How do you carry it all?

[jimford]

I haven't been on this site for long, but what's struck me is the sheer volume and weight of gear that's often discussed!

How do you blokes carry it all - mules, 4x4 - or are you 'back garden bushcrafters'?

Jim

 

[Wayland]

I have three distinct types of kit load. Some of it overlaps but not all.

If I've got to hoof it I have very minimal kit. Tent / Tarp / Poncho, down bag with WR cover, foam mat, hobo stove and water bottle.

More often I'm working within reach of my vehicle so I can carry a few more luxuries like the hammock and a bigger tarp.

When I turn up to a meet I bring everything so I have spare gear to show, lend out or help someone in a fix. I'm not humping it around so it doesn't matter.

 

[scrogger]

I think you will find that the gear that is carried will be relevant to the trip in question. If car camping more gear wil be taken and the level of comfort higher but the wilderness feeling will be less.

Walking will require lighter gear and will be based around the length of the trip eg shorter trips would allow slightly heavier gear which might be more pleasing to use or eat if you know what I mean. whilst longer trips without re-supply points might mean taking dried food and really lightweight gear.

Canoe camping opens up a whole new world of gear that can me taken and is maybe somewhere in between. To be fair I dont think there is a real to the point answer but for me its a rucksack for backpacking. Not thought about usind a mule yet but its a good idea lol.

Would be interesting to see how other people carry their kit for the different types of trips they make.

Andy

 

[PJMCBear]

3 season solo kit comes in at 8kg, without water in a 50 ltr lightweight rucksack.
Winter solo comes in at about 14kg, without water in a 75 ltr rucksack.
Not far to walk from the car winter Meet kit. Two trips from the car. Weight? 40+kg.

Just depends on what I'm up to really.

 

[JonathanD]

Gear is fun, however most of us have homes, so we can keep it there. I carry what I can in a 45l sabre with sidepockets. If I had a mule, I might carry more

 

[rik_uk3]

Its not the kit, its little things like 3lb of beef, fresh veg and 12 litres of stella that add up

 

[Wayland]

Its not the kit, its little things like 3lb of beef, fresh veg and 12 litres of stella that add up

So true.....

 

[rik_uk3]

Gear is fun, however most of us have homes, so we can keep it there. I carry what I can in a 45l sabre with sidepockets. If I had a mule, I might carry more

Jon and others, how do you pack a weekend into a 45 litre pack? Or do you end up strapping a lot so stuff to the pack? How big is 45 litres with side pockets? 65 or 85 litres? A sleeping bag to keep my old 54 year old bones warm in winter will half fill a Bergen

 

[JonathanD]

The sabre 45 with sidepockets is around 65l. I have no problems packing kit for a four day trip into that easily without anything strapped to the outer. Although the stella has to be abandoned

 

[jimford]

3 season solo kit comes in at 8kg, without water in a 50 ltr lightweight rucksack.

Interesting - can you supply a breakdown of that 8Kg, and does it include the rucksak (it should - it goes on your back!)?

As I buy gear, I weigh it and enter it into a computer database. When I plan a trip I type out a list and process it with a perl script to extract the weights of the items and total it. I include pretty much everything I carry.

This summer I'll probably be carrying nearer 20Kg, but that will include a DSLR camera and lenses.

Jim

 

[Chainsaw]

I carry mine in this

I tend not to walk much so I load up for comfort.

Cheers,

Alan

 

[hammock monkey]

chris townsend's packing tips helped me a lot, he's a total don. I doubt i'll ever go to those extremes, but its a great philosophy.

 

[Peter_t]

i try to go by the bushcraft saying 'the more you know the less you carry'
i do like to play with the latest kit but it is unnecessary and for me it just defeats the object of bushcraft.


Pete

 

[scrogger]

Guys if the Stella is heavy a nice single malt is rather nice though sometimes it just has to be a beer!! I have recently on shorter trips where weight is not such an issue also took a some nice Sloe Gin or Sloe Vodka. Looking forward to when I can afford my canoe god only knows what ill pack then.

 

[sapper1]

I generally carry my kit sweating and panting.

 

[rik_uk3]

The sabre 45 with sidepockets is around 65l. I have no problems packing kit for a four day trip into that easily without anything strapped to the outer. Although the stella has to be abandoned

Not picking on you Jonathan, but I see members saying I go out for a trip with an X litre pack, but the reality is different and I think for the clarity of new members we should state the actual size of pack, and not just the start off point.

New members may have idea's of wise bushcraft men going off to the local wood carrying a tiny pack or indeed wearing a loin cloth, carrying a knife and doing well, but as most know the real world is different.

Work on the Stella issue Jonathan, I can strongly suggest a three litre bag of wine, does wonders for a corn beef stew and the carrier

 

[Wayland]

I think my pack is an old Berghous Roc, I've no idea what the size is but the top is usually packed with camera gear and there's a tripod strapped to the side. No side pockets.

It provides about this level of gear.

Or this.

Not what you would call comfortable but it is just sufficient.

 

[Belfastman1958]

If I had a mule, I might carry more

If i had a Mule I wouldn't be carrying anything......lol

Alan.

 

[forestwalker]

Backpack, canoe or pulk. What I pack mostly depends on season. Tarp, groundsheet, reindeer hide, sleeping bag or blanket, cookpot, kåsa+spoon, often the firebox, clothes (not much, wool pants, dito undershirt, wool shirt/buckskin shirt, hat, bandana, perhaps a sweather, etc), axe, perhaps saw. Food. Knife, cordage, etc.

Might carry stuff like reflector oven or skillet if canoeing with the familly, else it stays home. Fishing gear quite often. First aid kit always.

Stays fairly ok in weight, winter clothes add a bit, so does food for longer trips.

I have done summer trips with minimal clothes, blanket, cookpot, knife, axe, poncho and food, and it is very nice, but the SO will not play at that level, and the kids need a few more years to ease them in. By the time they are 10 or 12 I'd guess...

 

[Emile]

I do the same as sapper1, normally.

Before I moved to Scotland I had to leave the country to do any camping, which always meant I preferred to carry normal clothes as well as the trip would combine all sorts of things. The more varied the itinerary of my trip the more kit I had to carry unfortunately...
whats more, the environments I was hiking and camping in were never familiar, so I never knew when I'd next have water (so chose to carry several extra litres.. extra everything really)... Also, in whatever country, if you want to stay at a payed campsite till you get where you want to go, you may have trouble getting by with your bivy bag and tarp, it means all you kit is lying about and easily stolen when you go to shower or brush your teeth. so I have to take a tent. not all environments can accommodate a tent, so I have to bring a bivy bag... so it all starts to add up for me. anyone else recognise these issues?

Living and camping in the same country means I can keep the weight manageable, and make up all the weight I save with careful gear selection with a lot of food and new gear that I want to test.

Climate is a big factor as to weight I carry. Some places like in the Rockies I've had it go from -20 Celsius and snowing on one day, to a warm and sunny +7 two days later. All that cold weather gear then has to be carried in my pack rather than on me, and seeing as my kit is mostly wool, it can get quite bulky. So my pack can hold about 110 litres.

All this very light camping is great, but my pack in itself already weighs 4kg (external steel frame), so I tend not to think about weight too much as its heavy to begin with. If I need to bring something I will, after all I need it. I've gotten my pack lighter over the years not by having lighter kit, but just by needing less of it, (the more you know etc etc )

In a group trip I still tend to carry the same weight/kit just because I feel uncomfortable relying on other people to remember it or not lose or damage it, each of which has happened at some point in the past.

My pack is a haglofs 'alaska', I've never seen anyone else with it, and I havent seen it for sale since I bought it. Its very straightforward, very strong, and I'm very happy with it. here's a picture for the curious (not my site, but the only one I could find that has a picture of it). If anyone has used one I'd be curious to know what you thought of it, I think its great.
http://www.nallo2.se/fjallbilder/diverse/minutrustning.htm