The Club has gear available for Club tramping and Club alpine trips at no cost. Trip leaders will allocate items to the group to carry and may ask you to pick them up from the Club gear room.
Club members may also borrow some items of Club gear for private trips (see below) at no cost by prior arrangement with the gear custodian. Club trips have priority for the use of gear. We will consider requests from non-members to borrow Club gear on a case-by-case basis for a donation to the Club.
If you have any queries about WTMC gear hire or would like to borrow gear for private use, contact gear@wtmc.org.nz.
WTMC does not take gear donations. If you have gear you would like to donate you are welcome to share it with our members in the Club discussion group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wtmcnz/.
Gear room opening time
The Club gear room is open every Wednesday night from 6.30-7pm, downstairs at the Tararua Tramping Club Hall, 4 Moncrieff Street, Mount Victoria. Come down the steps at the side of the hall, or if it is a Club social night, you can come through the hall and down the stairs.
Make sure to also collect Club stickers for your trip for the hut books!
Responsibilities when borrowing Club gear
- Club gear must be returned the Wednesday after it is taken out, so that it can be available for the following weekend’s trips.
- Clean and dry flies, tents and bothy bags before returning them to avoid mould.
- Report any damage to club gear and use of First Aid equipment to the gear person so it can be repaired/restocked.
- If you lose or destroy gear hired from WTMC, we may (depending on the circumstances) ask you to buy equivalent replacement gear.
FMC Backcountry magazines and discount cards
Copies of the quarterly Backcountry magazine are stored in the gear room for members to collect on Wednesday nights. Please also come along to collect your FMC membership card which entitles you to many discounts, including 20% off the DOC Annual Hut Pass.
Club gear list
Safety equipment
At least one Club PLB and First Aid Kit must be carried on every Club trip. These items are for Club trips only but NZ Mountain Safety Council has a list of outlets PLBs can be hired from for private use here: https://www.mountainsafety.org.nz/learn/skills/communications/plb-hire
| Item | Information and instructions |
| Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) – club trips only | PLBs should be kept inside their dry bag, and only used in accordance with the club PLB policy. Before every Club trip the Rescue Coordination Centre is provided with the details of the Club’s volunteer emergency contact. That person is contacted if a Club PLB is activated, and the Club’s emergency contact procedure is then followed. The Club owns two different types of PLBs.FastFind 220
Watch a video on how to operate them here (starts at 0:50) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT5j3j1P1-Q&t=3s
GME MT410G Watch a video on how to operate them here (starts at 10:10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuNdWMAgRpY&t=625s
|
| First Aid Kits – club trips only | Approx 700g.Contain gloves, face shield, emergency blanket, Panadol, hydration sachets, saline tubes, safety pins, tweezers, scissors, triangular bandage, elastic bandage, crepe bandage, strapping tape, alcohol swabs, gladwrap, dressing pad, gauze swabs, wound closure dressings, flexi strip. |
Shelter
Each Club trip must carry sufficient shelter for all group members in the form of tarps, bothy bags or tents (including when the intent is to stay in a hut overnight).
| 2 person Tents – Club trips only | For road end camping or tenting trips.The Club has two 2-person lightweight tents (2.45kg) and one heavier 2-person tent. |
| Ultralight Tarps – Club trips only | For emergency shelter on tramping tripsSmall Ultralight tarps – 3 x 2m – 380g – sufficient shelter for 1-2 peopleLarge ultralight tarps – 3x3m – 550g – sufficient shelter for 2-4 people
Watch a video on ways to set up a tarp here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M-f61tbWH4\ |
| Huntsman tarps – Club trips and private loan | Older model small (sufficient shelter for 2-3 people) and large (sufficient shelter for 5-6 people) tarps |
| Bothy Bags (4 person) – Club trips and private loan | For shelter and warmth on trips to exposed areas where extreme weather is possible. Not designed to be slept in. Approx weight: 600g.Read more about bothy bags and how to use them here: https://www.advnture.com/features/what-is-a-bothy-bag
|
Other gear
| Billies – Club trips and private loan | For group cooking/ boiling water. Personal hiking stove and gas canister required. Approx weight: 450g. |
| Lockboxes – Club trips only | Can be attached to vehicles while tramping to store keys. Recommended for use on trips involving vehicle swaps (rather than swapping keys on the track) and when groups may arrive back at the van at different times.Gear coordinators have the code, please remember to make a secure record when you collect. |
| Compasses – Club and private loan | The Silva Ranger Compass is a classic baseplate compass. Features include a use-anywhere declination scale inside the capsule, built-in magnifier, map scales in millimetres, 1:50.000 and 1:25.000. |
Alpine gear
| Helmets – Club trips and private loan | Important when using ice axe and crampons and sometimes when not. Protects your head from rock-fall and ice axes/crampons. |
| Ice Axes – Club trips and private loan | For safe travel on snow and ice. Used for cutting steps and for support when walking on low-moderate angled slopes, as well as front pointing. Very important for self-arresting. |
| Crampons – Club trips and private loan | Provide traction in snow and ice. The Club has four pairs of 10-point Grivel Crampons and four pairs of 12-point Grivel Crampons. They are strap-on and adjustable to most boot sizes. Your boot needs to have a stiff sole to support a crampon (not the lighter sneaker type hybrid boot). |
| Snow shovels and avalanche probes (Club trips using avalanche transceivers only) | For use with avalanche transceivers. A snow shovel may be carried if intending to camp for digging a tent platform or snow cave. |