Hello all,

I´m preparing for a trip to Chile next January. I'm going to do a 5 day trek, a 4 day sea kayak trip and a volcano Climb. The problem is, how to carry my PSK in these activities?

I have a Doug's PSP in a hard case. It is a little too big to the pockets of my hiking pants. The backpack waist band prevent anything attached around my waist. a jacket pocket isn't a good alternative, because I expect to be changing insulation layers frequently.

So, what do do? Strip or divide the contents of the PSP to store well in my pants' pockets? Attach a pouch to my backpack with a quick release device? Or just keep it inside the backpack my current preferred method... ).

In this trip I will try a modified fishing vest to use over the base clothing layer, but I don't know if it will be comfortable.

I'm curious to know how you carry your PSKs while backpacking!

Best regards,

Fabio

I integrate PSK items with my backpacking gear rather than lug around a discrete PSK, but I arrange things so that certain items (knife, whistle, basic FAK, etc) are on my body at all times. This is especially true when sea kayaking. When I kayak, I put a basic PSK, plus flares and other kayaking specific survival items in the pockets of my life vest so that they are on body when(please note "when'" not "if") I do a wet exit from the kayak. I always wear the vest when in the boat.

Sounds like a neat trip...Have fun!

Get shorts with a set of cargo-type pockets down your leg below the main poockets. Here in Ca they are common with velcro closures. Often called hiking shorts. Often featured on outdoor pants that have removable lower legs to convert the pants to shorts.

Ditto Hikermor.

There are some things I like having immediately handy on a lanyard -- such as whistle and e-PICO light. I carry those every time I walk out my door, on a lanyard with my house key. Those items could also be attached to the front of my backpack's shoulder straps.

With my daypack, I attach to the hip belt a small LL Bean fishing gear bag (since discontinued) that has ample room in the smaller front pocket for Doug's PSK, plus more. I also keep in there a Kleenex packet, antiseptic wipes, lip balm, lighter, big compass, Doug's MK1 folder, and more. My hip belt also has two built-in zipper pockets. It's nice to not have to dig through the main pack for the small stuff.

That LL Bean fishing bag is something I wish I'd bought extra of, it's so handy. It measures 8"(L)x7"(H)x2"(D) and also makes a comfortable place to prop my left arm while hiking. I keep an eye on fishing gear to see what else could be useful for hiking. Could be wise to break the PSK up. Would a fish hook be useful on the volcano?

BTW, the pack in this photo is the previous version of the LL Bean Bigelow.

Click on the link below the photo for a closer view.

Question for administrator -- why are some photos now showing up as a link to download rather than the photo being pasted into the post?

I posted pics in the past week or so that all came up as links to download. In this post just now, one of the pics is pasted in and the other is listed as a link to download.

I wear cargo pants and cargo shorts much of the time. Sometimes they're less comfortable (when I'm strapped in my airline seat for example), and then I wear a photographer's vest which I can take off and put under the seat in front or leave on if it's chilly on the plane. My vest is basically another piece of carry-on luggage, but I don't get dinged for it at the gate.

I just came back from Belize, where I went kayaking, snorkeling and bike riding. I used a combination of cargo pants (or shorts) and a small fanny pack (about $7 from Walmart). I had more than enough room for my passport, survival items and a digital camera.

For organization of the survival items, I used one or two dice bags from here:
http://www.coolstuffinc.com/main_supplies.php?viewType=Dice%20Bags&info1=Dice&info2=Bag

For protection of my passport, I used either a Ziploc bag or this waterproof hard case:
http://www.amazon.com/Witz-Passport-Locker/dp/B001AQN2LW

Again, everything I needed easily fit into the cargo pants and fanny pack. I could have fit everything in my cargo pants if I had to do so.

Wait, what? You're carrying a backpack? If you are and you can't figure out how to carry your survival kit, then your survival kit is way too big. Streamline your operation, buddy.

ireckon -- he wants to carry the PSK separate from the backpack in case they become separated. I second the vest -- Stohlquist Fisherman PFD combines the vest with a PFD.

I have seen people in a variety of disaster situations (fires, falls down mountains, airplane crashes, etc) and the one place where the clothing seems to remain intact (except in a deadly fire) is the front torso area. Fanny packs, pants, belt pouches and packs all seem to get torn off or lost somehow. Shirt pockets or vests seem to withstand the forces, and if it is in that area, it is more likely to survive for you to use.