The Invisible Gear Gap That Nearly Ended Two of My Mates' Treks

"I'll be fine, I gave my hands a rinse with water"

Famous last words.

In 34 years of hiking remote trails across Tasmania, I've never had gut trouble on a trip. Not once. But I've watched mates go down hard and it's taught me more than any personal mistake could.

📍 Western Arthurs, 2000 - We at the final campsite on the eastern end of the range when a mate's stomach gave out completely. Couldn't move, couldn't eat. We sat tight for 24 hours in super hot conditions and seriously considered evacuation.

📍 Frenchmans Cap, 2013 - Another mate, another trip. Strong hiker, well prepared in every other way. He'd skipped packing hand sanitiser to save a few grams. Within a day, he woke up curled up in his bed, done. It was a long walk out.

Both trips were nearly derailed by something entirely preventable. And both times, I was fine, because I'd packed for it.

In this issue, I'll share:

You invest in ultralight tents, fancy jackets, and precision food. But if your water treatment, hygiene, or food handling slips? That $500 trip gets derailed by one bad night.

The pattern I see is always the same. Hikers optimise everything above the waist; shelter, clothing, navigation and treat gut preparation as optional. It's not. On a remote multi-day, your gut is your engine. When it stops, you stop.

This is what's kept me clear for 34 years. It weighs next to nothing, but every item has earned its place.

✅ 1. Water redundancy - matched to the environment

Here in Tasmania, I don't always carry a filter. Our water sources are generally very clean, so purification tablets (Aquatabs or similar) are my default backup. Light, reliable, and enough for most trips. But if I'm heading somewhere here where it’s dry and the water quality is uncertain, or travelling to an unfamiliar area, I'll add a Sawyer Squeeze as well. The principle is simple: match your water treatment to the actual risk, and if there's any doubt, carry redundancy. One method failing in a remote area is a problem you don't want to solve on the fly.

✅ 2. A small recovery kit

Oral rehydration salts (Hydralyte or similar), loperamide (only if essential), and gut-safe carbs; oats, powdered mash, plain crackers. These aren't comfort items. This is what keeps your body moving when everything else wants to shut down.

✅ 3. Hygiene discipline

Diarrhoea on trail is almost always preventable. The non-negotiables: sanitise before eating and after toilet use. Go at least 100+ metres from water sources, and isolate any contaminated cookware. Skipping sanitiser to save weight is never worth the trade.

✅ 4. Bland backup food

When your gut's off, your carefully planned gourmet trail meals become the enemy. I always carry a small stash of something bland. For me it’s powdered mash potato. Light, bland, digestible. It doubles as emergency fuel regardless.

Smart gut planning does three things:

It prevents unnecessary weight by replacing bulk with a few targeted essentials. It protects your pace and morale when conditions are already tough. And it safeguards the investment you've made in gear, food, permits, and time off work.

Most of this kit weighs under 200 grams total. That's a fraction of the weight most hikers waste on redundant clothing.

➡ YOUR MOVE: Before your next trip, lay out your current kit and ask: do I have water redundancy? Do I have a gut recovery plan? If the answer to either is no, fix it now. It takes five minutes and could save your entire trip.

A couple of readers picked up on something I left out of this morning's email — and they're right.

I talked about carrying hand sanitiser, but I didn't mention that I also carry soap. Wilderness Wash, specifically. I use it every day on trail both hands and face and have done for years. I do like to also ‘freshen up’ a bit on those long trips. It's just such a routine part of my kit that I didn't think to include it.

Turns out that matters more than I realised.

As a couple of readers both pointed out, hand sanitiser doesn't kill norovirus, one of the most common causes of gastro on trail, particularly in the US. It's highly contagious, and the only reliable way to deal with it is proper handwashing with soap and water.

So the hygiene discipline point from this morning's email should really read:

Soap and water first. Sanitiser as a supplement, not a substitute.

I carry both. I should have said so. Thanks to those who wrote in. This is exactly the kind of thing that makes these emails better.

Until next week, keep exploring.

THAT’S ALL FOR THIS WEEK

Thanks for reading Mowser’s Musings. I hope this helps you hike further and happier.

Until next week, keep exploring.

Mowser

Discover more. Hike further.

P.S. If you want a simple system for locking in your preparation before every hike — gear, food, fitness, and logistics in one calm check — the Trail Confidence Kickstart walks you through it in four short videos over four days. As a subscriber, you can access it for $27 (normally $97). Very actionable. Details here.