How do you carry it all?

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SimonM

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 7, 2007
4,015
6
East Lancashire
www.wood-sage.co.uk
I packed for a 2 night outing yesterday - sadly, life got in the way & I didn't go:( .

My gear is carried in a Sabre 75, with room to spare. As I unpack, I'll list what I had in the bag.

Simon
 

Twodogs

Bushcrafter through and through
Nov 16, 2008
5,302
67
West Midland
www.facebook.com
In the process of planing a trip to one of Swedens national parks in the summer , nowt to heavy duty , walking , and hammocking looking at four or five days on the trail .
This is my kit ( subject to change )

Sabre 45 , with pouchs ,
Hessessy Hammock ,
snugpak under blanket
hammock quilt ( may change for jungle bag )
US poncho liner
German Army folding mat
Swanndri ranger shirt
socks
T-shirt
cordage
mess kit
light my fire mess kit ( may go as i only seem to use the mug )
sigg water bottle 1 lt
camelbak ( carried empty fill at camp location )
head torch
rations ( boil in the bag , my change )
laplander saw
auscam hoochie ( lot lighter than UK job and packs smaller )
US army first aid kit
Gunners chest rig ( worn over bergen to add storage and keep stove and fuel to hand )
Honey stove with wind sheild
trangia burner ( to be replaced with tokanta when in stock )
panel marker
sigg ( for meths )
wash kit ( with pertex towel may change )
water cather lid
millbank bag

Missing items ,
mozzie head net
water filter
shorts
flip flops
foot power
insect repelent

Carred on person ,
map case
compass
roamer
wrist compass
knife
fire steel
spoon
i Pod

anything missing ?

Twodogs

kit2.jpg


kit1-1.jpg


kit3.jpg
 

Tadpole

Full Member
Nov 12, 2005
2,842
21
59
Bristol
Not another “you’re not a real bushcrafter” thread. To me it’s all smoke and mirrors, I am not a title I am a person, when I go with my family I am a camper, with a wild camping slant, (374lt car boot) when I go with a mate we are wild camping with all the bullchips and whiskey you can want ;) , (100lts between us) when I go on my own, I’m just messing about with a tent. (35ltrs)
If’n I want to carve a spoon then I can do that with a knife, if I take my Dave Budd spoon knife I’ve no need for a metal spoon (not even an ultra light titanium folding one) My back is not up to carrying much more than a 35lt rucksack, so if’n it don’t fit I’m not carrying it. if you want to limit your experience in the woods by carrying a cup and a knife, if pretending you are hard tough and better than the lily livered softies who have all the gear but are not as Desperate Dan as you. That is not my problem it’s yours.
I was told, “survival is what you are forced to do, when you mess up your bushcraft”. I have seen nothing so far to make me change my mind on that.
 

sapper1

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 3, 2008
2,572
1
swansea
Tadpole I'm shocked .How can you cope without a titanium spork!!!!
Mine goes with me everywhere,I'd be lost without it.LOLOLOLOL.
 

sirex

Forager
Nov 20, 2008
224
0
bournemouth
Tadpole I'm shocked .How can you cope without a titanium spork!!!!
Mine goes with me everywhere,I'd be lost without it.LOLOLOLOL.

dont knock sporks ;p i bought 2 yesterday. Came to the conclusion that the steel knife/fork/spoon sets we had were really heavy for what they were. Got 2 plastic sporks. Also got a brunton flex stove to replace the cheapo £10 steel gas stove that i have that weighs a ton.

The way i see it, you can spend £300 on a jacket and save a little bit of weight, or spend £4 on the smaller items and half their weight straight off.
 

sapper1

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 3, 2008
2,572
1
swansea
Plastic doesn't cut the mustard.Get yourself a proper titanium one.
John fenna has got a special one for me,I think its made from woodanium,best of both worlds.
 

Wayland

Hárbarðr
Not another &#8220;you&#8217;re not a real bushcrafter&#8221; thread. <Snip

The "bushcraftier than thou" thing does come up really regularly which perhaps goes to show just how much people invest in the "image" of being a "Bushcrafter."

I've always clearly said "I'm not a Bushcrafter" I suppose I'm a Freelance Viking Landscape Photographer that occasionally goes camping, so I have very little invested "being a real Bushcrafter."

The problem seems to be that everyone has a different "image" of what a "Bushcrafter" should be like so it's not much of a surprise that no one can really agree what it is.

I admire people that can disappear into the woods in a loincloth and a knife between their teeth, surviving for a year on nuts and berries but it just isn't me. I might be able to manage in the right environment, but it's not what I enjoy doing.

My most regular outdoor forays are my landscape trips which are a combination of driving around to locations, sometimes sleeping in my van, which is adapted for the purpose, and sometimes yomping into more remote spots with a pack on my back and a load of camera gear.

Is it "Bushcraft?" I very much doubt you would call it that.

Do I use some of the skills that are often associated with "Bushcraft?" I think I do, because they make life more comfortable and enjoyable.

Do I carve spoons? Only once to try out a Xmas present.

I usually cook over a camp fire because because I enjoy it and I can cook better there than I can on a Calor gas stove or my hobo stove.

I often rig up a poncho or a tarp so I can sit out of the rain with my camera waiting for the light to improve.

I frequently wild camp in remote areas because that is where the pictures are.

I do demonstrate old style crafts from time to time but I do that in my living history work and if you want to see a heavy kit load that really takes the biscuit.

I carry a very small leatherworking kit and a few scraps of leather with me because I can use it to fix my gear when I'm half a trek out there, as I once was when a cheap bergan strap broke on me.

It also means that if I have a long stay in a location I can do something interesting while I wait.

Some people would call some of this stuff "Bushcraft" but I just call it living.
 

forestwalker

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Not another “you’re not a real bushcrafter” thread. To me it’s all smoke and mirrors,

No, I'm more bushcraft than you! I have a handmade leather backpack, I carve my own spoons, bowl and cups, all my clothes are braintanned deerhides, even my tootbrush was made from a twig. I carved a koodlik from soapstone and use it with my clay pot. I sleep in a tipi made from braintanned buffalo hides, under blankets I felted myself. I am the epitome of bushcraft, even Tom Browns grandfather came to me for inspiration and to learn stuff (just ask him yourself). When I go minimal I carry less than if I was naked! I am so elite, worship my moccasined feet! Why is my nose so long all of a sudden?

I was told, “survival is what you are forced to do, when you mess up your bushcraft”. I have seen nothing so far to make me change my mind on that.

Pretty fair, except I would say that there is a sliding scale. It is survival to cook in a pit rather than in a pot? Even if the fish turns out better that way? Is is bushcraft, reenactment or survival to use flint and steel?
 

scrogger

Native
Sep 16, 2008
1,080
1
56
east yorkshire
Would it not be easier to say Outdoorsman (woman delete as appropriate) its obvious we all enjoy many aspects of been in the outdoors. This would be whether its waiting for the light to change to get the perfect picture, or sitting in front of an open fire with a fresh caught fish cooking on a stick in the deep woods. I have a plethora of different types of gear but dont think they really lable me as a specefic type of outdoor person. I just love been outside and sometimes different activities or locations mean different gear. just my thoughts!
 

Tadpole

Full Member
Nov 12, 2005
2,842
21
59
Bristol
Is is bushcraft, reenactment or survival to use flint and steel?
I guess it depends, if you’ve messed up and you lighter is out of fuel, your matches are wet, and you are up to your brass monkeys in snow, it’s both survival and wishful thinking. If on the other hand you are showing your kid, how to light a small fire for a quick brew then it’s teaching, if you appreciate the craftsmanship of a well made steel, then you could say it is worshipping the smiths art, if however you are in the garden lighting a gas barbeque, then it’s just showing off. :lmao:
 

Wayland

Hárbarðr
Snip> Is is bushcraft, reenactment or survival to use flint and steel?

I guess it depends, if you&#8217;ve messed up and you lighter is out of fuel, your matches are wet, and you are up to your brass monkeys in snow, it&#8217;s both survival and wishful thinking. If on the other hand you are showing your kid, how to light a small fire for a quick brew then it&#8217;s teaching, if you appreciate the craftsmanship of a well made steel, then you could say it is worshipping the smiths art, if however you are in the garden lighting a gas barbeque, then it&#8217;s just showing off.

Alternatively, it's working the 9 to 5. ;)
 

Shewie

Mod
Mod
Dec 15, 2005
24,259
24
48
Yorkshire
This thread is going down the usual route of who's the most bushcrafty, me or you ?
Jims original post asked how we carried our kit not who can "survive" with the least gear, which doesn't make you a better person btw.

Who cares anyway, just take from it what you want. We all like bushcraft otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place.
 

sapper1

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 3, 2008
2,572
1
swansea
How many of us will sit in someone elses empty chair ,yet neglect to bring our own.
It's not bushcraft but it is comfortable.
 

SimonM

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 7, 2007
4,015
6
East Lancashire
www.wood-sage.co.uk
As promised, what I took out of my bag...

Carry:
&#8226; Karrimor Sabre 75

Shelter:
&#8226; DD Lightweight 3m x 3m tarp
&#8226; Snugpak Stratosphere hooped bivvy

Sleep / rest:

&#8226; Thermarest (in dry bag)
&#8226; Lightweight sleeping bag (in dry bag)
&#8226; Sit mat

Clothing: (Spare clothing carried in a dry bag)
&#8226; Change of socks / underwear
&#8226; Meindle desert boots (wearing)
&#8226; Rohan shirt (wearing)
&#8226; Falljraven trousers (wearing)
&#8226; Ventile &#8220;SAS type&#8221; smock (wearing)
&#8226; Ventile poncho
&#8226; Leather bush hat (wearing)
&#8226; Falljraven wool bob cap
&#8226; Issue leather gloves
&#8226; &#8220;Zoot suit&#8221; top
&#8226; Moleskin smock
&#8226; Shemagh

Utility pouch:
&#8226; 4 alu tent pegs
&#8226; Spare cordage
&#8226; Field sharpening kit (DC3 & mini strop)
&#8226; Laplander saw
&#8226; Tinder pouch
&#8226; Flint & Steel set
&#8226; FFD
&#8226; 2x 6&#8221;glowsticks
&#8226; Krill lamp
&#8226; Led headlamp
&#8226; BG &#8220;Bushcrafter&#8221;
&#8226; Long handled spoon

Misc:
&#8226; Waterproof rucksack cover
&#8226; Personal FAK
&#8226; Ziplock plastic bags
&#8226; 2x Tissue packet

Cooking gear:
&#8226; Hobo stove &#8211; containing
o Millbank bag
o Fold a mug
o 12 cm Zebra billy & plate (drilled as a sieve)
o 2 in 1 coffee sachets
o Hot choc sachet
o Ti folding spork
o Ti meths stove
o &#8220;Scout&#8221; Ferro rod
o Matches
o Meths

Neck carry:
&#8226; BG Little Whittler
&#8226; Ferro rod
&#8226; Micro LED torch
&#8226; Whistle

Belt:
&#8226; Maxpedition pouch containing
o Gerber multi tool
o Mobile phone
o Tinder
o Mini FAK

Food / water: (Food carriedin a dry bag)
&#8226; 3L Platypus hoser
&#8226; 58Patt water bottle
&#8226; Insulated mug / mini flask
&#8226; &#8220;Nutty&#8221; bars
&#8226; &#8220;Instant&#8221; porridge sachets
&#8226; Pasta & Stir in sauce
&#8226; Boil in the bag rice
&#8226; Look what we found &#8211; Old spot meatballs with butter beans in tomato sauce (Mmmm!)
&#8226; Condiments pack

Hygiene pack:
&#8226; Sea to summit pocket towel
&#8226; Biodegradable all purpose soap
&#8226; Mouth wash
&#8226; Tooth brush & tooth paste
&#8226; Packet tissues
&#8226; Alcohol hand gel
&#8226; Mini sewing kit
 

sapper1

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 3, 2008
2,572
1
swansea
Simon, Where do you carry your platypus?I find mine gets squashed inside the pack so I have tried to strap it to the outside.But I'm not really happy with it .
 

forestwalker

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I guess it depends, if you’ve messed up and you lighter is out of fuel, your matches are wet, and you are up to your brass monkeys in snow, it’s both survival and wishful thinking.

Hmm, never done flint and steel at -30 C. Must try this winter. Probably quite nasty. But the technique is better than matches on a windy day (ever had a match blow out? ever had a piece of tinder blow out?).

If on the other hand you are showing your kid, how to light a small fire for a quick brew then it’s teaching,

What if it is lighting every fire for a week (3 cooked meals a day) using flint and steel? OK, that was a medieval camp, but one night I saw these flashes and heard "click" noises from a nearby camp. They were trying to ignite paper napkins with flint and steel. But in wet weather flint and steel is easier if you plan ahead, and take some grass into your shelter to dry overnight.

if however you are in the garden lighting a gas barbeque, then it’s just showing off. :lmao:

Nolo contendre, your honor. It was just for the fun of it, and the BBQ was charcoal. And I do not actually admit the time I used one to cook food at a reneactment day hike, that was perfectly normal. To me.

What is lighting the woodstove in the kitchen using ferrocerium sticks counted as? I'm quite sure I'd not be allowed either bowdrill or flint and steel, due to the smoke. Silly woman, it just makes the laundry smell nicer.
 

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