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Buffalo Aidfest November 2013 5-Dec-2013 At 9:58:45 AM sbm

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>I'd also be interested in hearing what other gear you fellows took and
>consequently would not take again on a similar sojourn.

Sure. Been thinking about it a lot myself. I reckon the next trip (i.e. Ozy) will be a lot easier packing wise...

>... Likely it is still better than two large blokes on an undersized home
>made single ledge, ~> Though it is pretty amazing how wall-wearyness helps
>sleep in less than ideal conditions eh?

Yep. I actually slept with my helmet on, that was uncomfortable and this is probably the only thing I'd change. No sleeping mat, it was lining the haul bag and couldn't be bothered to pull it out! James anchored one corner of the portaledge directly to a crack which I think helped a bit.

>Did Rowan try the hammock and reject it, or didn't try it due to complications
>/ time of day etc., setting it up?

Well yes we didn't have enough time to seriously consider setting it up, after dark we couldn't be bothered. At the hanging belay where we bivvyed there were no easy options for it either. There was an idea that we could hang it from corner to corner underneath the portaledge...that wasn't going to happen. Dead weight in the end IMO.

We took too much water. 2L pp/day would have been enough. I poured out like 6 liters at least (!!) before the last haul.

Too much food. I brought like 3 little tubs of Two Fruits, didn't touch em. We of course forgot the fuel for the fancy hanging stove which meant the hot soups James and Ro had been planning on were useless. Dinner ended up being mostly baugette and cream cheese which was actually excellent. Heaps of cream cheese is the go.

Photocopy and laminate the route description and topo (with clip in loops). Plus everyone needs to go through all of it together! There were some arguments...I was right, of course...but I could have communicated better.

Bring a better knife.

We *could* have been more confident in the weather forecast and ditched the portaledge rainfly and some rainjackets. But that's probably down the list...when you want that stuff, you really want it.

A big thing for me will be making sure that everyone has their OWN ascending setup and that it is tested! We've all done vertical caving (including the 50m pitch in Drum and Argyle Hole at Bungonia) so had an idea, but we kept mixing and matching ascenders and footloops and it was a mess.

The seconds need to practice cleaning traversing/overhanging terrain more. Straight up is trivial, it's the sideways stuff that needs practicing!

Abseiling with the haulbag is awful. Even with a grigri and with the 'riding the pig' trick.

So what DID work...?

Grigris. So glad we borrowed a second one. Cleaning with a grigri and an ascender is the way to go.

Those green canvas supermarket bags actually make half decent ropebags! (you can see them in a few of the photos). Although one did end up splitting a seam, they're recommended.

We had an adequate rack, Atlhough I would take up James idea of racking the hooks in some sort of little bag to prevent them from catching on everything. And more free biners. Never enough free biners!

We didn't loose much gear (although there were some very close calls including a lucky catch or two, James joked we should give up climbing and start a cricket team). Final lost gear list was one RP left high in the initial corner that wasn't cleaned, the plastic bottle rope protector was dropped, and one dropped biner...I think that was it? Maybe another nut dropped somewhere along the line?

Hauling was fine. We used a mariner's hitch to dock the bags. Obviously it was work but we had no real hassles. Ben_E recommended I throw the microtraxion in the bin but I thought it worked great.

Finally although having a party of three adds a lot cluster and weight...don't underestimate the huge psychological benefit of having an extra person to talk to! Although it's a little annoying when you're sketching on lead, and the others are having an easy chat down on the ledge at the belay...