Field packs, loads etc

[James Harvey]

#6388

Hey guys, I use the same basic load and layout for work and hunting and just finished cleaning all my field kit after being out and was about to repack it all and thought it was an opportunity to give an example of what I like, which is a little different from the hunting packs I usually see.

So here is a photo of pretty much everything I take just about everywhere whether I’m at work or play for more than a night or two… The first thing my American compadres will probably note is the lack of cold weather gear and the absurd amount of water carriage. Basically it’s hot here and waterways are seasonal so sometimes you will not find any water fit for drinking. The other thing you might note is the weird cam pattern.. it’s the Australian army’s pattern so I usually get everything in it so I can use it at work..

Here’s a closer look at my basic pack load. From bottom to top, left to right it goes: Gortex raincoat, ultralight tarp shelter (we call it a hoochy), toiletries box; waterproofed first aid kit, 2x 24 hour rations (these are army rats but you can do the same thing with store bought stuff.. and 2 x 24 hour packs lasts me about 3 days); watch cover, shemagh, camouflaged neck sock and 8 x 1 litre (~2 pint) water bottles and 3 x 2 litre (~4 pint) camelbacks.. I don’t take all that, only about 8 litres mostly in bottles and one camelback. Also note the cup canteen and kidney stove on one of the water bottles. All of that is laid out on my sleeping mat; at the top a dry bag with 3 spare pairs of socks, a thermal shirt and sew-awl.

Sleeping gear is a medium weight (-5C) sleeping bag in a waterproof bivvy bag.

Here is a close up of my two mostly used packs. The one on the right is my go to pack, based on the vietnam era US army alice pack. If I’m going out for 3 nights or more that’s what I use. On the left is my 3 day mystery ranch pack with internal frame. It’s just a bit smaller and more convenient for up to 2 nights/3 days. But if I had to have just one I’d have the alice frame hands down.

Just in case you’re not familiar with a bivvy bag, this is it looks like.. it’s just a body bag you climb into. This one has a mosquito net as well so you can have your head out of the biv but safe from bites. It has a little loop of material on the outside that you can string up to a tree branch, or I often just string it to the top of my pack and it pulls the mossy net off your face.

Here is the pack fully packed and with a 20L (~ 5 gallon) water jerry for scale..

That pack load represents about 15-20kg (30-45lbs). My take down recurve and arrows in bow case strap nicely to the side of the pack, or could get top flapped as well.

Incidentally, with that exact pack load I have packed in that very 20L jerry inside the pack when I planned to be out for about a week and wasn’t confident of finding potable water. That obviously raises the pack weight to about 40kg or 90lbs. But the walk back is ok 😉

And a close up of nav stuff…

So maps obviously, compass (I prefer my silva expedition but left it at work so can’t have it in the shot), protractor with string (you can live without that if you have the silva exped), pencils/erasers and two examples of map cases. I use the cam map case for work as its a bit neater, smaller and obviously camouflaged, but I like the marine style map case better for anything else as it’s properly waterproof and you can have the map folded a bit bigger in there. Another option is to just contact your maps, and then you can use map marker pens and alcohol wipes as erasers. That’s great because you can do your nav out in the rain as you don’t have to get your maps out to write on them, but again, that’s more of military interest than civilian.

Finally, just my thoughts on my alice pack and why I prefer it over the modern style, internal frame, tall tube packs everyone uses nowadays. I like living out of the external pouches, all my water, food, cooking, first aid, everyday things in those neat, easy to access pouches. The only time I ever want to go into the main body is if I’m setting up to camp overnight. I’m a big fan of external pouches. I must also admit to bias as that’s what I’m used to for work.

So if anyone else has their gear out for cleaning or something, post some pics and compare what you’re carrying using etc 😀

[Doc Nock]

#51031

Wow! Bit overwhelming but very well done and I am impressed you’d take time to share…

First, welcome back.

Second, I was intrigued how you call it ‘work’… Be safe out there, Jim!

third: Not many places one can be away near me for 3 days hunting with our patchwork or checkerboard of private/no-access land, but I tend to carry waaaay too much stuff just to go in the woods for a day… and I’m not that far from the truck… I just hate to own it, need it, and it’s somewhere else at that moment!

As I’m aging, that will have to be rethought as I’m unable to handle much like I did a few short years ago!

Very impressive, again! I saw a “TUSKER” production on hog hunting where they drank out of filthy ponds…with hogs rooting up water of it and I was pretty curious about that behavior!

[paleoman]

#51154

Jim – thanks for sharing all that! What is the “shemagh” you refer to? I’m guessing firestarter because of the “mag” in the word?

[James Harvey]

#51385

Paleo, the shemagh is the green and black scarf next to the water bottles. It is one of my most used items in the field. I use it as a scarf, tea towel, head wrap, shaving cloth, cup cleaner. It gets pretty filthy, but then so do I 😀

Doc, I think I’ve seen the same video, where John and his young mate are using a filter pump to fill their camelbacks? It’s probably fine, and if they chlorinated it after pumping definitely fine. They were also probably somewhere properly remote. After a lot of work I’ve got access to some nice bits of land, but a lot of the better waterways run through military training areas before they get to where I’ll be. Soldiers s#!t in creek lines. I’m happy to hump my own water 😉

Anyway, if that pack was packed for work there’d be another 20kg of optics, ammo and weapons in the pack, so when it’s packed for play it always feels pretty light.

[grumpy]

#31814

So the shemagh is like the towel in THE HITCHIKERS GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE, right?

Stay safe, mate.

[James Harvey]

#35815

Exactly grumps 😉

We got detached from our packs recently and I saw a fella using a shemagh as a blanket out of desperation. It was properly cold. The next night I saw another soldier using a black garbage bag he found as a makeshift sleeping bag. Oh how I laughed. As I froze, haha. A few of the coldest nights of my life!

[Col Mike]

#36755

Jim

Welcome back:D Don’t you just hate it when the log trains are late with the packs and hot chow? Time to shoot the 1stSgt or the logistics officer.

Like you loved the Alice rig, but then smarter:shock:folks decided we could do better. Spent some time trying to teach folks that military gear is great for military and mountain climbing/backpacking is great for that but rarely do the two intersect.

kinda makes you wonder how our fathers won WW11 with a canvas little day pack and when required a haversack under it the ole M 1941 field transport pack and a cotton shirt for armor. Don’t get me started on the “soldiers load”. Anytime an infantrymen is carrying more then ammo,water and first aid into the battle, the leaders and the logisticians are shirking their duty. If you can find it S.L.A. Marshall “The Soldiers Load” very informative about fatigue, carrying crap, and fighting effectiveness. Don’t even mention body armor to me:evil: and that increased load.

Back to topic before mom deletes8) Light load means you move and HUNT well.

Mike

[Author]

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