Reconfigured Winter Day Hiking Kit

othello32

othello32

Joined
Apr 3, 2007
Messages
289
So, after receiving a new G1 2qt. Pouch for Christmas, I decided to reconfigure and post pictures of my winter day hiking kit. The Kifaru Tail Gunner 1 is my favorite and most used hiking pack from Kifaru. I thought I'd post a few photos of the new set up also include my content list, which may appear a bit long but I often hike alone or with others who do not carry their own gear. I'd be happy to hear any suggestions, thoughts, etc.

The setup: Shoulder straps, unpadded Omni-belt, Tail Gunner 1, 2qt pouch attached on right, Stash-It in center, Maxped. canteen cover on left, and top-zip Long Pocket on bottom. I prefer the Long Pocket to the Small Pod because it carries a similar amount of gear but distributes the weight across the length of the TG1 without hanging too low.
IMG_4246.JPG

IMG_4247.JPG

Winter Day Hiking Kit...
Maxped Canteen Cover:
32oz Nalgene Canteen

Stash-It:
Gerber Diesel Multi-tool
LED Flashlight
small pry bar
Compass
Survival Drinking straw
Chapstick
spare batteries

2qt Pouch:
Trek-Light Hammock Seat
Petzl head lamp
Rope bag (enough cordage for tarp, hammock, and emergencies)

Long Pocket:
Trek-Light 8x10 tarp
Fleece vest
Gloves
Windproof watch cap
IMG_4250.JPG

TG1:
24 oz. Guyot Design "Shorty" stainless steel bottle
Stainless steel cup
Handkerchief
FAK (blue Otterbox)
Fire Kit (clear Otterbox)
Strike Force Fire Steel
Gerber Folding Saw
Space Blanket
Write-In-the-Rain journal and pencil
Mora Carving knife and crook knife
Oatmeal x2, Tea x2, and Sugar x4
Handwarmers x2
Binoculars
MSR small fuel canister
MSR Pocket Rocket
IMG_4252.jpg

Shoulder strap:
Bubble compass

On person:
Wicking base layer, pants, wool socks, boots, fleece, jacket/coat, gloves, hat, and balaclava/scarf.
Pocket survival kit
NWA 4" Sierra Scout + Swedish fire steel
Emerson A-100
Watch
Hiking pole
 
Very nice rig indeed - I like it! It's like an upmarket version of mine, based around a Maxpedition sabercat + pouches and spec ops shoulder straps.
 
Thank you. It's taken a long time to put this kit together. I sold many other pieces of gear to put this one together, but I feel it was a good investment. I've used many different Maxped pieces and have liked many of them.

foxyrick said:
Very nice rig indeed - I like it! It's like an upmarket version of mine, based around a Maxpedition sabercat + pouches and spec ops shoulder straps.
Click to expand...
 
Nice rig!

In case I get caught out overnight, for winter hiking I switched a lightweight vest like you have for a Western Mountaineering Flight Jacket. 850+ down and weighs only 12 oz. in the XL size.

DancesWithKnives
 
Those G1 2Qt's are perfect pouches for about any molle pack. Put them on the belt or the pack....perfect size.

Nice setup.
 
Good looking set up. How much does it weigh?
I just weighed mine set up last night and it wieghs in a 13 pounds.

Bryan
 
nice kit! :) hard to beat Kifaru gear

a couple of suggestions, spending an unplanned night out in the winter is one of my most dreaded scenarios- I try and mitigate that to some degree w/ a AMK Thermolite bivy and a 2 person AMK heatsheet. my reasoning is that if I need to build a debris shelter I can drape the heatsheet (your tarp would work fabulously for this!) over the framework (and then debris and snow) the heatsheet will help keep out any moisture and reflect heat in, I'll pile what clothing I have on and wrap up in the bivy. if it's a snow trench same basic setup- heatsheet over top lattice (then snow) and crawling into the bivy

the bivy is obviously larger than an emergency blanket, but it's not overly large and well worthy in a winter kit

along those same lines I carry three small 6 hour candles, if your shelter is built well the heat from the candle is quite amazing (and comforting to boot) :)

if you can fit a fleece vest in, I'd second the recommendation of looking into a down garment- lots of warmth for the weight and nothing compresses like down- probably would take up less space than the vest
 
Thanks for the suggestions. You are quite right, it is hard to beat Kifaru gear. I like the idea about the bivy. I don't own one yet and it would be a good piece of kit.

As far as down, I need to invest in more down garments. Any suggestions for down jackets/vests that are not terribly expensive but still pack the same weight to warmth ratio?

Anyone else notice something missing from the kit? I'm always open to suggestions. I work hard to use most of the gear I pack, even during a uneventful day hike. I like the idea of a candle or two for warmth/comfort.
 
if you hunt around for deals- Montbell is pretty good bang for the buck, quality is near on par w/ Western Mountaineering at quite a bit less coin. I own a exlite which is dandy little little jacket (6 oz in Large!), also just got a Alpine Light Parka (15 oz) for winter use- I purchased both jackets (different times) for ~ 25% off retail- sometimes after Christmas is a good bet

for winter I'd suggest a parka- the hood would be worth it's weight in gold in many cases- they make a UL parka that weighs in at a svelte 9 oz

http://www.montbell.us/products/disp.php?cat_id=70&p_id=2301133

also shopped used- backpackinglight.com has some really good used gear for cheap, ebay, geartrade, etc

one other piece of gear that I really like is a balaclava (typically I'm already wearing a light wool beanie)- very warm and for 2 oz well worth throwing in :)
 
Thanks for the recommendation. I also carry a light weight balaclava and really like it. I'll look into your down recs.
 
Really like that pack, and your gear selection sounds good too - though I don't have much experience with cold weather hikes. Mtwarden makes a good point, shelter and clothing for your environment go a long way if an unexpected overnighter happened.
 
Very interesting. You may want to consider adding something for signaling, such as a whistle and/or a mirror.

I'd also like to know the loaded weight, if you don't mind.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I do have a whistle in the survival kit on my person and a mirror in the fire starting kit. I'm guessing the weight to be around 13-15 lbs. but I'll try to get an exact measurement later today.
 
othello32 said:
Thanks for the suggestions. You are quite right, it is hard to beat Kifaru gear. I like the idea about the bivy. I don't own one yet and it would be a good piece of kit.

As far as down, I need to invest in more down garments. Any suggestions for down jackets/vests that are not terribly expensive but still pack the same weight to warmth ratio?

Anyone else notice something missing from the kit? I'm always open to suggestions. I work hard to use most of the gear I pack, even during a uneventful day hike. I like the idea of a candle or two for warmth/comfort.
Click to expand...

When I bought the Flight Jacket it was $175 but now they seem to be closer to $250---much harder to swallow that number.

I recently ordered a Cabela's ultralight 750 down jacket for a friend. They were on sale for around $85-90. They seem close to some of the Montbell offerings, which are very nice. However, back when I compared garments the Flight Jacket had more loft than its competitors, with the exception of the comparably priced Feathered Friends models. Of course, more competitors have come on the market since I bought the Flight Jacket several years ago.

DancesWithKnives
 
DWK2, Thanks for the thoughts on down jackets. I've begun looking and I'm hoping to get lucky once the winter sales finally hit.

I weighed the pack today, for those who were curious, and it comes in around 14lbs. My scales are not great, so I'm going to hedge my bets and say +/- 2lbs :).

Thanks for all the thoughts so far, any others are certainly helpful. I'm was very curious to read/watch IA Woodsman's thoughts on winter camping tools. I might need to make some adjustments to my overnight kit.
 
My pleasure.

I don't know what you have in your fire kit but I've found that having a lot of good starters and small tinder sure makes things go more easily. I assume you've got that covered, based upon how thoroughly everything else has been taken care of.

I personally don't carry a small prybar but I can see it might be handy if you needed help opening an old cabin in a serious emergency. Just curious about what it weighs?

Thanks,

DancesWithKnives
 
14 pounds, not too bad. How does it carry with the belt only (no shoulder straps)?
 
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I will try to get a pic or two of the pack on :). I haven't tried it without the shoulder straps, but I would guess that the weight is probably a bit too much. The belt carries most of the weight and the shoulder straps keep it snug and balanced. I do prefer lumbar carry for these weights vs. backpacks.
 
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