what is a perfect hip-pack

[Rivet]

No, the smart ass answer is cell phone. Then, just call Dominos and order a pizza.

[redhawk]

No, the smart ass answer is cell phone. Then, just call Dominos and order a pizza.

Wouldn't work anyway. here in the Southern Dacks we not only don't have cellular/wireless service (we don't even have 911), we don't have Dominos. or Pizza Hut,

[Neil]

Smart a$$ answer: a handgun, either to shoot game or to hold up other hikers for their trail mix.

Poor A$hton, you're taking a beating here. All in fun of cour$e!!

[protocoldroid]

i forgot the most imporant one: tequila, if you can finish the bottle, you can get the worm out to use for bait.

(this thread is going on a huge tangent, and I can't help but add to it.... must, resist.... temptation.... shoot, that's the only thing I can't resist -- temptation)

[Rick]

To get back to the original question,
I once forgot my cup and ended up making one out of a spare bit of tin foil and it worked very well, (though a paper cup would work just as well to boil water over a fire.)

I usually carry a small compass (I used to carry big flip-open Silva Ranger, but now that I have a GPS, I carry a much smaller Suunto compass) and always, always a map of the area.

Things I also carry -
- Handful of hard butterscotch candy and several cough drops,
- 15' of the black braided fishing line (used on my bait casting reels) and a
hook with 2 splitshot.
- several "Penguins" - caffeinated candies (caffeine will lift my spirits)
- stub of candle,
- Spare matches and spare lighter
- Cotton Balls soaked in Vaseline stored in a film canister
- Swiss army knife with magnifying glass, small saw and scissors
- small blue pocket survival book (You can't always remember everything)
- Small pinch LED flashlight with strobe functions (about the size of a quarter)
- Small bottle of tincture of iodine (a pharmacist will sell you a dark brown glass
eyedropper bottle for $.50 of you ask for one at the counter. (I read once
that the efficacy of Iodine is prone to deterioration from light)
- Tin foil - several squares as mentioned
- Glue Stick (from a glue gun - Will repair most anything)
- Immodium AD tablets
- spare bandanna
- spare shoelace
- several spare band-aids and several single use packets of first-aid cream
- small earbud radio
- pen and small notepad
- one large unopened lawn & leaf bag (try to get a bright orange one when they
are sold around Halloween) I Keep it unopened or it will never fit in my pack
- 2 spare ziplock freezer-style quart bags (with several coffee filters in one) and a
$20 bill in the other.
- Several Vicodan's, ibuprofens, tylenols and a small hotel sewing kit.
- Several coffee filters inside one of the Ziplock Freezer bags.

I can store all of this in an OR Zippered nylon storage pouch that is about 9" by 5" and about 2-3" deep. It weighs just about 1.5 lbs and usually goes either into the top pocket of my backpack or in the main storage pocket of my hip-pack or bottom of my daypack.

I always carry a wind or rain jacket with my hip pack (my Marmot Dryclime is very compact) and I have 2 side pockets on it for waterbottles.

This is usually the minimum I take out and while some think it might even be overkill for a something as simple as 5-mile hike on an established trail, I was glad I had it with me one time on the AT in PA when I decided to try a shortcut on an old tote road instead of backtracking 6 miles on the trail 2 summers ago.

Though I ultimately didn't need the kit, the tote road faded into a herdpath and was soon lost. Darkness was closing in on me within an hour and a half. I got a bit nervous then realized I might make foolsih mistakes - it was after all, summer and I was prepared.

The worst that could happen was that I spend a night in the woods with no threat of rain. When I decided to make a camp and started to look for a nice flat area to spend the night, I found a very old faint AT blaze from there I set a compass bearing and found another and realized I was on an abandoned section of the AT which brought me back to the main trail.

(BTW, I also later discovered that when rerouting trails, many times trail crews will only black out the first few blazes at the junctions of the re-routes and leave the rest of the old blazes intact.)

[ashtonscavette]

rik thats good ..well the hole idea behind this thread i was reading that LOST thread and about the mind making problems for you .me i take alot of walks in the woods on a daily basis and alot of risks about doing it so i was thinking i always carry a hip pack now with the basics..just trying to put togeather a setup that left me with the cofindence that if somthing happen i'm not going to be standing there wishing if only i had done this or that rather just know i can deal with it ...

[Wildernessphoto]

I don't know about small...

come on ..what is the smallest item that you think is ideal to stay alive for three days ?

Hi Ashton,
I think for me, I would say my ax is the most important thing. With my ax I can build a shelter with a thatched roof, build a pine bow bed, cut firewood, make other tools like a bowdrill for fire, a spear to fishing, a fish trap by driving stakes into the lake bottom like a coral, spring traps for hunting small game. There's a lot you can do with that one tool.
This is my daypack list for 3 seasons. I add some down items in compression sacks in the winter.
-Gary-

[ashtonscavette]

won a few wildernessphoto.......

[sacco]

moving this thread to the gear/survival area

[protocoldroid]

This thread, and especially WildernessPhoto's mention of his axe being most important, reminds me of one of my favorite books as a kid.... Hatchet by Gary Paulson.