How do you carry gear?

[A Baby Ate My Dingo]

Whether I'm hiking, running, bike touring, hunting, fishing, whatever, I always seem to find some problem with how I carry stuff. Either there's too much stuff in my pant's pockets and stuff knocks my knees and thighs, my bag is too full and it takes too long to find things in it, the stuff on my belt stabs me when i sit down, I have too much stuff in my shirt pockets and look like I have breasts, my pack's centre of gravity is too high or too low, whatever. It's never perfect.

So this is a thread for discussion for everything carrying-related, to see what ingenious ideas the fine members of this forum have been enlightened by over there many years and travels. Any recommended products? Any tips and tricks? How do you carry things? How do you modularise and prioritise gear in order of importance:accessibility? Is there any time you've had a great idea that's just turned out ****?

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I guess now I'll write a bit about what I have and how I do things. I have acquired over my various corps and military stints the following freebies which make up the majority of my load-bearing equipment (why buy things when you can get milsurp for free?):
-ALICE webbing & modules
-IIFS field pack
-DPCU's from the 90's
-A 12g shell belt

I tend to roll with the IIFS pack and DPCU pants (plus normal clothes everywhere else) when i'm hiking, and pack everything into the bag except for basic essentials like a knife, water, etc. I aim for as little as possible in pockets or on my belt, because stuff just tends to bang around and poke my hands when they're in my pockets. I remember when I first acquired my shell belt I got all hyped up for my next trip and packed it full of good **** and felt ready for anything with an arsenal at my waist, but I hardly used anything on it, and worse, whenever I went to sit down, it ended up taking as long as setting up camp to take everything hanging on my arse off and then put it back on later. I came to realise you really don't need much in your pockets and belt because most of the time you're just trudging around trying to focus on striking with your midfoot.

Something interesting I discovered was that webbing is bloody great for bike touring. When I'm clipped in and have built up some speed, the last thing I want to do is stop, get off my bike, and dig into my overflowing panniers for something I need. Bar-bags are too small and my handlebar space is all taken up by maps and speedo's, shifters and break levers, so the extra storage that's able to be opened and trifled through with one arm and minimal body movement really makes a difference. Unfortunately it's attracted some unwanted attention from drivers, as they pass by an unkempt, sunburnt gronk wearing only a singlet, shorts, and webbing. Its also great for fishing when you're lying down and can't be screwed to get up and grab something.

I found the shell belt really went to good use not only when hunting, but when setting up a semi-permanent residence in the bush (woods to you Americans). Instead of shells, I filled it up with pliers and wirecutters, rope, knives, etc; and used it like a tool belt. It meant I didn't waste hours searching through scrunched up and entangled plastic bags for that little tool you use once and then drop to the bottom of your pack, just to realise just minutes later you need it again; all the while scaring away anything living in your vicinity with the deafening screech of plastic bag ruffling.

[postman]

It all depends on where I'm going and what I'm doing. On a day hunt I prefer to use a possibles bag I made that has a quiver attached to the flap. When I'm going out longer and am setting up a base camp I prefer to use a mil.surp. butt pack with suspension system and various belt pouches. I'm not a fan of back packs, I prefer to carry my gear on my hips, I find it more comfortable. Here are pictures of the possibles bag and the webbing system I use.

[Rick]

I can't help you with any of that equipment because I don't have any of it. I can only tell you that how you pack your backpack makes a huge difference in accessibility and comfort. I make certain the less frequently and heavier items are in the bottom of the pack. The many pockets on my Alice as well as the separate upper compartment inside the pack carry the often used items. But the main thing is to continue to modify whatever you use until it works perfectly for you. As long as the pack is comfortable and right sized for what you want to carry then it becomes a matter of making it efficient.

I tend to wear cargo pants. The only thing I utilize in my pockets are typical pocket items like wallet, knife, etc. with the exception of my map, spare compass and backup fire starting gear. The pants pockets are really used for picking up things along the way like fire tinder or pine cones if the skeeters are bad. Sometimes trash like a water bottle or soda can if I happen to run across one. That gets transferred to my pack later but it keeps me moving if I can stuff them in my pocket.

I also like drop leg platforms a lot because you can customize each one to carry those items you would still need if you lost your pack. My medical kit, one knife and my weapon's holster are on them when I choose to wear them. It makes them handy and keeps the weight down on the big muscles of the legs.

I guess the key is to get rid of stuff you don't need or use and then adjust the remaining gear to frequency of use. You're always going to have that odd exception where you have to dig for something but as long as the most used stuff is easy to get to then it will make life easier. Adjust whatever isn't working however you need to adjust it. That will be different for everyone depending on what they use and what the problem is. Modularize where you can. Plastic bags are good but if it doesn't need to be waterproof then I generally use a separate pouch. I like zippers or snaps rather than velcro for the noise issue. Quiet is good in the woods.

I don't know if that helps or not but that's about the best info I can give you since we use different equipment.

[A Baby Ate My Dingo]

It all depends on where I'm going and what I'm doing. On a day hunt I prefer to use a possibles bag I made that has a quiver attached to the flap. When I'm going out longer and am setting up a base camp I prefer to use a mil.surp. butt pack with suspension system and various belt pouches. I'm not a fan of back packs, I prefer to carry my gear on my hips, I find it more comfortable. Here are pictures of the possibles bag and the webbing system I use.

I can't help you with any of that equipment because I don't have any of it. I can only tell you that how you pack your backpack makes a huge difference in accessibility and comfort. I make certain the less frequently and heavier items are in the bottom of the pack. The many pockets on my Alice as well as the separate upper compartment inside the pack carry the often used items.

Both of you seem to like having the bag sitting on you hips with the mass as close to them as possible. I understand that's technically the best way to do it, letting your pelvis and legs bear the weight rather than having it higher and affecting your whole body. All modern backpacks have waist straps for this purpose.
The bag I have only has two shoulder straps, so I need the centre of mass higher, up around my shoulderblades, because my shoulders are where the bags weight pushes down on the rest of my body. The further away the mass is from where the bag's sitting the more the bag sits awkwardly - if it is below it'll push your back back and bump into your arse every step, and if its above itl'l fall onto your neck and if you ever trip, your face is not going to enjoy the journey.
I could engineer a waist strap for the bag, but after using a brand new MOLLE backpack and various rented hiking backpacks, I have to say I prefer having the bag higher up because it frees my waist up for jogging and more ROM when walking. I hate those hiking bags, they're like aeroplane seats, and no matter how much padding there is on the waistband it always seems to rub enough to hurt after a few hours walking. The MOLLE bag was a nice size, but i felt that it stuck too far out in the horizontal plane but wasn't tall enough, like a school bag.

So I'm rather happy to have the weight up high on my shoulders. Perhaps if I was carrying more equipment, it would be a completely different story.

I also like drop leg platforms a lot because you can customize each one to carry those items you would still need if you lost your pack. My medical kit, one knife and my weapon's holster are on them when I choose to wear them. It makes them handy and keeps the weight down on the big muscles of the legs.

I just googled "drop leg platforms" and these look great. Can you recommend any particular brands or types? If you have one on is the pants pocket underneath rendered useless? Can you buy a base rig and attach modules?

I like zippers or snaps rather than velcro for the noise issue. Quiet is good in the woods.

I mainly use straps and ropes to keep things together. More than just noise, velcro manages to take a good chunk of the bush with you whenever it touches anything. The gear I have doesn't have any zippers, and with the way I pack my bags, any zippers would probably be damaged after a few uses. Snaps are great, except I've never gotten around to buying some from a 2 dollar shop and setting up something with them.

If anything snaps while i'm on the trail, i use my patented ****TYROPES system (copyright 2013), summarised in this highly technical to-scale diagram:

****TYROPES.png

[Rick]

You are right about the Alice sticking out in back but it's not a problem. At least for me. I have added the Molle shoulder straps to my Alice so it's a lot more comfortable for me. I can't bear the weight on my shoulders anymore so it has to be on my hips and just use the shoulders to balance the pack. I don't have any choice on that.

As for the drop leg units, this is the one I use for my 1st Aid Kit and knife:

http://www.condoroutdoor.com/ma1droplegplatform.aspx

This is the one I have for my weapon:

http://www.condoroutdoor.com/ulhlegholster.aspx

Both can be in the way of the cargo pockets. That's about the most annoying thing I've encountered. I have to shift the pants leg a bit to get access back. And on the weapon we have open carry here so that isn't a problem for me.