I also use the modular concept. We live fulltime in a small RV. We range from northern Canada to southern Mexico and Baja. Mostly we find remote places away from people. Our camper has solar power, reverse-osmosis, large water capacity and in general has been modified for living “up-country” as they say in Maine.

This mobility, and the remoteness of our “backyard”, means that I am always modifying our “carry”. The modular concept has the distinct advantage in speed of departure. We may be hiking in the woods of Maine (that’s where we lived before we went on the road) one day, and the next hike may be in the Arizona desert. Of course I don’t think about gear until we are about to walk away from the truck.

I have modular kits tucked around the truck so I just pull out the ones I don’t need and insert the ones I do. Sometimes the carry method is an old LL Bean luggage/Internal frame backpack, sometimes a web belt with/without LBE suspenders, or perhaps a vest. The modules are small enough to be easily transferred.

Mostly they are small bags with Velcro loop tabs sewed on where the belt loops were. This allows me to quickly attach them to the web belt, stick in a pocket of a vest or hang on modified straps on the front of the backpack.

I like to have certain things very handy, depending on the location and why we are out and about. In their own bags and usually mounted externally are some of the following. GPS, BK-10 Crewman, Monocular, Digital Camera, Palm Computer, Leatherman (type varies), small (1 pint “pilots”) water container Ham Walkie-talkie, Colt Agent 38 2”bbl (very seldom carry lately), Benchmade folder and other similar things.

The modular concept makes the “instant build” of the gear quick and easy. I have kits for survival, orientation, cold weather, hot weather, desert, tropics, sand, mountain, food, water, large & small First Aid, and other items that seem to work well together. I have been using the modular concept for many years, having started in the Air Force in ’57 and refined much of it later when doing search & rescue in Maine. These are not big bags, The largest is a “large double handful” size. It would seem to be a hassle rearranging it all, but over the years it has become almost an automatic task. Once the gear has been selected, it mostly stays the same until we change environment. The hard part is working out the kits so that you have what you need without taking stuff you don’t need.

Oh, we almost always take a walking stick. Best so far are $2.00 army surplus ski poles with a hydraulic control knob from an old Maine Skidder (woods working vehicle) on the top. I bought four many years ago so I would have a spare when they broke. The original ones are still going strong after years of very hard use.