Kilimanjaro Kit List suggestions

[ACNKili09]

I've been enjoying some nice hikes in NH this summer and am prepping for a trek up Kilimanjaro in late September. Sort of a zero to hero deal so I'm here to request a few suggestions for layering since I'll have almost every climate zone to deal with.

The kit list provided is fairly vague in this particular concern so any advice will be well appreciated.

I am pretty set with base layers but I'm looking to obtain gear in the following categories:

Fleece/Softshell (Northface Windwall/ MH Windstopper/Nemesis Softshell)
Lightweight Rain is this necessary if I have a reliable softshell?
Down Jacket/parka
Pants: Have a pair of REI Taku Pants

Any gear advice for the above layers (or maybe something I'm missing!) would be really helpful. There's a ton of gear and I'm not sure how to adequately segment what I need. Thanks!

 

[erugs]

I was there about six years ago and it was the trip of a lifetime. It was my first long hiking trip, my first time out of North America and my first experience at elevation, my first experience with third-world living condition, my first time in an area where English was not the first language. It was a lot to take in.

In my thinking, then and now, the cost of going there makes spending a little extra on really good gear worth it. We went in mid Februrary, the end of their summer and had exceptionally fine weather. We selected the longest route on the mountain: seven days up, one down. That was perfect. I wouldn't want to have done it in less, as there was so much to see that way. What do other companies who are organizing trips on Kili suggest for gear? That would be an interesting comparison.

One thing I wasn't used to then (and even now) was backpacking for a length of time. Me? I was used to wearing clean clothes every day, showers every couple. Porters were carrying most of our gear, which is another thing I wasn't familiar with; all we had to carry were day packs. On the next to the last day we were asked to give up half our gear, we learned that that the porters would carry it around the mountain and meet us with it on the way down. We had to decide which of our dirty clothes were the cleanest, and what to give up. That was tough.

A tip we were given by our expedition company (Thompson Safari): wear on the trip over whatever you wouldn't be able to replace over there for your trek. For us, that included boots and convertible pants. They say that on Kili it is summer every day and winter every night. I had brought a baseball style cap but forgotten my fleece one. That was a mistake. One should be prepared for that and follow the suggested list, I think. Why not?

Most importantly -- have a wonderful trip.