great thread idea.
......
why to
not listen to my personal gear choices;
1) you know for sure you are returning; if not meaning "returning home", then simply meaning returning the same route.
i haven't taken returning for granted in a long time.
i go off trail almost always and
like a lot of present and former military here, we are hardwired not to return the way that we came - besides being potentially dangerous if an enemy or predator is following your spore, in peace
you get to see more - you've already seen where you are returning to obviously.
my choice of a
hawk and machete is because they have
good combatives as well as bushcraft and survival utilities. they are my
core tools/weapons and they
complement each other as tools.
because of them, a lot of times the closest i get to a real backpack is a duffle bag which doesn't jive with a lot of folks, especially the ones that are younger and don't think they are hurting themselves with excessive load-outs. - i am not against large packs, mind you,
i just think folks tend to grab them automatically, when a wool blanket and tarp wrapped around a machete and some extra food and a proper hawk in hand can move you through thick woods faster and more comfortably IME. it isn't ultralight, but it is cool and comfy, and my machete and hawk are my pack frames until they make one from natural materials in the field, if need be.
while i carry other common tools with my two primaries, like a
folding saw, multiplier, small chisel, and SAK, they are thiings that wear out sooner and can't be field repaired as easily, especially in the long haul. i consider the little tools to be car-camping niceties, and
i enjoy them but i don't trust them.
- the hawk and machete combination is great for Walkabout, at least for me. - a lot of knife people
can't even walk, so they shouldn't listen to my gear choices
maybe.
2) if you are a worrier, don't listen to me
i've reached the point in my skills set that i don't worry about anything. i don't need anything really, historically speaking, God always takes care of fools like me - there is so much junk in every wilderness that i have been to that you can make a city if you have to. with an old junker car nearby, i can forge a hawk and a knife in a furnace that originated with a friction fire while plastic bottles gather bait in the nearby stream. - i really don't enjoy that though -
i like having my hawk especially. - it saves my back when i drag large pieces of wood to the fire - i probably use it
as a come-along more than as a chopper. i use it a bit as a
grappling hook or climbing axe too.
3) you never snow camp.
the machete and vectorized sheaths i have made spend a lot of time as a pack frame of sorts, hanging off of a shoulder strap
(that is usually made of a shotgun belt), for reasons that i have mentioned - it's comfy for me. but most folks don't see how easy it is to make snow shelters with a machete. the machete also is great to cook something on or use as a spatula. - sure, the heat treat might get ruined in the odd circumstance that you are using your large blade for such a thing, but
big deal, just re-heat-treat it at your leisure. the machete and hawk together can be carried in one hand with a comprehensive survival kit all day long - if i have to separate from my gear when i am out in the Big Lonely in bad snow, a shoulder strap around my torso while i am sleeping brings all my primary junk with me. i'll just break out the hot chocolate and hard candy and get my wind back while i think for a spell ...maybe drop a fish trap in the water while i am doing it....
4) if you have no sense of direction, or an inadequate one, and don't consider your ears and nose to be part of your navigational senses,
don't listen to me. don't get me wrong. i love GPS. i love my old Tritium Lensatic Compass. Nothing better than a good map
(- the time to look at the map is before you go BTW - re-drawing it helps a lot too, so don't listen to me if you can't hope to draw a contour map in any recognizable form).
5) don't listen to my gear choices if you are weak in the legs. i am not against heavy boots, but i think i had enough of them in the USMC and the Navy.
i think big heavy boots are outstanding to have a pair worn in and ready to go, especially
for disaster response. - i tend to leave them behind when i go out though. sandals and light boots are what i normally carry. if i need more than that, what am i doing wrong? -
a lot, in my book.
6) don't listen to me if you don't have little kids. taking care of yourself alone on the trail is
easy and a forgiving process; if you bring too much, you just bring it back and make a note not to next time hopefully. a lot of folks with babies especially
just stop going out - that's the worst idea i have ever heard of, - and we wonder why kids these days have so little respect for nature - it's because it is not ingrained in them. my kids are all monkeys. my gear choices let's me load out light enough to carry somebody else's pack, or a kid, or both. my youngest used to love holding her pop's hawk while we hiked - it was like having some smart-car equivalent of a hawk sheath - i'd just lift my hand up and she'd put in in my hand, as she rode on my shoulders. i don't consider myself an athlete by any means, i just don't carry a gut.
if you are obese, you and i don't have much in common, i hate to say - you especially shouldn't follow my gear choices unless you just like them;
my gear choices are meant to be run with, and if need be; fought with.
....there's lots of reasons not to listen to me -
especially about hawks.
hawks aren't for everyone.
neither am i.
:thumbup:
vec
)
