Post by WILL on May 29, 2012 10:44:48 GMT -7
Well, I’m getting ready for an upcoming hiking trip in The Great Smoky Mountain National Forrest. It’s planned to be 5 days long, covering about 40 miles of mountains. I thought it would be a good idea to start this thread with a pack breakdown. Since it’s more or less what I would take in a bug out, you can also get an idea of what my BOB looks like.
Starting with water, I bring 3 Platypus bottles. I usually won’t fill them all, depending on weather conditions. Since empty, they weigh nothing and take up no space; it’s nice to have a spare along. They are marked with measurement levels along with my sharpie conversion table for idiots. Also pictured are my primary water filtration system, the MSR hyper flow, and back up, iodine based tablets. Be careful to avoid the chlorine based tablets as some of them take upward of 6-8 hours to make water potable. Iodine…20 minutes….
Next is my cooking set up. A medium sized aluminum pot with my Leatherman pliers ready to pull it from the fire. My MSR Pocket Rocket stove, bic lighter and back up Firesteel. Also pictured is my spoon and titanium coffee cup. You’ll notice the duct tape wrapped around my MSR stove case. Believe it or not, its primary use is foot care. As soon as I start feeling a blister develop, I tape over it. This trick works very well at preventing blisters…..
Next I’ll do my navigation and FAK. I carry a map and compass of the area we hike even though Stevie Wonder could flawlessly follow the AT where we‘re going. I carry a light, small headlamp for finding my way in the dark, along with some spare coin batteries wrapped in duct tape, just in case. My FAK consists of Imodium for belly aches (next to blisters, probably the most common trail ailment), band-aids, and aspirin inside the foil. I’m getting older, and I find that taking an aspirin before bed helps me wake up with less trail aches….
Next is my sleep system. A summer bag rated at over 40 degrees, my insulated, inflatable sleep pad, and a blow up pillow cause I’m soft like that…..
Next is my foul weather system. IMHO, too many people don’t realize just how bad rain sucks when you can’t escape it. I’ve fine tuned my set up to keep me bone dry. I have a backpackers silicone impregnated, nylon poncho. It has a larger back flap to cover your pack. I have a small bit of para-cord on each corner so it can serve as a shelter in a pinch. I prefer the poncho to a rain suit because it goes on and off quickly, without having to remove my pack. This is important when you get those on again, off again rain days. I also find the poncho to be much airier than the rain jacket. Also pictured is my gaiters, which cover my legs below the poncho level, and keep water from going into the top of my boots. I carry a heavy, yard trash bag. It can be used as an emergency ground cloth or poncho. It most often sees use as a seat on rainy days. Nothing sucks more than having to sit in the mud or on a soaked stump. We will not be bringing a tent for this trip because we have reservations for the trail shelters and TGSMNF doesn‘t allow tent camping. I have a Big Agnes seed house II that will sit this one out….
Here’s a picture of my toiletries. Pretty self explanatory. The AT has moldering privies, but I would use a stick to dig a hole if that wasn‘t available. I use the shammy to dry off. The bandana does double duty as part of my FAK. I prefer taking a whore bath down stream from the water source with the Ivory as apposed to using the Wet Ones, but I bring ‘em just in case…
Here are some examples of the food we eat on the trail. Pretty much everything is dried to save weight. I’m working on my trail chef skills since the Mountain house meals are silly expensive and loaded with salt. The typical day of eating consists of 3 packs of oatmeal for breakfast. I prefer a Mountain house meal for lunch because they are easy to make and require minimal clean-up. A lot of guys will just steady snack on granola bars, peanut butter and trail mix, skipping lunch all together. This dinner consists of spaghetti for three. Included in the bag is parmesan cheese and tomato sauce powder….
Here are some more food ideas. Mac-n-cheese made with oil and powdered milk, dried potato flakes with basil, bacon bits and dried onion crisps for three, and another mountain house lunch. I also bring coffee singles. They come in tea bags. I premix some powdered creamer and sugar for adding to it…..
Here’s a picture of my typical hiking clothing. All synthetic, fast dry stuff. U use the under armor boxer briefs to prevent chub rub. I pack very few cloths, choosing to wash them on the trail to save weight. They will actually wear dry or dry overnight, whichever you choose…
This is a picture of my food bag and some 550 cord I bring. You have to put all food items in that mesh bag, to include toothpaste and anything that even smells like food, and hang it high in a tree at night. If you don’t, expect big problems…
And of course a few luxury items to keep me happy at the camp fire. Here’s my cigars and Gin…
Here’s everything in the pack. It will weigh between 30-40 pounds depending on the season. This trip, it weighs 30 pounds including food and water…
So to transform this into my BOB, I would probably add a machete, fishing kit and a gun/ammo…done. I’ll follow up on this thread with pictures of the trip.
Starting with water, I bring 3 Platypus bottles. I usually won’t fill them all, depending on weather conditions. Since empty, they weigh nothing and take up no space; it’s nice to have a spare along. They are marked with measurement levels along with my sharpie conversion table for idiots. Also pictured are my primary water filtration system, the MSR hyper flow, and back up, iodine based tablets. Be careful to avoid the chlorine based tablets as some of them take upward of 6-8 hours to make water potable. Iodine…20 minutes….
Next is my cooking set up. A medium sized aluminum pot with my Leatherman pliers ready to pull it from the fire. My MSR Pocket Rocket stove, bic lighter and back up Firesteel. Also pictured is my spoon and titanium coffee cup. You’ll notice the duct tape wrapped around my MSR stove case. Believe it or not, its primary use is foot care. As soon as I start feeling a blister develop, I tape over it. This trick works very well at preventing blisters…..
Next I’ll do my navigation and FAK. I carry a map and compass of the area we hike even though Stevie Wonder could flawlessly follow the AT where we‘re going. I carry a light, small headlamp for finding my way in the dark, along with some spare coin batteries wrapped in duct tape, just in case. My FAK consists of Imodium for belly aches (next to blisters, probably the most common trail ailment), band-aids, and aspirin inside the foil. I’m getting older, and I find that taking an aspirin before bed helps me wake up with less trail aches….
Next is my sleep system. A summer bag rated at over 40 degrees, my insulated, inflatable sleep pad, and a blow up pillow cause I’m soft like that…..
Next is my foul weather system. IMHO, too many people don’t realize just how bad rain sucks when you can’t escape it. I’ve fine tuned my set up to keep me bone dry. I have a backpackers silicone impregnated, nylon poncho. It has a larger back flap to cover your pack. I have a small bit of para-cord on each corner so it can serve as a shelter in a pinch. I prefer the poncho to a rain suit because it goes on and off quickly, without having to remove my pack. This is important when you get those on again, off again rain days. I also find the poncho to be much airier than the rain jacket. Also pictured is my gaiters, which cover my legs below the poncho level, and keep water from going into the top of my boots. I carry a heavy, yard trash bag. It can be used as an emergency ground cloth or poncho. It most often sees use as a seat on rainy days. Nothing sucks more than having to sit in the mud or on a soaked stump. We will not be bringing a tent for this trip because we have reservations for the trail shelters and TGSMNF doesn‘t allow tent camping. I have a Big Agnes seed house II that will sit this one out….
Here’s a picture of my toiletries. Pretty self explanatory. The AT has moldering privies, but I would use a stick to dig a hole if that wasn‘t available. I use the shammy to dry off. The bandana does double duty as part of my FAK. I prefer taking a whore bath down stream from the water source with the Ivory as apposed to using the Wet Ones, but I bring ‘em just in case…
Here are some examples of the food we eat on the trail. Pretty much everything is dried to save weight. I’m working on my trail chef skills since the Mountain house meals are silly expensive and loaded with salt. The typical day of eating consists of 3 packs of oatmeal for breakfast. I prefer a Mountain house meal for lunch because they are easy to make and require minimal clean-up. A lot of guys will just steady snack on granola bars, peanut butter and trail mix, skipping lunch all together. This dinner consists of spaghetti for three. Included in the bag is parmesan cheese and tomato sauce powder….
Here are some more food ideas. Mac-n-cheese made with oil and powdered milk, dried potato flakes with basil, bacon bits and dried onion crisps for three, and another mountain house lunch. I also bring coffee singles. They come in tea bags. I premix some powdered creamer and sugar for adding to it…..
Here’s a picture of my typical hiking clothing. All synthetic, fast dry stuff. U use the under armor boxer briefs to prevent chub rub. I pack very few cloths, choosing to wash them on the trail to save weight. They will actually wear dry or dry overnight, whichever you choose…
This is a picture of my food bag and some 550 cord I bring. You have to put all food items in that mesh bag, to include toothpaste and anything that even smells like food, and hang it high in a tree at night. If you don’t, expect big problems…
And of course a few luxury items to keep me happy at the camp fire. Here’s my cigars and Gin…
Here’s everything in the pack. It will weigh between 30-40 pounds depending on the season. This trip, it weighs 30 pounds including food and water…
So to transform this into my BOB, I would probably add a machete, fishing kit and a gun/ammo…done. I’ll follow up on this thread with pictures of the trip.