Belt and Possibles Pouch your advice please

[David B]

I am after some advice and opinions on belts for Bushcraft and possibles pouches.

I am fairly new to bushcraft having come over from Magikellys site "Song of the Paddle"

I want to spend time this year using my canoe to get out wild camping. Bearing in mind that I am going to be close to water most of the time, would you recomend a Leather belt and Possibles pouch, and what sort of things should i be carrying.
Any advise would be welcome.

P.S. I am know as the poling gnome on SOTP hence the Avatar

 

[British Red]

David,

Can't help on the "is leather good on water" thing - if it isn't I'd go with the Maxpedition range of pouched - I had one and they are good, but I always come back to leather!

As for whats in your pouch - Its like "whats in your handbag"

Hang on and I'll dump mine out and you can see what I've got in it today

Red

 

[British Red]

This is my old Maxpedition pouch that I kept for lomger forays - more a "personal survival kit"

Well heres what fits in the pouch of doom!

The outside first:



1 Maxpedition Pouch - well made and can be added to other rigs with malice clips
2. Army Model firesteel in left hand pen socket
3. Diamond knife sharpener (Gerber) in right hand sharpener
4 Cheap zip pulls replaced with 550 cord glowing pulls
5 Silva Micra compass mounted to strap on front pocket

Now the contents of outer pockets



1. Swedish firesteel (army)
2. Splitter ring
3. Recoil plastic covered wire to attach firesteel to belt
4 Gerber flat and round diamond sharpener
5. 2" ziplocks of firlighter pieces in front pocket
6. 2" ziplocks of vaseline and cotton wool in front pocket
7. Silva ropeburner

Now the main contents



1. Strong analgesics (8)
2. Unlubricated condoms (2)
3. Sterile threaded suture
4. Bottle of iodine
5. SAK including LED torch, pen, tweezers etc.
6. Firesteel striker (in case belt knife lost)
7. LED Silva torch
8. ACME whistle
9. Mixed plasters
10 Puritabs (10)
11. 10 magnifying ground
12. Waterproof paper
13. Pencil
14. Blister kit
15. Pocket chainsaw
16. 40' Kite string
17 Mark 2 snares (6)
18 Breastmilk bag containing fishing kit


Red

 

[Ogri the trog]

Hi Dave,
I can't see why leather would not suit your intentions, you'd surely have a dressing on it to shed a bit of water, and its unlikely that you'd leave it submerged for extended periods anyway.
The whole issue of what to carry can only be learned from extensive trial and error. First aid kit, small knife, tinder & ignition, repair kit, whistle etc etc etc - they all have their place, but it has to be your pouch and your possibles.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[British Red]

Heres my battered old leather pouch and whats in it after this weekends bimbles in the woods

1) Knackered old leather pouch that I love because its on long loops and hands below the hip belt on my bergan

2) 8x20 gallery monocular - used for squinting at feather and fur

3) Strip of puritabs and a 1 litre ziplock bag - used for filling my water bottle from streams (bag in case I have no water bottle)

4) Windmill lighter

5) Ferric rod for lighting stoves and fires

6) Fenix LED torch for when I mess up the time to get home by!

7) Cotton wool and vaseline for fires

8) Wet fire tinder for cheating at fires

9) Small Silva compass for when I get lost (again)

10) Small first aid kit - large plasters, antispetic wipes, pain killers, anti histamines etc.

11) good repair kit swiped from hotel

12) Jet scream whistle for when lost AND injured

13) Swiss Army Knife - nuff sed!

Hope that helps - this is just my general "wandering about" kit

Red

 

[Dougster]

The best thing I have found for leather and water (my boots) is Mink Oil by Kiwi.
It is incredible.

I can't find it in the UK except in boxes of 32. We could do a group buy or Leon-1 may know of a supplier as I notice he uses it too.

 

[oldsoldier]

Mink oil works great on leather. HArd to believe that you cant find kiwi mink oil over there...if its THAT hard to find, drop me a PM, I'll see what I can do here to send you guys some.

 

[sandbender]

Bearing in mind that I am going to be close to water most of the time, would you recomend a Leather belt and Possibles pouch

I think the biggest problem you'd find would be how the contents of your pouch would be affected by water absorbed by the pouch leather and would continue to be affected long after the pouch had appeared to dry out.

I have a nice little leather pouch but it stays in a dry bag until I'm on land, I guess if I was on a trip where I'd need to keep some survival tools on my person I'd look at a nylon pouch or use my pockets.

as far as contents go...

a mini first aid kit, I have fabric plasters wrapped in clingfilm and a small tube of superglue for minor wound repair and the usual array of pills for dodgy bellys, insect bites etc.

 

[303Brit]

Some people like more tradtional materials,im prefer more modern,for equipment.I personally would not use leather if i was waterborn.I have a easily adjustable nylon belt,similar to the roll pin type,or riggers belt,nice and light and easily adjustable over differnt types of clothing(and after a good meal!).
As for what to put in a pouch,i presume you mean a compact survival kit,i always carried mine in my trousers/shorts pocket since its probally the one item of clothing you will have on you nearly at all times,or last to ditch and first to take in a emergency.
Contents depend very much up to you,there is plenty of good tips and advice on here.But i would say good fire making equipment is first priority,and put good quality gear in it rather than seeing how much you can stuff in a kit,since if it gets that desperate you want to rely on it.

 

[David B]

Thanks for all the advice.

I have decided to go with a small roll top drybag to start with. It will fit in a pocket on my boyancy aid when on the water, and can then be transfered to a cargo pocket when in the woods.
Initially it will contain a firesteel some tinder an opinel No7 and a small first aid kit.

Thanks again for the replys and tips.

 

[fred gordon]

For a number of years I've used a dogs rucksack as a possibles bag in my canoe. It fits neatly over the thwart and is always to hand. Carries essentials like the brew kit when I land.