who's really done it?

I've given first aid a couple times to others. Part of my kit being compass and maps, I use them whenever I go out. Cutting tools too. I've never had more than a blister or splinter myself and I've never been lost. Stuff like fire starters and water purification gets used on a regular basis too.

I see two stages of gear-- my "regular" hiking gear that keeps me warm, dry, and fed on any trip, and then the backup PSK for when I've lost my main pack and/or need things like fishing gear, snares, or backup fire starting tools.

If I were in a disaster situation, my regular hiking gear would be my BOB. I've had the discussion on other forums about situatiuons like Katrina, where an experienced and equipped hiker could have made tracks out of New Orleans and covered a lot of ground in a few days, completely self-supported.
 
Codger, good point about "Ol' Blue Light" and his "Foot Cavalry." I think HD made a similar point about going light enough to get to where you need to get.

Codger_64 said:
It is said that the line of march of green troops was easily followed by the trail of discarded items they had left home with. I've seen this up close and personal with armies, and with civilians who hit the AP trails as well.
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The main trail up into the San Gorgonio Wilderness Area (SoCal) started (or used to start) with a mile-long steep hill - "Poopout Hill." It was also fairly exposed to the sun. If you went up there (Early Sunday morning was best.), you could find dozens of cans of food, pots, pans, Coleman lanterns -- even the heavy canvas tents of the day -- all abandoned in that first mile of reality. (You can bet few greenies started at first daylight. Starting out near Noon seemed to go with being overloaded.)

Further in you would find more stuff dumped. Heavy, steel tent stakes were another common find. I have a nice Plumb axe I finally took after seeing it several times. I could have had many D flashlights, but I only took a Remington after seeing it under a bush over and over.

The interesting thing the axe and flashlight illustrated is that not all of the dumped gear/supplies was picked up on the way out. You could find lots of stuff there on Monday etc.. Maybe they were too dazed to see their stuff on the way out.

Even if you have a top of the line GPS and a sack of batteries, learning to use a basic compass and map is essential IMHO.
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+1.

Even a cave man could do it.
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Have you condsidered getting into advertising? :D
 
I have a gadget head that I work with, he stood in line and bought an I phone the first day they came out. My pack was sitting in a chair in my office one day when Ole Boston Phil came in, he saw the marbles pin on compass on the sternum strap and asked "what in the world do you have that for, don't you have a GPS". :rolleyes: :D

If you can make and use a flint chip, a knife is a huge luxury but not really needed, same goes for lots, if not most gear. Chris
 
runningboar said:
. . .If you can make and use a flint chip, a knife is a huge luxury but not really needed, same goes for lots, if not most gear. Chris
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There are entire categories of "essential" gear that did not exist even a generation ago. (Just as whole stores are full of electronic products we supposedly "have" to own, products that did not exist when I was a kid.)

As to knives, and as you doubtless appreciate, yours is a distinctly minority view, metal tools being generally regarded as a functional advance over stone tools.

There is virtually no "flint" in Ohio. It can be found (except as a fluke) in only one location - Flint Ridge. Flint from there was traded by stone age man over distances of many hundreds of miles.


I suggest another view: primitive living skills are nice, but the time needed to master many of them is a luxury when better "minimal" gear is readily available that can do the job better and faster.

But if we are reduced to a state where ONLY a cave man can do it, you get the last laugh.
 
25 years ago, found myself having to do 30 miles down a mostly dry riverbed to get home. My "PSK" consisted of a folding Buck knife, a SAK, and a Bic lighter. Temps below freezing at night. Got back the fourth day, not much worse for wear.
 
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