ugh man, need help packing this sucker guys.

ROCK6 said:
Jake, it really depends on how you use your knife. I've seen a lot of troopers using their knife to scrap, pry and chisel. For outdoors, I would suspect it's of limited use and a solid fixed blade could do all those chores on natural material without damaging the edge or breaking the blade. For urban areas, a small prybar has come in handy for me.

We're currently in the field and I used my small prybar (it's about 8 inches long) to pry that damn folding cot bar into place:D If you use any nails to hang gear on in camp, it makes it a tad easier to remove. We got new office furniture and it came in handy pry some of the connections loose. You can use the flat of the bar as a hammer head when using a baton as the hammer (instead of the flat of your knife blade).

I just have a small (Stanley I think) bar in my 3-day work/field pack...



If you can't see a need it's excess wait. If you actually do use it, than it's not a bad tool for the bag. The County Comm mini-pry bars are nice on the key chain, but they are pretty in-effective on prying much beyond picture nails and staples.

ETA...sorry Fonly, didn't mean to hijack the thread:o

ROCK6
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I think Ill run out to ACE and pick up a mini, and give er a whirl. Thanks Rock....:thumbup:

Man, I remember thos damn PITA cots.:mad:

Have fun in the field brother....Rock, you need a vacation bro!!!;)
 
Fonly, keeping in mind WHERE you live, and the brutal cold temps there, I would be hesitant to remove the large heat-tarp (that big red one) from your kit........same with the heatsheets, keep em!

i would remove these though:

- CRKT desert cruiser (i know you just got it and its hella fun to flip but........)
- soap bar - replace with those tiny hotel soap bars
- choose either the SAK or the Leatherman - what do you use more....maybe move one to a belt sheath on your person....
- keep the Millie, in your pocket, and the Rat in your bag
- drop all the pens and go with a tried and true construction pencil that will never failyou in COLD temps
- the candies are potential lifesavers, weight nothing , so keep those
- lose the big bundle of rope, i'll mail you some lightweight yet tough Hemp cord (1.5mm 3 strand)
- unless you have a very specific need for the Allen keys, drop em
- keep the TK11, its very light, and keep 2 CR123 batts as spares, drop the SureFire
- drop the zippo or keep it on a belt pouch on your person
- pry bar, i know its new and very useful, do you need it though? keep in the glove box
- drop the camo paint and one bundle of zip ties
- compass or GPS.....tough choice........GPS in a whiteout is a lifesaver......

other than that the redundancy on the fire kit is just fine, esp where you live it could be a lifesaver.....


-
 
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Want to thin that down?

Select one of the bladed items, ditch the rest.
Ditch the extra flashlight (assuming you have extra bulb and batteries anyway).
Ditch the glowsticks.
Ditch the zip ties, at least the extras. You already have cord.
Allen wrenches? Keep in the car's toolbox.

What I'd want to add:
Some food with more substance than candy suckers. A survival bar for example.
Pencil. Paper notepad.

things I need some advice on:
-The heavy duty heat blanket. It takes up alot of room, and im wondering if you guys think I could get away with two of the plain mylar space blankets.
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Adjust your kit seasonally. I keep a wool blanket in the car for winter, but during the rest of the year an emergency mylar should be enough.
 
Remove...
-Buck
-Vic
-CRKT
-Solitare Mag Light (Get down to one battery type)
-Extra batteries for Solitare
-Zippo
-Mini Glow sticks
-camo compact
-Mini prybar
-Allen Set (unless you have really good reason for it)

Carry for a week and then rethink it again!
 
Fonly...

I think you have a decent set-up for 2 people. I just have a few suggestions on what I would personally do instead. A couple of modifications/drops I would make. A few additions as well.

Things I would get rid of:
Camo Compac, 2 of the folders (I would keep the Buck personally), 1 of the flashlights and back-up batteries, the glowsticks, the large blanket, half of the zip-ties, the allen wrenches and the cordage.

I would add:
Inova keychain lights (to replace the lite sticks, they are 3-stage and can be clipped on the zipper pulls of your pack)

550 (guts make great tinder and it is probably stronger than the cordage you have now)

A saw (I use a Coast folding saw or a Buck)

I second the idea of a headlight. Mine has additional red LED's to protect night vision.

Something to write on (If you're gonna have the pens, might as well have a sheet of paper, small notebook, or notecards available) I use these to make notes about the gear I use and need to replace, also to make note of places to return in the future and/or notes of pictures I took, and most importantly I place a notecard with emergency info in my pack and in my wallet and in my pocket in case I am found on a trail somewhere.

Oh...I thought I should mention something I do. I would not necessarily get rid of all the extra gear, but I would relocate it. I carry some supplemental gear in my pockets in case I lose or have to abandon my pack.
 
Actually Fonly..... Bob W. reminded me... ditch the candies too..... They are a morale booster more than anything. You don't need food a short term small kit like this.

Unless you are diabetic or something they don't do much for survival...

Evolute can attest to food and its importance in survival.


It takes up to 60days for a normal healthy human to die of starvation and you can maintain bodily function indefinately on something like 120 cal. a day.


Evolute lived this scenario...
 
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morale boosters (like little candies) sure do help though......and i mean really, they weight about 1 lousy ounce for all of them.......
 
There are other morale boosters that don't take up any space... but i totally understand what you are saying, brother.
 
Mag...that 'morale booster' can make all the difference, man.
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I agree, but I'd want something in addition to the empty nutrient-free calories of candy.

That was the point I was trying to make.
 
Understood completely. I carry Clif Bars with me as well as sunflower seeds in the shell, salted to help with dehydration.
 
I can't tell if you already have something included for water purification. Iodine tablets taste like crap but they're easy to carry, last a long time, and they work.
 
Fonly, I note you are in Alberta and cold temps must be taken into consideration. I agree with most of what has been already posted. Those heatsheets survival blankets are great, as Bushman says. Pare down what you have and upgrade other stuff. If you are looking for a water bottle that also doubles as a pot, I just picked up a stainless steel water bottle from MEC. It is virtually identical to a 1L Kleen Kanteen and a fraction of the price. Nests perfectly in my folding mug.

p.s. It hit -50 Celsius in Winnipeg today:D Least it's a dry cold . . . .
 
Ok guys,

This was exactly what I was hoping for. I have it in a lunada right now. Its very comfy, and I can take it everywhere with out looking like a mall ninja.

As of right now, things dropped:
Extra light
-two glo sticks(kept 1 chemical,1 battery opt)
-the Vic was dropped.
-The crkt will go, but I want a small fixed to take its place.


Misc stuff:
-I carry the buck 55, spydie, keys with magbar, zippo, watch, ring and wallet are one me.
-I think ill ditch the mini mylar blankets and bring back the heavier blanket
-The mini bar stays, as well as the camo kit, never know when I might need that stuff and the mirrior is an essential to me.
-I will need some type of boiler, im used to that method and I should stick with it.

Thank you guys, ill up date the pics in a bit and show whats been changed.


Also, not to sound like a dick, but make sure you read all of the OP, I explaind alot of what was said allready.:p:D
 
with all of the space you save by paring down on the knives, lights, and such I'd add an emergency cell charger of your choice.
I may have missed it but why the allen keys? I've hardly ever come across the need for them, unless i know ahead of time, and I can pick the one I want.

I carry the 2 and 3 mm cord available from MEC I'm too cheap for spectra line, but the static cord is very strong as long as you are careful. also for an urban kit, shoe lace, safety pins, spork.

I've never found pencil sharpeners to work all that well on pencils, which have the softest crap wood known to man, so with cold hands, I doubt I could even hold one, unless it was larger, which defeats the purpose. YMMV
 
Ditch some of the steel (knives), the flashlights and the cheap mylar space blankets. The Zippo can go too, seeing as the fuel always dries out.

You don't need that many knives... assuming you carry a folder or even a fixed blade a complementary multitool and a sturdy fixed blade would be fine.

Pick up two Fenix E01's in bright colors ($15/ea) and a whole bunch of AAA's, Energizer E2 Lithium if you're going to store them away (they won't leak and have great shelf-life), otherwise alkalines are fine. You may want to keep the larger Fenix TK10 you've got there but the most I could see you using it for is signalling, as a bright light is not strictly necessary or even as useful as a dim long runtime light, but you could replace it with a PD30 which is just as powerful (and more versatile, with variable output modes) in a much smaller and lighter package.

Those cheap mylar blankets are crinkly and not very durable. The Adventure Medical Kits heatsheets blankets are similar in function and very durable. I tested using one of the AMK heatsheets for over a week instead of using a heavier blanket at home and at the end I had a few stretches and a few punctures but they patched easily with small pieces of duct tape. Had the same happened to a mylar blanket you'd have ribbons instead of a blanket. They are a few bucks more than the cheap mylar ones but IMHO way better. After you try them out you can see if you think you can get away with a few of these instead of the heavy blanket but I would lean towards keeping the blanket.

Also I don't see any paracord... the stuff is really useful for just about anything. A good 100' deserves its place in any larger kit.
 
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