you've lost your pack, now what?

[DWK2]

kmm/warrigal,

Good points on the plastic. A few years ago I took a friend down a whitewater river in AK during rainy season. I gave him plenty of advice on how to double waterproof everything. He figured there was no need to listen to someone with 2-3,000 miles of wilderness river trips under his belt and packed his stuff in a 30+ year old garment bag. Eight days of wet socks and cold feet were the result. I had plenty of extra warm smartwool socks in ziplocs inside my drybags but I figured he needed about 8 days of cold feet to really learn the lesson. Which, by the way, subsequent experience has shown he has NOT learned.

DancesWithKnives

 

[baldtaco-II]

I think for most common scenarios I tote enough crap round in the pockets of my vest and clothing that whilst it would be irritating it wouldn't be intimidating in the slightest. The reason being that exactly the kinds of things I'm likely to need most are already in my pockets because of common usage.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of stuff I tote just a snapshot of what I'm catching myself lugging about now -

The vest contains a small first aid bag, pruning shears, pliers, string, torch, insect repellent and relevant ointment, lighters, phone, plastic bags, tin foil, stanley knife and small folder and a few other bits. Those things live in there anyway, quite apart from any notion of a kit. I use foil for things from windshields to dog bowls. Plastic bags hardly need explaining and are just as much in there for fetching stuff home as any emergency use. And so on with all the other bits. They are just things I commonly use in the woods. Under pressure those same pruning shears, bits of plastic and string can easily make a nest in not long at all. Similarly, root about in the first aid bag and there's paths to fire. These items are so fundamental to me they are just part of what goes with me.

On top of that there's all the other stuff I commonly have about me somewhere. A baldric with a FB on it. There's other things on that which will make fire. My workhorse torch is a little 2*C, so I'll have that somewhere. There will be a SAK Outrider on me somewhere. Binoculars and Cameras attach to me. Then there's random pocket stuff, bog roll, tobacco, lighter, pipe and paraphernalia. I have a watch and I use a whistle with my dog.

The upshot is without excessive weight penalty just happen to have the things about me that would give ma an advantage. True, my warm layers would be gone, and my roof, and my ax or golok, and to a much lesser extent I'd also miss food and water. But I could under most conditions bang out a nest and get a drink, get a fire going, keep the bugs off a bit and mend my scrapes for a while before it got to more than an inconvenience. Cold and boring but not life threatening.

This is all without trying. It's 00.20 here and I may take the dog into the woods in a bit. Something pretty grim would have to have happened for me to not make it through the night with that lot. Obviously the more adventurous the more I'd add but this is just grab and go stuff.

 

[fujita yuji]

My solution is to secure the essential things by more than one way, which is
usually called 'belay' by climbing people.
Normally, nothing happens if your blade falls from your hand. Just pick it up
from the ground and that's all, which means holding the blade with hand
is enough security. But there are cases this no longer holds like crossing a river
without a bridge.
Belay needs some imagination like 'what if' thinking and experience to do
effectively, but acting like this itself greatly reduces the possibility of 'what if' case.

 

[baldtaco-II]

I'm inclined to agree. I think I have that pegged under a cautious but not paranoid amount of anticipation. I usually marvel when I hear cases of “I cut myself”, “I poured coffee in my laptop”, “I dropped my phone down the kharsi”, “my camera fell off a wall”, “I lost my knife”... Sure stuff happens, but with practice and good drills most of the silliness can be avoided by dint of the fact that opportunities for a balls up should be more predictable / avoidable.

 

[raybadge]

I carry my important survival stuff in my pocket on a laniard, that's looped around my belt, in my pocket. I put my Mora directly on the laniard. I put a lighter, whistle, and petzel on key rings, hooked the key rings to a small carabiner, then then hooked the carabiner to the Mora's laniard. In the other pocket is a small bottle of alcohol based cleaner (also works as a fire starter), compass, and an energy bar. A space blanket is in my back pocket. I don't have anything in my pocket to carry or boil water with, though.

 

[fujita yuji]

I have some experience of losing my equipment, which means my solution
is far from being perfect.
What if thinking and belaying things is a learned skill for me, implies it is not always
executed as expected.
Again, skill, experience and discipline reduces the amount of carrying, time needed, and the risk.
Nothing more than my personal opinion though.

 

[mtwarden]

losing your pack could happen to anyone- there are a numerous scenarios that could lead to it; is it likely, probably not, but why leave it to chance

simply carry a few (or slightly more than a few ) necessary items on your person

 

[recondo4u]

While in Afghanistan I always wore what I deemed a S.E.R. (Survival, Evasion, and Recovery) Belt. I used a special rescue belt, attached to it was my IR strobe light, small Altoid tin base survival kit, a standard size carabineer, a drop leg holster for my M-9 and a fixed blade knife with kydex sheath. I wore this set up on every mission. I figured that if I ever had to drop everything else that my S.E.R belt had the items that I needed to keep me alive until rescue. I still apply this way of thinking when I go out into the bush now. I have changed out to a different knife and removed the drop leg holster, but everything else is the same.

 

[PropThePolecat]

KMM Not trying to be smart but I didn't think anybody wasn't packing their gear in plastic bags anymore. Particularly if you have enough interest to be at a place like this forum.
This one of the driest continents on Earth ( only Antartica get less rainfall) and I ALWAYS pack my gear in side clear ( so I can see what is in them) plastic bags and a larger bin liner bag as a pack liner I did the wet sleeping bag as a kid on a Scout camp once. Chattering teeth most the night even around the built up fire convinced me the value of sealing in plastic. As a matter of interest my bag got wet because a water jerrycan leaked on my pack while packed in the trailer, so not rain or a dunking.
Carl

I pack my gear in drybags when the situation/season calls for it, for example if i know i have alot of stream crossing as is the rule in northern scandinavia, or if im doing a multiday hike in a remote area. My pack has a raincover on it almost year-round.

I dont carry a waterbladder inside my pack (learned from others mistake), and i carry a Nalgene bottle outside the pack as theyre virtually indestructable.

The incident where i dropped my pack in the lake was an exception, i had never canoed before and didnt think it through, but rest assured it wont happen again.

 

[fishkev236]

losing your pack could happen to anyone- there are a numerous scenarios that could lead to it; is it likely, probably not, but why leave it to chance

simply carry a few (or slightly more than a few ) necessary items on your person

+1
what he said

 

[Gadgetaholic]

but I figured he needed about 8 days of cold feet to really learn the lesson. Which, by the way, subsequent experience has shown he has NOT learned.

Some people are just a bit 'hard of thinking'.

Luckily I learn pretty quickly - for instance I have learnt a lot from reading these forums. For me I know there is something I would need that I currently don't have - relevant first hand experience. I plan to fix that.

If I lost my pack or couldn't get back to camp then I would at least have some useful items on me. I EDC a SAK & a LM - pretty useful things to have on your belt IMO. I also EDC a peanut lighter - being able to get a fire going would be handy. Hopefully I would have a reasonable fixed blade knife on my belt (at least my BK7) so I could handle the fire prep OK.

My current plan is to go camping alone but well equipped and to practice many things I have read about. I will have a tent, bedroll & sleeping bag - but there is no reason why I couldn't have fun trying to build a debris shelter, when you don't need it is the best time to learn it! I will also try at least a couple of different ways to get a fire going, make fuzz sticks, etc. Being familiar with building a fire prior to really needing to build a fire would be a bloody good idea! It is early Summer here - so I will look at going camping several times over the next few months. I figure I should have a bit of experience before I try to camp in Winter.

I like to learn by reading about stuff & watching videos, then going out and trying what I learnt. Without adding that personal experience to put the theory into practice you just don't know what things you think you know but don't fully understand. Being well prepared includes having knowledge & experience, not just having the gear.

 

[beef]

I think the "losing your pack crossing a river" scenario is a bit of a cliche to justify carrying a knife. And this is coming from someone who loves carrying knives.

Firstly, if I lost my pack and fell in a creek, chances are I'd be so cold I wouldn't have the motor skills to do much with that knife. Open it? maybe. Split wood? possibly. Create feathersticks? Not a chance. Prepare tinder? Doubtful.
Grab my spare garbage bag and hop inside to warm up? Yes.

But in reality, if this situation did occur, I'd have the help of others I walk with, who would probably still have their packs.

Having said this, I often carry a folding knife and firesteel/ tinder in my pocket when doing offtrack walks.