Favorite Wilderness Gadgets?

FortyTwoBlades

FortyTwoBlades

Baryonyx walkeri
Dealer / Materials Provider
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
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A simple question, really. What are your favorite pieces of wilderness kit and why? Bonus points for compact and/or multipurpose items. :D
 
Erm... a knife :D;)

Seriously, how about a swiss army knife?

lens (for splinters and fire)
knife blade (for, well...)
saw blade (for sawing)
Awl (for holes)
tweezers (for splinters)
etc etc.

OK, so maybe you weren't meaning knives.

How about a good flashlight?

lighting things up
signaling
fire (batteries, reflector)
defense (if it's 'tactically' bright, or strong enough to bash with)
hunting night critters
 
Actually, one of my favorite wilderness (and useful all the time) items is a regular pair of good, quality pliers. Carry them on my belt almost every day. For a while I carried a Leatherman, but they just don't do it for me. The pliers are far too flimsy.

You'd be truly amazed at the number of things those pliers get used for. They've been used for everything from cooking to working on equipment to doing stitches on a cow. I actually consider my pliers almost more important than a knife :eek:
 
I once used the metal saw on my SAK for rescuing a goat that had got its horns firmly tangled in some old razor wire. Pliers (with cutters) would have been better probably, but it was before the days of leathermans
 
I guess that firepistons could be considered "gadgets". I like experimenting with different ways to make fire. This one never fails to amaze me.

picture.php


Jeff
 
Pressure-induced spontaneous combustion - just like a diesel engine.

The tube is sealed with the washer on the plunger. Put some tinder (charcloth, fungus) in the cup, insert plunger, push fast, get a glowing coal!

Quite impressive.
 
rocketbomb said:
Actually, one of my favorite wilderness (and useful all the time) items is a regular pair of good, quality pliers. Carry them on my belt almost every day. For a while I carried a Leatherman, but they just don't do it for me. The pliers are far too flimsy.

You'd be truly amazed at the number of things those pliers get used for. They've been used for everything from cooking to working on equipment to doing stitches on a cow. I actually consider my pliers almost more important than a knife :eek:
Click to expand...

Same here, right now I have a pair of knipex linemans in my back-pocket.
If I'm wearing Jeans instead of my Riggs, I carry a pair of CeeTees. On the trail I carry 9" kleins, or my Crescent Pliers(vintage) in a CS-34 pouch.

Peter
 
I'd say my ferro rod and striker. Can't really use them anywhere other then in the wilderness. :D
Scott
 
Yeah, definitely the ferro rod of some variant. I love those things.

Past that, I just like really simple stuff. Simple blades, SAKs, simple pots, cordage, etc.
 
Besides clothing & footwear, I will always have:
Knife
water bottle
compass
first aid kit
fire source

Then there will be other items depending on reason/duration of outdoors visit
 
I'd have to say my flint and steel fire kit. Besides being a good fire-making gadget, it was fun to make and fun to use.

In a lot of activities, one of the enjoyable parts is 'suiting up' for it; the prep for the activity, be it putting on body armor for off-road motorcycle riding, sharpening your edges for skiing, preparing your PSK for a weekend backpacking trip, etc. Preparing some fresh sharp edges on a piece of flint is the same sort of thing.

Stitchawl
 
Gaffer tape (AKA Duct Tape, A-Team Tape, Duck Tape (Arrgh - hate that one - it's Duct Tape!!!)) Especially the extra heavy duty version.

Uses:

Shelter making
Repairing kit, tent, clothes etc
Repairing self (sticking plaster, fixing splints)
Holding your tinder in the wind
Burning nicely itself
Trail marking
Signal marking
Stopping hiking partner from snoring (no, you don't suffocate her, just put a strip across the bridge of the nose!)
Making a cheap knife sheath (with some cardboard)
Securing bad guys/noisy kids to the nearest tree
catching flies like flypaper (spot some honey on it)
Collecting termites so you can scrape them into your soup
Making hand gliders (if your in the A-Team!)

... you get the point!
 
rocketbomb said:
You'd be truly amazed at the number of things those pliers get used for. They've been used for everything from cooking to working on equipment to doing stitches on a cow. I actually consider my pliers almost more important than a knife :eek:
Click to expand...

These are real words of wisdom and I couldn't agree more (although I think the Leatherman pliers are OK, I've often carried a small pair of true pliers)

Any who spends time far and away should heed rocketbomb
 
stockman242 said:
Same here, right now I have a pair of knipex linemans in my back-pocket.
If I'm wearing Jeans instead of my Riggs, I carry a pair of CeeTees. On the trail I carry 9" kleins, or my Crescent Pliers(vintage) in a CS-34 pouch.

Peter
Click to expand...

Man, I'm surprised anybody else knows about CeeTees. I thought only us farmers knew about them ;) Never used any Klein tools, but I hear good things about them.
 
I like this thread and can't disagree with much I'm reading here.

My top 10 must haves (in order of importance -- leaving out food and clothing items for other lists...):

1) knife (puukko! Current fave Woodsknife)
2) fire steel (with homemade tinder kit)
3) silnylon tarp and/or silnylon poncho
4) water purifier
5) metal cup or just a can...
6) compass
7) 550 paracord

With the above -- and 40 years experience in the woods -- I could hack it for quite a while in most environments (although it could get tough in the snow...)

(On clothing my core items: Merino vest and base layer, puffball sweater, poncho liner or ultralight quilt, boonie hat -- tons of uses, boonies, light boots, cargo pants, some kind of bag to carry stuff in...)
 
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