Carrying your gear.....

Marion David Poff

Marion David Poff

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
Messages
5,403
Ron, I have seen you carrying your shoulder bag.

Kephardt and Sears reccomend something similar if I remember correctly.

Jeff Randall's bag weighs 35 pounds, so it can't be too big.

Is this a trend I see, less is more?

Give me the encyclopedia on the issues...

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Marion David Poff aka Eye mdpoff@hotmail.com
Coeur D'Alene, ID
http://www.geocities.com/mdpoff

An interesting business oppurtunity... http://www.geocities.com/selouss

"We will either find a way, or make one." Hannibal, 210 B.C.
 
Marion, that 35 lbs. interprets into a very comfortable living in the bush, with extensive first aid gear and some team gear included...oh...and a fifth of peach schnapps and a heap of cigars
smile.gif


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Randall's Adventure & Training
jeff@jungletraining.com

 
Marion,

The bag carries 10 lbs more or less. I've been using that same bag for a couple of decades now. Fact is, its a woman's purse in full grain leather I found at a 2nd hand shop for a couple of dollars. I still see them tho' the price is up to a whopping 4 dollars!

Contents depend on terrain, length of stay, location and a bunch of other variables. I traveled all around South America, Europe and some of Asia with it and nothing else as luggage. Got sorta stinky a few times. I figure that I can always buy another T shirt and give the dirty one to some beggar kid.

I don't carry booze or cigars
smile.gif
get whatever I need when I get wherever I'm going.

If it's survival living (no cameras, no film) I may add a belt pouch to the load. If I take a blanket I roll it into a bedroll along with the plastic sheet or canvas I use for shelter/ground cloth.

Are you a teacher?
"Give me the encyclopedia on the issues..."

Ron



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Learn Life Extension at:

http://www.survival.com ]
 
No, not a teacher, just revelling in the wealth of information around here.

We first spoke over the controversy of Earl Stewart testing the fake Busse.

Cool about the bag, I won't tell anyone.

Makes me feel foolish to have bought the pack I just did, luckily I did not spend too much on it.

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Marion David Poff aka Eye mdpoff@hotmail.com
Coeur D'Alene, ID
http://www.geocities.com/mdpoff

An interesting business oppurtunity... http://www.geocities.com/selouss

"We will either find a way, or make one." Hannibal, 210 B.C.
 
I thought I'd interject some thoughts here to spark some ideas and comments.

I feel that a person needs to carry their gear in something that is comfortable to carry. This is so that you get use to having it with you at all times so you have it when you need it. If something is too heavy or uncomfortable you tend to leave it at home and not have it when needed.

Also, the carrying "case" needs to be organized and allow easy accessibility to the contents. If you can't find what you need quickly, you may get frustrated and also risk losing something if you have to dump everything out.

Thinking along those lines I have made up several kits over the years looking for the "ultimate" carry method. Here are some of the things I have used:
two different homemade leather belt pouches.
two different fanny packs.
a fleece day pack.
an LBE with buttpack.
a camera case belt pouch.
an ammo can!!
a leather possibles bag.

I still use the camera case, 1 fanny pack, LBE, and fleece day pack. In the woods, you'll usually find me with the day pack and the camera case on my belt.

And for those of you carrying 35 lbs of gear, OUCH! I tend to call that camping gear or a BOB! For that I take a different direction:
a medium ALICE pack.
an exterior framed hiking pack.
modulated kits contained within the pack:
food kit-coffee can and waterproof bag with food.
first aid kit-an old cassette tape case filled with all kinds of goodies, but maybe not everything I should have.
shelter kit-rope, tent stakes, tent/tarp.
tool kit-self explanatory.

Comments!



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Plainsman :)
primitiveguy@hotmail.com


 
Thanks Marion!

I know I can trust you to keep my secret
smile.gif


Funny thing is, and I think Greg will go along with me on this, when you lead programs you end up with these killer loads.

Lots of times on the extended trips I have to pack nearly 100lbs. 10 lbs is my gear and the rest is first aid, demonstration aids, spare parts for miscellaneous gear that might break down, things the students will or might lose but will need, communications gear, emergency shelter materials and general BS required by the Forest Service or my insurance company. Oh yeah... five or six knives of different designs so students can try lots of stuff to find what is best for them and a rifle with ammo....

It's a pain.

I used to break the gear into 10 lb accessory packs and distribute them to the students but 5 will get you 10 that the one I need is the one that is missing.

Jeese.

Thank you God for Glucosamine-Chondritin (sp?) and coffee.

Ron

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Learn Life Extension at:

http://www.survival.com ]
 
I will agree with Ron on weight of the gear we have to carry. As Ron said (I remember we had a good laugh about this once...on the phone :>)) we end up carrying field gear, demonstration gear, safety and first aid gear, etc. During winter trips packs can reach 80 to 100 pounds.

thus is the life of an instructor. there is more to teaching then just going to the field.

BTW...this had nothing to do with my recent back surgery....:>)

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Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
Gack. And I thought I was burdened when I humped 40 lbs of H2O for a bunch of city girls who though "Bring two full water bottles with you" meant a can of soda and a little 1 pint plastic bottle of Naive water or some such stuff. OTOH, I was the only guy at the camp that never had a dehydration casualty in two years of wroking out there...

Such is the life of those responsible for others...


Stryver, fondly reminescent of that pack, with hacky sack, and flute, and first aid kit, and spare rope, and deck of cards, and radio, and altoids, and coffee mug with spoon, and extra clean handkerchief, next to last weeks dirty one, and rain gear stuffed somewhere in the bottom
 
Ok, it's way off topic, but you mentioned it Ron. I also thank God for glucosamine chondroitin. My knees are shot from powerlifting and football. My surgeon told me that I should have both of them replaced but I would have a hard time finding someone to do it. (I'm too young.) I used to gulp a ton of Aleve and I'm glad I found something that won't rot my gut out. Which joints do you take it for? What happened? Too many jumps from 20,000 feet?
Jim
 
Powerlifting! Man... why do they make the weights so damn heavy
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Yeah the stuff worked like a charm. It took about 4 months before I really felt top notch.

I have both rotator cuffs messed up from a combination of years of Judo, fistfights, and falls with heavy gear. I had a penetration injury in my left shoulder as well (just a little divot out of the socket but it hurts when it gets cold)

Both knees were trashed (like yours). Mine mostly from carrying heavy loads. I only have 67 military jumps but they messed up my ankles more than my knees. I was always good with a PLF (toes, knees, nose
wink.gif
) and the old T10's were not forgiving, the cargo pack tended to twist you around when you hit.

Most of it's pretty good now because of G-C. I still keep my Aleve around though!

Be well!

Ron

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Learn Life Extension at:

http://www.survival.com ]
 
Ron,
I never could figure out why those weights had to weigh so much. My coach told me to do it and since I didn't have the ability to use my brain at that point in my life, I just did it. I wish he was here to tell me why all those muscles aren't hard anymore and why I don't have any cartiledge.
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Have you tried this cocktail yet Ron- 2 Aleve + 2 Excedrin = one pain free person. Don't forget the Excedrin chaser 4 hours later. There's something about that Excedrin that's really magical.(I think it's the caffeine.) My brother is a doctor and he told me that that was a dumb thing to do. I told him that right now, it's the lesser of two evils and that since I weigh 260# I need more. He told me it doesn't work that way. What does he know.
smile.gif
Anyway, I only take it when I'm heading into the woods or the the dreaded shopping mall with my wife. (Those floors really do a number on my knees.) This brings up another point. I sometimes worry about taking all those anti-clotting agents before heading into the woods. Any thoughts on this?
I saw immediate relief when I started taking G.C. I read most of the books on it and there seems to be no typical response to it. It's kind of weird though, while I'm taking it, I seem to forget what it's doing for me. But if I run out of it, I remember in a hurry. I've also tried to back down from my original dose, but I seem to notice more pain. Man that stuff is expensive.

Take care,
Jim
P.S. What do you mean "only 67 military jumps"? That's 67 more than I'll ever see.
 
Tried the coctail... works great. Usually tho' I just take one or the other med. I generally double up on the ALeve.

As far as the clotting goes... It CAN be interesting. Last year I was cutting some willow for a student and My dog bumped me just as I slashed a branch... got the end of my index finger instead. Got a little squirter (student had minor attack) so I picked some yarrow and placed it on the wound. Between the coagulating power of the herb and direct pressure the bleeding stopped in minutes. The wound was deep enough tho' that I could open it pretty easily for the next few days so I always had a built in gag (joke). The Yarrow finally stopped my fun but I think the asprin/Aleve was causing more than normal bleeding.

I get the GC powder at Costco... It's much less money than GNC.

Many of my old buds kid me about my time under canopy. I can take it, most of them can't run anymore
smile.gif


Ron



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Learn Life Extension at:

http://www.survival.com ]
 
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