Originally Posted By: smitty
Very nice post Hacksaw! What brand or where did you get the small zippered pencil cases?

smitty


My wife bought them at Walmart during the back to school sales. I'm sure something similar can be found a similar store...Super K, Target, Dollar Stores, etc.

Originally Posted By: OldBaldGuy
Lots of good stuff. I am a little surprised that the weight is only 51 pounds tho.

You have one piece of gear that I do not recall every seeing mentioned here before. Tape measure. I use one a lot in my everyday life, but never needed one when backpacking. What do you use it for???


You and me both! I was expecting it to come out over 60 lbs for sure with the shoulder bags. The tape measure is part of my SAR gear. I've never needed it, just supposed to have one just in case.

Originally Posted By: ironraven
You mention that you wouldn't be carrying all of it- can you give us a typical load out, in general terms?


It depends. I'll pack my bag differently each time I go out into the wild for whatever reason.

If I were to pick up the bag right now and say go on a weekend hike in the woods (the most likely scenario at this time of year considering the weather is so warm!) I'd ditch some of the gear. The first aid kit would go unless I were going to be out for more than a couple of days (my pocket kit is enough to cover me for that), I'd get rid of the extra cooking fuel and go with just one type (I don't need all of it for just a couple of days). The toiletries bag would go...I can put up with my own smell for a day or 3. I'd only take the food I needed with maybe a bit extra for an emergency situation. Leave the tape measure. Take the 'personal' stuff out of my shoulder bag (I don't need so many pens for example). For camping I'd cut back on the tools. Just a shovel, saw, a knife and a multitool.

For a SAR call out I'd try to bring it all and repack quickly once I know more about the situation. If I'm just on a hasty team I might only need the shoulder bag by itself...though I might trade out a few things first. Or just take the Scrambler pack and throw some essentials in it, leaving the bulky and heavy stuff back in my Jeep. The big first aid kit converts into a fanny pack so I might also take that by itself...or I might be carrying a SAR FAK backpack rig instead and wouldn't be able to carry my own pack. It all depends.

Because everything is so modular, and because I do silly exercises like I've done today, I know exactly what is where and can repack for any situation in little more time than it takes to fit the stuff into the bags. I like not being tied down to a single (or even just 2 or 3) layouts. I can adapt quickly.