One piece of gear

TheMadIndian

TheMadIndian

Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Messages
888
What's that one piece of gear you want but just won't work for you but you can't get out of your head?

For me it's the Gatewood Cape, I discovered it 4 yrs ago when I was looking to save space on motorcycle trips. Turns out at 6'5" I'm too big for it, then I tried to talk myself into it for hiking as rain gear, and then again backpacking the last couple years. I finally decided on the BCUSA MEST long poncho as I get more configuration options and it fits me but I just can't help but want the Gatewood.

[video]https://youtu.be/fW3KLE9AVHs[/video]

[video]https://youtu.be/_fJZ2ki4eX8[/video]
 
hpim0578sb5.jpg


The fjellduk.

A heavy duty waterproof bag with a smart cut that allows it to be worn or pitched as a shelter. Can be had with your choice of a heat reflecting liner or various thicknesses of removable or non removable primaloft insulation.

This is something that would keep me alive in very bad weather with little muss or fuss... but hot damn if it isn't the ugliest piece of kit I have even seen. :D
 
A Saddleback large simple backpack. A full leather backpack seems like such a cool thing, but the amount it weighs for the amount it carries just wont work for me.
 
Gatewood Cape and fjellduk - very interesting. I have never seen those. Now they will be stuck in my head.
 
Skrapmetal said:
A Saddleback large simple backpack. A full leather backpack seems like such a cool thing, but the amount it weighs for the amount it carries just wont work for me.
Click to expand...

I get that with a lot of oldschool cool type gear. It looks great at first but then you consider the technical specs. Leather clothing that cant be machine washed when it gets gunked up with sweat or the canvas backpack that will hold 60 lbs of gear but has no hip belt and g-string width shoulder straps. Pass. :)
 
hatchet.

in my woods a machete/parang is much more useful but i just can't make myself leave the hatchet at home.
 
Hatchet or tomahawk for me. I'd like to make them work, but I just don't use them enough to make it worth carrying. I suppose if I lived in the North woods, either might make more sense.
 
For me it's the GB wildlife hatchet. I love the way it looks, love to watch it in action on YouTube video, and every time I'm ready to order it I back out because I'm so much better with a machete (born in a tropical Caribbean island to a sugarcane plantatation owning family) than with a hatchet. Not much experience with one, so the intimidation factor always makes me back out just before the " submit order" click. Luckily I reside in the Southeast, and although we have plenty of hardwoods, I can still get by with 16 inch Latin machete in the warm months and a tramontina bolo in the colder months. Maybe one day I'll man up to the hatchet and order the GB.
 
A lightly engraved and bead blasted S&W 686 with 5" barrel and half underlug and Arizona Desert Ironwood grips in a handmade, lightly tooled Alaskan chest rig. It just seems like the very essence of class, form, and utilitarian function. Alas I don't have the funds to make it happen.
 
Last edited:
http://www.bushcraftoutfitters.com/G2-Multicam-Tarp-10x7-tarp-10x7-mc-g2.htm

Those tarps .. BUSCA G2 Multicam Tarp - 10'x7'
Normally , if I find some good gear , Im buying it in multiples , many multiples , and handing it around to my friends and family .
I cant afford to buy more than I allready have for my family , but I keep wanting to buy more and pass em around .. people dont know how good they are till they start using them .

I keep going back to look and make sure theyre still there .. sigh ...
 
I keep mulling over the mechanics of tarp and bivy camping.

The lure of lightweight attracts me but memories of riding out hailstorms and torrential downpours in the mountains when a warm sunny day drops into the 30's and other trips where eating was difficult due to clouds of mosquitoes give me pause.

And I've not seen how one regulates their temperature in a bivy sack since it's not normally capable of being opened for ventilation.

Plus memories of a buddy trying out the technique in a rented sack using a heavy black plastic section as tarp and hearing thunderous THWACK! sounds on it as the rain-wet trees dripped out their water about 6" above his head are kind of offputting. I could hear the THWACK! from across the campsite as I was hunkered down in my Eureka! Gossamer 1 man tent.

Still studying on it. Not even sure it actually IS lighter than my Gossamer setup.
Probably more effective to work on reducing the weight around my waist than the weight of my shelter, at least for now.
 
Bivies and tarps work really well in certain climates. But just like knives, no one sleep system is good for all conditions, some might have a wider range than others, but that usually comes with some trade off.

To me a bivy is just a way to sleep dry, nothing more. I generally need a little more than just that.
 
I use a bivy from time to time when I don't want to take the hammock or can't. If I'm expecting rain I take a 10x7 tarp but most of the time I take my 5x7 and that's enough to cover my gear and the top half of my body and gives me enough room to get in and out of the bivy or mess with my gear without getting wet. For ventilation during the warmer months I zip up the bivy and then button the buttons and then unzip to allow as much ventilation as i need and with the buttons secure I'm still enclosed. During the winter I just use the velcro on the hood and that lets in enough air to avoid condensation

Last weekend I was testing my new quilt in it on my deck when the temps hit -15F here in NY and I was toasty warm all night. Now I don't need the other 2 bags from the MSS and I've still got a subzero system and saved 5lbs.

IMG_20160213_212110759_zpsumt730ed.jpg
 
I suspect a bivy isn't going to work for me for an additional reason of condensation. I'm a very sweaty sleeper. I have to wear synthetic top to sleep in my own bed in climate controlled comfort because I often will wake with my top soaked completely thru and sweat running down my ears as I visit the bathroom.

In a bivy sack I expect I'd be squishing out of it in the morning and getting out of it into the morning cold while wet wet would be difficult.
 
Anything titanium, especially a cup that can be used as a stove pot. Weight savings not really worth the cost.

Plus titanium cookware actually costs more weight (weight in fuel) because it is a terrible conductor of heat (which is why it is such a great light weight option for supersonic aircraft). Because it takes so much more fuel to boil water or cook with titanium cookware, any weight savings in the cookware is more than offset be the additional fuel you'll burn using titanium cookware. I just can't justify in my mind toting a titanium cup that can only be used to drink hot drinks or eat hot meals and not also used for boiling the water for those drinks or meals.
 
I commit a cardinal sin every time I go out. I bring a stainless steel spoon from the kitchen. It's not light, it's not sporked, and it isn't sold at an outdoors store. The horror. :D
 
sideways said:
I commit a cardinal sin every time I go out. I bring a stainless steel spoon from the kitchen. It's not light, it's not sporked, and it isn't sold at an outdoors store. The horror. :D
Click to expand...
I just bring a lexan spoon. Had the same one for years. Cost less than a buck back then. Think they are a buck now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top