I headed out to the Armstrong Redwoods here in Northern California on Sunday for an overnighter and decided to bring along more stuff than needed in order to take some photos of my backpacking gear. I always enjoy seeing what other people use so I figure some of you other gearwhores would appreciate this. I am in no way an ultralighter or superlighter or whatever but I do try to go somewhat light at least for the essentials. I'm also not a great photographer like many of you here so please excuse my less than average photo taking skills. Anyway, on with the pics...
My pack is a REI XT85. I believe this is the biggest pack that REI makes. I also have a USMC ILBE but the REI gets the most use. Yes, I like large packs. I run a Camelbak Armorbak bladder for on the go water.
My tent is a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL2. Very fast and easy setup. A little small for a two-man tent but still gives me a lot more room than a single. Decently light too, just over 3 pounds. I also like the very handy gear loft that hangs inside for stowing small items.
Another view, looking inside. And for my sleeping bag I use a North Face Blue Kazoo 15 degree down bag. Very light and compresses pretty small. Underneath that is a Thermarest Prolite.
For water filtration, I prefer the MSR Miniworks microfilter. This thing has never let me down and filters water plenty fast enough for me. I usually filter directly in to a plastic folding Nalgene Cantene (96 oz.) as seen in the second pic.
For saving my knees when getting down and dirty I got the Alta Superflex kneepads. This particular set is in the ATACS camo pattern. For gloves I just use my mountain bike gloves.
Okay we all have several knives but on this trip I grabbed my trusty Fallkniven A1 with a sheath that I modified in order to hold a Victorinox Swisstool Spirit and a Light My Fire firesteel. Also fitted a mini Photon light as well. This setup ensures that I'll always have my survival knife, a multi-tool, and a way to make fire even if I get separated from my pack.
My stove is a Brunton Raptor that I really like even better than the MSR PocketRocket because the arms span a little wider. Unfortunetely, I don't think Brunton produces it anymore so they're kinda hard to find nowdays. Second pic shown next to the Titan Cup for size reference. Just as small as a Pocketrocket.
Cookware is an MSR Titan Kettle, MSR Titan Cup, and MSR Flex Skillet. Brunton folding spoon and fork as well.
I'll usually bring along my Kershaw Folding Saw, especially if I know I'm going to make a fire. The Kershaw logo has worn off, but if I'm not mistaken I think Bahco actually made these for Kershaw. Great little saw but unfortunetely, these have been discontinued as well and are hard to find.
I got tired of the metal folding shovels failing all the time so I bought a plastic camp shovel by Fiskars. It does seem very hard and durable but I haven't used it yet so we'll see how it holds up.
Paracord. I always try to take a hundred foot bundle of it like this here.
Sometimes I'll go old-school and bring a USGI Canteen, cup, & stove. Inside the pouch pockets I keep some stormproof matches, military trioxane tabs and fire gel.
My headlamp is a Black Diamond Spot. A few too many different settings for my liking but it is pretty bright (90 lumens) and once you learn how to cycle through the modes its not that bad.
I keep my toiletries in a Kifaru Pullout bag of the mesh variety. A bladeforums member here turned me on to them (I believe it was JV3). These things are great. Nice construction and very easy zipper pull.
A Tacitcal Tailor 1H Accessory Pouch holds all my first-aid items. Another well built made in the USA bag. The medical cross patch was purchased from my local surplus store.
I like to bring along a dump pouch because it can come in handy for storing pretty much anything when scouting around basecamp (tinder for instance). This one is from Specter Gear and while not the most inexpensive one out there, you can tell the made-in-USA quality.
This is typical of what I bring for food. Mountain House stuff and MREs.
Just like knives, we have an array of firearms as well. On this trip a Glock 21 with an attached Insight M6 TLI attached to it accompanied me. I'm not particularly a Glock guy, but they are a lot lighter than my 1911's and other steel framed guns.
I like to bring this along for fun. The SAS Survival Guide (tiny pocket-sized version). If I ever get bored around camp I can always practice some knots or traps and stuff.
Well there you have it...most of my gear. I'm sure I forgot some things but this is the stuff I brought along on this trip for photos. Hope you enjoyed it!
My pack is a REI XT85. I believe this is the biggest pack that REI makes. I also have a USMC ILBE but the REI gets the most use. Yes, I like large packs. I run a Camelbak Armorbak bladder for on the go water.
My tent is a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL2. Very fast and easy setup. A little small for a two-man tent but still gives me a lot more room than a single. Decently light too, just over 3 pounds. I also like the very handy gear loft that hangs inside for stowing small items.
Another view, looking inside. And for my sleeping bag I use a North Face Blue Kazoo 15 degree down bag. Very light and compresses pretty small. Underneath that is a Thermarest Prolite.
For water filtration, I prefer the MSR Miniworks microfilter. This thing has never let me down and filters water plenty fast enough for me. I usually filter directly in to a plastic folding Nalgene Cantene (96 oz.) as seen in the second pic.
For saving my knees when getting down and dirty I got the Alta Superflex kneepads. This particular set is in the ATACS camo pattern. For gloves I just use my mountain bike gloves.
Okay we all have several knives but on this trip I grabbed my trusty Fallkniven A1 with a sheath that I modified in order to hold a Victorinox Swisstool Spirit and a Light My Fire firesteel. Also fitted a mini Photon light as well. This setup ensures that I'll always have my survival knife, a multi-tool, and a way to make fire even if I get separated from my pack.
My stove is a Brunton Raptor that I really like even better than the MSR PocketRocket because the arms span a little wider. Unfortunetely, I don't think Brunton produces it anymore so they're kinda hard to find nowdays. Second pic shown next to the Titan Cup for size reference. Just as small as a Pocketrocket.
Cookware is an MSR Titan Kettle, MSR Titan Cup, and MSR Flex Skillet. Brunton folding spoon and fork as well.
I'll usually bring along my Kershaw Folding Saw, especially if I know I'm going to make a fire. The Kershaw logo has worn off, but if I'm not mistaken I think Bahco actually made these for Kershaw. Great little saw but unfortunetely, these have been discontinued as well and are hard to find.
I got tired of the metal folding shovels failing all the time so I bought a plastic camp shovel by Fiskars. It does seem very hard and durable but I haven't used it yet so we'll see how it holds up.
Paracord. I always try to take a hundred foot bundle of it like this here.
Sometimes I'll go old-school and bring a USGI Canteen, cup, & stove. Inside the pouch pockets I keep some stormproof matches, military trioxane tabs and fire gel.
My headlamp is a Black Diamond Spot. A few too many different settings for my liking but it is pretty bright (90 lumens) and once you learn how to cycle through the modes its not that bad.
I keep my toiletries in a Kifaru Pullout bag of the mesh variety. A bladeforums member here turned me on to them (I believe it was JV3). These things are great. Nice construction and very easy zipper pull.
A Tacitcal Tailor 1H Accessory Pouch holds all my first-aid items. Another well built made in the USA bag. The medical cross patch was purchased from my local surplus store.
I like to bring along a dump pouch because it can come in handy for storing pretty much anything when scouting around basecamp (tinder for instance). This one is from Specter Gear and while not the most inexpensive one out there, you can tell the made-in-USA quality.
This is typical of what I bring for food. Mountain House stuff and MREs.
Just like knives, we have an array of firearms as well. On this trip a Glock 21 with an attached Insight M6 TLI attached to it accompanied me. I'm not particularly a Glock guy, but they are a lot lighter than my 1911's and other steel framed guns.
I like to bring this along for fun. The SAS Survival Guide (tiny pocket-sized version). If I ever get bored around camp I can always practice some knots or traps and stuff.
Well there you have it...most of my gear. I'm sure I forgot some things but this is the stuff I brought along on this trip for photos. Hope you enjoyed it!
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