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.