Kilimanjaro Kit List

In February 2010 James and five friends commenced a 9 day trek to Mount Kilimanjaro (5895m) by the Lemosho route, one of the longest, most remote and quietest routes on the mountain. There are two options for sleeping on the climb: huts or camping in tents. James and his party were camping and consequently spent a lot of time finding out about the benefits of goosedown sleeping bag.

Which sleeping bag for climbing Kilimanjaro?

My PipeDream 800 was both comfortable and warm throughout the duration of the trip. At no point did I feel cold, or strange as it may sound, too warm during the early days of the trek. At 6.30am before our final ascent to the peak of Killi the lowest temperature we recorded was -21C and even at this extreme temperature the bag still felt good with a set of long johns and a base layer! So for me this bag met all the requirements for the trek. During the planning of the trek I was particularly worried that spending many nights at such temperatures would be too uncomfortable, but the truth is only one night is spent at anything near this extreme. Unless you are arranging your trip completely independently and hiring guides only, you are going to be accompanied by porters for the duration of your trek. Consequently they will be carrying your main kit which just leaves the weight of a day pack plus the 3 litre daily requirement of water! Although you may not have to carry your bag on the mountain remember that you will still have to carry it during transit. Some cheaper bags boasting a similar temperature range, especially synthetic bags, will be much bulkier and heavier to carry. Even though my down bag was able to cope with sub zero temperatures, weight and pack size were not compromised.

Luggage Systems

The porters put each clients backpack into a thick dry bag (along with tent and anything and everything from the mess table to the portable toilet) and proceeded to carry these on their heads whilst trekking up the mountain, usually at a quicker pace than the rest of us! We were particuarly lucky in that we had next to no rain during our time on the mountain, so for us the issue of sleeping bags becoming wet was not a problem. However, I suspect that by putting your sleeping bag in a dry bag you have an extra layer of security. All of the porters we saw seemed to have the dry bags as standard. As a day pack I used a Gourdon 25L which was invaluable due the transparent strip on the face of the bag which gave me quick access to stuff whilst on the move.

What to wear when trekking Kilimanjaro

For myself and the rest of the group I travelled with, the experience of climbing Killi truly went beyond all our expectations and the kit I had with me during the trek really came to be a big part of this. To not feel cold at anytime was invaluable, and along with the down sleeping bag I would say the one piece of kit I can't recommend highly enough would be the Alpkit Filo down jacket. Great for day walking as we got higher, a constant companion for the nights playing card in the mess tent, writing journals and the best pillow when not needed as an extra layer.