I completely forgot about the other radio! It's to go into one of the other bags. It's only for talking to my wife should we get separated...it's something that's normal practice for us when camping.

The fishing and hunting kit is going to be long term as I consider different options. Right now I'm weighing everything out from gill nets to a compact fishing rod (my father works in a fishing store so I can get something like this for Christmas ;)) and from snares to a US Survival Rifle that can be packed away for a rainy day.

You might supplement with a 'bug in' box of canned food and extra water -- most events are the boring kind that you wait out at home for a day or two. Its surprising how much food you can put in that box for $20.

tro

Last night I made some modifications to the book bag and made some discoveries I'd like to share.

First, I cut a ton of weight by leaving my work notebook and it's power brick at work locked in a drawer. I don't work from home anyhow! This made the pack a very reasonable weight when I put it on the shoulder scale (I generally don't weigh my bags...just do it by feel.)

Of course this allowed me to reconfigure the layout. I put my first aid kit on the bottom (I know that's bad but the Pelican case won't fit well any other way) with 2 O.R. #2 dry bags on top side by side. The second bag now has my toiletries (in a hanging Eagle Creek bag), an MSR micro towel, and an 800mW folding solar panel. Both bags have room to spare. I took out a few things like the hand warmers and the fuel bottle (do I really need these at work? Do I need security to ask me what's in that red bottle?) and the weight went up again but not very much. I finished it off with my TomTom 910 GPS. It's no EDC GPS but it has a 4 hour run time off the battery and I'd like to get into the habit of taking it with me all the time so it's in the car should I need it.

It still needs a few things (maps, etc) so it's going to get another repack on the weekend.

My work makes us take ours home, we have vpn access and working from home is part of the department dr plan.

I prefer sodt cases over hard ones even though they may not offer as much protection but that way thigs do pack better,espically someplace like a bob where space is a priority.

I love freebies. My dad's first GPS was a hand me down I gave him years ago. A Garmin GPS12. He's now on his 3rd (or 4th?) GPS and due to a recent out of warranty incident I have only one (My TomTom 910). He let me have it back and now I have a fairly small, rugged GPS again...and for free!

It's definitely being added to the bags somehow.

I noted the comments about using a Pelican case for a first aid kit. True, they are strong dependable cases, but to cut weight and make better use of space, my FAK is packaged in good ziplock bags and placed into a soft zippered case. If you need first aid the bottom of the pack for the FAK is the worst place to put it.

Incidentally, my FAK can handle the common minor cut or burn, but also more significant trauma and with all the components, still does not take up very much space.

Thanks hiker1. I covered this in another post but the reason I have the FAK in a pelican case is because I do a lot of motorcycle riding and need the kit to survive both torrential downpour and crashing (if I'm the one who needs the kit, I want it to survive!).

As to having the kit in the bottom, I know it's the worst place for it but I consider it to be alright for my needs. Everything in the pack which is on top of it are in two waterproof Outdoor Research dry bags which can be yanked out in seconds to get to the FAK. Everything else in the pack are in the numerous outer pockets. I'm in the process of trying to find a better way to pack the backpack. It will be hard but I'm at least going to try and stand up the FAK on it's side so it can be pulled out without disturbing anything else.