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#123859 - 02/14/08 05:32 PM Re: My Pack wieghs 18 lbs [Re: MtnRescue]
Happy Birthday Stu Offline
I am not a P.P.o.W.
Old Hand

Registered: 05/16/05
Posts: 1058
Loc: Finger Lakes of NY State
Originally Posted By: MtnRescue
I've got to go with OBG on this one. During warmer weather cotton is a viable option; however in cold, and potential wet environments, cotton kills.

We've rescued many individuals during the winter wearing cotton clothing, most survived with various stages of hypothermia and/or frost bite . . . others didn't.


Having spent a lot of winter time in the mountains in my younger years, and on a Search & Rescue team, I agree with MtnRescue.
You might be fine with cotton clothing 50 times, but the 1 time you are not, may be too late to wish you had on wool.
One of the effects of hypothermia is a "loss" of the thought process. When hypothermia hits you, you may not even know it, until it's too late to do anything to warm yourself.
_________________________
Our most important survival tool is our brain, and for many, that tool is way underused! SBRaider
Head Cat Herder

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#123865 - 02/14/08 06:26 PM Re: My Pack wieghs 18 lbs [Re: raydarkhorse]
Woodsloafer Offline
Member

Registered: 04/24/05
Posts: 122
Loc: Upstate NewYork
Question: Why do you include a set of BDU's in your pack?
I understand the polypro, watch cap and neck gaiter and might even include a fleece shirt, but it would seem you would dress for expected weather prior to heading for the bush.
You might review your first aid kit, as you seem to have excessive amounts of gauze pads, roller gauze, steri strips. In addition, why do you include both Aleve and Advil?
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"There is nothing so frightening as ignorance in action."

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#123869 - 02/14/08 06:55 PM Re: My Pack wieghs 18 lbs [Re: Woodsloafer]
Hacksaw
Unregistered


Originally Posted By: Woodsloafer
Question: Why do you include a set of BDU's in your pack?
I understand the polypro, watch cap and neck gaiter and might even include a fleece shirt, but it would seem you would dress for expected weather prior to heading for the bush.
You might review your first aid kit, as you seem to have excessive amounts of gauze pads, roller gauze, steri strips. In addition, why do you include both Aleve and Advil?


Even when packing light you should carry a set of 'dry' clothes as either a backup for for sleeping in.

I guess that's another reason to avoid cotton...I'll take soaked poly or wool any day over cotton.

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#123871 - 02/14/08 07:03 PM Re: My Pack wieghs 18 lbs [Re: Woodsloafer]
raydarkhorse Offline
Addict

Registered: 01/27/07
Posts: 510
Loc: on the road 10-11 months out o...
I do dress for the weather but keeping a pair of BDUs and an extra pair of polypros (in waterproof bags), gives me the ability to change into dry clothes if I get wet or if the weather changes radically I have an extra layer and if I'm out for more than a couple of days I have a change of clothes.
As far as my first aid kit goes all of the gauze pads can be used for small cuts as well as more serious wounds. As a teenager my brother and I went camping and he managed to cut the back of his hand and severed one of the larger blood vessels there. I had a first aid kit that had all the band-aids in the world but little in the way of gauze or ways of controlling bleeding. If I hadn’t been able to drive him to a hospital I would have lost him. So now I go for an over kill on ways to control more serious bleeding and still be able to treat minor cuts. As for the Motrin and Aleve my hunting partner prefers one and I prefer the other, that and I am getting old and need them for all my various aches and pains.
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Depend on yourself, help those who are not able, and teach those that are.

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#123872 - 02/14/08 07:08 PM Re: My Pack wieghs 18 lbs [Re: raydarkhorse]
raydarkhorse Offline
Addict

Registered: 01/27/07
Posts: 510
Loc: on the road 10-11 months out o...
I guess I should have said at the begining that I do prefer wool clothing but they don't last forever (they shrink with washing and I don't) and right now I don't have any and haven't been able to replace the ones I had.
_________________________
Depend on yourself, help those who are not able, and teach those that are.

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#123884 - 02/14/08 09:56 PM Re: My Pack wieghs 18 lbs [Re: raydarkhorse]
mtnhiker Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 11/18/05
Posts: 73
Loc: Nevada,USA
Just a quick question on how you are packing your gear in your ruck.. On your smaller loose items, are you filling in all the open voids throughout your pack or are you putting things in smaller military stlye GP pouches(for example) to keep things a little more organized. The reason I ask is I have alot of similar items in my pack and put things in smaller pouches but find there is alot of wasted space by doing this.
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"If it's not with you it cant save you"

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#123886 - 02/14/08 10:49 PM Re: My Pack wieghs 18 lbs [Re: mtnhiker]
raydarkhorse Offline
Addict

Registered: 01/27/07
Posts: 510
Loc: on the road 10-11 months out o...
All of the items in the main clopartment are in compressed zip lock bags. All of the food is in either a Mre bag or in zip locks. every thing else is just put where it fits best in the area it's listed in.
The main compartment
1 set of poly polypro long underware
1 set of BDUs
1 tshirt
2 pair merino wool socks
2 pair underware
1 casualty blaket
1 poncho liner
1 watch cap and neck gaiter
2 bandannas
Radio Pocket
3 mre’s out of original packaging, and snacks including dried fruit peanut butter crackers
1 small alcohol stove
1 folding knife
Right pocket
FAK with some room to spare
Middle pocket
Para cord
1 poncho
left pocket
1-blast match & tinder and 8 wetfires
1 folding knife
1 suunto compass
1 candle lantern
1 pack of zip ties
10 water purification tabs
1 Schrade multi tool
Top velcroed pouch
1 small generic LED
1 Ferro rod and striker
25 matches
1 small bic
1 pair Brunton 10X25 binoculars
maps
_________________________
Depend on yourself, help those who are not able, and teach those that are.

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#123908 - 02/15/08 05:06 AM Re: My Pack wieghs 18 lbs [Re: ]
Paragon Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 10/21/07
Posts: 231
Loc: Greensboro, NC
Originally Posted By: Hacksaw
Even when packing light you should carry a set of 'dry' clothes as either a backup for for sleeping in.

I guess that's another reason to avoid cotton...I'll take soaked poly or wool any day over cotton.

+1

I can't think of a reputable outdoor or active lifestyle apparel company off the top of my head (North Face, Columbia, ExOfficio, Under Armour, etc.) that offers anything that's manufactured from cotton -- everything seems to be nylon/polyester/poly blend, and for good reason.

Before moving to North Carolina we lived in SoCal, and I used to head into the mountains (lower elevations) from time to time wearing a cotton trekking shirt and jeans, but except for very rare exceptions, we'd also go 9-10 months without a chance of rain.

One only has to compare the time it takes when doing laundry to see the difference poly makes. My lounge-around-the-house-or-wash-the-car-in-the-driveway cotton t-shirts take close to 40 minutes to dry on medium heat. My wilderness/outdoor gear is virtually dry enough to wear as it comes out of the spin cycle in the washer, let alone a few minutes in the dryer on the "cool" setting.

The very first thing that struck me when I initially watched a few instructional video clips of Ron Hood on the internet was the fact that he was wearing denim jeans. If not for the reputation that he had established for himself over the years, I probably would have written off his advice based solely on that fact.

Other than perhaps a bandana around my neck in the summer (that I want to stay wet all afternoon) or when flying (to avoid having a jet fuel fire resulting from a crash melt all my clothes to my body) I've limited the cotton in my backpack to Q-tips and PJ impregnated cotton balls.

Jim
_________________________
My EDC and FAK


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