idiosyncrasies

Lazydog1 said:
Yeah, I've walked in the rain for an hour instead of upsetting my well packed, perfectly balanced backpack to break out my rainjacket! It's OK when it's warm. Then one autumn a stormfront caught us and with only 30 minutes to go to our planned campsite I became hyperthermic. Got across the river and the tent pitched just in time to warm up. Snug in my sleeping bag with a belly full of warm oatmeal I realised how stupid I'd been.
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Cold is hypothermia.

Hot is hyperthermia.
 
Takes me an hour to pick out sharps for a trip. Sick huh!!?? Too much selection I suppose. Then I pack all this crap in my bags I don't need and spend another hour down-sizing. Everytime I go bush I bring too much. I'm getting better though. There are things that are a must-have ; like FAK's , fire stuff , Navigation , spare clothing. Going to try more tarp instead of tent set-ups as I hate tearing down a Nylon city.
Next spring it's more trips with minimal gear for me. ( and away from Sheeple campgrounds)

( My wife at our camp)

WolfLakeJuly2009003-1.jpg



Which Esee to bring on the next trip ???
Eseeknives006.jpg
 
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Rick Marchand said:
This is something I always fight and find strange. Before I go out (even for a short walk on local trails) I pack and unpack atleast 3 times. Then I am so reluctant to mess up my packing system that I avoid having to break into my kit. Sometimes, it gets to the point that I'm downright angry about having to use items.

Rick
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You took the words right out of my mouth. I take such care and time packing all the "right" things in the "right" spot that I don't want to disturb anything in the pack :)
 
I pack at the last minute. I might think about packing for days beforehand, but invariably I pack at the last minute. A habit that annoys my wife when I shout up from the basement, "Honey, do you know where my boots are?" or "Did you wash my trail socks...?"

It should come as no surprise then that I've usually forgotten something...I think it was tent stakes last time. Usually by the last day or hour of a trip, I've got the stuff I did bring packed in a useful and efficient way.
 
Unless I'm going heavy carving, its funny sometimes when I think about how much I use my rucksak in conjunction with a machete more than a belt knife. But I know if I don't bring it I'll have to find a use and miss it. Fate just works that way.
 
Fate? I think it is that law that was invented by some guy named Murphy. If I ever meet the guy, I'm going to shoot him.. I'm a list guy for packing. I have gear lists for about every scenario, ie, mountains, desert ect.
 
I'm totally lacksadasical about packing unless it's a multi day trip and even then......


Normally most of my packs are unpacked and I just have a huge pile of gear stored in plastic tubs and depending on where I'm going and what I'm doing I'll put whatever in there.

I have a day pack that has some stuff in there. Flashlight, raincoat, knife, but even with it I rotate a lot of crap in and out depending if I'm picking wild food, or putting up posted signs, or trail clearing.
 
hollowdweller said:
I'm totally lacksadasical about packing unless it's a multi day trip and even then......


Normally most of my packs are unpacked and I just have a huge pile of gear stored in plastic tubs and depending on where I'm going and what I'm doing I'll put whatever in there.

I have a day pack that has some stuff in there. Flashlight, raincoat, knife, but even with it I rotate a lot of crap in and out depending if I'm picking wild food, or putting up posted signs, or trail clearing.
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Yep, that's me!! That is why I need a list. Otherwise the brain overloads and smoke starts coming out my ears....
 
Yeah I have this one pack with all these pockets and compartments and it's sort of like a list because certain things go in certain pockets, but it's only 2500 cu in so I mainly use it in summer.:thumbup:

Harder is my 3000 cu in which is just one huge compartment. I like this pack because you can compress stuff and it is narrow so it allows for better balance on rocks but without the pockets I have to be really careful about remembering stuff:o

I have some pouches and stuff I can put things in within the pack but I really like to avoid having a lot of stuff in separate pouches because the weight of the pouches adds up. Also sometimes you may have some stuff in a pouch and then you have a space here and a space there in a pack but the pouch won't fit. But the stuff IN it will fit in those two spaces:rolleyes:

So normally when I'm using that pack I store anything I might need that day in the top flap, and then when I get to camp I just dump the whole pack on the ground and sort out the stuff I need;)
 
"We're going on a picnic in the park, not raiding the English coast."

OK now that's funny.

For years every time I took my daughter camping we had to get Coke and gum on the ride out. That started on our very first trip when she was 6. When we got back my wife asked if she had a good time. She said "Yes, we got Coke... and gum."

Mac
 
I'm kinda in the same boat. I always feel the need to carry a fixed blade with me in the woods. Never needed one and don't plan on EVER needing one but I carry one anyway. I kind of think of it as my final back up for shelter and fire prep.
 
Rick Marchand said:
This is something I always fight and find strange. Before I go out (even for a short walk on local trails) I pack and unpack atleast 3 times. Then I am so reluctant to mess up my packing system that I avoid having to break into my kit. Sometimes, it gets to the point that I'm downright angry about having to use items.

Rick
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Wow... I thought I was the only one like this...

Ski
 
...I might make a gear list a week or more in advance and constantly edit it for several days...for a 6-8 hour hunting trip.

...the thought of actually opening a tightly packed altoids tin stuffed with survival gear, even in a survival situation, to get at one piece of gear...well, it bothers my gear OCD...

...not having a topo-map quad, 2 compasses & gps (w/extra batteries for a 2 hr day hike...that would just be unprepared

...let's not even discuss how many edged tools are required for said 2 hr day hike...
 
I have few knive, despite which knife I carry with me in the woods.....I regret it all the times; & I start ask myself why I didn't take the other one :(
 
For long trips (4 days or more) I will spend hours thinking of what gear I need. Then I will pack and repack it numerous times before leaving. My excuse is that it's so I don't forget anything. I usually carry a very minimal kit on longer trips.

On overnighters though, I usually decided even to do the trip last minute, so I just toss a bunch of stuff into my pack and go. Usually throw in some gear to experiment with on overnighters. My overnight packs with only minimal food usually end up much heavier than a 7-day pack for all the extra crap I bring along to test and fiddle with.

For day hikes I am very terrible about deciding where to go. It sometimes takes me a couple hours just to figure out which place I want to go to!
 
I once forgot something on a weekend camping trip and decided to hike back out and drive home to get it:o It only took 2 1/2 hours round trip lol. Not to mention it was pitch dark by the time i started my hike back to camp.

Pack less, forget less is my motto now.
 
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