer chatting.) Probably still carry, so I can enjoy a good sleep.

Second power bank
See above. Completely unused. Would not carry.

Sunglasses
I think I wore them for about 5 hours total. A bit rolling grounds (when not shaded by cloud) and on some of the Snowy Hydro roads where they used bright road base and there was a lot of glare.
I'd still carry.

Broken Gear
Sadly, my BRS-3000T, that is ~13 years old and I have had on close to 10,000km of hiking... has died. Bit of User error on my part, due to a faulty 'Champion' gas can thread. I know it was a faulty can as someone had left an empty can in a hut (seriously, why you do that?) so I was able to test it wasn't my BRS. However I still wanted to use the gas, so I foolishly forced it on anyway. It worked for a few nights, until it didn't. When I was using too much force and I snapped off one of the three pot stands. Rendering it useless. Thankfully I was hiking with people at that point and they had plenty of gas (with a Jetboil) to share hot water... because I hate cold soaking.

XTM Merino Gloves
As above. They were old and had some moth damage. By the end both pointer fingers had split down to the first knuckle. Left glove had split on side of wrist, few other wear holes. They have served me well.

Sock Guards
I just use cheapy 'garden' sock covers from bunnings. They're not super old (I think pre-Bibbulmun in 2022) but have done a bit, I guess. Elastic was shot by the end and material was really frayed. So into the bin they went when I finished.

Shoes
Again, just general use/end of life. They held up pretty good for almost ~800km. Some grit/sticks/rocks were getting in the holes near the toes and the compression in the sole/insoles was pretty dead. I was feeling it on the bottom of the feet (and all the gravel rocks on the 4wd track) a few days leading into Thredbo. Very glad I had planed ahead and knew they were going to reach end of life soon and had a new pair waiting in Thredbo for me.
Few (of the older and/or weekend hikers) were in boots. Most out there were in runners or similar. I was happy I could plough through creeks easy and not really care (though cold wet shoes a few mornings does suck until your feet warm up in ~5-10 min.) One stretch someone mentioned they stopped to change shoes to cross creeks 9 times. Which is a fuckload of time wasted IMO (or not wasted if you have GTX boots that would have been wet for days...)
When it was raining in the Barry's stretch with ferns/grass dropping water on my legs/shoes those boots would have been soaked anyway. At least mine dried out in a few ours pretty easy.
No blisters. A few hot spots when constantly wet shoes/socks.
One cut on the side of a toe, as I didn't trim the nail very good on the toe next to it, and lots of steep down pushed middle toe into second toe. Was sore, not painful, trimmed nail and leukotape over wound resolved issue. Probably should have looked it at lunch when I first felt it, rather than the next night at camp (1.5 days and 40km later)... Then probably just the trim would have been sufficient.

Trip Report:
Overall the AAWT has been one of my more difficult thru hikes, logistically, terrain wise and (as far as an "established" trail) navigation. Nav wasn't hard, especially if you're someone with a bit of off trail experience, but there were certainly sections where I could understand why people struggle. Especially if they head into it expecting a similar groomed trail experience like the Bibbulmun, or the Pacific Crest Trail.

It has some absolutely fantastic areas with spectacular views and truly scenic vistas... stitched together by long stretches on monotonous fire/management 4wd tracks covered in horse shit. Less social than other more popular hikes, I'm generally happy to hike alone but it was great to bump into other hikers and enjoy some great company while on the trail. It's really nice when you sync with someone that has a similar hiking style/speed and can enjoy the experience together. Helps when your stove breaks too!

Sections
A lot of people break it into 6 legs per below, with food drops/resupply between each leg.

• Walhalla to Rumpff Saddle ~ 108km
• Rumpff saddle to Mt Hotham ~ 113km
• Mt Hotham to Benambra-Corryong Rd ~ 104km
• Benambra-Corryong Rd to Thredbo ~ 122km
• Thredbo to Kiandra ~ 124km
• Kiandra to Tharwa ~ 120km

That seemed to work out pretty well for me. If you were a much faster hiker you could just get away with sending a box to Hotham ('The General' also the post office) and Thredbo (YHA was fantastic and happy to hold hiker resupply.) Slower you might want more food drops, as carrying more than 6 days of food sucks.

Speed
Chapman says leg 1 should take a "Fast hiker" 6 days to complete. I did it in ~4.5, having started after lunch day 1... However I wasn't super prepared for the elevation gain/loss (I'm not as fit as I remember my body being 10 years ago) and I was pushing it a little hard. The days weren't super bad I guess, I was in camp well before dark every night with plenty of time to cook dinner, though I was probably starting to feel it (Fuck you Mount Easton!) I bumped into two other guys doing the thru at Black River (night 4) and then I was planning a 1/2 day into/out of Rumpff (Brother in Law camping there and had my food drop) anyway, so I had 3 nights in a row with them. After getting to know them over those days I decided to revise down my daily distances a little to meet their pace, with their encouragement. Even before Hotham though we met in the middle a bit and they pushed a bit further than their plan. From Thredbo to Tharwa it was at least 3 days quicker than their plan... and we also added in Blue Waterholes side trip (which took most of a day.)

There was a nice chunk in the middle though that it was pretty casual days. Camp before 2-3pm. Plenty of chill time on breaks/lunch.
We were similar pace on the move, they were a bit faster on the steeper uphills though! With me a touch quicker through the scrub (shorter person, smaller pack, seemingly more experience bush bashing.) Camp routine was a bit different, often I was good to go pretty quickly well before we set off. Similar for lunch and other breaks, I'm happy with a much shorter break usually. So if it was a big hill (like Viking) I'd just set off, knowing they'd likely catch me close/before the top.

If I stayed solo I probably would have done it in my planned ~30 days, but I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much. Met another SOBO guy aiming for ~17 days (was hiking until 10pm some nights apparently) and many who were doing it much longer. I was pretty happy with the ~36 hiking days. That said, if I were to hike again solo (and start at the south) I would probably allow extra time from Walhalla to Hotham, then speed up a little after there.

Direction
I was happy to head NOBO. Suited my logistics and weather. The northern 2/3rds is easier hiking/navigation though if you wanted to ease into it. Starting at the south throws you in the deep end.
I think I liked finishing up north, and feel it would be more 'happy that it's ending' if I headed south.

Side Trips
Missed a few side trips that I wanted to do because reasons. Feathertop (because snow) Kerries/Jagungal (because after Rolling Grounds and getting a bit of tunnel vision for finish line, off trail didn't feel as appealing, kicking myself now), Mt Bimberi (because was covered in low cloud, so no views anyway, and raining on us) etc etc. Great excuse to head back and do more hikes around that area!

Did hit quite a few others though that I was happy with, Murray Source + First Cairn (marking straight line state boundary between NSW/VIC... probably just a Surveyor thing...), The Pilot was fantastic 360° views, Mt Bogong (despite also in cloud and no views... the loop is good,) Blue Waterholes (Clarke Gorge, Cooleman Falls, Cooleman and Murray caves) abso-lutely-fucking-great, you can reach it in a 2wd car from the other side. Kosi (technically a side trip I guess) was crowded and touristy (like the other times I have been there) for some reason I thought it would be quieter late arvo, it was not... but I also hit that area Anzac day long weekend and apparently the last weekend of the Downhill Mountain bike use of the mountain... so it might have been a timing issue. Rolling grounds (when past blue lake loop) were also fantastic.

Huts
Some people (especially a particular hiker doing an in/out) was super interested in the huts/history. Took like 50+ photos of each hut in different light/sunset/sunrise etc etc. I have about 5 photos total

Highlight
Not a side trip, but probably my favourite part of the trail was the Mt Howitt/Crosscut Saw/Viking Wilderness area (until you reach Barry Saddle and are back on/off 4wd tracks...) It's a bit busier there too (Buller Huts trail overlaps some of it, and close-ish to car park for some day hikers and shorter overnighters) though wasn't too bad (and I was there school holidays.)

Wouldn't be in a rush to do it in whole again, but I'm very glad I set off and completed the AAWT!
Plenty of spots I want to go back and explore further.

Can read full blog spam here

So I saw this today on Backpacking Light.

It looks identical to Xmid with the exception of the floor design, which is identical to Xdome.

Has anyone bought anything from this company? I’m genuinely curious what kind of company is Pacertent.

Also curious on your thoughts as to if this is a problematic practice - to copy paste another tent’s design.

I know Xmid’s design is similar to lots of trekking poles tents but this for me seems more than similar, it’s “identical”