Revisited Hiking-kit

Because I made some changes to my old hiking kit I decided to slim it down a bit. Please tell me what you think.

Uses for this kit:

- Providing supplies and tools during the hike. (water,sunscreen for example)
- Improvise repairs
- 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.


The kit is put in a Karrimor Sabre 30l backpack, wich I really like:


This stuff is either in the top-compartement or attached to the outside of the pack:


1 Rain-cover orange
1 Poncho
1 Water-bottle 1l.
1 Photon Microlight
1 Carabiner hook
1 Hat
1 Pair of gloves

The contents of the main-compartiment:


1 AMK Heatsheet-Bivvy
1 Hammock
1 Map and compass (not pictured)
1 0.5 Nalgene and metal cup
1 Esbit stove + extra fuel tabs
1 Platypus 1l water-bottle (do I need it?)

This a picture of the FAK:


Contents:

- 1 pair of scissors
- 1 pair of tweezers
- 1 click-away
- 1 triangulair bandage
- 1 safety-pins
- 18ml. desinfect-lotion (similar to Purrell)
- 2m medical-tape
- 1 gauze-roll medium.
- 2 ORS
- 4 Acethaminophen
- 4 Asperin
- 4 Immodium
- 7 antihistamine
- 6 glucose-tabs
- 4 Ibuprofen
- 1 quick-dressing no1.
- 4 gauze pads 1/16
- 1 pair nitrile gloves
- 1 assortment bandages (small,large,waterproof,fingertip,etc.)
- 6 alcohol-prep-pads)
- 6 Povidone-Iodine prep-pads
- 3 antibiotic-ointment packs.



1 Mesh drawstring-bag
15m. cord (3x5m.)
1 Folding-saw
1 Mora knife (sometimes carried on the belt)

This is the pouch that contains all of the 'small-stuff':


1 Opinel no#7 (either the Mora or the Opinel, not both)
1 Petzl e+Light + 1 set of extra batteries
1 BIC-lighter
25 Coghlan’s Wind/Waterproof matches + striker strip in 35mm film canister
15 Coghlan’s Emergency-Tinder
2 small candles
3 zip-locks (2x quart, 1x gallon)
1m. Duct-tape
3m. Brass-wire
1 small pouch:
- 1 small tube super-glue
- 4 safety-pins
- 3 blanket-pins
- 50m. sewing thread
- 2 medium sewing needles
- 1 XL sewing needle
- 2 buttons
- 1 utility knife blades
1 Coghlan’s signalling mirror
1 Coghlan’s 4-1 Whistle
1 pencil
1 waterproof note-book
1 Sharpening-stone V-shaped

Personal stuff:


1 small bottle of sunscreen
1 small bottle of insect-repellent (50% DEET)
1 pocket-size tin of Vaseline
1 ‘Sea to summit’ towel
25 desinfectant-wipes (one package)
1 pair nitrile gloves (for non-first-aid uses)
1 pair of spare socks
1 small roll of toilet paper

And finally:


1 mess-tin
1 Spork
1 windshield for stove
50 Micropur tablets
6 coffee-filters
1 BCB Emergency Belt-order ration:

- Go-bar
- Go-gel
- Dextro tablets
- Kendall's mint-cake
- 2 oxo cubes
- 6 sugar
- 2 salt
- chocolate-powder
- 3 creamer
- coffee
- tea-bag

This load filles the back-pack about 2/3. Stuff that is added on a hike can include:

- fleece vest (or other appropriate clothing)
- LED-headlamp
- Food and snacks
- Extra water
- stove and fuel

Hmmm.At first glance, it seems too heavy for family day hiking and too light on food for a BOB. What ECd do you pari with this? Where do you hike? Does your family carry their own packs?

Teacher

I agree with teacher. This seems like an awful lot of stuff for hiking. If you're looking for suggestions, maybe this can help us help you:

What type of environment and seasons do you hike in?
How long do you usually stay out? Do you cut a lot of firewood?
Anyone else with you? Is there a lot of redundancy with them?
Are you accident prone? I only ask because there may be a reason
you carry "this much." I know I always burn myself cooking (but
only outdoors, for some reason).


Just as a quick example, in my day hike kit:
Camelback-style bag, with 70oz. bladder
1 GI canteen
1 LC-2 GI first aid kit (with my stuff in it)
PSK.
Extra matches, LED light, and a space blanket
Pocket knife: usually my Benchmade Griptilian. A Ka-bar 5" might
be taken on a long trip.
50' of paracord.
A couple power bars, maybe some trail mix.
Vest, 1 trash bag. Rain jacket if it's looking likely.
My clothes: boonie hat, shorts/pants, hiking boots, usually a
Under Armour type shirt.

BTW, I really like your bag. Can you point out where you got it? Thanks!

I hike in a place called 'Zoomland' (wich of course tells you nothing...).

It's in the south-west of The Netherlands and is about 355ha. For the most part, it consists mostly of pine and loafforrests, heathland (used online translator, no idea if it makes sense) and even a part swamp.
I like hiking here, it's quiet, beautiful and gives enough oppurtunity to practice skills. You do have to get a special permit to enter.
You can get lost in there, that's why I added the emergency ration and the overnight-element in the kit; set up the poncho as a tarp, put up the hammock and get into the bivvy..that's all! Maybe light a small fire...feels like home allready..

The climate here is a moderate sea-climate. We have moderate winters and relatively cool summers. Average temperature of 9.8 C. and rainfall of 62.4cm per year. It can get really cold and wet in there!

EDC: - Watch, bandanna,cell-phone, wallet ea: the usual stuff.
- DR. PSP supplemented with waterproof matches, water
purifying tabs and ziplock
- Flashlight
- space-blanket
- Leaherman-wave
- (The Mora-knife is either carried on the belt, or put into
the backpack)

I usually don't hike with my family. Mostly with one or several friends. They carry there own pack. I carry the FAK.

I usually don't stay overnight, but had to once or twice.. Therefor I usually don't cook, or I use the Esbit-stove to boil 2 or 3 cups of water to warm dried-food rations. In a emergency, I plan to use wood for fuel.(hence the saw)



Very. It's just unbelievable!
At work and school fortunately not (all those medicines, needles, etc.) But I always manage to get hurt one way or another...(splinters and cuts beeing the most common) That's what the 'overkill' FAK is for I also am a firm believer that you should carry a good FAK wich isn't just a 'cuts and scrapes-kit' everywhere you go. But that's just my opinion.

As for the pack, the Karrimor Sabre 30l: I got this in my opinion great backpack from my local outdoor-shop in The Netherlands. I don't know if it's available online in the US.

This is a UK-link to the 45l. version:
http://www.raymears.com/shop_item_desc.cfm?id=293&itemType=Rucksacks

I've noticed the green spork in your kit. I'm considering this type too. Any comments on its plastic material properties? Is it easy to break?

I saw of pic of a heathland online; looks like scrub brush to me. Anyway... I saw some things that I would ditch. Mind you, these suggestions are based on (1) Hiking only (not BOB), and (2) Never having been to your stomping grounds. Also, a lot are small items that won't do much to lighten your pack. My list:

Most of your cooking supplies. If you're only day-hiking, why
the dish, spork, etc? It looks like you're set to camp for a
few days. It also looks like you've got cookware, but no food
that actually needs cooking.
Coffee and tea? Pick one, or go with instant coffee. What's
with the filters?
I'd ditch the tweezers in the FAK. Scissors or the tip of a
knife, or a sewing needle work fine.
Glucose tabs in the first aid kit. Why? You're carrying dextro
tabs in the belt kit, plus sugar with your food. I'd take only
1 of those 3, as they're all just sugar.
Take either alcohol or povidine-iodine prep pads. Their use in
hospitals is virtually identical.
Do you really need a saw? I've never taken one, but you might,
since you use a hammock.
I'd try and find smaller rope/cord. Just a personal thing/
opinion.
I'd take only 1 candle.
Do you need safety and blanket pins? They're small so I don't
think this is the first thing I'd ditch.
Do you really need 50m of thread? Or is the spool only come in
that size? Again, it's a small thing to carry, so might be OK.
Buttons? Does it matter if you're showing some chest in the
woods? Use your safety pin.
I'd ditch the sharpening stone. I've gone on week-longs and not
sharpened my knife.
Sewing needles: maybe just 2 XL? Again, I'm being picky.
Vaseline. Why? Lips? Wounds? Chafing? You have antibiotic cream
and a tube of lip balm is lighter.
You've got 25 disinfectant wipes, plus your Purrell stuff in your
FAK. Take one or the other.

I realize these are all small things, and probably drop your pack only a pound or so (or a half-kilo, if you want it in metric). Again, these are my opinions. It looks to me like your pack is definetely geared towards overnight/multi-day hikes. My suggestions are thinking only about day-hiking, with the small chance of being stuck outdoors, NOT if you plan on more than one day.

Hope this helps.

The mess-tin protects the supplies in them and adds almost no bulk. The spork isn't that bulky, and although I don't often cook, I do eat on the hikes and a spork comes in handy with that.

The coffe is instand coffee. I use the coffee to start up and the tea to calm down. (just has that effect on me) The filters can be used for filtering the water before I purify it with a purifying tab. I've removed the glucose tabs for the reason that you pointed out, as well as the blanket-pins,1 candle, alcohol swabs and buttons.
The saw always comes in usefull, and it's very lightweight. I guess I could replace it with a wire-saw, but I don't really like wire-saws, exept for in a PSK.
The 15m. ofcord in the kit is the same as paracord, and it isn't really heavy or bulky in my opinion (and I use it all the time).

As you said, the sewing thread is very compact and again, I use it for all sorts of things, and because I will use it as fishing-line in a emergency. So I want to carry as much of the stuff as possible.
I prefer vaseline because you could use it for lips (I prefer that over chap-stick), fire-starting and chafting.

I've also removed the 'purell' from the FAK. Wipes will do just fine.

Thank you very much for your suggestions!

As for the spork: I really like the material. I haven't broken it jet and it doen't take up much space. A very usefull tool!

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductD...gory_rn=5777365

Jim,
I did not see any bug repellant in there. Did I miss it?

Also: I would scrap the emergency poncho in faviour of one of the lightweight nylon poncho's made by winnester or highlander. Much more durable and has quite a number of uses. Given that Holland's weather is as unpredicable as the U.K.'s a fleece hat and gloves might be a good idea anytime outside of high summer. I was looking a a saw like the one you have. I think that I prefer the Bahco Laplander. Upgrade to one when you can afford it. Best place to look is e-bay.

One final point: IT'S A GOOD THING TO CARRY TOO MUCH! It's a good way to accustom yourself to carrying greater than normal loads. My work bag has a lot more in it than I actually need. But it's weight carried for a purpose. You get used to it. So emergency loads then become no great hardship. Having said that: Decide what you do not need and be prepared to dump it.

I carry a lot of stuff when I go day hiking. You carry more. That's no a put-down, that's a complement. I see many things in your kit that I think I should add to mine.

One thing I put a little higher priority on is fire starting. I would add a firesteel. A large one (like the Swedish Army model). Wind, rain, and cold could put a damper on your Bic lighter and your matches (of course I carry those too - but I consider them my "convenient" firestarters - the firesteel is my "fallback, it will always work" firestarter). I also carry some other firestarting materials. Vasoline/cotton_balls. Bicycle innertube patch glue. Ranger bands (innertube cut into large rubber bands). Trick birthday candles (the kind you can't blow out - try to, and they light right back up). I'm thinking of adding even MORE firestarting stuff.

I think I'm a little paranoid on this firestarting thing, but where I hike I think one of my top survival threats would be cold. Plus, I very much dislike being cold, so getting myself severely chilled or wet would lower my mental state and my will to survive. The contents of my kit reflect this knowledge of myself, and my fears.

I think a heathland may be what we call lowland scrub brush. I recently picked up a Karrimor 45L, and love it so far. Does yours have metal stays in it? I need to bend mine, but am a little afraid to...

yes

Jim, Great pack and kit! Just some thoughts FWIW, alcohol pads vs. Betadine pads, Betadine pads can be put into a liter of water for wound irrigation purposes and alcohol pads are flammable for fire starting. I'd keep a small bottle of Purell, it's just too convenient not to have, and if you have a traumatic injury to deal with (read bloody), I promise you'll be glad to have it along. The other thing that occurred to me was an axe or hatchet. Can do more then your knife or saw and do it faster when time is of the essence. I really like Gransford Bruks stuff. I carry their hatchet in my work bag and their Small forest axe in my 72hr+ bag three seasons and trade up to their Scandi forest axe in the winter.
Have you taken or do you have available to you a wilderness medicine course? This would tweak your abilities not only in the wilderness context, but also on the street. Do you know about Remote, Austere, Wilderness and Third World Medicine ( www.medtech.syrene.net ) or Global Medical and Rescue Services LTD ( www.gmrsltd.com )? Might be worth a look. Regards, Jim

PS sorry I can't seem to get the raw&twm link to connect, but it is the correct address, or just Google the full name. Jim

Actually, I'd keep the wipes and the Purell. Purell can do double duty as tinder/fuel if it has to.

All in all, it's a good kit, and not all that dissimiliar from what I take out on the trail with me when I'm hiking. Biggest difference is you're lighter on water, but I go through 4L a day sitting on my backside at work. I like how you've slimmed your FAK down from what it was before. I've only got one question- where did you find a cup that fits on the bottom of a mini-Nalgene?

I've been hunting for one for over a year to put into my ditch kit. I like having a cup in the bottom of my Nalgene pockets to make "reholstering" easier by touch, particularly if there is more than one bottle in there.

Leigh,

There is bug-repellant in there and the poncho isn't an 'Emergency-poncho'.I think it's PVC or something like that..

The saw is good enough for my purposes, and it's very lightweight. When I get some more $$, I'll look for an better one.

Heartig,

I already carry a Army Fire-steel on my belt, together with the leatherman:



And matches and Spark-lite in the PSK

Aligator,

A axe is one of those things that is on my list. As is a wilderness-EMT course.
Problem: No courses in The Netherlands.
Allthough I'm learning to become a nurse, I feel that we don't get enough First-Aid classes at school. And to much psychiatric lessons, but that's another subject...

I would really like to take a WEMT-course, but only when I got the time and money.

Ironraven: The Nalgene cup. I just went to my local outdoor-shop and asked for a metal cup with a diameter of 7cm. Don't know where they got it, but When I looked at the ticket, it said: 'Zweibruder 9830' 7cm cup. Maybe you could do a google on this?

I would say "YES" !

For my own day-hike kit, I use :
- a 1.5L (?) platypus with pipe, in order to drink while walking
- two 1.5L water bottles, to replenish the Platypus
- one 1L Sigg-like (alu) flask (my emergency reserve)

+ Micropur tablets, just in case....

ooops ... I forgot to mention the wine bottle(s) !
Depending on the planned menu for the midday break, I usually have one Chassagne-Montrachet or Pouilly-Fuiss? 75cl bottle.
Add a Pachenrec half-bottle, if there is any foie gras sandwich for Entr?es ...

Dehydration is too serious a risk, not to prepare seriously against it !

Jim, all good,the wilderness stuff will help you with your nursing too.

Wilderness Medicine: either you can't get your patient(s) to a higher level of care in a reasonable time, or there is no higher level of care to get them to. Any scenario that fits in this definition is wilderness medicine.
Due to lack of equipment, being limited to what you can carry along with whatever else( sustainment gear/weapons) you need, their very big on assessment. The resources I gave believe in taking an individual with no medical background and if they have interest, bring then up to speed. Some of the skills taught would be considered practicing medicine and problematic if put to use unless you have an MD behind your name, but I think knowledge is never wasted, and it's the assessment skills and depth of knowledge(the why's, when's and when not's) that is priceless and universally applicable. This is the stuff that probably all through your career, when you asked why, you were told you don't need to know that or it's outside your scope of practice. Here's where you can get your questions answered. The reason GMRS classes are taught in Belize aside from the "classroom" being primary rain forest, is because the knowledge and skills taught cannot be taught to "civilians" in CONUS. And the principal Kieth Brown MD (AKA RESQDOC) is a gem.
Regards, Jim
PS. I have no affiliation with the above institutions aside as a student. Jim

Now THIS is my type of camping!! I find, though, that a full bottle of wine would probably make the trail start spinning. Too bad that half-bottles are so bloody pricey!

I could talk wine for hours (or just listen), but, alas, it's the wrong board for that....

www.backpackinglight.com

Compairing me to a ultra-light backpacker would be like compairing fire to water but your link is a interesting read.

I've made some changes to the kit:

- Removed the Opinel, it's just the mora now.
- Replaced mess-tin and Esbit with swedish mess-kit and alcohol-stove
- added another 1l. canteen on the outside of the pack
- added 2 GI-compass pouches on the outside for small stuff
- replaced PVC-poncho with mill-spec Fostex poncho.
- added 1l platypus bag
- replaced 15m of paracord with 15m of a smaller kind of rope
- added a small ferro-rod, small rol of trail-tape and some carabiners

Great equipment list. I especially like the bivy bag instead of the ever-present, almost useless space blanket. The next challenge is to do what has rarely been done by survival kit addicts. Actually go out and spend three days and two nights with this equipment and let us know what really works and what does not. Theory and practical application are opposite creatures. I hope your schedule (and local rules) allow you to
do this. We can all benefit from a healthy dose of practical application.