The Big Question

[survivalhike]

To all you hikers and survivalists out there I have my big question. I am preparing for a hike that will cover 40+ miles in five days and follow a river from northern AZ to central AZ. The trip will be held in late March and 5-7 people will be going. There are no established trails, and we will have to navigate our own way entirely. My website for educating my friends on what they will need to have/know for the trip is www.survivalhike.com. I would very much like it if anyone with some experience in this field please check out my website and let me know if there are any gross shortcomings or horrible oversights that I may have made. Sarge thinks I'm doing well and I appreciate the compliment. If anyone has an idea for some items that I might not have mentioned that would make the trip more fun/safe/interesting or whatever, don't be afraid to let me know. Also, if anyone thinks that some of the items I am taking are completely worthless (and I'm sure some are) let me know as well. The main list is a list of every possibility, not a list of everything I'll be bringing. The "list of lists" link is more reflective of what I'll actually be taking.

Thank you all for helping me out, and I'm glad to be a part of the wolf pack!

[Sarge47]

To all you hikers and survivalists out there I have my big question. I am preparing for a hike that will cover 40+ miles in five days and follow a river from northern AZ to central AZ. The trip will be held in late March and 5-7 people will be going. There are no established trails, and we will have to navigate our own way entirely. My website for educating my friends on what they will need to have/know for the trip is www.survivalhike.com. I would very much like it if anyone with some experience in this field please check out my website and let me know if there are any gross shortcomings or horrible oversights that I may have made. Sarge thinks I'm doing well and I appreciate the compliment. If anyone has an idea for some items that I might not have mentioned that would make the trip more fun/safe/interesting or whatever, don't be afraid to let me know. Also, if anyone thinks that some of the items I am taking are completely worthless (and I'm sure some are) let me know as well. The main list is a list of every possibility, not a list of everything I'll be bringing. The "list of lists" link is more reflective of what I'll actually be taking.

Thank you all for helping me out, and I'm glad to be a part of the wolf pack!

550 cord, at least 100 feet per person. Check out various uses of from www.survival.com.

All Weather Sportsman's blanket, the higher priced, better made model with the grommets in the corners.

If youor interested, here's an "upgrade" sheath for your Ka-bar.
http://www.uscav.com/Productinfo.aspx?productID=10594&TabID=1&CatID=5

And an additional question: how comfortable are you with the weight of your pack? are you trying it out with everything you'll be carrying to get in shape?
Over rough terrain, etc.:confused:

[survivalhike]

I saw the sheath...very nice. I am big fan of leather personally but that one might be my exception to the rule. I'm going to email k-bar and ask about the type of oil that the standard knife comes lubricated with. I would like to know what to use (other than gun oil right now) to keep it in good shape.

Everyone who is planning on going on the trip is under mandatory training right now, with goals that they have to accomplish before they can come. A couple of us are going to drop a few pounds, one of us has to quit smoking, and the others have already joined gyms to get their endurance up. I already told everyone that I won't be going with out of shape people who need 10 hours to cover 8 miles. No fun at all.

As far as weight of my pack, that is where the practice trips will come in handy. We are planning on at least two, but hopefully three progressively longer practice trips to get everything figured out. I'm sure they will be a learning experience.

[Fog_Harbor]

S-Hike,

I think you're on the right track. I won't comment on equipment carried, because on this forum it seems to lead to overly intellectual semantics.

I applaud you for your efforts as far as fitness is concerned. I hope that you as a leader are prepared as well as you can be, such as being a Wilderness EMT, and carrying a PLB. You don't have to use them, but it would be irresponsible (and get you sued BIG time if something went wrong) not to have them.

[survivalhike]

I was thinking about getting a PLB but I'm not acting as a guide or anything for this trip (we all came up with this idea), I'm just getting everyone off their arses. I'm sounding the trumpet and these friends of mine are following of their own free will. I think it would be fun to take people out on trips like this but I'm not experienced enough yet to even consider it.

I know that I have been elected as the unofficial leader of this adventure, and I know that it comes with some added responsibility. That is part of the reason I joined this forum...to learn as much as I can before my trip. I want to have the backgruond knowledge to handle almost everything that could come up, so if it does I'm not wasting time wondering what the heck to do.