Mountaintrekker
04-22-2008, 11:20 PM
Hello all,
For my first post on this forum I decided to provide some information instead of asking for some. Great site by the way! :D
After our 2 years living in the the mountains off grid at 8500ft my soon to be wife and I learned a few things. Our survival kits became an everyday part of our lives. They just became our normal stuff like a belt or shoes.
When we first moved out I was going nuts trying to organize my gear every day. Some days we would hike for 2 days up to 13K and do some trout fishing, the next was out scouting for game trails or going into town for some supplies, building the cabin etc.
I kept re-doing my daypack and all the little things I couldn't do without. Then I started making multiple packs/kits for different situations. Very impractical and expensive! (Now where is my just tooling around 3 miles from home pack?)
I then came up with the idea of being modular. I don't know why it didn't hit me earlier it just didn't. Living day to day in harsh conditions tends to distract you at first.:)
I bought a handful of those small nylon stuff sacks in different colors.
I made a first-aid kit in the red one and labeled it. A game procurement kit in another, a fire kit in a small belt pouch, a hygene kit in another, a water procurement and storage kit, a cooking/food kit... you get the idea. This way I think of where I'm going and how long I plan on being there and throw in the appropriate little stuff sacks. I'm not constantly re-inventing the wheel with my crap everywhere. It's also nice to not duplicate too much when we both go out, saves some weight and space. The bags can be used for foraging, getting water etc. as a second use. They also keep things from clanging around and are nice to not have to rummage around for 5 min looking for a sewing needle, asprin etc.
As we use them and strengthen our skills and learn our environment, the stuff sacks get smaller and smaller, which is nice to see.
I'm not spreading gospel here, this technique just seemed to work for us, maybe someone can benefit from it.
Kindest Regards,
Mountaintrekker
For my first post on this forum I decided to provide some information instead of asking for some. Great site by the way! :D
After our 2 years living in the the mountains off grid at 8500ft my soon to be wife and I learned a few things. Our survival kits became an everyday part of our lives. They just became our normal stuff like a belt or shoes.
When we first moved out I was going nuts trying to organize my gear every day. Some days we would hike for 2 days up to 13K and do some trout fishing, the next was out scouting for game trails or going into town for some supplies, building the cabin etc.
I kept re-doing my daypack and all the little things I couldn't do without. Then I started making multiple packs/kits for different situations. Very impractical and expensive! (Now where is my just tooling around 3 miles from home pack?)
I then came up with the idea of being modular. I don't know why it didn't hit me earlier it just didn't. Living day to day in harsh conditions tends to distract you at first.:)
I bought a handful of those small nylon stuff sacks in different colors.
I made a first-aid kit in the red one and labeled it. A game procurement kit in another, a fire kit in a small belt pouch, a hygene kit in another, a water procurement and storage kit, a cooking/food kit... you get the idea. This way I think of where I'm going and how long I plan on being there and throw in the appropriate little stuff sacks. I'm not constantly re-inventing the wheel with my crap everywhere. It's also nice to not duplicate too much when we both go out, saves some weight and space. The bags can be used for foraging, getting water etc. as a second use. They also keep things from clanging around and are nice to not have to rummage around for 5 min looking for a sewing needle, asprin etc.
As we use them and strengthen our skills and learn our environment, the stuff sacks get smaller and smaller, which is nice to see.
I'm not spreading gospel here, this technique just seemed to work for us, maybe someone can benefit from it.
Kindest Regards,
Mountaintrekker