minimal kit

[Lodian]

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

Yeh well i was gonna do that but my mum wouldnt let me lol.

 

[gunnix]

I'm going to camp out 5 days here in Sweden in two weeks without sleeping bag and mat, my kitlist will be:

old small rucksack containing food (like spaghetti, rice, potato powder, butter, meat, spices, oatmeal, raisins, knackebrod, cheese ) and some spare clothes (polyester thermo underwear, rainanorak and 3 pairs of woolen socks)

I'll have my martindale golok nr2 (last trip took the sfa, now its machete's turn again)
frost mora
sak huntsman
firesteel
cooking pot (10 cm billy can or a bigger alumium pot..)
flashlight fenix l0d ce + spare AAA batery
german poncho as roof
clothes on my body: boots, filt trousers, woolen jumpers, woolen socks, woolen scarf and hat.

It's going to be quite cold.. Will probably be less then -10 C at night. I'll make spruce bough matrass and try out a coalbed, and have a big fire as long as myself next to me. I'll cut quite some birch to warm me.

I want to see with this if it'd be possible to go lightweight with natural materials only (and it's actually most for the challenge). I want to test the coal bed, and then just get experience..

My german poncho isn't natural (lets say natural here means not syntethic, so canvas is "natural") but I could exchange it for a canvas tarp/poncho (I could build a roof of natural materials but that needs to many materials I think). Carying little I could easily replace the rucksack with some self made one, as low weights can be caried quite comfortably with self made A frame rucksacks I think. Or just roll the stuff in the tarp.

I'll buy the m90 varmejacka and pants and try out to sleep in that another time.

 

[spamel]

Will the machete cope with possibly frozen wood? I'd opt for the axe, personally, although I have no experience with frozen wood and a machete.

 

[jameshs]

I guess it depends what you want to do. I recently completed 3 days with

Knife
Laplander saw
paracord
billycan
headtorch

clothes you stood up in


Scotland September - and I would not pretend it was easy - but designed to 'teach' that the lighter you go the higher the calorific 'penalty'.

Water, fire, shelter, finding food all sapped calories (3 days lost 5 kilos - but by the end was getting pretty good at finding foodstufs like catstails tubers etc)

Have to say that - even with a blazing fire in the shelter it was COLD at night with no sleeping bag - so I would probably add to my kit - in this order:

Firesteel (making fire is fun the first time - but not when you NEED it
sleeping bag/bivi bag
tarp
some fresh food - fishing kit, snares food identification books etc
axe

shelter for jut 3 days is very time consuming and effective only to a degree

add kit to reduce calorie output for specific tasks and then add kit to make the trip fun (depending on your idea of fun.

I think a totally stripped back kit expedition is good to show you what it possible but wouuld always use a firesteel over a bow set any day!!!


James

 

[Jared]

Anyone tried any sleeping bags that only have insulation on the topside?

The idea being that the filling on the floor/mat is not providing much insulation as its compressed, so no point in having it.

 

[big_swede]

Gunnix, I really suggest you go for an axe instead. Machetes are useless for thicker wood. They're designed to pave way through jungle underbrush, not splitting logs...

The värmejacka 90 isn't a bad idea. You need good moss for the coal bed, it's really cozy!

Just remember that cutting down trees or even storm fallen trees without a explicit permission from the landowner is a crime, even in sweden.

 

[Graham_S]

earlier in the thread someone mentioned the problem with packing a sleeping bag.
Well I've got a solution.

Gelert make a drybag with an air valve in it.
put the bag in the bag, close top, open valve, squeeze out air, close valve.
The sleeping bag is now compressed to it's minimum volume and is held there by the airtight nature of the drybag.
It's also quite malleable so can be moulded to fit the bottom of your rucksack without creating dead space.
it takes up a lot less space, plus your sleeping bag is protected from the damp.

 

[rik_uk3]

Minimal is very subjective,one man's minimal is anothers overkill. At my age I need warmth and comfort, plus I like the idea of waking up in the morning and not drifting off to meet my ancestors due to freezing to death in the night.

Minimal for me these days
Hex 3
4 season bag
thermarest
down duvet jacket
gortex outer shell
liquid fuel stove
couple of billy cans
food
knife
head torch
cloths I stand in
water bottle
insulated tea mug

 

[Karl5]

Anyone tried any sleeping bags that only have insulation on the topside?

The idea being that the filling on the floor/mat is not providing much insulation as its compressed, so no point in having it.

I have two such bags (both MacPac down bags), one for summer use, the other one for 3 season use.
I used the 3 season bag a month ago on a weeklong hike in the very north of Sweden. The nighttime temperatures were approximately minus 5°C to minus 10°C, but sleeping in a tent of course made it a couple degrees warmer than the "true" outside temperature.
The sleeping bag has a big pocket on the underside to put a thermarest into. Keeps it in place and keeps me from rolling off it in the night.
I was warm and toasty the whole trip. No problems whatsoever.

These bags are my most used sleeping bags. Being down and without insulation at the botto, they're both very small (when in the stuff sac) for their insulation capacity.
I like them a lot, and can only recommend it for up to 3 season use.

For winter use, you want a mummy-shape bag, and so can't go with the "big-pocket-for-thermarest-on-the-underside" approach. The reason being that you in the winter want an as small a volume as possible to heat up ( = mummy-shape), and the "no-insultation-on-the-underside" obviously are square to accomodate for the thermarest.

Hope this helped.

/ Karl

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

earlier in the thread someone mentioned the problem with packing a sleeping bag.
Well I've got a solution.

Gelert make a drybag with an air valve in it.
put the bag in the bag, close top, open valve, squeeze out air, close valve.
The sleeping bag is now compressed to it's minimum volume and is held there by the airtight nature of the drybag.
It's also quite malleable so can be moulded to fit the bottom of your rucksack without creating dead space.
it takes up a lot less space, plus your sleeping bag is protected from the damp.

Deacthlons brand, Quecha, has a vaccum pump sleeping bag bag.

Nick

 

[gunnix]

Gunnix, I really suggest you go for an axe instead. Machetes are useless for thicker wood. They're designed to pave way through jungle underbrush, not splitting logs...

The värmejacka 90 isn't a bad idea. You need good moss for the coal bed, it's really cozy!

Just remember that cutting down trees or even storm fallen trees without a explicit permission from the landowner is a crime, even in sweden.

This weekend I cut up and split firewood for my tipi with the machete easily. I also use a gransfors sfa a lot but I don't notice a big difference between the two (i never use big wood) and since I took the axe last trip 2 weeks ago I'll take the machete this time. Just for experimenting and I'm a bit in love with the big knife... Another time I'll go for a weekend with the axe instead, just for fun.

I'm going in a forest which is property of the school and we're allowed to cut trees down (for tipi firewood or whatever we want to) so that's alright .

I'll sew a bivvy bag for the sleeping bag out of cotton next week I think, but a bed roll like you seem to have made looks interesting as well, you got any photos of it big_swede ?
What material did you make it out of?

 

[big_swede]

I'll sew a bivvy bag for the sleeping bag out of cotton next week I think, but a bed roll like you seem to have made looks interesting as well, you got any photos of it big_swede ?
What material did you make it out of?

No photos I'm afraid, I ought to get a digital camera one of these days. I used a cotton canvas fabric from ikea. It's more or less a copy of the duluth bed roll. It's really straight forward making one. The fabric was 150 cm wide so the first thing was that I folded a 2 meter piece and put a chunky YKK zipper on the edges (not the whole length, it*s stiched tgether the last 20 cms). Then I added a flapp and velcro to cover the zipper. Lay the folded tube-thing so that the zipper isn't at the edge, maybe 10-20 cms from the edge. Next I added a second piece of fabric to the bottom, I attached this to three of the sides of the first tube, so one of the long sides is partially open (the top and bottom 20cms are stiched together. I added a couple of straps along the open side so I can tie it together. Last I put a small piece of fabric under the head end, between the tube and the bottomflap, with a zipper on the side, to form a pillow compartment. A friend has got one of those over-lock machines which uses 4 threads and cuts of the excess fabric, this makes the seams hardwearing and really neat. Then I covered the seams with a fabric band to make it even more durable. In retrospect, I would make the pillow compartment before the bottom layer.

I gather that you're in a "folkhögskola"? Which one?

 

[gunnix]

Thanks for the info!

Yes that's right. Sjövik, here's the website: http://www.sjovik.eu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=72

 

[h2o]

i too prefer machetes to axes.i have and use both in the woods i prefer machete but i ususally end up cutting pine so machete is easier the axe seldom gets used for wild wood but is better for splitting wood for my wood burning stove in my house

 

[barryasmith]

Hi, I did the woodlore Journeyman course with my best mate a couple of years back. The course taught us how to exist with a minimum of kit:

Knife
Billy can
Torch
First aid kit
Fishing kit
Cordage for bowdrill

We had the foresight to take a sharpening stone and were allowed to take this out in our kit as well as waterproofs which we did'nt wear (except at night).

We managed to survive pretty well. Very cold at night but this was probably compounded by the fact that we were'nt eating much at all.

As far as clothing went we were in army trousers, tshirts, shirts wolly jumpers and windproof tops. This worked pretty well for us.

If I was going out on the land again with real minimum kit I'd add a poncho and leave the waterproof jacket behind. I'd also take a folding saw, a firesteel and some basic food; rice, sugar, stock cubes and brew kit.

Barry

 

[Sickboy]

Tried to cut my kit down as much as possible last weekend, mainly because i wanted to use my game bag http://www.harrissportsmail.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=14033 rather than my small (40L) rucsac, failed due to my hobo stove being so big, something i'm working on, but did drop the weight down considerably.

Hobo stove (could be left behind if open fires didnt cause problems)
poncho
3 feathers per baffle sleeping bag
very cut down 1st aid kit
firesteel
char cloth
knife (Ka-bar warthog, first outing), not the lightest knife it must be said!
small aluminium billy
spork (plastc)
wooly hat and thin gloves for sleeping in (helps with using thin sleeping bags when cold)
packet of food (uncle bens special fried rice, no need to hydrate, just a spoon of water)
lemon tea powder, for 2 cups
petzl tikka head torch
phone
wallet (very lite )
Camera (heavy and not really neccesary, but photo's are always nice)

thats it other than some paracord! can't see a way i can cut down anymore really other than leaving the hobo and camera behind without causing misery to myself

 

[RobertRogers]

Wow, you guys are really cutting it down. I like the idea of stuffing a bag with leaves instead of carrying around a foam pad. Think I will incorporate that. What seems to be missing from your lists is a length of 550 paracord, which I find so very useful I never go without it but of course that is MHO.

 

[Glen]

These bags are my most used sleeping bags. Being down and without insulation at the botto, they're both very small (when in the stuff sac) for their insulation capacity.
I like them a lot, and can only recommend it for up to 3 season use.

For winter use, you want a mummy-shape bag, and so can't go with the "big-pocket-for-thermarest-on-the-underside" approach. The reason being that you in the winter want an as small a volume as possible to heat up ( = mummy-shape), and the "no-insultation-on-the-underside" obviously are square to accomodate for the thermarest.

To get a quasi mummy shape could you not add a couple of loops at the bottom of the top bag about 1/4 width in from the corners, and another couple on the long sides, I guess about hip position or a bit lower, then run a length of elasticated shock cord between the tabs. It should pull the bottom corners of the top bag lightly down onto the thermarest.


Edit: Thinking about the mechanics of it the above idea will probably try to drag the bag down, especially before there's any weight on it.
Adding a loop at the top then running an extended elastic from the hip tabs underneath the mat to the top loop should sort that out.

 

[Sickboy]

Never used to go anywhere without Gaff tape, but after dragging round a small roll for years and never using the stuff it has recently benn dumped, probably need it soon Having been keeping things comfortable as much as possible for the last few years with a hammock, thermarest, overly warm sleeping bags and far to much spare clothing and food it's been very liberating to cut all the junk and return to what i was doing 10 years ago, partly to lugging such a heavy sack about last month for a two week trip and commandocal's thread http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24571