minimal kit

[spamel]

Pictures please! I looked at the Medics bergen and I'm still not decided. The LK 70 again looks to be an outstanding bergen but I reckon if I buy any more kit that is a duplicate, my missus will have my sweet breads off with a blunt kitchen knife, and I'm rather attatched to them (literally!)

 

[Lodian]

Pretty hardcore, sleep in your clothes I guess?

Clothes and a nice fire i covered the ground in branch boughs during the day and took them off at night ,i forgot to mention dogfood.And a mate was with but he had the same.

 

[Tiley]

The stumbling block is always the sleeping bag: it takes up a lot of room and can weigh in pretty heftily. I splashed out on a Woobie - a poncho liner with very good insulation - and have found that it has been all I have needed during this summer. It's very light and brilliantly compressible. Other bits in the bag or on the belt on a recent two-nighter included:

Knife
Saw
Firesteel
Crusader cup + canteen and Millbank filter
Folding spoon
Tarp
Hammock
Food and brew kit
First aid kit
Ventile jacket
Arktis merino/nomex top
SAK
Dry bag
Jelly babies - very,very important.

It all fitted quite happily into a 38 litre rucksack and didn't feel as though it was going to do me lasting damage when on my back! I was also wearing clothes but, because they weren't in the pack, they don't really feature. In any case, most people go around dressed somehow ... don't they?

 

[big_swede]

The stumbling block is always the sleeping bag: it takes up a lot of room and can weigh in pretty heftily.

It seems as the general consensus is that the sleeping bag is the biggest issue (pun intended). I've resorted to a woolen blanket, though it's not as big as a sleeping bag, it ways in at a hefty 3 kg and is impossible to compress.

A good idea would be to try to improvise a sleeping bag from natural materials. During the summer it wouldn't be so much of a problem. During a survival course I was forced to do, we used spruce boughs (the general solution to most problems in the swedish armed forces) as you probably can imagine, it wasn't a good nights sleep. Maybe some kind of empty sleeping bag, like two blanket covers, that you could fill upp with natural isolation? Problem is that the natural isolation would be so coarse and rough (wet sometimes probably) that the material in the empty sleeping bag would have to so tough that it probably would weigh as much as a tactel/silinylon/pertex sleeping bag, although not at the same volume...

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

Could ditch all the food and replace with Power Gels and powder. It has been done on a climbing route at Yosemite, guy had no adverse effects, although power gels need to be eaten with water. Or go for energy/muesli/oat bars ?

Nick

 

[scottishwolf]

Could ditch all the food and replace with Power Gels and powder. It has been done on a climbing route at Yosemite, guy had no adverse effects, although power gels need to be eaten with water. Or go for energy/muesli/oat bars ?

Nick

eww, i'd rather eat some flaura and fauna lol

 

[big_swede]

Could ditch all the food and replace with Power Gels and powder. It has been done on a climbing route at Yosemite, guy had no adverse effects, although power gels need to be eaten with water. Or go for energy/muesli/oat bars ?

Nick

All forms of human metabolism requires water, especially using fat as an energy source (the bars usually have a high fat content). I don't think I will be using any powders or gels, I like the more natural food (although I drink a lot of gainers/protein shakes after the gym). But out and about I prefer real food. It's a part of the experience, making a real meal by quasi-primitive methods. Can't stand the thought of having a müsli-bar for dinner

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

All forms of human metabolism requires water, especially using fat as an energy source (the bars usually have a high fat content). I don't think I will be using any powders or gels, I like the more natural food (although I drink a lot of gainers/protein shakes after the gym). But out and about I prefer real food. It's a part of the experience, making a real meal by quasi-primitive methods. Can't stand the thought of having a müsli-bar for dinner

You did Post as 'minimal', so that is as minimum wt as you can go. No washing or billy stove req'd.

Personally I laways brew up even on an evening paddle.

Nick

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

All forms of human metabolism requires water, especially using fat as an energy source (the bars usually have a high fat content). :

That's why I mentioned drinking water with it.

Nick

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

eww, i'd rather eat some flaura and fauna lol

His post was for minimal stuff. A lot of flora for the same calorie count.

Nick

 

[big_swede]

You did Post as 'minimal', so that is as minimum wt as you can go. No washing or billy stove req'd.

Personally I laways brew up even on an evening paddle.

Nick

True, although I meant it as as minimal I can go without sacrificing the whole experience

But I like to think that I would like to be able to do it long term. With a billy I can at least get clean water. I'm not talking UL here. This thread was about making yourself comfortable in the nature with a minimum of kit, not reducing the load.

I might consider going with hi-carb stuff like gel and powders if I was doing multisport or adventure races, but not for bushcraft.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

Aye, winter time plenty of snowmelt for water.

Nick

 

[big_swede]

Aye, winter time plenty of snowmelt for water.

Nick

Hehe, no time to wait for that though...

 

[gorilla]

light for me is any trip that doesn't require me to hook up the trailer to the landy

 

[scottishwolf]

At least we have plenty of rain in Scotland

Although even that aint that clean these days

 

[gregorach]

It seems as the general consensus is that the sleeping bag is the biggest issue (pun intended). I've resorted to a woolen blanket, though it's not as big as a sleeping bag, it ways in at a hefty 3 kg and is impossible to compress.

Yep, no arguments there... Personally, I reckon it's really worth spending an outrageous amount of money on the best down bag you can find - although that does mean you need to be very careful to keep it dry and away from sparks.

 

[Tiley]

Buffalo used to make a pile and pertex series of sleeping bags that, though bulky, were light. That combo of materials would be useless near flames and fires so why not try a bushcrafty version of the idea using merino (Ullfrotte-style) and Ventile? It would be versatile as you could add different weights of Ullfrotte bags to the core Ventile-covered one, weather resistant and wouldn't be unduly savaged by sparks and flames.

I wonder if there's any manufacturer out there who'd indulge me in this post-lunch daydream...

 

[big_swede]

Buffalo used to make a pile and pertex series of sleeping bags that, though bulky, were light. That combo of materials would be useless near flames and fires so why not try a bushcrafty version of the idea using merino (Ullfrotte-style) and Ventile? It would be versatile as you could add different weights of Ullfrotte bags to the core Ventile-covered one, weather resistant and wouldn't be unduly savaged by sparks and flames.

I wonder if there's any manufacturer out there who'd indulge me in this post-lunch daydream...

Don't think ventile would be cost effective, and it's a bit delicate when it comes to sparks, wax cotton on the other hand might be interesting. But line a impregnated canvas/wax cotton with wool and you basically end up with a bedrool and blanket, which I have now.. But as you say, ullfrotté is maybe more weight efficient.

 

[Lodian]

Since the topic is in hand i thought id post,tomorrow at 10 am(9 hrs 45mins)
I go on a little camp to a forest 7 miles away taking no more than.(A friends coming to)
*Knife(Wooden Handled Mora)
*Dog(Female,6 in a week)
*A good 8 meters of rope different types.
*Tarp(3x3 Decathalon,only as an emergency if shelter building fails)
*Firesteel
*BCB Survival tin(just gonna try some of the stuff out not used yet.Steri tabs)
*Billycan
*Some pork joints(I aint that brave)
*Rollmat
*And a pile of luck

*Forecastry-damp

Things to try this time,
Making Nettle Tea
Wilting Nettles
Lean to building
Deer Watching theres bloody loads.
A rock fall trap just to try, will dismantle 1 hour before i leave anything killed will be eaten.



Will post how it goes.
Ryan

 

[Greg]

Minimal kit - World War 1 Battledress (Trousers and coat only torn to shreds) Boots (no laces), no sock or pants and a survival tin!