Show your daypack / hiking setups

[Kestrel]

A friend of mine (who was interested in lightening his daypack) asked me to detail my setup, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to open a discussion thread here;

For those who don't want to pull up the individual pics, here is a DropBox link to the picture album:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/18ggrodqhd5evdd/AABm6YoBHvmAiQHWQuSVBpXka?dl=0

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Eberlestock Mini-Me; by far the best daypack I have ever used, or even seen; not only of very high build quality, but of such a compact size so that day items are relatively consolidated & don't move around. Rather expensive @ ~$150+, but worth every penny - and then some.
The minimal volume has forced me omit superfluous items, focusing on what is only necessary for the day.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lm64i14i7vzl1dw/20190711_195158.jpg?dl=0

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Outer pocket
Kershaw folding knife, 4x Zeiss monocular, Pelican 1920 2xAAA LED penlight, whistle, spare car key, ibuprofen.
This pocket also holds my wallet & car keys during the hike.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a9f7zhv9swvsxpr/20190711_195243.jpg?dl=0

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Main compartment
Holding two bottles (one pint Nalgene, one 8oz. aluminum), snacks, and the cell phone (not pictured - huh :huh🙂
The thinking on the aluminum bottle is that it can do double-duty as a boiling/cooking container.
This compartment can also easily hold one of my small frame S&W revolvers & pocket holster (not shown).
Nested deeper inside the main compartment is an inboard pocket holding my two survival gear pouches, and a vinyl emergency poncho.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0iivyjg97nr2uoe/20190711_195336.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/59ibel95t880ds6/20190711_195419.jpg?dl=0

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Survival gear
In no particular order;

• Fire: matches, windproof butane lighter, flint/striker, qty.4 tea candles, wax firestarting pellets
• Illumination: 1xAAA Fenix LD01, 1xAAA Muyshondt Mako Flood, Fenix headlamp - this is CPF, after all. 🙂
• Personal / first-aid: mini- first aid kit, moleskin, toilet paper
• Utility: Swiss army knife, mini-knife, Silva compass, high-viz surveying tape, whistle, qty.2 zip-ties, duct tape, misc nylon cord, mini survival saw, diamond knife sharpener, fish hooks & line
• Not shown: qty.2 Eneloop AAA spares, add'l compass, 100yd dental floss, tiny metal pencil sharpener (for making tinder)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4474dgd637qym4u/20190711_195843.jpg?dl=0

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There are a couple of problems with my setup right off the bat - with the current configuration, it is difficult (but not impossible) to switch out the pint Nalgene bottle for a Quart bottle. I do this for longer days, but it's just not a good fit the way things are set up.
Here in western Oregon my limited water capacity hasn't been critical for shorter hikes - for longer days or when I hike elsewhere I do immediately go up to a full quart of capacity.
Looking at this now (as well as some of the obvious redundancies in the survival items), I think I can consolidate the two survival pouches into one, leaving ample room for a quart bottle of water. Now that we are heading into the summer heat, this is top priority IMO.

One shortcoming seen here is the lack of a survival sleeping bag; I do have a good micro bag the size of a roll of toilet paper, which is far better than one of those mylar emergency bags.
I would normally keep this in a day pack, but there just hasn't been the room here. :sigh: That really does need to be addressed in my rebuild.

I'm also going to replace / supplement the misc. nylon cord with a generous length of paracord.

I am thinking of replacing the Fenix mini-headlamp (operating from a couple of coin cells), with my SureFire Minimus 1xCR123 headlamp.
At the same time, I could replace the Pelican 2xAAA penlight with the infinitely-variable SureFire Titan 1xCR123 light (or the 1xCR123 SureFire L1 ??), and carry a couple of CR123 spares for cross-compatibility.

Another tip I just came across is Lip Balm; its wax can do double-duty as a fire starter. :thumbsup:

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The 'wet' weight for the entire pack as it is currently configured is 6.5 lbs (including a pint of water & snacks).

Now I can have a benchmark for moving forward, reconfiguring it to hold more water but hopefully not adding as much to the overall weight.

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Feel free to post your day hiking setups. 🙂
Best regards,

 

[Monocrom]

Nice set-up, and great topic for a thread. Once I get my stuff organized, I'll join in with what I've got set-up.

 

[bignc]

Nice!

I use Osprey for everything pack related. On a day hike, I simply remove my laptops (long story but I have 2 to carry every day) and associated, put my extra clothes and small tarp in the laptop pouch and move my extra med and psk bags out of my get home bag (which stays in the truck but is a 40 instead of a 24l like my Edc bag. ) I may add food and more elaborate water procurement or solar charging or more ammo- just depends on the environment and the conditions.

My Edc is usually pretty slim but covers the bases- for example, med.... I carry a CAT, pressure bandage, nitrile gloves, and shears and a chest deal as well as a small boo boo kit and some OTC meds (diphenhydramine, ibuprofen, hydrocortisone.).

IMPORTANT: I USE BAGS IN BAGS. MY MED KIT IS IN A RED BAG. Food and water supplies in a blue bag. Gun and flashlight stuff in a black bag. All inside the main pack. I use some cheapo waterproof stuff sacks that were gifted to me. It changed my life when I started doing this. 🙂

Also, I Edc a liter nalgene. On hikes, I add a camelback and or additional nalgene as well as a metal cup and possibly camp stove.

I always have self.defense, FIRE capability and lighting on my person.

Probably missing something but I love this topic and hope to learn more!


ETA: Compass, zip ties, weatherman and a pen/pad are in the Edc too. I keep some other survival items in the "blue" bag depending on environment....


Just to talk lights, I keep an m61t and an md1 and md1.5 with 3 and 6v malkoff options in my ghb along with batteries, chargers and cottonpickers solar panel.

 

[reppans]

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