Ever kept all your eggs in one basket and lost everything?

uyotg

uyotg

Joined
Sep 5, 2010
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Wen I go out I carry the bulk of everything in one place (backpack, of course). I've never had the misfortune of losing it--or losing an ultra-cool decked-out sheath with a knife and a pouch for a "survival tin", or losing a multitool, and so on--but I still get paranoid about it. Have any of you ever lost everything or almost everything? How'd you make do? Learned anything from it? Or if you practice separating your items, how do you do it?

I usually have my main knife on a belt, a Leatherman in a pants pocket, a neck knife around my neck, and EVERYTHING else in my pack--fire-starting gear, sleeping bag, food, etc. The knife on my belt is 5-6", what I feel is good for an all-around survival knife if that's the only piece of equipment I get left with in an accident.
 
Hm, moved from Outdoor Gear, Survival Equipment & More to Wilderness & Survival Skills. I guess that's tacit reinforcement of how, with the right set of survival skills, one can survive with very minimal gear... or I'm reading too much into it and really just posted in the wrong category :p
 
I suppose this one could have been in either forum. This one just struck me as strategy vs. "check out my new..."

Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it. :)
 
Sort of. Once, my backpacking buddy sat his pack next to mine, and knocked mine down the hill. All we could do was watch it tumble end over end down the switchbacks. Utah's Grand Staircase has no trees, so this hill had nothing to stop it.
In that moment I also was realizing how EVERYTHING I had was in that pack, except my boots and the clothes on my back. The same friend volunteered to hike down after it.
The lesson learned is Rule #9, and at least a ferro rod. Friction fire is a great skill, but I don't want to depend on it. A TOPS SSS will be around my neck this weekend when I go camping. It has a paracord wrapped handle, with fishing hooks inside, a signal mirror, ferro rod, and diamond hone on the micarta sheath.
Depending on what the trip involves, I will carry other gear, or have my Maxped EDC bag to keep with/on me away from camp. If crossing rivers, I see the need to have essentials on one's person, not in the larger pack. You might have to ditch that pack, what if you loose everything?
Just think of what you would need to have if you got stranded without your pack. Cell phone, fire, flashlight, dependable knife, water, maybe food. All these need to be with you at all times.
 
No, but I too I have a healthy paranoia that it's possible. In fact it's almost guaranteed your going to leave something behind. Sunglasses and hat being the most common left behind items. But there are some scenarios where you can lose your gear and or have it destroyed.
Let's assume you're four day's into a eight day trek through the back country during the summer time in a heavily forested area such as Wyoming/Montana/Michigan/Canada/Alaska etc. I chose those areas since they have Grizzly's, fast running streams, sudden storms, low valleys and high mountains, wolves, severe storms that come on fast, etc.
If you have all your gear including your knife and fire starter inside your pack, with the only thing in your pockets or belt being an Ipod, you run the risk of it losing everything but your clothes and Ipod if;
You fall into a fast running stream while trying to cross and some how lose your pack. Whether it's knocked off or taken off, either way it slipped from your grasp and was carried downstream to who knows where.
Your in your shelter or tent when you awake to a severe storm that quickly floods your area. You quickly dress and stumble into the dark for high ground and forget to bring your pack. It gets washed away.
You have to climb a tree to avoid an aggressive grizzly and feel you can't climb whatever tree you find without taking off your pack. The grizzly leaves you alone but not after tearing through your pack and destroying most of it's contents just to get your food.
You take off your pack to stretch and enjoy the sounds of nature. Maybe relieve yourself, or sneak in close to some animal for a picture. You then forget where your pack is.
We can go on, but the point is losing some or most of your gear happens all the time. People make mistakes and accidents happen. To prepare you can be redundant with the absolute essentials. Not "two tents" or "two sleeping bags", but small and light essentials secured to your person at all times. We all have our own preferred methods. I like to wear a fisherman's vest with essentials distributed throughout the many pockets. A fixed blade knife on my belt or possibly strapped onto my leg, but not strapped to my pack or inside it. I think it's important to limit it just to the light essentials or you may not be willing to wear them all the time. What I really like about the vest is that I can comfortable sleep with it on, or at least sleep with it side my sleeping bag. How many of you would be comfortable sleeping with a becker necker around your neck and a large fixed blade on your belt while sleeping? If you are, your more hard core than most. :p
 
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I've never had this problem, but I read an article where some hunter took off after a wounded deer, and dropped his pack. Personally I always carry a chopper on my belt, a fire steel in a cargo pocket, and a metal container separate from my pack.
 
No, but i was close once.

I capsized in a canoe and went overboard. The same happened to my backpack, which had everything in it. Clothes, sleeping bag, food, cooking gear, etc, and nothing was waterproofed. The only thing i had on my person was a map and compass, cell phone and my knife.

Luckily I managed to grab my pack a split second after i went over, and even though it was submerged for a second or 2, the ripstop nylon did a pretty good job of keeping my gear dry. Some of my clothes was wet and my sleeping bag (fiber) was partially wet, mainly the stuff placed at the toplid and bottom zipper. I wasnt that far from land, so i managed to land the canoe and haul everything onto dry land.

I unpacked everything, made a fire and started to dry everything. I put my cellphone on a rock to dry, and it was good to go 48 hours after. My map was nearly ruined though.


Lesson learned?

I pack everything, food, sleeping bag, extra clothes, etc., in drybags nowaday. The situation might have been more critical, if it had been spring/fall/winter. I only carry my mobile on me, if the conditions are dry. Maps go into a waterproof mapcase. When investing in new gear, i will willingly pay a little extra for waterproof gear. Bear in mind that i live in a very cold/snowy/rainy part of the world.

I always carry firelighting capabilities on me, mainly a matchcase or firesteel in a cargo pocket.
 
I carry most of my stuff in a bag, however I always have at least 2 blades, and 2 ways of fire if I am outside of my house and not in the city. (Vic Farmer, pocket fixed, BIC, ferro rod.) I usually have more, but that is the bare minimum I keep on my person at all times.
 
Whenever I'm hiking or out in the wilderness, I'll carry my Izula II on my belt and keep my firesteel, fishing line, signal mirror, whistle, ect. in a little County Comm edc pocket organizer either in a cargo pocket or also strapped to my belt. If my main pack happens to go bye-bye for some reason, at least I have some of the essentials with me.

I like your mention of comfort, DrivebyTrucker. After almost losing my pack over a mountain ledge, I started carrying some of the essentials in my pocket but hated having the added weight while walking. The pocket organizer clipped to my belt takes care of most of that now, so I don't have to choose between comfort or "putting all my eggs in one basket."
 
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kilroy.45 said:
I think it is one of Gibbs's rules from NCIS, always carry a knife, pretty sure.
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Yep. And a great rule it is :thumbup:

JK also makes a knife called Rule #9, I do believe. Or something similar. Designed by someone here on BF.
 
I keep a knife on my belt along with a small camera case converted into a first aid / fire kit / signalling kit / whatever kit. Like that I have everything but shelter covered if I lose my pack.

Edit: Does anyone else collect tinder in their cargo pockets as they see it on the trail? My favorite hiking shorts have a brew of dried grass, old man's beard, and birch bark piling up in the one pocket that seems to grow bigger rather than smaller with every hike... lol. I collect more than I use I guess. Good thing those shorts never get washed :)
 
This is always one of my concerns. I've been laying my gear for the longest time and often check and double check. The only time I was really worried was in real severe wind/rain storm that hit my father and I when we were canoeing way up Ross Lake in WA. All my stuff was in my pack except for a knife and the waves were around 2-3 feet and I was sure we were going to tip. Not sure how, but we kept the bow into the waves and despite the sideways rain and buffeting winds, we made it into a small crevice in the rock wall that prevented us from landing where we were able to ride out the storm in a little more security; one of the few times I was really scared when canoeing with my father as a youth.

I now carry a pretty decent amount on my "first-line" and have also added a Hill People's Gear Kitbag (kind of like my "second-line of gear), which is a chest mounted bag that can be worn with your backpack but still stays on if you have to jettison your pack or you're canoeing/kayaking and your main pack is tied down. I don't like the idea of having all my eggs in one basket and will layer some of the essentials for insurance. It's become habit now and something I always check on.

ROCK6
 
PropThePolecat said:
No, but i was close once.

I capsized in a canoe and went overboard. The same happened to my backpack, which had everything in it. Clothes, sleeping bag, food, cooking gear, etc, and nothing was waterproofed. The only thing i had on my person was a map and compass, cell phone and my knife.
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Exactly the same happened to me once, except cell phones weren't even science fiction back then. I too managed to retrieve it, at considerable risk to myself because my buddy and I were at least a weeks travel from anywhere, most of it over open water (we were on a very long canoing trip in Finland).
Everything I has was in the pack, except my buddy's gear and mine of course had some overlap. But there would have been no sleeping bag, half the food gone, tools, maps, clothes, well everything really.

Since then, even on dayhikes, I've got a small bag on me (I recently got a nice Maxpedition Fatboy S) that has survival essentials in it, including some first aid, knive+multitool, firemaking gear, compass, flashlight, rope, etc, even some 'food.' A much used pocket edition of the SAS Survival guide. ;)
That day in Finland scared the hell out of me, and taught me a valuable lessen. :thumbup:
 
Yeah I have lost everything twice in two separate divorces. I learned their won't be a third :D

Seriously though one time I had my entire camp destroyed by black bears when my step son and I were out hiking. They didn't get our food because we had taken precautions for it. It almost looked like they were paying us back for keeping the food from them. They flattened, ripped, and tore through everything. Fortunately we were close to the pickup so we loaded everything up and found a dumpster to discard all our damaged gear.

I found a place where we could buy some basics and we continued our trip with no luxuries. Probably ended up being the best trip we ever made together. He learned some things the most important being not to let adversity whip you. Our lives were never in danger although it ended up being far more expensive than I planned.
 
I generally keep it all in my pack, for the hiking and outdoor stuff I do in the Northeastern United States, which for the most part is pretty benign. Although I generally have a medium to small fixed blade on my belt, this is more for convenience, than for fear of loss
 
Slider817 said:
I generally keep it all in my pack, for the hiking and outdoor stuff I do in the Northeastern United States, which for the most part is pretty benign. Although I generally have a medium to small fixed blade on my belt, this is more for convenience, than for fear of loss
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Learn from TUF's mistakes and keep some essentials on your person at all times (except maybe when you sleep)....and uh be careful of whom you marry:D

Really there are tons of ways for the STHTF and your suddenly without proper gear except what is own your person. I go so far as to sleep with some survival gear on me as I know I may need to ditch camp in a hurry. Flash floods can leave you scrambling to get out of your tent and ditching everything thing you have, including shoes, just to save your life. As can a fast approaching forest or brush fire. Black Bears are notorious for raving backpacks, tents, and gear in search of food.

Yeah I pick up natural tinder while walking. But I don't collect body hair for tinder! Though I suppose that could work in an emergency.

Body hair: Natures natural tinder :p
 
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