Kilimanjaro Gear Notes

Kilimanjaro at twilight, Shira 1.

I started building my Kilimanjaro gear months before wheels-up Feb 28. It was a balance between realism and very real weight limits, hedging my bets at every turn; to the extent of buying a new digital scale. In the end, it's not your scale that counts. It's the airline's and then the tour group.
Then add in that I was doing a post-Kilimanjaro trip, and needed to figure that out.
I got expert advice from Dave Turner, who's forgotten more about mountain travel than I'll ever know.

The Four Main Components

1/ The LARGE BLACK DUFFEL, the 1997 Eagle Creek Black Whale held all the trek gear.
Inside it were [depending on trip phase]
2/ PORTER DUFFEL
3/ ARCTERYX DAY PACK
4/ GREEN BURRITO PACK: for off mountain travel [see below]

The following list is what I dragged/carried to Kilimanjaro and further on.

Black Whale, with Green Burrito visible. Porter Duffel obscured.
1/ LARGE BLACK DUFFEL

20L compression stuff sack [for sleeping bag]
Sleeping bag rated to 0°F (-18°C). This was my vintage North Face mummy, so vintage the tag inside "Made in Berkeley CA"
Sleeping bag liner (for extra warmth and comfort). [Not used]
Sleeping pad.
WAG BAGS carried for SENE [5lbs]. These are the bio-degradable shit bags for your free-standing outhouse. Kili shitters are stunners.

2/ PORTER DUFFEL:

This was Leslie's waterproof duffel for her 2003 trip. I used it as a first-line reality check to make sure my gear would fit, and would be within the weight guidelines.

Capacity (60 – 90 cu. liters) to hold your personal gear (excluding your sleeping bag and pad).

The following lists are Event waterproof 8L & 13L stuff sacks with tags, because you'll forget seconds after the compression. Also made it easier after getting into camp.

STUFF SACK 2 / Sox

6 Pairs socks [light- and heavier]. I wore lightweights first 4 and last 3 days, heavier in the middle.

STUFF SACK 3 / CLOTHING/CORE

2 Polypro tops and bottoms - medium weight.
2 T-shirts.
2 very lightweight long-sleeve tropical shirts. They wicked sweat and kept me from sunburn.
Gore-Tex mittens, worn on summit day. Later swapped out for lighter weight gloves if needed.
Glove liners - lightweight material Capilene®.

Bottom line: you're gonna smell like ass end of first day. Get used to it. Sponge-bath pits and parts.

STUFF SACK 4 / TORSO & UPPER

Outer shell jacket – Gore-Tex®) [worn on plane to JRO].
Pile JACKET [donated afterwards]
PUFFY jacket
Lightweight merino sweater, long sleeve. Added at last minute.

STUFF SACK 5 / CLOTHING/LOWER

Rain/wind pants with leg zippers for easy on/off.
Hiking pants: light-, medium- and heavyweight [Fleece/Pile] pants. I wore the lightweight pants for most of the trek.
Ex Officio underwear, not cotton

STUFF SACK 6 / HEADGEAR

Shade hat: my ugly-as-sin surplus SADF bucket hat. Decent brim, windproof.
pullover polypro knit cap, beat to hell, but utterly comfortable.
Sunglasses that block UV rays.
Bandanas.

PERSONAL HYGIENE

Small towel and washcloth
2-3 One liter wide-mouth reusable water bottles.

Output & Intake. The one on the left is your night-time friend.

BLADDER packs were not mentioned.
They crack and leak at higher elevations. Hose won't pull. I was thrilled with this news. I've seen them used in ultras and the results are definitely mixed. They're great reservoirs but are a huge pain.
Plus: start mixing drinks in them, they become Petri dishes.

ENERGY & SNACK [IN THEIR OWN SACK]

Energy and snack foods: Almond butter & GU
Gatorade Enough for 6-12 liters.
weight of snacks: 4.0 lb

STUFF SACK 7 / Personal & 1st Aid Supplies.

Sunscreen (SPF 30 or higher).
Lip balm with sunscreen.
Hand wipes & hand sanitizer. [80/8 oz]: Essential to prevent Ring Of Fire
Aspirin, ibuprofen, or Tylenol.
Moleskin, Second Skin blister pads [not needed, donated]
Moisturizing cream.
Band Aids.
Topical antibiotic.
Acidophilus caps [instead of Pepto]
GLASSES also bring a pair of glasses for back-up.
Diamox [not used, donated at end of trip]

STUFF SACK 8 / Optional Items

Neck pouch, which held my small notebook, pen, laminated passport xerox.
Small mirror.
Neck gaiter (scarf). Last minute I packed a long cotton scarf I'd gotten in Cambodia. I found it a better fit, more adjustable.
Urine bottle (for use at night in your tent). Here an orphan wide-mouth Leadville Trail 100 bottle became useful.
Kindle, with reading material. Page-turners and potboilers are best, deep philosophical works not so much. Or so said a mountaineering book I read in 1978.

FREE-FLOATING IN PORTER DUFFEL UNTIL ARRIVAL

Light walking shoes or sneakers [donated at end]
sleeping bag, stuffed into a 20L waterproof stuff sack
foam pad
Gatorade & snacks

3/ GREEN BURRITO PACK

L: Green Burrito and Bagsmart camera bag
R: ECU of Green Burrito with aftermarket strap pads.

The real name is the Savotta Jääkäri S backpack from Varusteleka. It's a rugged little monster at the optimal carry-on size of 22 x 14 x 9".
Thoroughly came into its own Nov 2023: "What I've Learned About Travel So Far".

OFF MTN TRAVEL CLOTHING/
Pre and Post Kili [in packing cubes & stuff sacks]

trousers
shirts, long- and short-sleeve. Tropical weight.
sox, WOOL. Best for tropical to late-winter/early spring in northern latitudes
Ex Officio underwear, not cotton
stuff sack[s] ordinary, not waterproof as spec'd by SENE
Solid laundry soap pods for hand-wash. You're buying time here.

The 2003 R25, dorsal and ventral views. Badged, flagged and UD-kit modified.

4/ Arcteryx RT25 Daypack (22 cu. Liters/10kg cap).

This was Leslie's 2003 Kili pack, and it was excellent. I modified it with 1991 vintage Ultimate Direction bottle holsters on the belt, and a UD pouch on a custom sternum-strap for my Panasonic Lumix GM1 camera. Field tested the entire kit well before the trip.

On the trek I carried in/on it:

Trekking poles.
2 Headlamps with extra batteries [here Black Diamond Cosmos]
Goretex outer jacket
rainpants
snacks
camera & batteries
gaiters [not really needed until Day 5 or so]. I'd watch Felix to keep track.

CARRIED TO JRO in the RT25 / Reduced core kit

Stuff sack 2: sox/pairs
Stuff sack 3: gloves in pack
Stuff sack 4: Jackets [pile, puff]
Stuff sack 5: hiking pants & rain pants [1 ea]
Stuff sack 6: headgear
Stuff sack 7: personal first aid
gaiters
synthetic t-shirt, no cotton

This was in case the Black Whale full kit didn't arrive on time.

5/ BAGSMART Camera bag [not carried on trek]

Polar Watch 7 cable
Lithium batteries/POWER BANKS
CAMERA BATTERIES GM1
Panasonic Lumix GM1 camera w 2 lenses; 14mm/2.5 and the 12-35 kit zoom for post-kilimanjaro

I opted to shoot with a very small Micro Four-thirds [M43] format camera, occasionally using my iPhone. Camera batteries were portable. Yes, there was an Anker solar-charge power pack available, but I opted to remain independent of that. I charged my Polar Watch with the power bank as needed.

EXTRAS
• donations [old polypro]

SENE MANDATORY:

All your gear should not exceed 44 lbs / 20 kgs in weight. The maximum weight of personal items (including sleeping bag and pad) that are carried by a porter is 33 lbs / 15 kgs. We recommend that additional gear that you will have with you and in your day bag not exceed 20 lbs / 10 kgs. This includes hiking boots, water bottles, camera equipment, rain gear, and snacks.

No Fucking Weigh, Mannnn...

I got on the scale many times with each bag many times, to see where I could shave, skip, reduce and rethink the weights. Finally I got the Whale down to less than 45lbs.

WORN TO JRO

Mtn Hdwe Coat
boots
sox/pairs
underwear
short-sleeve shirt

TRIP DOCS [copies as backups]

PASSPORT
laminated passport duplicate
TNZ visa
left luggage QR printout for London Heathrow at Kili trip end
itinerary & reference docs

NOTES ON TANZANIAN VISAS & BOARDING PASSES

VISAS: Printouts. Yeah, that's geezer old-school. Until I watched arrived tourists at JRO trying to show TNZ Immigration their phones. They were shunted off to a siding where they had to print out or something.
Fun fact: TNZ Visas are 5 pages. you print out the whole package. TNZ Immigration takes pages 3-5, leaving you pages 1 & 2.

BOARDING PASSES: Optical scanners can stall out. With the guy in front of you, and the clock is ticking.

FIELD-TESTING YOUR KIT

Utterly essential. I solved a lot of future problems at leisure. I was fortunate that blistering was never a problem. My boots were worn-in, with the sock combos I expected.

I loaded the RT25 with 15lbs of bubble-wrapped bricks. The first few weeks were "holy shit", but I conditioned into it.

Camera? Fewest number of moves from pouch to hand and back.

Learn your gear. Learn your tech. Practice your night-time whiz bottle technique at home too.

Felix Mtuy, SENE Senior Guide told me that he's had clients arrive with their gear still wrapped, with tags on.
I was stunned.
"Really?"
"Oh yes."
That's fucking idiotic, and possibly dangerous.
Good news was nobody on our trek was that person.

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