The second post regarding my gear for getting out into the wilds. This will cover what I have found most useful in my Finn Gas Mask bag which I use for day trips.
This bag has quickly become a very popular day tripper bag but the Bushcraft community. It seems to be readily available, holds a good ammount of gear, and can be found very inexpensive. I bought mine for $3.99. It is made of cotton canvas and as it comes is not water resistant at all. I have done nothing to mine yet to ammend this but there are folks who domod them to make them more waterproof. I will, at some point do this and you can be sure that I will post the process and results here on the blog.
It has a strap system theat is pretty common to protective mask carriers. What I mean is, it has a waist strap and another ssmaller strap usually wrapped around your thigh to hold the bag closer and tighter to you so you can open it quickly when needed. Using it for a day bag I wear the waist strap asa shoulder strap across my body. I simply tighten up the unused leg strap and let it hang.between me and the bag.
On to the pictures!
Here is the Finn bag next to my packed ALICE medium rucksack for size reference.
Another shot of the loaded bag.
And now a pic of what I have in the bag in these pictures. Again these are the things I have found useful at this moment. More will be added or modified as I will explain. One problem I had was overpacking this bag. I used it a few times with a standard sized Nalgene and my Gransfor Bruks Wildlife hatchet packed inside. The was far too much and the snap closures couldn't handle the strain and constantly popped open. This led me to have to devise another method of carrying water and a hatchet if needed. Again this issue has been noticed by others and a quick internet search or a search of the forums in my side bar will give you more ideas of what to do if you need a solution. My solution was to carry a water bottle in my pocket and my hatchet on my belt if I really need it. I carry a fixed blade on my belt at all times out in the woods so if I need a hatchet I either add it to the belt or replace the knife.
Now for the contents
Really a pretty basic set up here. At the top of the photo are my work gloves and a roll of about 50' or so of military paracord (aka 550 cord). On the left side is a Kellam Puukko. This knife, or a Mora Classic 1 are always in this bag. Both knives are solid users and I know I can trust them if needed. Next to the knife are a survival blanket, a GI Lensatic compass (self luminous), a small altoids tin packed with Petroleum Jelly cotton balls, a box of stormproof matches which I need to get a watertight carrier for, and a ferro rod and coffinshaped striker. Next is a plastic spoon from an MRE. I got used to always having one on me in the military and now it has become a habit. A can of SPAM to eat if needed. The green altoids is a small personal survival kit, the red altoids is my fire kit. Next is a signal mirror, a fox 40 whistle and a piece of cloth cut from a military VS-17 signal panel. The panel piece is bright orange on one side and bright ink on the reverse. It is big and bright enough to use to signal a searching aricraft if neede and or a safe landing zone. Finally I have an OD/Black Shemagh, the uses for which are numerous. Earth, wind, and fire protection; arm sling, dew rag....you name it.
And that's it. As always it is a work in progress. SOmethings that go in or out as need are sunscreen and bug reppellant. I bought a bag for each of my kids and am starting them on their own "adventure" bags which they add gear to as they acquire it.
This will be my first attempt at fixing up an axe or hatchet, or any tool for that matter. Wish me luck!
The hatchet is nothing special except for possibly sentimental reasons. It was the hatchet my Step Father used as his boy scout hatchet when he was a scout. I've looked all over the head and can not find any marks as to a brand or maker.
Anyway I found it in the shed, head falling off the handle just as you see it in the picture.I asked him for it and he didn't seem to mind giving it up. I thought I could re handle it and take the paint off the head with out too much trouble, maybe give it back to My step dad or hold on to it for my on kids.
So that is what the project will be, complete with some pics to tell the tale.
Looking at the head sitting on the new handle, does the head look too small for this particular handle? Maybe I should get a smaller handle at the hardware store?
Let me know what you think.
Pic 1 is the old hatchet, the leather sheath and the new handle.
Pic 2 here is what the head and the new handle should look like when finished. Does the head look too small for this handle to you?
I may have mentioned that I am in the process of putting my bush craft gear together.
I have plenty of military issue gear but that stuff is really just on loan from Uncle Sam. Nearly all of it will be returned to him when I separate from my Military service. While deployed in Kuwait I took the opportunity t use some of my deployment money to start to build up my own gear for myself.
I'm still figuring things out so my equipment will be in flux for a bit until I get things finalized but I thought I would at least share what I now have. Maybe sharing what I have will help someone else pick out theirs or at least give them some ideas of what is out there and why I choose the things that I do. Choosing your load out is a very personal choice, one that could cost you quite a bit if you are not sure of what you are getting. Some folks choose modern ultra light weight stuff, some go Military surplus and some go old school traditional with items made from wool, canvas, leather etc... My style so far is military surplus for the most part simply because that is the gear I know. I have preference to go for Olive Drab (OD) rather than the more current ACU/ UCP pattern.
I will go in to some detail as to why I have what I do just to give you my thoughts and process for gear selection.
Well, for the most part, there it is all neatly packed up in a SPEC OPs brand medium Alice ruck with a Condor water bottle pouch attached to the right side as worn. I bought the ruck from another member on the BCUSA forums and he threw in an interesting frame that I had never seen before. Did some investigation and the frame is a Viet Nam War era Alice pack frame. I find this to be a pretty cool thing. Finally on the pack frame is a Molle waist belt. After purchasing these items I have learned they are now called a "hellcat" configuration. Whatever. I'm not much on labels and I tend to only use them so others know what I am talking about. I've worn the pack, loaded like this for a total of about 35-40 minutes and under a 2 mile rough terrain hike. So far it fits great and the weight wasn't bad. as is in this picture I would consider this pack fully loaded. One sad thing is this pack does not have any food in it. Something i will have to consider.
Anyway in the pick is the Ruck, as I mentioned. Directly under the ruck is a Hydrastorm 100 oz. hydration pack. Usually I strap something like this to the back of the ruck during a hike and then strap it on me when I drop the ruck and move about.
Sitting near the upper left of the ruck is my old Military 3 fold medic bag which I continue t use as a large first aid kit. I had this with us on out BWCA trip and gladly didn't need it. I am looking for a smaller pouch to make an individual first aid kit (IFAK) to mount on the ruck itself. I ill save the contents of the first aid bag for another post.
Sitting at the upper right is my Finn gas mask bag set up for a day trip, well mostly set up for one.
Military Tri-fold Medic bag
Finn Gas Mask Bag
So there are the bags themselves, now I will show you the contents starting with the outside pockets of the rucksack.
Right Pocket -
Contains my 10' x 10'tarp (and ridge line) in a stuff sack, 2 hanks of about 100' each of 550 cord, a flashlight and the Petroleum Jelly Cotton Balls were just thrown in at the last minute. The plan here was to have my shelter stuff all in one place. The flashlight is there in case I am not wearing my head lamp I have a way to see at night to put up the shelter and the paracord is there just because that's where I put it.
Center Pocket -
This is what I have here: A Tree and wildflower guide, normally this is in my day pack but I put it here for some reason. Princeton Remix head lamp. I chose this mainly because I needed a headlamp on my deployment and this one was at the PX and didn't break the bank. It has a Bright white LED and 3 smaller red LEDs for tactical purposes. Also there are two light modes for each set of LEDs a high beam and allow beam setting. Total cost was less than $40. This also is normally on me in a pocket or in the day bag so I can get to it quickly if I need it. Next is the Eton Microlink FR160 Radio. A comfort item for the most part but it does have on important use and it's pretty light to carry. In addition to being an AM/FM radio that charges via hand crank or solar cell this little beauty has 7 weather band stations. It can also provide a charge for a cell phone via a USB port but I haven't tried this so I can not attest to how well it works in this capacity. Finally my platy pus gravity water filter. I bought this on the recommendations of the American Grouch, whose blog can be found in my side bar. He is a man that, although I only know him via email and forums has quickly become a trusted mentor to me. I respect his opinion on gear and other outdoorsman topics as he has "been there and done that". The filter works great, better than expected. When the Katydine filter in our BWCA cabin failed we used mine to filter our drinking water for the four of us. It filters 4L of water in about 3 minutes tops. It is as easy as filling the bag marked "Dirty", hanging it up, opening a valve and collecting water in the bag marked "Clean".
Left Pocket -
Ok, this is kind my stove pocket. In it I have a Crusader Cup and Cook set. This is the NATO version of the GI canteen and cup so familiar to many outdoorsman. It has a few more items added to the kit which, I feel, makes this set up far more functional than the GI model. It has the usual plastic canteen which holds about a quart of water (I don't know how many mL or L that is, 750 mL?) and it has a plastic cup that acts as a cover. Next it has a metal canteen cup with wire handles and gradations of .25L and .50L stamped in it. on the bottom of the set, the smaller metal cup with a sort of 2 tone bare metal and blackened metal color is the stove. It is designed to burn heat tabs or fuel jells. I've found that the cans of sterno that come in a 2 pack will fit inside it nicely. It has a wire that folds back across the stove where those 2 notches you see are, this is where the metal cup sits while cooking. The items on the side are a bail that slides under the lip of the cup so it can be hung over an open fire and a lid . It is a nice set up, however it's pretty heavy and bulky. There is a benefit in that I could hold water in the canteen and I can use it to collect water to be filtered if needed. Also everything nests together pretty well. It bangs around and makes quite a bit of noise so if that kind of thing gets to you (AG), then you're going to want to try something else. What I don't like is having to carry extra fuel for this, but I will need to with almost every kind of stove other than a wood gas. Speaking of which I would like to add an emberlit stove to this setup.
The last difficulty is getting a hold of one of these cooksets. They are out there but most of them come from Europe and they are not cheap, neither is shipping. I got mine from a fellow here in the states that was dumping gear for cheap, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered.
External Water Bottle pouch -
Obviously it holds my Nalgene in the main pouch. In the side pouch I added what will become my fire starting kit. Inside it right now is a Doans magnesium bar with striker and a bit of dryer lint and Petroleum Jelly Cotton Balls. On my person I carry a fixed blade knife and a ferro rod an striker and I go to lengths to make sure they are always secured on me before I set off. I do plan to add some storm proof matches and a striker to this kit and probably a bic lighter to be sure. I haven't sanded off the paint because it's pretty bright as is and I can see it well on the ground. Last thing I need is to pack up and set off and forget my fire kit in the grass.
Inside the pack itself -
Not a ton of room inside, but enough. The trip that this was packed for was for 6 days. I packed like I would be sleeping outdoors even though we had a cabin. The blue compression bag at the top is my clothes: A lightweight long sleeve shirt, 3-4 tee shirts, sweat pants, a fleece jacket, BDU style pants, socks and underwear and an extra pair of cargo shorts. The black compression bag at the bottom is my Military Sleep System (MSS). I have the patrol bag and bivy inside. I left the cold weather bag at home. Upper left OD blob is an insect headnet, very handy in Northern Minnesota in the summer, Black Flies and Mosquitoes can be down right demoralizing. Rolled up in the middle is my woobie, aka Poncho liner. It is a synthetic quilted blanket and probably the most favored piece of field gear that any Soldier has. The axe is a Gransfor Brucks Wildlife Hatchet. Like I said before there isn't any food packed in this set up and that means I need to figure out how I'm bringing it before I try a solo or some weekend trips. Though with the reduced amount of clothes that room could be made up with food stuffs.
So that was my rucksack. This post has gone on long enough so I will save the Finn bag and First aid kit for another post. Thanks for checking it out and please leave a comment if you have any questions. I'll be glad to tell you more.
It has been some time since my last post. Sorry for that. I'd like to say I have been busy in the outdoors with the kids but that hasn't happened. I have been busy with real life.
I did get to take an awesome trip, one that I hope to take many more times. My Stepfather and some friends and me went up to the Boundary Water's Canoe Area. (BWCA) The four of us all got to have a trip we will remember for many years. I hope we started a tradition we can continue for years to come.
The trip was planned while I was still in Kuwait so it was something I was really looking forward too for a very long time. I spent a lot of time and deployment money buying some gear of my own to use on the trip. I have plenty of gear issued to me but I wanted to use gear that was mine and that I would have long after my time in the Army comes to an end. At 23+ years in I am not quite sure when that day will come but I know it's in the near future.
I went with the plan of showing off a lot of the skills I have learned in the areas of field craft an bush craft but I was limited in what I was able to do. My stepdad booked a cabin for us through Log cabin Hideaways. I know, sleeping in a cabin? It was actually really nice. It was vary rustic, had to haul and filter our own water and the lights and stove and frig were all run on propane. There was also a sauna which was heaven on the nights we used it. More on that later.
Part of the planning was meals and we all divided up some dinners and breakfasts and we were on our own for lunches. I got away easy and all they wanted me to bring was some instant oatmeal, some bratwursts and the fixins, a big box of Oreos and jelly ( I brought my home made Black Raspberry Jam). Lunch is where I was hoping to try out a lot of meal ideas I picked up from the various forums I visit, several of which can be found in the side bar on this blog. I also wanted to have snacks and something to put in what my step father called our "Oh Shit Bag" which was my Finn gas mask bag. The Finn bag, called a "murse" by some but not me, is a handy shoulder bag that can be picked up from surplus stores for very reasonable prices. It is very easy to over pack this bag and that can be a problem as the snaps that hold it close tend to open when it is. I will do a review of the bag with photos and demonstrate this in another post.
Anyway, we arrived and met the owner of Log Cabin Hideaways, Steve. He looked exactly like you would expect a person who spends most of his time in Northern Minnesota in and around the BWCA. He was in his 60's, big smile, deeply tanned skin wearing a button up Colombia shirt, khaki pants and rubber knee high boots. Since we were still technically in Superior National Forest his canoe was fitted with a small outboard which he used to ferry our gear to the landing of our cabin. We all had kayaks and paddled our way.
We started at the public landing on Ojibway Lake had a good 15 minute paddle to our first portage between Ojibway and Triangle Lakes.
Another 10-15 minute addle across Triangle brought us to out landing which was little more than a small clearing you would pass by if you didn't know what you were looking for. One of those bays marked by a specific stump and log on the bank. We grabbed our packs and made ready for the march in to the cabin. We packed heavy for the most part. Thanks to 20+ years in the Infantry I was comfortable with the weight of my gear but I could see the others weren't expecting to have to carry all the gear they brought. Steve told us we had about a 3/4 mile hike to the cabin and we set off on the "trail" the way was super rocky and very steep, about halfway there was a steep ravine that was almost like going down a ladder. After a battle with flies and skeeters and a 15 minute trek we found the cabin on Lark Lake.
It was a neat little set up. I mentioned the water and propane situation earlier. There was a screened in porch that I quickly claimed as my hooch. One main room with a futon and a hand made log table and 5 chairs (4 at the table, one near the book shelf). A stove, sink and Frig completed the decor. The books on the shelf were journals from past guests, a couple Sig Olsen books and several field and tracking guides. In addition there were a couple maps, one showing the hot fishing spots, all of which were not on our lakes (Triangle or Lark).
We unpacked and got the run down from Steve. He left and we took a small hike to the "Glacial Pond" nearby for a swim. the pond was awesome. It was the same size as Lark lake but wasn't swampy at all like Lark. we hiked around until we found a gentle slope to swim from. I wasn't expecting the area to be as rocky as it was. We enjoyed the swim but not the leeches that came with it. we hiked back to the cabin for dinner and a fire.
Dinner and a fire immediately following became a nightly tradition for us during our stay. As did the games of trivia, cribbage and black jack that ensued after the bugs became intolerable. As beautiful as the area was and the fun and challenges we had during our days, it was these times at night that I will carry with me. When 4 men became good friends over drinks, music and games.
Day 2 we were setting out to explore Triangle lake. I brought the OSB and my medic bag, packing both away in my stern hold on my Kayak. I set up my fishing pole and Garrett (15 years old) and i set out to fish and explore while my stepfather and Dave (both 50) searched for the portage we would use to enter the BWCA later in the week. We met for lunch on an island in Triangle and ate, napped and swam. It felt good to not even bother looking at my watch, just taking our time and enjoying our selves. I used my crusader cup and cook set to make up my favorite Shin Raymun spicy noodle soup. I picked up some cans of sterno to use in the set but they were too tall and the cup and the wind I suspect kept putting out the sterno. I need to try the shorter variety cans with this set up.
Day 3, Dave ran out of beer and we realized we forgot to get brats and hamburger. In other words we went back in to Ely. On the way we stopped at the International Wolf Center. Very cool and informative place. Worth the stop if you are ever in the area.
In town we visited Piragis Outfitters as well as every other tourist trap looking for souvenirs for the folks at home. We ate a great meal at the Boathouse Brewpub, restocked at Beaver Liquors and Holiday before we headed back out. On the way back we took a stop at a scenic overlook.
Day 4 - we took our Kayaks on a 190 rod portage to entry point 29 from Triangle Lake to the Kawishiwi River in the BWCA. The river was much wider than expected but the water here was just as black, I suspect from iron in the water? The portage in was awful. we tried to two man 2 kayaks at a time, but quickly decided to each drag our own. When we got fishing on the river was a shut out so we paddled around. We found some rapids a short way upstream from the portage and went to look at them. This is where I made a mistake that could have turned out horribly. I got close to the rapids goofing around and they water turned me sideways and flipped me before I knew what happened. I popped right out of the yak and surfaced, got the boat back over and used it to assist me getting to shore. As you saw in the other photo I was always wearing my PFD on the waters here. Got to shore and found that my camera was in the drink. The photos here were provided by my stepfather. I wish I had more to share, if I get some more from him I will.
As rocky and quick as the water was I feel pretty lucky to not have been injured in any way other than scrapes and bruised from the rocky shore. The rapids have now become know as "Jason's Falls". After drying off and another few hours on the Kawishiwi we made the portage back, it was still awful.
Beaten and bruised we made it back to the cabin and relaxed.
Day 5 - we used this as a throw away day. Nothing planned other than to relax and do what ever each of us wanted. Originally I was going to use this as my bushcraft day so that is what I did.I practiced my fire building using PJCB tinder. I tied some knots for practice, worked on a ridgeline for my tarp which I set up. As stated no pics as my camera was in the bottom of the river and the other cameras went out with the other guys as hey went to Triangle lake for another paddle and swim.
Day 6 was going to be a fishing day. We paddled and portaged over to Ojibway lake and started to cast. Immediately my trout lures were being chased...by Bass. I pulled in a few and then our plans changed slightly. Dave realized he was out of beer again. Since we were on the lake where we were parked we decided to make a quick town run for lunch and beer. We were in and out pretty quickly and got back fishing. Got a good hour in and the weather turned bad fast. Thunderstorms coming in fast and we were on the middle of a lake. We paddled like mad to get to the portage and hopefully across Triangle before they weather hit. We didn't make it and we weren't the only ones. At the portage we made way for a man and teenager busting tail to Ojibway to find his other two sons who were also fishing and to get them all to safety. We wished him well and were almost across when the storm hit. waves on the lake would have made it impossible to cross, not to mention the lightning. we stepped of the trail and tried to find cover under the trees and wait it out. I stayed where I could watch the lake and give warning as soon as the conditions were OK for us to go.the others went deeper in and were soon laughing and joking. I shook my head and smiled, wondering what was so funny and went back to my watch. soon enough we were getting our brake. I told everyone it was now or never and we had to paddle like hell to make it. we started moving and hit the lake. I advised we tried to island hop so if it got bad again we could get on and island at least. We took off. I describe us paddling across the lake like the closing scene of the old Hawaii 5-0 when they are paddling the dug outs.
We made it and the 3/4 mile walk in that night was awful, although the bugs were non exhistent for once. I joked that this time I wasn't the only one walking back soaking wet. We had a good dinner and fire, the weather was done with us after the short storm. That night the laughs and games were a lot louder and seemed to be more fun. We had definitely bonded during that day.
Day 7 was our packing up day.We slowly gathered out belongings and packed our bags. The trek out that day seemed even longer than before. I tried to take it slow and absorb as much of the place as I could.
The weather apart from the one storm was beautiful. Mid 80's and plenty of sun and blue skies. The water, apart from no fish was great. Even our sort trip into the BWCA was enough to make me want to come back and do a voyage with portages and camping, even if for just a few days or a long weekend. We spent our nights listening to WELY, the end of the road radio and enjoyed it. It was a great backdrop to the evenings on Lark Lake.
I left there a little sad but hopeful for a quick return.
