Ah, the mysterious world of outdoor gear! Down vs synthetic, carbon vs aluminum, leather vs goretex, merino wool vs functional fabric, waterproof, water resistant, breathable, lightweight, durable…
One could spend hours in outdoor shops pondering all those options – wait, that’s actually what we did the last months!
Fortunately Bächli, our equipment supplier of choice, has experienced and extremely helpful staff. They take all the time in the world to advise you, have a lot of first hand knowledge of the equipment and help you choose the best option for your specific needs – and not necessarily the most expensive option.
To make you feel really comfortable with your gear, you can even try it out in your next hike and have up to 3 weeks to return it if you are not happy. If the gear is used, they return 85% of the original price.
At one of our purchases, we had already paid for everything and the attendant was packing our stuff. She was folding the hiking trousers, looked at José and asked: Did you try those on? Were they the right length for you? We answered something along the lines of: Well, for him trousers are always a bit long, those are alright… She immediately checked if there was a shorter size available and offered José to try the other size on. He did, the trousers were a much better fit and she went back to the cashier to change the trousers in the system. Customer service at its best.
These are the things that will be our home, our bed, our means of transport and our shelter from sun, cold and rain during the next 12 months:
Each of us takes
1 backpack
1 backpack cover
1 sleeping bag
1 sleeping pad
1 mummy liner
2 pairs of trousers
5 t-shirts functional fabric/cotton
2 long sleeved shirts
underwear
3 pairs of hiking socks
1 pair of hiking shoes
1 pair of flip-flops
1 warm jacket
1 waterproof jacket
1 rain poncho
sun glasses
1 pair of long johns
1 ultralight towel
soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, comb
1 pocket knife
1 spoon/fork
1 pair of hiking poles
1 cap
1 waterproof compression bag
1 pack sack
For both of us, we take
1 light tent
1 headlamp
first-aid kit
sunscreen
mosquito repellent
1 day bag
Moiken takes
1 summer dress
1 bikini
2 buffs
1 water bladder
José takes
1 hiking shirt
1 bathing shorts
Everything fit in our backpacks and we managed to stay at 10kg per fully packed backpack (before water and food)!