Over on Paul Kirtley's blog you can read an interesting article about what he packs and how he packs his gear for some of his longer trips to the woods and wilder parts of the world.
A Bushcraft Camping Outfit – Equipment for Living in the Woods
The 'modular' approach to packing you gear that he describes will certainly ensure that you don't end up leaving something important behind and perhaps more readily allows you to 'mix 'n' match' you equipment for different needs.
I spent a few days in the Ardèche Gorges with Ray Mears having walked a few hundred kilometers to get to our meeting point. Ray was interested in what I'd packed for that walk and how. In turn he emptied out the contents of his pack and explained his system. The method he used to pack his rucksack was broadly similar to Paul's, Ray made a point of explaining how he had several different items which were packed to the same size and that fitted into the same section of his pack, thus his hammock and tarp setup or his one man tent would both fit into a stuff sack of the same size and slot into the same section of his pack depending on which he needed for that trip, the same held true for different cooking setups etc.
On a Woodlore fundamental course, years before Paul worked for Woodlore, one of the Instructors produced a rough sketch of how he suggested a person might want to pack a Sabre 45 pack. I posted a version of that sketch here a while back, here it is again.
When I'm traveling any distance I like to cut down the weight as much as possible, so rather than stuff sacks I keep things in jacket pockets or roll them up in clothes and these are usually stored in B&Q rubble bags rather than waterproof stuff sacks. But if I plan on getting to a particular location and staying there then this 'modular' approach can make keeping your stuff clean, dry and organized a little easier.
A Bushcraft Camping Outfit – Equipment for Living in the Woods
The 'modular' approach to packing you gear that he describes will certainly ensure that you don't end up leaving something important behind and perhaps more readily allows you to 'mix 'n' match' you equipment for different needs.
I spent a few days in the Ardèche Gorges with Ray Mears having walked a few hundred kilometers to get to our meeting point. Ray was interested in what I'd packed for that walk and how. In turn he emptied out the contents of his pack and explained his system. The method he used to pack his rucksack was broadly similar to Paul's, Ray made a point of explaining how he had several different items which were packed to the same size and that fitted into the same section of his pack, thus his hammock and tarp setup or his one man tent would both fit into a stuff sack of the same size and slot into the same section of his pack depending on which he needed for that trip, the same held true for different cooking setups etc.
On a Woodlore fundamental course, years before Paul worked for Woodlore, one of the Instructors produced a rough sketch of how he suggested a person might want to pack a Sabre 45 pack. I posted a version of that sketch here a while back, here it is again.
When I'm traveling any distance I like to cut down the weight as much as possible, so rather than stuff sacks I keep things in jacket pockets or roll them up in clothes and these are usually stored in B&Q rubble bags rather than waterproof stuff sacks. But if I plan on getting to a particular location and staying there then this 'modular' approach can make keeping your stuff clean, dry and organized a little easier.
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