Hey JIM,

The kit you presented sounds very good if you plan on staying several nights in the back country.

When I am backpacking, I bring the following. On my last hike to the top of Mt. Whitney, backpack was around 55-60 lbs, initially. It got lighter and lighter as I ate my way through it.

Clothes
1 poly t-shirt + one that I am wearing
wearing cargo pants
1 pair of liner and hiking socks + 1 of each that I am wearing
underwear
fleece
rain/wind shell
+/- more layers and hat if its cold
bandana
hiking boots

Major stuff:
North Face Backpack
Hiking poles (Black Diamond)
North Face 2 person tent
REI inflatable pad
North Face sleeping bag (for appropriate temp)

Gear
Leatherman Wave
Fixed Griptilian Combo edge
First aid kit, similar to Weekender by Adventure Medical, but supplemented with extra bandaids and drugs
Resque Howler whistle
4AA Underwater Kinetics eLED flashlight
Inova microlight
matches + paper for tinder or notes
Heathseets Emergency blanket
lightstick
Fold flat duct tape (Coghlans)
small sewing kit
50 feet of paracord

Hygene:
2 oz bottle of Purell sanitizer
Fresh Bath wipes
toothbursh/toothpaste, travel size
sunblock
Chapstic
toilet paper

Food and water:
MRE entrees 3-5/day
crackers to use as side dishes
Nectar Cliff Bars http://www.clifbar.com/eat/eat.cfm?location=nectar These are really fresh tasting compared to other once!
Hiker water filter by Katadyn
Micropur MP1 water purification tabs
Camelback 3 liter bladder (fits in a pocket inside backpack)
coffe, tea, sugar
mess kit
dry Gatorade/ liquid GU
penut butter and jelly packets

Misc:
Sunglasses
MSR stove
Vectran bear canister, if needed http://www.ursack.com/home.htm
insect repellent
camera
Diamox tablets (I wish I had them)

what is the saline for? I'm never a fan of carrying liquids if a surrogate can be found.



what are these items???

- a brush away is some kind of teeth cleaning product, that slips over you finger...
- A click away is to threath insect stings, some kind of piezo ignitor thing... Doesn't for me...
- ORS is Oral rehydration salts.

The sterile saline is for flushing out wounds.

Brush-away's: sort of toothbrush that slides over your finger.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/jonchoo/OralB04.jpg

Click-away: gives small electric shock that relieves pain ater insect-bite

ORS/O.R.S.: oral rehydration salts: can be added to water to replace salt and minerals in the body

JIM..
i was thinking that the only use---i can think of---
for a triangulair bandage is a arm sling and the bandanna
could fill in for that..but i was just throwing out ideas
on what to throw out..

My own experience with light-sticks got me to remove all of them from my kits !
* if you try one you just bought, it works pretty well. But most of the time I wanted to use one after a few months stashed in the car kit or in the backpack, they were dead (even when not time-expired, wrapping not punctured, etc.. ...)
* they are not emergency locators ! A light stick, except on a pitch black night, won't be seen from some distance. Your best chance is to attached one light stick to a yard of cord and make it turn above your head. I can't see you doing this with three sticks at the same time...

I prefer to use flashlights and/or flashers, with extra-batteries : batteries also tend to die on you when you need them. Use lithium !

Jim, you keep defending items on thier volumes, but you origionally asked how to drop the mass.

I would probably loose the saline and irrigate with potable water, but you also have (no offense) a FAK fetish. :P I saw you were going to take the opinel and keep the mora; I'd do it the other way, but that's just me.

I think the biggest thing is, this kit needs to decide what it is. Is it a mini-BOB? Is it an oversized PSK? Is it an overnight camping pack? It could be all of these, but it doesn't feel like it is any of them yet. If a mini-BOB, I'd be expecting to see rain gear and thermal layers. If an overnighter, more in the way of shelter. And if a oversized PSK, your FAK is big bordering on paranoid- again, no offense intended, but it is possible to be TOO prepared. And based on what you've told us about your area, I would try to turn this more into a mini-BOB. And if the pack doesn't fit, you need a new pack- don't get wedded to BOB's skin.

About the 30 liters pack ...

Yes, a fanny pack could be large enough for a day hike
(except waterwise ...) for emergency/survival supplies.
But for "normal" gear ??

Why do I also use a 30l pack for "day" hikes ?
What kind of problem do I prepare for ?

Living - and hiking - in France, I don't fear to get lost for such a long time that I will need to fish to feed myself ! No cast-away scenario here.. So no real need for a fishing kit, even if very small...
And FAK-wise, I don't plan to practice surgery on myself in the boonies ...

But what if I simply - and yes, stupidly - fall in that little brook ? I won't drown but I'll be soaked to the bones..
And if weather changes and temperature drops unexpectedly ?
Well, sure I'll be able to make a shelter, to build fire and so on ...
Or I can just take, out of that 30l pack, extra clothes and change into these, or (if not soaked) add them as extra layers..
(BTW, good list, RedFlare .. )

What if any problem arises (let's say a wrong turn and I get lost just enough for not being able to go on before night) and the day hike becomes a "day + night" hike..?
The headlight may help, or it might be better to stay put for the night.
Then I'll be happy to have that extra water bottle under my hand : I start a "day hike" with over 4 liters of water, at least 1 liter being in a sturdy metall container. That liter is generally still untouched when I come home. It's there just in case... Just like aviation pilots are supposed to touch down at the end of their planned flight with enough gas for an extra hour.
And I will appreciate the shelter's option provided by the emergency bivvy, heatsheets blankets, poncho and so on..

So, yes, I have a mini-FAK, and a (DR's) PSK + other emergency supplies .... in case of emergency.
But I mostly prepare for "normal", everyday situations, which could occured during that day hike.

Being prepared for the unexpected, doesn't prevent to prepare for the expected (or is "expectable" more appropriate ?) !


Sure, Jim, there are a lot of things you can ditch in your list, IMHO, except if they are there so you can practise with them, in the field. But then, I would rotate gear, to test a different set each time, not take them all along.
What is really missing, again IMHO, as others have pointed, is extra clothes.
On a day hike, you will -hopefully- rarely need saline, but a woolen sweater to pull over your light Tshirt might be more usefull, more often.


Alain ______________

P.S. :
about the fall-in-the-brook scenario, if I DO drown indeed, well, I guess no amount of gear will do me anygood anyway ..

Why?

The tasks of this kit:

- Providing supplies and tools during the hike. (water,sunscreen for example)
- Take care of injuries to me or other people I walk with/might encounter.
- Function as a overnight/survival-kit in a emergency.
- Support of the family-BOB.

As said: this is the basic kit. Food,water and appropriate clothing are added if I have to.

I think there's something I should have told you before: The FAK isn't a personal FAK. It's also used for other members of my hiking-group, or in case of a bug-out, for my family(no FAK in BOB). That's probably why you think it's to large? Although the kit really doesn't take much room.About the same as the 'AMK-Sportsman.'

Frenchy, Maybe I should remove the lightsticks nd add a singe krill-light?

Thank you all for your imput!

If you use Krill lights, remember they are just markers. You get enough light to navigate in a dark room, during an electricity outage. Or you can read a book, if you hold the light very close.
That's about it. Not an emergency beacon, for sure !

+ do not keep them with the batteries inside them. I recently discovered that many of my Krill lights (in my car kit) are unusable, because the weight of the batteries inside the tube, alongside with travel vibrations, distorded the spring, so that the electrical contact is no longer good....

If you need something specifically for signalling, there are small (and light) flashers, like these ones, for instance: pelican mini flasher . Get three.