Packing the pack

10kg is a fair bit of weight to lug around. However, the bigger task is fitting everything for 7 days in to a 25 litre pack. We have to carry it all for the duration of the race. Everything gets weighed, kilojoules counted, excess packaging cut off, sleeping bag downsized and discussions about including or excluding the 200gm stove are had.

Will I really need the extra pair of socks (30gms), and there are the three spare batteries for the 65gm headlamp which weigh in at 36gms. I will have 6.5kg of food on board, which will reduce at nearly a kilo a day - did you know that macadamias and cashews have the highest kilojoule per gram ratio of any food I have found? I am allowing myself the luxury of a sleeping mat, although it is a shaped uber-light mat but still tipping the scales at 235gms.

If anyone saw a strange bloke with a small set of scales going from shoe shop to shoe shop earlier this week, it was me searching for a lightweight pair of sandals to wear in camp each night. Managed to score a pair at 125gms from which I can probably trim something off.