Hiking kit

shinyedges said:
Good denizens of bladeforums,


I'm getting back into hiking, I used to hike regularly while I was active duty in the army and for some time after I got out. Not Appalachian trail length hikes, but from 5 to 15miles one way. My bag is set, my dilemma as a knife enthusiast is which blade to carry. I primarily like hiking to waterfalls, some of which have no trail. Which means some bushwacking. I will occasionally camp at these remote locations as well, which I change some of my gear for when I'm doing so.

I'm not an ultra light back packer, but I don't want to carry 100lb sack up a mountain anymore either. So for the purpose of slimming down on weight, I'm not taking all my knives 😅

Day hike on maintained trails - I'll likely grab my busse p&l.

Day hike off the trails - I'd like a little more blade length to chop so maybe a busse tglb or cpk sdfk. (I don't live in the rainforest or I'd bring a machete)

I'll likely rotate different blades through just to work them out and put em to use.


What would YOU carry? Any other Hikers on here?
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Off trail I go with my CRK Unnumzann with cf scale. A lot of blade in a very slim lightweight package, the wide open design with just a single standoff make it easy to maintain and keep clean in the field. Highest recommendation.
 
Triton said:
Wow! I replace my running shoes every 400 miles but you sir are next level in terms of footwear! I won't confess to how many years I have had my hiking boots! Seems like a smart idea to me, but pricey.
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As a city mailman I walk 7 miles a day. Overtime will add to that. I rotate 2 pairs of shoes…. usually Keen Tarahee 3’s or Oboz. They usually last 4-6 months if I use a boot dryer. But, yes, the EVA midsole will compress and cause knee and hip pain if you don’t switch them.
 
Monofletch said:
As a city mailman I walk 7 miles a day. Overtime will add to that. I rotate 2 pairs of shoes…. usually Keen Tarahee 3’s or Oboz. They usually last 4-6 months if I use a boot dryer. But, yes, the EVA midsole will compress and cause knee and hip pain if you don’t switch them.
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Thanks for the insights! So roughly 400 miles. Do you have a preferred sock?
 
Triton said:
Thanks for the insights! So roughly 400 miles. Do you have a preferred sock?
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Socks and shoes are very important in my job. (Underwear too, but that another post). I wear Darn Tough socks and there is no close second! I have tried them all! They are on the expensive side of things, but buy once. I have only used the warranty once and it was easy as hell.

As I mentioned before. If you do not own a boot dryer you are waisting your money. Between the DT socks and the boot dryer my feet are odor and fungus free. My boots don’t smell and they last longer!!
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Monofletch said:
Socks and shoes are very important in my job. (Underwear too, but that another post). I wear Darn Tough socks and there is no close second! I have tried them all! They are on the expensive side of things, but buy once. I have only used the warranty once and it was easy as hell.

As I mentioned before. If you do not own a boot dryer you are waisting your money. Between the DT socks and the boot dryer my feet are odor and fungus free. My boots don’t smell and they last longer!!
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I like the darn tough socks I bought the other day. I'll be picking up more dt.
 
shinyedges said:
I like the darn tough socks I bought the other day. I'll be picking up more dt.
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The package says there's extra cushion in them? How did it go with those?

My hiking socks for the longest time were the BSA current calf-length sock which have some minor cushion and also some foot compression which worked pretty well for the last couple of hikes I'd been on. However, they're starting to show their age, so a new sock purchase is in my future.
 
Monofletch said:
Socks and shoes are very important in my job. (Underwear too, but that another post). I wear Darn Tough socks and there is no close second! I have tried them all! They are on the expensive side of things, but buy once. I have only used the warranty once and it was easy as hell.

As I mentioned before. If you do not own a boot dryer you are waisting your money. Between the DT socks and the boot dryer my feet are odor and fungus free. My boots don’t smell and they last longer!!
View attachment 2696650
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I used to be a Smartwool guy until I discovered Darn Tough. I never looked back.
 
Quiet said:
The package says there's extra cushion in them? How did it go with those?

My hiking socks for the longest time were the BSA current calf-length sock which have some minor cushion and also some foot compression which worked pretty well for the last couple of hikes I'd been on. However, they're starting to show their age, so a new sock purchase is in my future.
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I find them surprisingly cushy, more so than regular cotton socks, but not much more in volume or thickness. That's the beauty of the wool I suppose. I wear them hiking to these waterfalls and haven't gotten a blister or anything, and there's some technical down hill/up hill. I'll be buying more for sure.

Something I'd like to add is the kind of abstract "feel". They feel really good. Which can be difficult to quantify but absolutely matters and is worth mentioning.
 
shinyedges said:
I find them surprisingly cushy, more so than regular cotton socks, but not much more in volume or thickness. That's the beauty of the wool I suppose. I wear them hiking to these waterfalls and haven't gotten a blister or anything, and there's some technical down hill/up hill. I'll be buying more for sure.

Something I'd like to add is the kind of abstract "feel". They feel really good. Which can be difficult to quantify but absolutely matters and is worth mentioning.
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I am going to have to look into a couple pairs to try, because as was said earlier in the thread, good socks are sometimes worth more than the boots they're in! I'll check these Darn Tough socks out!
 
Quiet said:
I am going to have to look into a couple pairs to try, because as was said earlier in the thread, good socks are sometimes worth more than the boots they're in! I'll check these Darn Tough socks out!
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I don't think you can go wrong. If you find a local outdoor place that's really good, they'll let you try em on lol My local place does.
 
The boot dryer looks interesting. I do concur with the whole premise too. Here in southern Arizona I just put my Keens out on the back porch in the shade after a hike. The air is very dry and usually warm to very hot, in the 90s this afternoon. Right now the humidity is 10% and many days it is in single digits. Set them out there for four hours after todays hike. So I’ve heard the same thing about drying footwear many years back. At home around the house I wear sandals with no socks year round and like the freedom and it’s healthy for the feet. My Arroyo 2 Keens have two openings at the heel I can slide my thumb through and six openings on the uppers I can slide two fingers through, no mesh in the way so these shoes are very ventilated and tend to stay much drier. It rarely rains but if it does forget it, the shoes are going to get wet. Footwear should match the overall weight they will be supporting of course. Many out here go with lightweight gear and wear “trail runners”. I double checked my pack base weight yesterday and it is 3.25 lbs, been working at that for the past couple years. Heavier with food, water and fuel but my current footwear with good orthotics are working.

Merino wool socks are superb indeed, worn them for decades. Girlfriend wears Darn Tough socks and I’ll get some after I wear out my current merino socks. You guys talked me into it.
 
I used to wear Smartwool, Thorlo, and Dahlgren socks. My absolute favorite now are Darn Tough- they are very comfortable, dry, hold up to not only wear, but to washing/drying with no issues. I wear the lighter ones in summer and thicker in winter (with a liner if below zero).

Some people take socks for granted, but once you realize how good socks make everything better, it is hard to put a price on.

There are a few products that I am a hard core fan of- Darn Tough socks are simply great.

Last week coming out from my cabin we broke through 3-4” ice that was over a stretch of water about 50’ long and a foot deep. Got stuck pretty good and had to move big chunks of ice to get unstuck. Of course some water came over my boots and yet keeping my boots on with the Darn Tough socks on, my feet stayed warm enough until I could get dry footwear on. I can’t speak highly enough of them.
 
Another faithful Darn Tough sock customer here. They offer several different levels of "cushioning" dependant on your needs and uses. Only the highest couple levels of cushioning have any noticable affect on how your boots may fit in my experience.

I've tried most brands of socks and none compare to or hold up anywhere near as well as Darn Tough. And that lifetime guarantee is hard to beat.
 
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