Pack build in progress (picture heavy)

[davef]

In other posts I mentioned that I was putting together a kit and that I would
post some pictures when I could. Well, I finally had some time to take a few
pictures of what I have so far.

Total weight of the kit WITHOUT clothing and food is about 20 lb.

I was looking at getting MRE's, but have purchased a vacuum sealer and a
dehydrator. Going to experiment with making my own first.


What I don't have yet:
fishing kit
snare wire
good whistle
signaling mirror


Here is what I have so far, and as always, comments, suggestions and advice are welcome.

My main pack. 25 litre CadPat Canadian Military design.
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Maxpedition Jumbo Versipack for day trips.
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Brunton Multi-fuel stove.
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Firestarters. (note the welders torch igniter tool as a source for sparks)
On the left, I have dryer lint/vaseline, cotton balls/vaseline. In the small tin,
I have lighters, magnesium firestarter, and resinwood. Matches in watertight
containers, more resinwood (firesticks), a neat thing called a "fire lighter"
which is resinwood but with a coating like what you see on a matchhead.
And finally, small candles.
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Assorted plastic bags and space blanket, toilet paper and paper towel, 100 ft of 550
paracord (braided to save space), stainless steel cup, Adventure Medical Kits
thermal bivy bag, rain poncho, bug jacket with hood, bug spray, sunscreen,
Steripen for water treatment.
Not pictured is my Boy Scout Mess kit, 10 X 10 tarp and a basic wilderness
first aid kit.
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Fiskars Hatchet, Koster Bushcraft, Scrapyard Scrapper 6, Compass, Slingshot.
Not pictured is my breakdown Swede Saw.
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Alternate cutting / chopping implements.
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Sharpening kit, non-battery powered led flashlight, Leatherman Charge.
The camera case pictured can be used as an "on the belt" pack for walks
and short hikes. I've been able to fit a small first aid package, firestarter,
compass, folding knife and a couple of power bars into it.
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[Tony uk]

Very good kit, and exellent pictures

The only thing i can say other than that is, A signal mirror and whistel are two of the most important items in a survival kit, All the other kit is dammed good but for sacraficeing one of those knifes you could have of picked up a decent whistel (Hopefully, i havent looked at the up to date prices)

Great kit thought

[nell67]

Nice kit Dave,like the addition of the torch striker,never thought of that one!

[nell67]

Tony,welcome back,I think someone mentioned calling out a search party for you.

[Ameriborn]

Nice kit, however is the carboard piece still in the TP? If it is, if you take it out it saves a little space. Hard to tell from the picture.

Also, don't forget to get a whistle and a signal mirror before going out with it

[Bibow]

i'm a little confused are you planning on carrying all those knives? but any ways good job. could i suggest a blanket.

[Rick]

Sweet! I only have one problem with the multi-stoves. They tend to be a bit more complex and that means more items to break down. But you certainly have a ton of options with regard to fuel. A bit of a trade off.

On the vaseline soaked cotton balls, put them in a 35 mm film canister. You can get six cotton balls in a canister and it's not as messy as the zip lock. Remeber, too, that the vaseline can also serve for first aid. Chapped lips or a hot spot from chafing will benefit from the vaseline.

I've never used dryer lint with vaseline. I'll have to try that. Plain drier lint will not only catch your spark but start burning. I don't know if it will do that with the vaseline.

And don't forget you probably have cotton lint in your pockets and can get it from your cotton socks or jeans (summer apparel only!!) by lightly rubbing it with a knife.

On the TP, find a round bottle the same size as the cardboard tube and as long as it is wide. Fill it with waterless hand cleaner and slide it inside the TP tube. It doesn't take up any additional room and you save your water.

My jury is still out on the steripen. It might be a good tool but I'm not yet convinced. Either way, I still think you need a backup for water treatment. Try Katadyn's Micropur MP1 tablets or some other brand. They take 4 hours to sterilize a quart but that's better than nothing. I could also rave for hours on the MSR Sweetwater kit. Simple, fairly inexpensive and lots of clean water on demand.

Backup compass, too. Let's face it. If it's made of plastic then chances are it's going to get broken in the wild. Even more likely in the winter when the plastic gets cold. I destroyed a similar compass and it was inside my pack. Pulled it out in pieces. Fortunately, I had a couple of backups.

I don't know what quality the rain poncho is but I don't think you can ever go wrong with a military poncho. It's just so versatile. I watched a guy in a freak blizzard get stripped of a light weight poncho. The wind shredded it and that was all he had!! We had to hunker down while the storm passed through. I gave him my military poncho and it held up fine. (Fleece! Always have fleece!).

Just my deranged thoughts.

[Beo]

That pack looks huge, did Sarge teach you that? Nice kit though.

[RobertRogers]

Very nice. I agree what Rick about the stoves - prefer a wood burner since then I don't have to carry fuel either and a wood burner always works (unless its smashed flat, but then again a liquid fuel stove wouldn't be working at that point too).

[davef]

Ameriborn said:

Nice kit, however is the carboard piece still in the TP? If it is, if you take it out it saves a little space. Hard to tell from the picture.
Also, don't forget to get a whistle and a signal mirror before going out with it

Yep, the cardboard is still in the TP. Didn't think about taking it out. Good idea.

Bibow said:

i'm a little confused are you planning on carrying all those knives? but any ways good job. could i suggest a blanket.

Thanks for the idea on the blanket.
I'm not planning on carrying all the knives just a couple.
The problem I'm having with that, is trying to figure out which ones to take. I tried applying the rule of 3's,
but after I'd narrowed it down to 5, I gave up...hehe...


Rick said:

Sweet! I only have one problem with the multi-stoves. They tend to be a bit more complex and that means more items to break down. But you certainly have a ton of options with regard to fuel. A bit of a trade off.

My wife bought me the stove as a Christmas present last year. Haven't had much opportunity to do much with it yet but from using it a few times, I like it.

Rick said:

On the vaseline soaked cotton balls, put them in a 35 mm film canister. You can get six cotton balls in a canister and it's not as messy as the zip lock. Remeber, too, that the vaseline can also serve for first aid. Chapped lips or a hot spot from chafing will benefit from the vaseline.

I've got lots to learn. Didn't even think of using the Vaseline for first aid.
One of those dual purpose items.

Rick said:

I've never used dryer lint with vaseline. I'll have to try that. Plain drier lint will not only catch your spark but start burning. I don't know if it will do that with the vaseline.

I have to admit that was an experiment of mine. I figured that if Vaseline and cotton balls worked well AND dryer lint worked well, then dryer lint AND Vaseline should work too. Haven't tried it out yet, but I'm going to give it a try when I get home from work tonight.

Rick said:

On the TP, find a round bottle the same size as the cardboard tube and as long as it is wide. Fill it with waterless hand cleaner and slide it inside the TP tube. It doesn't take up any additional room and you save your water.

That is an excellent idea.

Rick said:

My jury is still out on the steripen. It might be a good tool but I'm not yet convinced. Either way, I still think you need a backup for water treatment. Try Katadyn's Micropur MP1 tablets or some other brand. They take 4 hours to sterilize a quart but that's better than nothing. I could also rave for hours on the MSR Sweetwater kit. Simple, fairly inexpensive and lots of clean water on demand.

The Steripen was suggested by my step-daughter who took a wilderness survival program at University. She said that the instructors of the program used it and recommended it to the students in the class. I'm working blind on this one, as I know absolutely nothing about sterilizing water. When I started thinking about this, I thought that all you had to do was boil the water for a few minutes. Someone else that I was talking with on another forum also mentioned the Katadyns. Have never heard of the MSR Sweetwater kit though. I'll be checking that one out.

Rick said:

Backup compass, too. Let's face it. If it's made of plastic then chances are it's going to get broken in the wild. Even more likely in the winter when the plastic gets cold. I destroyed a similar compass and it was inside my pack. Pulled it out in pieces. Fortunately, I had a couple of backups.

Understood. I'll be getting a second one like the one I have, and maybe one of those little button (ring) ones too.

Rick said:

I don't know what quality the rain poncho is but I don't think you can ever go wrong with a military poncho. It's just so versatile. I watched a guy in a freak blizzard get stripped of a light weight poncho. The wind shredded it and that was all he had!! We had to hunker down while the storm passed through. I gave him my military poncho and it held up fine. (Fleece! Always have fleece!).

Good point. The rain poncho is one I picked up at a surplus store for a couple of dollars.
The area that I live in, is semi-arid desert. Not a lot of precipitation here. I've got a Gore-Tex 3/4 jacket that I carry in the vehicle, and always "layer" with fleece in the winter. Usually in the winter, I carry an emergency clothing pack in my vehicle "just in case". It includes insulated head gear with ear flaps, space blanket, and a full snowmobile suit (jacket, pants, gloves and boots).
Most of my excursions in the near future will be in this area, but I have to consider the fact that I might not always be "in this area".

[Rick]

Once you get your pack the way you want it, load it up and start walking to see how heavy it is on you. Weighing one is a good to know but it helps to know where the weight of your pack sits or hangs. Then start taking short trips like overnighters or weekends and see what you need to add and what you can do away with. I don't think you'll ever find the magic formula for a pack. It seems like I'm changing something every time I go out. But you can get it to where it is comfortable for most outings and "right for you".

My son has a very nice (and expensive) commercial pack that he has set up for himself. I suggested my other son might want to use it on an outing that the younger one couldn't make. That was a quick no. Not because he didn't want his brother to use it but because he had the pack set up for him. His torso, his shoulders, his waist and he didn't want any of that to change.

[davef]

Rick said:

Once you get your pack the way you want it, load it up and start
walking to see how heavy it is on you. Weighing one is a good to know but it
helps to know where the weight of your pack sits or hangs. Then start taking
short trips like overnighters or weekends and see what you need to add and
what you can do away with.

I've had the opportunity to do that a few times so far. The pack fits very
nicely. The internal frame was nice. I did find, however, that it was a bit
too heavy, and have been trying to get the weight down.
For example, I don't need all of the firestarting redundancy. I think I can get
by with the little tin (a couple of Bic lighters, magnesium and resinwood) and
some Vaseline soaked cotton balls.

RobertRogers said:

Very nice. I agree what Rick about the stoves - prefer a wood
burner since then I don't have to carry fuel either and a wood burner always
works (unless its smashed flat, but then again a liquid fuel stove wouldn't be
working at that point too).

I also was leaning towards a wood burner until it was pointed out to me by a
friend that there are times when wood isn't available, or can't be used due to
government fire regulations. I thought about that for awhile, and decided
that if I could burn wood, I would be able to make a fire to do so, and if not
possible to do so, I would use the stove.
I mostly carry the kit with me in the car for emergencies, so there aren't any
concerns weight wise, unless I had to walk out from where I was. If I was
going on an organized outing, I would check before-hand to see what kind of
fire restrictions are in effect in the area I was heading to and adjust
accordingly.

Beowulf65 said:

That pack looks huge, did Sarge teach you that? Nice kit though.

I started making this pack before I found this forum, but freely admit that
I've borrowed substantially from this forum, and it's members, including
Sarge, and everyone who has graciously given me their advice.

All the good parts of the kit I attribute to their wisdom, all the mistakes I
attribute to my lack of knowledge.

[crashdive123]

I do not think your pack is too big, but then again, I'm not a minimalist trekker/camper. I'm of the back ups to my back ups school of thought. I might have missed it, but water collection and storage? On the welders tool - I prefer something like a Swedish Firesteel (smaller and bigger sparks), but you have plenty of ways to start fire so - if it works for you, it works for me. For your light, you may want to consider adding a small headlamp - that way if you have a night time project it'll free both hands and you won't have to stop to squeeze. I've never used the Steripen. I like filters and purification tabs, with boiling available as needed. Overall, good job.

[Ameriborn]

I've borrowed substantially from this forum, and it's members, including
Sarge, and everyone who has graciously given me their advice.

That is what we .. well, they are here for. I haven't attributed too much yet. I hope to soon, though.

About the weight - take it on a few trips, and I guarantee you will find at least 3 things you will find that you will not need. Don't take it out after the first trip, but after a couple if you haven't used it than you can ditch it. Kind of like football. Get a QB use him for at least 3 games, if he isn't good, throw in the backup for your starter

[danmc]

way to go on the fire starting stuff. I spent the day in red cross cpr/first aid training and the hypothermia victim in the training video would have never gone hypothermic if he'd had your fire starting stuff.

I've never used dryer lint with vaseline. I'll have to try that. Plain drier lint will not only catch your spark but start burning. I don't know if it will do that with the vaseline.

...

I don't know what quality the rain poncho is but I don't think you can ever go wrong with a military poncho. It's just so versatile. I watched a guy in a freak blizzard get stripped of a light weight poncho. The wind shredded it and that was all he had!! We had to hunker down while the storm passed through. I gave him my military poncho and it held up fine. (Fleece! Always have fleece!).

Just my deranged thoughts.

I've about decided to stick with cotton balls (with vaseline and in film containers like you suggest) and skip the dryer lint. The lint quality in my house seems to vary too much with the fabric. But thats just me.

On the poncho bit... When I get around to buying a new one I'm going to put it on in the back yard and have the kids spray me with a hose and see how it holds up. This is based on a poncho that didn't keep me dry last February. Oh yeah, and also based on a borrowed rain suite from about a year ago where I came back soaked to the bone. grrrr. Lesson there, test the rain gear at home.

You have a particular military one you like Rick?

[Rick]

I have a Mil-Spec Plus military style poncho and it's held up very well. I've used it for a shelter as well as a rain cover. It's 56X86 so it's large enough to fit over my pack if it's raining. I've had it so long I don't remember where I bought it. It has snap closures down the side and grommets on the sides and corners for tying.

I wouldn't forsake the drier lint. Try it dry in the back yard. You'll be surprise how easy it is for that stuff to catch fire. It will also entice you to make certain the dryer is kept clean!!

I made up a fishing kit using a 35mm film canister. I used a sewing machine bobbin to wrap the fishing line around and then just taped it to keep the line from unspooling. I bought a package of three bobbins at Wally's Place for about $1.50.

Lot's of posts on snare wire. Rabbits and squirrels use 24 gauge brass, copper or stainless steel. Larger animals=larger gauge, of course.

For your whistle look for a Howler, Tornado or Storm. All three a very good and loud. Whatever you get just make certain it's pealess.

Don't go cheap on the signal mirror by trying to use a CD or some other shiny object. You can use anything expedient if you have to but if you are planning then go with a true survival mirror like Starflash from Ultimate Survival. It is your life and maybe your family. It's worth a couple of bucks. You don't have to be in the woods either. Trapped out in the car in deep snow that mirror can help others find you!

[davef]

crashdive said:

I do not think your pack is too big, but then again, I'm not a minimalist trekker/camper. I'm of the back ups to my back ups school of thought.

I'm not minimalist either, and tend to have the "back-up to back-up to my backup" type of mentality as well.
As been pointed out to me though, I have to remember that I'm the one carrying it in and the one carrying it out.

crashdive said:

I might have missed it, but water collection and storage?

You're right!!! I don't have anything for water collection and storage.
I can't believe that I forgot that!

crashdive said:

On the welders tool - I prefer something like a Swedish Firesteel (smaller and bigger sparks), but you have plenty of ways to start fire so - if it works for you, it works for me.

I've got a firesteel on my Koster bushcraft knife.
Guess the welders tool was one of those "backup upon backup" things
I think that I'm going to go with the contents of the Cabelas tin and Vaseline/cotton balls.
That way, I've got Bic lighters, magnesium firestarter, resinwood, firesteel, and Vaseline/cotton balls.
That should be enough I would think.
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crashdive said:

For your light, you may want to consider adding a small headlamp - that way if you have a night time project it'll free both hands and you won't have to stop to squeeze.

That's a good idea. My little blue flashlight is good, but it's nice to have both hands free.

rick said:

I wouldn't forsake the drier lint. Try it dry in the back yard. You'll be surprise how easy it is for that stuff to catch fire. It will also entice you to make certain the dryer is kept clean!!

I didn't have a chance to try out my Vaseline/dryer lint last night as we had company over.
Thought it might be rude to leave my wife to entertain them while I was out trying to make a fire...

rick said:

For your whistle look for a Howler, Tornado or Storm. All three a very good and loud. Whatever you get just make certain it's pealess.

Ok, newbie time here. Why do I need to make sure it's pealess?

rick said:

Don't go cheap on the signal mirror by trying to use a CD or some other shiny object.

How did you know that I was going to use a CD????

[Gray Wolf]

The lint quality in my house seems to vary too much with the fabric. But thats just me.

That's why I advise people to use the lint from the towel load. There's lots of it and it's 90 + % cotton.

With the lighters (2), the matches (2 containers) and the firesteel, I would leave the Doan magnesium fire starter block out, those are heavy for their size.

[davef]

That's why I advise people to use the lint from the towel load. Lots of it and 90 + % cotton.

Good point. How well do synthetics burn anyway? I know cotton works pretty good.

[davef]

I guess that I'm not so original in my thinking after all.
Just checked the sticky on firestarters, and my welders tool (pictured below)
is there on the first page referred to as a "welding flint lighter"
Oh well

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