I thought I'd post a peak inside my basic summer day hike kit. The rest of the year, I add extra shelter (incl. clothes), fire and food. It's a 25L Broadstone Sport Day Pack. Nothing fancy but for $30 at Canadian Tire, it's held up pretty well the past few years, despite the fact that bacpacboy used it for his day pack for the first year or two of its life.

Here's a youtube video of the set-up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYdFzLDk5Ak

The Guts along with bacpacbaby's small diaper bag and her child carrier
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Food & Water: Nalgene, Canteen Kit (Canteen, canteen cup, canteen stove, aluminum foil, esbit or wetfire tabs), secondary pot for boiling/cooking, Sea to Summit Spork, bandana, Bag O Chow with extra ziplock bags
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Shelter, Sharps & Fire: Mora LMF Fireknife, BG USK, Bacho Laplander saw, Gerber pocket sharpener, folding cup, tin with charred punk wood, paracord, jute twine, Bag O Love, 2 nylon GI style ponchos, bug juice, garbage bags (not in pic. They're in the small side mesh pockets of the pack)
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Bag O Love: Resealable breast milk bag with mini BIC, water filter straw, MicroPUR tabs, AAA flashlight, mini folding knife, Gerber micro multi-tool, fatwood and there's usually some wetfire in there as well. *There are usually a couple of extra breast milk bags in there too, along with some snare wire. (Both are now refilled. They got used in a couple of bacpacboy's projects.)
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First Aid & Hygiene: I forgot to get a picture but this kit currently has a very simple FAK in a ziplock bag. It's got tampons, maxi pads, wipes, Tylenol, lip balm, MRE toilet paper, bandaids


My Philosophy

I take this just about every time my kids and I go out. You may be asking "Why?" Well here's one of the cool things that can happen when you're ready not only for emergencies, but also for adventure:

After a few days exploring our local woods, my kids and I headed out to the baseball diamond and skate park the other day. We loaded our ball gloves, bat and ball into the jogging stroller, threw in the diaper bag and extra water bottles. Then I strapped on the on the bacpacbaby and my daypack, while bacpacboy got his bike, and we hit the trail to the parks. The path goes past our favourite piece of woods, but more fun there wasn't the plan.



Because we were going to be gone and on foot all day, I brought my day pack, which we had packed the night before with a picnic lunch. As we left home, we decided that we'd stop for pizza at the little place by the skate park instead. We had no plan for dirt time, but as we got closer to our newly discovered forest spot, bacpacboy asked if we could have that picnic by the creek instead. I smiled and said "Sure, but why don't we try to find a new spot?" He thought that was a great idea, so started checking out the little foot paths that cut through the forest between the ball park and the creek, to see if we couldn't find a good spot for the stroller. Here's what we found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN9bE2gOWD0

We stopped for a quick picnic lunch of wraps and tuna, and then this happened:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQqaoaIfqRk

The kids wanted to use my saw to cut up some of the branches, but I'm not comfortable with handing a sharp to kids I don't know, and my son still requires supervision. Instead, I taught them how to put the branch between a couple of trees and then push against it to break it to length. (Not wanting to be a party pooper, after the baby fell asleep again, I cut up some of the logs they brought to me before they transported them over the "river".) Once they thought they had enough logs to get started, they took my jute twine to lash together the top of the tipi/lean-to thingy. It was pretty darned cool watching them go. I wasn't able to go over to check it out when they ran out of time for the construction, but they exchanged phone numbers and email addresses and we're going to try to hook up with them again soon.

I take my day pack with me for a number of reasons, and one of them is that you just never know what good things will come along if you're ready to say "Yes!" to adventures when they do!

He's getting there, Izzy. We're teaching him safe knife useage at home and in Cub Scouts. He's impulsive, inattentive and hyperactive though and is easily influenced by his peers. Unknown kids plus sharps could spell trouble. That and his motor skills are a bit delayed for his age, so his technique needs a lot of guidance. We just gave him his first SAK (a camper, in classic red) and we're trying to give him as much opportunity to practice with it as we can.

You're absolutely right about the positive fitness component of hiking with a pack on. It's such a good workout, especially the hills when I'm pushing the stroller. I'm almost back to my pre-pregnancy weight but I'm in the age bracket where I have to fight hard to maintain my weigh to, carry my pack on the trail is win win.

I thought it was cool that those kids were out there in the forest on their own. Don't see that that much these days in places a little more out of the way. It's a mixed blessing. great for the kids but I just wish they were in Scouts or had someone to show them how to take care of nature. We've found so much garbage and injured trees this summer. Makes me want to cry.

I agree, I Izzy. I had a pocket knife when I was a kid and learned through "Ouch" and "Eek". I'm not adverse to that at all, just not when there are other kids around that I don't know or trust. For some 10 year olds, I'd say it's just fine, but mine isn't that responsible yet. None of the other kids around here seem to have pocket knives of their own and we've got some serious trouble makers in this neighbourhood. (A couple of them tried setting the garbage dumpsters on fire with a stolen BIC last summer, amoung other things. I was very proud when my son came home and told me what they were doing so I could stop it. Kids and fires... teach them to do it safely!) My son is easily influenced. He'd hand his knife over in a heartbeat. I can envision parents knocking on my door, or worse. Heck, even Cub Scout parents aren't comfortable with their kids having knives or fire making stuff sometimes.

When we go out together, or when we're hiking, camping, etc., he usually has his pocket knife and has free reign with it, except when we're out with the Pack, in which case it's in his survival kit. (He didn't have it at the creek this week because we weren't planning to go.) He's had a little Buck-like folder for a couple of years now and has done well with it. He can't work the unlock mechanism though, so has needed more supervision with it, because it's essentially a fixed blade once he opens it. The SAK doesn't lock so it's a little risky, but I'm not worried about him cutting himself. It's safer in my mind that a fixed blade. At least with this one, he can fold it up and put it away when he's done with it. In all likelihood, he'll have more freedom with this one than his other one. He's getting older, learning and becoming more responsible all the time. It's his last year of Cub Scouts and then it's onto Scouts, and knife/saw/axe/fire/stove permits, and that may be a game changer for him.

Yeah, some Scout leaders are dorks. LOL! Not all of us though.

I owe you a Thank You, Izzy. My kit is highly influenced by the hours I've spent watching your old videos on your kits. It's taken a lot of trial and error to get to this point, and you did a lot of leg work for me. Thanks!

Cool thread! I just love seeing photos of everyone's kit. Maybe I'll have to take some pics of mine.

yes! Please do! I steal some of my best ideas from other peoples pictures. LOL!

On behalf of your fan club, I thank you!

I tend to make tweaks to my kit after every use, and always make bigger adjustments when the seasons change. It takes me a little while to dial it in when the big season changes happen. It's been an interesting couple of years in that regard. I've put many miles with my day pack and BOB on my back, and done a lot of field testing or gear and gear set ups. It's driving my husband a little nutty I think, to always have a pack or two and various pieces of equipment hanging out in the kitchen and living room. LOL!



LOL! My son will come by that stuff naturally. I was the kid who fell in the creek in the winter and got stuck in the tree. My husband, on the other hand, burned down an entire field one summer when he was 10 or 11.

In light of our recent thread about the 10 Essentials, I just realized that I neglected to include navigation in these pics. I do use a standard Sylva compass and paper maps (carried in a water proof map case) when I'm not on familiar well marked trails. They weren't in these pics because we were on a simple straight shot, paved, inner city trail that day. It was a navigation 101 kind of day - follow this pavement all the way to the end and then turn around and follow it home.

Also, I always have my EDC keychain with me. It's got a Fox 40 whistle, fauxton LED, SAK Camper, a pill vial with 3 days of prescription meds, and another ferro rod. It's the minimum I take with me when I leave the house.

Roughly 20 years ago my son was in BSA and got to carry a "totin" chip. It was a card certifying he had passed a knife/axe safety class. Idea was if an adult saw a kid missuse a knife or axe,the adult tore off a corner of the card. When the card had no corners left it was confiscated and the kid had to re-take the safety class. While he was at home one day he began playing with a bread knife and broke the blade. I asked him for his TC, confirmed the procedure for unsafe use of a knife, and tore a corner off the TC. He couldn't have been more shaken if I had slapped him. Never saw him misuse a blade again.

Some good points Jacqui. Enjoy the weather and the kids every chance you get, as yall do so well! I am green with envy!

Still works that way JPickett.

I don't understand why on a day hike, on pavement - as you relate - there's a need for a folding saw and two fixed blade knives. Besides increasing the weight of your pack to make the walk a more strenuous workout, what's the point (note clever pun ...)?

Well, it's her standard dayhike kit. No mention in her post of pavement or shopping for designer shoes.

It's easier to have a standard kit that you know and is ready to go. That's what I try to do: standard kit, grab that bag and head out the door. I tie the main compartment with a coloured twist tie that tells me I have replaced/refilled everything and am ready for blastoff.

Speaking of blastoff: If you survey the kit that new moms carry, you quickly realize that the Apollo astronauts were practically buck freaking naked in space. A new mom stroller could colonize Mars with stuff to spare.

OK, within the law, anyone is entitled to carry whatever they please. In a follow-up posting bpj said she was on pavement the whole way, which is where I got that info. My question is, why on a day hike would a Mom pushing a stroller need two fixed blades and a folding saw. If it's "standard kit" what's the point?

Maybe the baby needs a knife to help out mommy?

We've seen a number of posts from bpj where she is practicing firemaking skills, testing her gear, and teaching her older child survival skills. All with the perambulator and new addition as part of the entourage.

I absolutely see your point tomfaranda. (LOL!) I guess I need to clarify that this is my standard day hike kit, and for the average mom, it probably seems ridiculous. Funny what the word "mom" conjurs up, isn't it? (BTW, none of the moms here are what I would call average.)

I think I said in the video that my Mora LMF is my standard carry, but I had the BG knife and folding saw in there because of things we've been working on lately...

Mora = shavings, feather sticks, carving, whittling, etc.
BGUSK = chopping and batonning
Bacho Laplander = sawing pieces of wood to length
*These are all skills I often work on while I'm hiking, or taking a break from hiking

A lot of the trails we've been on recently are paved, but we've also been practicing lots of skills in the local forests. When I'm out with the bacpacbaby these days, I'm not venturing anywhere remote or difficult to access, where navigation tools are crucial, but please remember that I do go out with just bacpacboy and I am also a Scout leader and use this kit when I'm out with our Pack and Troop. I don't always take all three tools, but I often do, depending on what the plan is.


Maybe I should call it my Day Hike and Bushcraft Pack....

We don't do it that way in Canada, JPickett, though I wish we did. Cub Scouts don't get tokens. Many groups, including ours, teach them to use tools like knives and saws, but they have to wait until they are Scouts (11 yo) and earn their permits to be able to carry and use them unsupervised. They are permitted to have a folding knife in their survival kits if their Pack and parents say it's ok.

Exactly, Doug. Thank you. I've had some discussions lately with people who feel that they have to give up their outdoor pursuits because of their kids. I have the exact opposite approach. I'm trying to find ways to get dirt time with the kiddos. My son loves and thrives in the outdoors and is becoming quite the young bushman. My daughter loves being outside and hopefully will continue to feel that way as she gets older.

that piece of kit with the naked butt is really going to slow you down. I suggest that you suspend him from a tree branch using his t-shirt and some clothes pegs, and pick him up on the way out :-)

Pete2

haha! Sometimes I'm tempted to do that with both of them! LOL!

Have I mentioned that bacpacboy got stuck (both feet) in knee high mud at the local creek a couple of weeks ago? Talk about slowing us down. Geesh! What an ordeal getting him, and then his shoes, and then him again, out of there.

Quite true. This is my standard dayHIKE kit, not my purse. (That's got a SAK Camper in it, BTW, to address a point made above.) I did mention the pavement, though, when I pointed out that navigation tools, absent in these pics, are standard day hike gear for me, except when we stay on well marked paved local trails, which we've been hiking a lot lately. (A great way to get out every day, btw.)



BTW, bacpacbaby does have a diaper bag that's effectively her 3 day BOB, but on day trips I just take a little diaper bag with a few diapers, wipes and cream, some formula and baby food, a bottle, spoon and soother, a receiving blanket or two, and a change of clothes. That wasn't the case when my son was a baby. I took everything but the kitchen sink everywhere we went. My back still hates me for that but I've learned a few things in the past 10 years.


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It's important to note that just like I can add items to the kit, I can remove items sometimes for shorter adventures too. I've already addressed taking out the navigation tools, but here's another example:

There's a little patch of forest not far from our house that we like to explore, but we don't often do much there other than plant ID, exploring the creek, and sometimes gathering wood to whittle at home. This is often the set-up I take when we go there:



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-a simple poncho for rainwear, ground sheet or sun shelter for the baby
-a little paracord to help make a quickie shelter or for whatever bacpacboy comes up with
-a water bottle
-my EDC keychain, which used to be on a paracord bracelet but is currently on a nite ize key rack: http://www.amazon.ca/Nite-Ize-KRK-03-01-...ywords=nite+ize

-OTC meds in FOB
-FOX 40 whistle
-SAK Camper-
-fauxton LED
-ferro rod

Here's one of the adventures this set-up went on recently:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Ych9Zln5I

Here's a quick example of the pack (and diaper bag) in use on a day hike with the baby:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkLtd3UmR2Q

Cute video. I just subscribed. Of course I have no issue with you carrying whatever you like - it's just that I like to go as light as practically possible, and am always interested in why people carry more than they seem to need. Obviuosly with a baby you have to carry lots of extra stuff. I just found two fixed blades and a folding saw for a day hike with a baby to be an unnecessary load.

Thanks Tom. The biggest factor in what I carry is definitely my kids. If it was just me I'd go minimal all the time. My son does have his own kit, that's pretty comprehensive, as do my Scouts, but as I said, we do a lot of planned an unplanned bushcraft stuff. I like to be ready for those "teachable moments" when they come along, and they seem to do that quite often. Not to mention, things like getting stuck in the mud, take on an entirely different meaning we're further off the beaten path, especially when the warm weather gets bumped out by the cold.

Speaking of which, summer is coming to an end quickly here, and the nights are getting cool and damp again. It's a very brief window or warm weather we have here, and then it's right back to thinking about hypothermia. The good news about that is that I can start carrying less water when I know our route has water available for boiling/filtering, and that'll make the pack significantly lighter. This time of year also means that our Scouts calendar is filling up fast, so more trips with them are on the immediate horizon. This year, in addition to Pack and Troop, I'll also be a Leader for our new Venture Company. They're 14-16 years old, and seriously into the outdoors and wilderness activities. I can't wait!

I've just tonight migrated a fleece vest, hat, mitts and an extra pair of socks back into the kit, along with a more robust AMK FAK. I needed to go back to my slightly bigger Kodiak backpack to do that, but it gives me better peace of mind. (The Broadstone pack, itself, has been rebuilt with extra gear and a minimal FAK, and is now set up strictly for those on the pavement, short walk back to civilization treks, when I only need a minimal kit.)

It might sound silly to have two day packs ready to go but they're for different situations (close to home with the baby or more wilderness treks with my son/Pack/Troop) and if I don't have them ready to go I might never make it out of the house when I've got two kids to round up in the process.