Yeah, I know the area well enough to know where I am - it's an irregularly shaped piece of land, surrounded on all sides by roads, - maybe a total of about 5-6 miles of road, all of which I know very well. In this case, I came out, oh 500-600 yards from where I wanted to be

It's really a case of I KNOW that spot - and know if I walk south, from anywhere in there, I will end up on one road - once on that road, turn left, unless you are in sight of the police barricks - after turning left, no matter where you are, it's no more than 1/4 mile to a house

It IS an exceptional case - small area, well bounded, and from any boundry, fairly close to safety - if a bit of a walk back to the car. The point I was trying to make was that in an area that is maybe 4-5 square miles TOPS, someone who has been hiking that area for 30+ years can STILL get lost, and should bring some gear

A few years back I was hunting in an area I know very well and quite suddenly the cloud cover descended down the mountain and left me with visibility of about 30'. I was completely turned around. I had my compass and the fog lifted in about 20 minutes anyway. But it reinforced my resolve to always have my gear with me no matter how "not lost" I think I am. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Even my hunting buddies are starting to carry some gear. I ve managed to convince one that even though he has a super-accurate 100% failsafe sense of direction ( <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />) he could still run into a situation (severe weather or an injury) that would require more than a lighter and a knife to make it out.

Regards, Vince

Well, this thread has convinced me to once again alter "upward" my bird hunting vest PSK/FAK gear. For years, I've carried a bandanna, a FAK, a pocket knife, a Leatherman Wave, a couple of lighters, a liter of water and a whistle and a spare truck key on a lanyard. FAK always has had a space blanket, as well as a small pair of forceps (very handy for getting small burrs and such from between the dogs' paw pads when they can't do it themselves).

After reading here on ETS, I added a supplemented Ritter Kit, an RSK 1 in sheath, a 2-AA flashlight and a pocket sharpening rod. Next thing, we add another dog to the contingent, which brought us to two English setters (Lewellyns) and a golden retriever. So now me and my bro are always carrying at least two liters water each.

Well, I start noticing my vest and drawers are getting pretty darn weighty, so I strip out out the PSK, the sharpening stone, flashlight, the RSK 1, etc. I figure, what the heck, I know most of the land we hunt pretty darn well.

Now, reading about this poor guy, I''ve come about half-way round again. Made room in the FAK for most of the PSK contents, especially fire and signaling. Found EZE-Laps smallest, lightest sharpening rod and added it to the FAK pouch. Also managed to get a 2-AAA Browning ballistic light in there, as well as a folded Ziplock (cause let's face it: all this stuff isn't going to make it back into the little Atwater Carey pouch if I have to go into it and then repack it in field-expedient fashion.)

Also switched the Wave in a leather pouch to a Fuse in a nylon pouch (a bit of weight savings) and now carry a KaBar Dozier folding hunter (I like it's flat, light carry a little better than the Ritter, and it's a pretty fair knife in its own right) and a wee Old Timer liner-lock pen knife in the watch pocket, 'cause sometimes you need a small blade.

Isn't it weird how finding that optimum utility vs. weight/bulk thing becomes a sub-hobby in itself?