Our main luggage should weigh no more than 20kg and should be in a rucksack or holdall, as this is the best shape for the porters to carry.  We will be able to leave things at our hotel whilst we are trekking, so we must only take essentials on the trek to keep the weight down for the porters (12 KG is the park limit).  We need to carry the bits and pieces we’ll need during each day’s trek.

Over the coming months I will be testing various pieces of kit to ensure that they will meet the needs of climbing Kilimanjaro.  As I test this kit I’ll be posting my views on the website.

Equipment

• 25-35 litre day sack/rucksack with good waist strap to carry your water, camera, snacks etc. during the trek
• 4 season sleeping bag
• Sleeping mat or Thermarest
• Silk liner (to add warmth to the sleeping bag)
• Sun glasses with UV protection
• Head torch e.g. Petzl with spare batteries
• Water bottles (minimum of 2 litres at one time to carry, but I’ll be taking extra bottles as I’m sure I’ll drink more)
• Platypus hydration system
• Aluminium Sigg bottles or polycarbonate Nalgene bottles. Ideally, one bottle should be able to contain hot liquids
• Lightweight trekking towel
• Trekking poles
• Camera and lots of batteries

Clothing

• T/shirts – approx 4
• Waterproofed fabric, ankle high walking/hiking boots (must be worn in) with thick soles and spare laces
• 3/4 pairs of specialist trekking socks (worn in) and inners socks (they help wick away sweat)
• Normal underwear
• Thermal underwear (2 long sleeved thermal tops, 1 thermal leggings)
• Fleece or woolly hat and scarf
• Gloves for summit night (e.g. ski gloves with silk liner, or down mittens)
• Wide brimmed sun hat or cap and scarf to cover your neck
• Waterproof/windproof jacket with hood and trousers e.g. Gore-Tex
• Fleece/warm jumper for the evenings
• Down/duvet jackets (for the final climb to the summit!)
• Knee length shorts and light weight trekking trousers
• Warm trousers for the evening
• Trainers to change into in the evenings
• Casual clothes for travelling, non walking days and gala dinner

Health and hygiene

• High-factor sun cream (30SPF) and lip salve (mountain sun can be very strong)
• Wet wipes (washing water is limited on the mountain)
• Antibacterial hand gel
• Biodegradable nappy sacks (optional, but useful to store rubbish)
• Personal toiletries (biodegradable products)
• Earplugs (in case of snorers in nearby tents!)
• Small personal medical kit – antiseptic cream, plasters, lint wound dressing knee support, crepe bandage, safety pins, pain killers, tweezers, scissors, insect repellent, deep heat ointment, sting relief, diareze/immodium, rehydration salts, plenty of Compeed blister plasters, sterilised syringes, malaria tablets
• Toilet paper
• Vaseline/talcum powder (will help reduce the chafing!!)
• Nailbrush

Misc

• Photocopy of insurance/passport
• Isotonic drink powder or tablets
• Energy bars/chocolate/nuts or energy tablets
• Plastic bags (to protect sleeping bags/clothes from rain, for dirty washing etc)
• Matches
• Swiss army knife
• Credit card (in case of emergencies)
• Money belt – one worn inside trousers
• Spare glasses
• Eye drops

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