Hi all, me and a friend are going to Canada in March to do a 5 - 7 day hike, but after now finding out that to take our packs in addition to our normal luggage allowance, it will cost us each £600 each way for a 40kg pack. How do hikers etc usually take there equipment abroad, cause that does seem very steep to me? I have also tried taking in cargo, this is cheaper but not by much. Any help or advice would be appreciated?
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How does your pack weigh 40kg? Are you going to carry all that on the hike with you? If not why take anything other than what you will be hiking with?
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My hiking pack alone weighs 40lbs, that is what i'll be carrying on the hike. I wont be carrying my personnal clothing etc
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| Edited: 01/02/11 09:21 |
 Why in addition? I recently took a 100ltr holdhall weighing 16.6kgs abroad and in that was my 45ltr rucksac, with an on mountain weight of 12kg inc food. We had a very mixed journey of planes, trains, hotels, hostels, wild camping, so had tent, cookers and clothes for eating out in Tehran after trekking. 40kg packs plus luggage seems monsterous to me... no wonder you're getting nailed for extra.
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Sorry I meant lbs, my fault. lol I'll be carrying tent, doss bag, spare clothing, 5 days food, water etc
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I think they have water in Canada.
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Im pretty sure they do, hence why we wouldn't be taking our own confusedyouare.com
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OK 40lb seems more reasonable, although still seems a bit heavy, does it include your boots, jacket, etc or will you be wearing them to travel? Also why are you separating your personal and your hiking gear? Can't you mix and match and reduce the amount taken? For example when we go skiing we take everything except the skis and poles which we hire locally, so we take ski boots helmet, salopettes, base layers, mid layers, googles, gloves, etc. as well as all our apres ski gear (which one new year included a tuxedo) and we still pack below our 20kg limit, even if (as we did this year) we spend a week skiing and then a week visiting friends and family. We tend to wear the heavier stuff to travel ski jacket, jeans, etc. and we try to maximise our carry on allowance (but as we have to fly off the island first this is very limited) but the ski boots, helmet, and everything else will go in the hold luggage and we've never been over. Think you need to start cutting down on your personal stuff.... 
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| Edited: 01/02/11 09:38 |
 Take up to your standard baggage allowance and buy the rest there. It'll cost a lot less. Ship any excess home surface mail when you've done. But 20 Kg is still a pretty steep weight, especially as you can split the tent and cooking stuff between you. Pete.
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You're just gonna have to be ruthless then - I did three weeks in Canada about 7 years ago and didn't need half the clothes I took with me, a lesson learned for future trips. Don't take anything heavy you can buy cheaply over there, the costs of baggage may outweigh the cost of buying new, things like stainless steel camping cutlery sets. All your camping gear in your main luggage allowance should go fine and then find as big a bag as is allowed for hand luggage and carry the rest of your stuff in there. It is doable.
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 DHL often works out cheaper than excess baggage. A mate has a cottage in Brittany, he was quoted £45 excess when taking some bits and bobs over last year. He walked over to the DHL/UPS desk £15 delivered next day, probably went on the same plane! Steve D
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 My wife and I went hiking in the Canadian Rockies about 3 years ago. We took all our normal camping/hiking gear with us (no food or fuel) plus 'ordinary' clothes for when we weren't on the mountains. Our two packs weighed 30 kg total. If you're taking 40 kg each, I think you must have an enormous amount of extra stuff that you don't need. You don't need 20 kg baseweight for relatively short (1 or 2 week) trips on the Canadian mountains. I recommend going through your stuff again and removing 1/3 to 1/2 of it.
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 You should be able to get all you need in the regular 23 Kg allowance + carry on bag.
We are going to NZ for 3 weeks tramping and canoeing, then Fiji for 5 days diving - and I do not plan for us to go over weight. We will have all the camping gear and diving gear too.
Make the most of your cabin baggage - check if your rucksack is short enough to go as hand luggage (-my 45 litre pack is). Then squeeze your sleeping bag in to the bottom of it. I can get the tent in my hand luggage too. Wear your boots to travel. Buy all your food and low value high bulk/weight stuff in Canada. Don't try taking any sort of cooking fuel on the plane. If you use meths they will want to check the burner is empty so that will have to go in hand luggage too.
If you are staying at any bunkhouses or hostels, they often have laundry facilities so you can pack less clothes.
Seriously, you don't want to be lugging more than 23 Kgs around with you anyway, hiking or not!!
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| Edited: 01/02/11 10:04 |
I am wearing all my heavy equipment, it may be my Army training coming out of me to much, always prepared for whatever.
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always prepared for whatever. The chances of "whatever" are greatly increased if you have a very heavy pack, because it's more tiring to carry and if you're more tired you make more mistakes. Taking more stuff isn't always a safer option. It's quite often a lot less like fun though. Pete.
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