Gearing Up

I'm about to leave on yet another trip to Mountain Equipment Co-op to look at more gear. Gear is one of the big challenges of this trip. There are tough choices. For instance, what sleeping bag do you buy for a trek that takes you from 30 degrees Celsius at the start to potentially -20 at highest camp? Or how do you buy a duffel or backpack big enough to store gear for any weather condition but still be no more than 15KG full? Last time I was there I found a cool bag that looks like a duffel but also has a flap that unzips to expose shoulder straps so you can carry it as a backpack. Plus, it has a daypack that zips on the back of it. This is perfect because while I am responsible for carrying my daypack, the porters carry the bigger pack for me. So I can travel with the two attached but separate them for the trek. Oddly, I'm told the porters don't care about the backpack straps. They just carry it on their heads.

Other misc. things to buy include a headlamp (the final push to the summit is at night), gators (had to learn what those were) and synthetic underwear (no comment).