Larapinta Trail Gear List: What We Carried

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The Larapinta is a solid 230km of rocky, sharp terrain. Getting to the end of it is as much about your gear surviving as it is about your legs—or in my case, my general health.

So here’s a bit of honesty: I don’t carry a ‘solo’ weight pack.

For autoimmune reasons, I’m not ‘hardcore’ or a solo-weight hiker. I hike with the husband who carries the bulkier communal stuff like the tent and stove. I manage the logistics, my 50L pack and the tech. It’s a team effort that makes a 230km trail like this possible for me.

So, this gear list includes almost every items that we bought new and used every day on the Larapinta. If you’re looking for the full trail breakdown and logistics, check out my Larapinta Trail Overview first.

A few items pre-date the Larapinta; some of these things are so old that it’s hard to believe they’re still functioning (like my old Macpac sleeping bag that the husband bought in the 1990s!).

We bought most of our new gear at K2 Base Camp and Paddy Pallin in Brisbane, or online from Wild Earth, Mont and Bogong Equipment. For those without a local hiking shop, I’ve linked to identical products at Wild Earth or Snowys.

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A quick note: We skipped the Mt Sonder summit climb this time around since we’d done it before and started our trip from Redbank Gorge. But even without that first climb, the gear still had to endure over 200km of the roughest terrain in Australia.

STAYING WARM AT NIGHT: SHELTER & SLEEP

After our first time on the Larapinta (a short 3-day loop) a few years ago, we had to say goodbye to our old hiking tent. It was delaminating and getting really sticky.

THE TENT: MONT MOONDANCE 2 (3-SEASON)

So the husband went looking for a new tent.

But we didn’t just want a ‘Larapinta tent’ to get us through one desert hike—we wanted a long-term investment that could handle everything from the humidity of the coast, the jagged rocks and brutal sun of Central Australia to the rain and cold of Tasmania.

We eventually settled on the Mont Moondance 2 (3-Season). The husband looked at the MSR Hubba Hubba, the Nemo Dragonfly and others but the Mont felt more solid for tough Aussie conditions (= brutal sun, wind and rain).

• Aussie-made Quality: I love supporting local Aussie businesses. Mont gear is extremely well-made and their customer service is exceptional—they sent us a full replacement set of pegs when the original ones didn’t cut it on a gear test in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. (They’ve since upgraded the pegs on this tent.)
• The Weight: For a 2-person hiking tent, the Moondance 2 is reasonably light at about 2kg—it might not be the lightest on the market but it is quality.
• The Rain: You might think being waterproof (massive 25,000mm+ waterhead) is irrelevant for the Larapinta but we had three, four days of solid rain and the tent was WET. We, however, stayed happily dry on the inside. Plus, you don’t usually buy a tent for just one hike. This is future-proof.
• The Roominess: It’s surprisingly roomy for the two of us (admittedly, we’re both reasonably ‘slim’). Obviously, it’s squishy and you can’t fit two packs in. But on occasion, we’d shove my pack (with the food) at one end, leaving the husband’s pack in the vestibule. It also has huge pockets at each end. It’s amazing how much of your stuff they can hold.
• The Roof Vents: I love that you can open and close the roof vents from the inside. It’s fantastic for a bit of breeze without having it blow on your face—or getting wet on rainy nights.
• Easy to Pack Up: Tents are notorious for creating chaos when you have to pack them up. Mont designed a bag that fits the tent very comfortably and makes rolling it up a breeze. Seriously, it’s so easy.
• Using a Footprint: The ground is seriously unkind out on the Larapinta, so use a footprint. Saving $100 on a groundsheet isn’t worth it when you’ve spent $900 on a tent. It’s basically insurance against that sharp quartzite rock. You could make your own but the Mont one fits the tent and clips in easily.

We actually bought our Moondance at Paddy Pallin in Brisbane because we wanted to lie in it and check the internal roominess before committing. If you have a local shop, I recommend a physical ‘test drive’ first. However, for those shopping online, Wild Earth is a great alternative—they have very competitive pricing for Mont gear.

Check prices at: Wild Earth | Mont

THE SLEEPING MAT & PILLOW

Just like the old hiking tent, our hiking mats had outlived their usefulness, i.e. comfort, and we were shopping around for new mats before our Larapinta hike.

NEMO TENSOR TRAIL ULTRALIGHT INSULATED SLEEPING PAD (MUMMY)

Everyone wants something different from a sleeping mat, and I absolutely feel like I made the right choice with mine. I really love my Nemo Tensor UL Insulated mat.

• Quiet, Warm & Comfy: No annoying crinkling (!) and thick enough for side sleepers like me. For something you simply blow up, it’s incredibly warm and comfy—especially nice on rocky ground. The insulation is fantastic when it’s freezing in the desert (2.8 R-value).
• Weight & Size: It packs down to the size of a water bottle and weighs 450g.
• Mat Failure & Warranty: My mat actually failed on the Larapinta two-thirds through the hike. It turned out to be a manufacturing fault rather than a puncture but it was still a massive pain in the neck. I ended up using the husband’s while he slept on the ‘slowly losing air’ mat for the last five, six nights. Once we got home, the warranty replacement was actually straightforward, and the new one has kept me warm and happy on several hikes since.

My favourite tip: We discovered you can actually fit two mats into a single Nemo stuff sack. It’s a very neat way to save space, and since the husband carries the mats, it’s one less bag to find in camp.

Check price at: Wild Earth

EXPED REM HIKING PILLOW

These pillows are a bit harder to find than the standard air pillows—we bought ours at K2 Base Camp in Brisbane some years ago now.

• Firm or Soft & Comfy: You can blow these up to the firmness you want but it’s not just an air bladder. It has a thin layer of foam on top and a super soft cover—makes it feel much more like a real pillow.
• Washable Cover: The best part—you can remove and wash the cover after the hike. After two weeks of sweat and dust, being able to throw it in the wash is great. I also often use a buff as a kind of ‘pillow slip’; it just keeps it a bit cleaner on the trail and you don’t have to deal with the sticky velcro removal part once you’re home.
• Weight & Size: Like the mats, these pillows are fairly light at 125g and reasonably small when deflated (though not as tiny as some other air pillows).

Available at: K2 Base Camp | Ultralight Gear

THE SLEEPING BAG: 1990s MACPAC (THE VINTAGE SURVIVOR)

This is a bit of a relic but it’s still going strong!

The husband actually bought his/my Macpac sleeping bag back in the 90s! It’s a down sleeping bag and I’ve had it professionally ‘refluffed’ to keep the warmth in—even after all these years, it still does a great job and always keeps me warm and toasty.

It’s probably not the lightest or most compact sleeping bag on the market these days, but it’s proof as to how well-made the old Macpac gear was. Since we already owned it and it works, there was no point in buying something new just for the sake of it.

• Sea to Summit Evac Lightweight Compression Dry Bag: Because it’s a really fluffy down bag, I have to use a compression dry bag to get it down to a reasonable size for my 50L pack.
• Mont Silk Liner: I always use it with a silk liner for a bit of extra warmth and to keep the sleeping bag clean. I used my trusty old silk liner on the Larapinta, but it finally ripped apart after 25 years (!) so I’ve recently replaced it with a Mont one.

Sea to Summit Evac Compression Dry Bag: Snowys | Wild Earth
Mont Sleeping Bag Silk Liner: Wild Earth

MOVING ON THE TRAIL: PACK & POLES

On any multi-day hike, your pack isn’t just carrying your gear but on the Larapinta, it’s a part of your body for two weeks. So it needs to really work for you.

Because the husband carries the heavy items (tent, gas, etc.), my pack is always a bit smaller than that of a solo hiker.

THE BACKPACK: OSPREY AURA AG (50L)

I tend to overpack (what can I say, I’m still working on it), and so a pack that helps me manage on the trail is super important. This one has been on a few long hikes now, and I really do love it.

• The Fit: I have narrow shoulders and a longer torso for a female. A lot of packs just don’t sit right on me but the Osprey Aura AG just suits me really well. It’s comfy and sits on my hips the way it designed to.
• The ‘Anti-Gravity’ (AG) System: It might sound a bit like a gimmick, but it actually isn’t. The extra mesh support Osprey has built into this pack does make it feel lighter and sit better on my body.
• Ventilation: The ventilation is excellent—even in the dry desert heat, you’ll only get ‘mostly sweaty’ instead of ‘completely drenched’.
• Pocket Space: Fantastic: Side pockets, front pocket, “brain” pockets (what a stupid name for the lid) and my favourite, hip belt pockets!
• 50L Size: I use the 50L size because, as I said, the husband carries the bulkier gear. It’s the perfect size for my health constraints but I still manage to make it weigh a ton. If I were hiking solo, I’d definitely need the 65L version, but for our team setup, the 50L works really well.
• The Curved Back: If I could change one thing is that the back is very curved and it makes squishing a water bladder in a bit hard. Your pack basically has to be empty to slide in the bladder but it’s also got a nifty little loop hook to hang the bladder on.

In hindsight I would have chosen a different colour but then it’s just a colour, isn’t it?

Check price at: Wild Earth

THE HIKING POLES: BLACK DIAMOND DISTANCE CARBON Z

I never used to like hiking poles but as I get older, I’ve got over myself and use them on almost every long hike now.

I can’t really get up hills unless I’m using hiking poles, and my Black Diamond ones are just right. They’re lightweight carbon and collapsible, so I can easily stow them when I need my hands free or don’t want to use them.

The husband relies on them for the descents to save his knees and hips, and they’ve been durable enough to last us for years—they’re the same ones I used on the Routeburn Track and at the Heaphy Track.

My tip for the Larapinta: Leave the rubber tips at home. They’re a waste of space and have zero grip on the jagged rock. We saw so many lost rubber cups on the trail—they just fall off and become rubbish.

Check prices at: Wild Earth | Snowys

TRAIL FAVOURITES: THE LITTLE BITS & PIECES

These are the items that made daily life on the trail much easier and more comfortable.

• Dirty Girl Gaiters: I absolutely love these. They are lightweight, fun and kept the spinifex, pebbles and sand out of my boots perfectly. Unless, of course, you’re from Tasmania, then you’ll probably want to wear proper heavy-duty gaiters. 🙂
• Kula Cloth: A practical and simple addition for any female hiker. It’s much better for the environment than carrying (and then having to pack out) heaps of soiled toilet paper.
• Sea to Summit Wilderness Wipes: They aren’t exciting but really useful for wiping your feet at the end of the day and keeping your feet as clean as (not) possible!
• Exped Flex Sitpad: To protect your bottom from the jagged terrain, a sitpad is your ‘almost-chair’. This one is simple, cheap and means you might actually be comfy once in a while. Logistics Tip: If your sleeping mat dies (like mine!), you can at least have your hips rest on it at night.

MANAGING DRY CAMPS: WATER & ELECTROLYTES

Water is the biggest logistical hurdle on the Larapinta. You obviously can’t just wing it between water tanks. This is what worked for us:

• Osprey 3L Water Reservoir: I know ultralight hikers often swear by one-way plastic bottles but I find them incredibly wasteful and painful to use while I’m hiking. I stick with my water bladder—otherwise I just don’t drink enough, and that just leads to trouble in the desert.
• Grayl Geopress Purifier: This is a brilliant bit of gear, but it’s bulky. It filters out everything (viruses included) in just about no time at all. We could filter water at Hugh Gorge and Fringe Lily with no issues! The downside is that it does take up a fair amount space in the pack—if space is an issue, choose the smaller Grayl Ultrapress.
• Platypus Collapsible Bottles: These were an absolute necessity for the dry camps. We could fill them up when needed and they’d take up zero space once empty.
• Pure Electrolytes: I wouldn’t have made it through the heat and dry climate without these. They kept me from feeling completely drained and dehydrated by the time we reached camp each afternoon.

KITCHEN & LAUNDRY

We keep our kitchen setup pretty minimal. Our stove, our pot, cups and utensils are all lightweight and easy to clean on the trail.

• Humangear Stax Containers: These kept our coffee, sugar and milk powder organised. They are leak-proof and stackable (you’ll never lose a lid again, I promise!). The husband won’t go hiking without them now.
• The Cookset: The new Sea to Summit Frontier Ultralight Cook Set is pretty similar to our old Sea to Summit set (discontinued). I’d just leave one of the pots in the new set at home. Everything nestles nicely into the pot. I also keep our wilderness wash and our tiny salt & pepper shaker in there.
• GSI Knife, Keith Titanium Spork (the husband) and an older Gerber Multi-Fork (mine): I spent ages hunting for a long-handle spork for the husband so that he could get into every last corner of his dehydrated meals without making a mess. I love my smaller Gerber Fork though it does leave a bit of a metallic aftertaste at times (not wild about that). The GSI knife with a sheath is just really practical for our lunch setup.
• Scrubba Bag & Wilderness Wash: For a long-distance hike like the Larapinta, the Scrubba Bag is actually pretty amazing. I ‘washed’ our socks and underwear a few times, using minimal water and just a few drops of the Sea to Summit Wilderness Wash.

STAYING POWERED & SAFE

Charging on long-distance hikes is a pain for everyone.

I agonised over our setup for the Larapinta and almost bought solar panels (but ditched the idea again because, you know, more weight and pain). This is what we used—and still use now though I keep researching and refining.

Between my phone, camera, head torch and my watch, we had to be very disciplined with our power.

• Two 20,000mAh Power Banks: Carrying two of these is a significant weight penalty (almost 500g each, insane, I know), but for a trip this long, it was a necessity. I only carried one at a time, swapping them out half-way in our food drop box at Serpentine Gorge. It gave us enough power to keep my phone and my watch going. Don’t rely on the USB-charging points at the trailheads, they may or may not work (maybe 3 or 4 actually worked). When they did work, I jumped at the chance to charge my camera batteries and head torch.
• Luci Biolite Solar Lantern: I really like the “set and forget” nature of this. You just clip it to the outside of your pack during the day to soak up the endless desert sun, and it’s ready for camp by the time you get there. It’s light, it’s cheap, gives off a really warm glow—it just makes the ‘tent at night’ situation so much easier.
• Personal Locator Beacon (PLB): You don’t head into the West MacDonnell Ranges without one. It’s the critical backup that you hope you’ll never have to touch.

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THE VERDICT: DID THE GEAR SURVIVE THE LARAPINTA?

Looking back, our Larapinta gear choices were less about having the newest gadgets and more about what we had to replace and knew would last. The desert is a harsh testing ground; the quartzite is sharp, the dust gets into every zip, and the temperature swings can be brutal.

Splitting the weight between my 50L and the husband’s 85L pack kept us moving comfortably (Section 9 was a struggle, I’m not going to lie). Apart from my 25-year-old sleeping bag, we did shell out a small fortune just to get to the trailhead. But our hikes since have been “cheap as chips”—well, not quite. 🙂

THE STANDOUTS

• The “Survivor” Award: Goes to our 1990s Macpac sleeping bag. It proves that quality gear, properly maintained (and professionally refluffed by a great company in Melbourne), is worth the investment.
• The Logistics Hero: The “two mats in one bag” trick. It sounds small, but keeping the Nemo mat setup organised in one spot saved us an extra bag and a bit of space.
• The “Liveability” Prize: My Dirty Girl Gaiters, the Luci Solar Lantern, the Kula Cloth and the Stax Containers. They don’t weigh much, but they make life on the trail much, much easier.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Larapinta isn’t a trail where you want to be testing brand-new, unproven gear. Whether it’s a spork or a $900 tent, you need to know it works before you’re standing at the base of Mount Sonder.

My best advice? Use what you have, invest in the necessities like a good mat and a reliable PLB, try them out before you go, and leave the rubber pole tips at home.

Happy hiking,