Minimum gear.

[tenkara]

I've been giving this a lot of thought lately. It's all part of my ongoing effort to lighten up and better enjoy my time in the woods. So how light can you get? Don't think about the PSK. I doubt many of you would leave home without it anyway. I'm talking about truly enjoying myself about and not suffering for the sake of a principle. Let's put the limit at 3 days of hiking and covering at least 10 miles a day. Any real Nessmuks here?

 

[PayetteRucker]

Filtered water bottle (ketadyn or aquamira), camelbak bladder, 550 chord (100 feet), ultralight nylon or parachute hammock, matches or fire striker, 1 mid sized bushcrafting knife, an axe or machete, small first aid kit, spare pair of socks, personal cooking kit, bedroll and food.
This, of course, is assuming you are in a hiker friendly area, aka no life threatening bugs or animals, with water sources at a reasonable interval.

 

[Bushman5]

- Mora knife
- sandvik folding saw
- titanium billy can to boil water (sterilize)
- ti spork
- Nalgene canteen (can handle boiling water being poured into it)
- water pure tabs, foil pak
- Micro FAK
- mylar tarp (the heavy duty ones)
- fleece blanket with slit cut in center (doubles as cape, jacket
- industrial drum liner (2) one cut as jacket
- Soldier Fuel or Powerbars for food.
- trail runners
- 60 feet of 100lb test braided fishing line, for shelter rigging. weighs about 1/4 oz in comparision to paracord
- fire steel
- micro fleece hat
- coolmax clothes
-compass/map/pencil

 

[Fonly]

PSK covers all the basics anyways, the rest would be luxury.

Properclothing
knife
saw
lights
glowsticks
extra socks
Cooking gear(pot or pan)
Some munchies
Signaling/NAV gear


Mainly the basics, unless Im camping with the lady, I dont take anymore than that anyways.

 

[batosai117]

Hmmm....

I would use my Camelbak Mule, which would contain:

1. water of course (2 liter bladder)
2. steel cup for boiling water
3. 5-in-1 cooking set
4. the ALMIGHTY spork
5. fleece sleeping bag - very light and not too hot or heavy for my Texas climate
6. compass
7. Light My Fire and matches
8. Small 150 hour flashlight/lantern combo (takes 4 AAA)
9. Glow sticks just because they fit (and other purposes)
10. Food: trail mix, slim jim, jerky, oatmeal packets
11. sling shot - small, portable, and ya never know
12. Fishing kit: spool of 50lb spiderwire, few hooks - big and small
13. polar pure tabs for water
14. Gerber Big Rock for my fixed blade
15. Sharpener - spyderco double stuff
16. Extra socks and T-shirt
17. Atom head lamp for hands free stuff (cleaning fish in evening, sewing, ya never know)
18. First Aid Kit, snake bite kit as well
19. Cordage for tarp, traps, etc..
20. Tarp of course for sleeping out of the rain

All of this would be in the Camelbak Mule (the sleeping bag is strapped to the bottom on the outside). I would of course have my clothes on me, along with my EDC folder of choice and a Leatherman blast on my belt. I'm sure I forgot something, but that should cover it

Pics of it from my past uses:

 

[beef]

How light can one get? People have done 3 season trips with 1lb and 2lb base weights. Pretty minimalist though.
I just did a trip with a 12lb baseweight, but it was super luxurious. I could easily cut it down to 8lb by leaving the hammock and extra clothes!

 

[C_Kyle]

Funny, I was getting ready to create a post about ultralight shelter/sleep systems.

 

[Bushman5]

combine the tarp and heat blanket by using a 8' x 6' piece of Reflexite

 

[hollowdweller]

Well if you were going to practice survival skills and you brought the proper clothes I would think you could probably get by with a very small daypack containing only a knife, food, fire, some sort of container to drink and boil water in.

The only thing would be I'd think unless the weather was for sure going to be good you would need to scale your mileage back slightly to have time to build some sort of a shelter for the night.:thumbup:

 

[jurisprudence]

I was recently thinking about the same topic. You may find this article of interest http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/lw_testimony_shortt_journey.html

 

[longbow50]

In addition to my PSK, which fits into a pocket, I would have a SAK Trekker with hotspark attached, small AA flashlight w/extra batt, couple of bandanas, Breeden RUCK fixed blade, 2qt. USGI shoulder carry canteen w/cup and a bedroll (tarp & wool blanket).

 

[ieraseu]

For only 3 days all a person would need is need water. No one is going to die of hunger in such a short period of time.

To be a little bit more comfortable I would bring:
-water
-food
-compass + map or GPS
-backpack
-hammock or lightweight sleeping bag
-poncho
-knife
-firesteel

 

[TonySA]

If the idea is to 'really enjoy yourself', then I think some of the lists given above are probably a bit to minimal, but that just an opinion. Sure, they include all the survival essentials for MOST areas, but they may just get you killed or in serious trouble in other areas (e.g. what I've seen of Alaska in winter, or the Drakensberg (3400m heigh mtns) in South Africa).

My kit on a 60km three day hike in the Drakensberg may be far to much for the 'survival purist', but its what I settled on after having tried both extremes (i.e. carrying practically nothing or carrying 25kg's of kit). Everything listed gives me a pack weight of about 7.5kg's, which is very comfortable for me.
-45l backpack
-1 man tent
-down sleeping bag
- space blanket
- primus stove
- tin mug
- Swiss army knife
- Fixed blade utility knife
-light and flint
-1l water bottle
-food
-GPS, compass and map
-Mini Maglite torch
- Goretex jacket with polar fleece inner

In savanna areas I carry far less and am just as comfortable and safe

 

[skammer]

Everything listed gives me a pack weight of about 7.5kg's, which is very comfortable for me.

Sounds reasonable to me.:thumbup:

Skam