Quentin Duthie is a Greater Wellington Regional Councillor, former FMC vice-president, local pest trapper and closet hut-bagger. He started tramping 25 years ago and his trips range from fast and light solo off-track adventures in summer to multi-day family tramps on well-trodden paths and the occasional foray into big country.

“I avoid buying new gear, choosing to make do with what I have,” he says. “Old gear reminds me of past trips, so I find it hard to let it go. But talking to Wilderness has made me think it might be time for some upgrades!”

The gear pictured is what he took on a four-day tramp into the Waitaha River, County Stream and Smyth Range earlier this year:  “No expensive, fashionable, super-light or  high-tech stuff here, but it works for me.”

Pack

An 85L Macpac Cascade did the job for 20 years until the leatherwood finally won. Now replaced by a hand-me-down Cascade in better nick, always with a packliner plus dry bags.

Light

I’ve made do with weak head torches for years, but my partner gave me a flash Fenix which does make after-dark walking a lot easier. On the light theme, sunglasses and sunscreen when heading onto snow.

Sleeping bag

Zipped in my Macpac Tempest is 25 years of hut and camp memories, so I still use it despite it being heavy and having lost some of its warmth. A sodden night on Rakiura taught me to carry it in a dry bag.

Clothing

Not even fit for the op shop bargain bin, my clothes are thin and tatty, being mostly two decades old. Layered up, they still do the trick. When bush-bashing, a buff is handy to defend my balding head from bush lawyer. Jacket and overpants that have seen better days, duct tape holds the down jacket together, gaiters full of holes … luckily no one cares in the wop-wops.

Cooker and food

For years I used a Primus multifuel on white spirits, until it broke on the first day of a Kahurangi wilderness trip. We cooked on a campfire for the whole trip, so now I carry a blackened billy for hut or camp fire and a cheap gas cooker as backup.

Boots and bobs

Second-hand Scarpa boots are still going after 10 years. Expecting snow, steep rocky guts and exposure, I took an ice axe, light crampons and helmet, although none were actually needed.

Tent and mat

For the Smyth Range we took the two-person Macpac Celeste for a high camp – not the best in high wind, but roomy. I take a cheap blow-up mat when camping more than one night; otherwise I use a simple snowfoam that doubles as a lunch seat and first-aid tool for splinting a limb.

Helpful tools

My folding saw is useful for trimming light windfall. As a predator-free volunteer, I have heaps of Victor Professional rat traps, and when I remember I leave one at a hut.

Smarts

I go off-track a fair bit and don’t like being lost, so carry both map and compass as well as using the Dougs Maps app on my phone. I also carry a battery pack on longer trips, a PLB and route beta – for the West Coast, remotehuts.org.nz is the bomb.