Gear is a supplement to knowledge and ability. Carrying a lot of gear usually indicates quite a bit of doubt about one's abilities. The added weight tends to slow one down even further, making the trip even harder to accomplish. How do we balance the two? By learning to do. Learn to hike, learn to sleep outdoors with minimal shelter, (notice I said minimal, not no.) Learn to make do with less. Learn that you can accomplish great things without the aid of technological crutches.
It's also quite easy to get caught up in what-if's... What if my knife breaks, what if I don't carry enough ammo, what if I run out of matches, what if I lose my fire steel, etc. The quick answer is to know not only your limitations, but the limitations of the tools you do carry with you as well.
-Are you packing a Glock because you've personally put 5000 rounds through it in stressful shooting matches and classes or because the general consensus is that Glocks are bullet proof and never fail?
-Are you carrying an AR because someone decided it would be a good idea to have some form of rifle caliber for the long trek home or because you've taken enough rifle classes with time constraints on the shooting problems that you know what you are capable of with that rifle under stress at various distances?
-Are you carrying a certain pack because you fell prey to slick advertising and glowing reviews of compensated YouTube personalities or because you've used it on a 12 mile hike over a weekend?
So forth and so on. Learn your gear and you'll learn yourself.
Let's face it folks, we can't carry everything on our backs, hips, and feet. "Travel light, freeze at night," is a mantra I picked up from a friend and it has stuck with me. I'm still working on slimming down my bags, I have two by the way. One is a hybrid GHB/EDC. It's actually a sling bag and it has a few "emergency items" as well as little things that get me through the day if I didn't plan well. Things like phone cords, ear buds, a battery stick/speaker combo, spare batteries, spare pens and pencils, spare clothes, under clothes, and socks, in case I have some sort of need to change. A fixed blade knife and a leatherman. A boo-boo kit. A quality tourniquet! Not one of the cheap knock-offs, or RATS crap. Wound packing compound, so forth and so on.
The bigger bag is getting streamlined down hard. I had it under 40 pounds without water. There's a Camelback and 2 smaller 1 liter collapsible canteens in the bag and I want to get it to 40 pounds or less with the water. Yes I have a filter. Yes I know how to use it. The point is That's roughly 11 pounds off the pack weight without the water. Most of my food is either freeze dried or packets of instant oatmeal and grits, (cheese grits, no sugar.
,) so I'm rather dependent on having a source of clean water for food. I do have some power bars and the like, but they tend to take up space.
In conclusion, I spent the last twenty minutes thinking about and typing this not because I have a better setup or mindset than anyone else, but because I want to see everyone here be successful should we ever have to face an emergency that requires the use of the contents of our pack, bags, rucks, trash bags, etc.
It's also quite easy to get caught up in what-if's... What if my knife breaks, what if I don't carry enough ammo, what if I run out of matches, what if I lose my fire steel, etc. The quick answer is to know not only your limitations, but the limitations of the tools you do carry with you as well.
-Are you packing a Glock because you've personally put 5000 rounds through it in stressful shooting matches and classes or because the general consensus is that Glocks are bullet proof and never fail?
-Are you carrying an AR because someone decided it would be a good idea to have some form of rifle caliber for the long trek home or because you've taken enough rifle classes with time constraints on the shooting problems that you know what you are capable of with that rifle under stress at various distances?
-Are you carrying a certain pack because you fell prey to slick advertising and glowing reviews of compensated YouTube personalities or because you've used it on a 12 mile hike over a weekend?
So forth and so on. Learn your gear and you'll learn yourself.
Let's face it folks, we can't carry everything on our backs, hips, and feet. "Travel light, freeze at night," is a mantra I picked up from a friend and it has stuck with me. I'm still working on slimming down my bags, I have two by the way. One is a hybrid GHB/EDC. It's actually a sling bag and it has a few "emergency items" as well as little things that get me through the day if I didn't plan well. Things like phone cords, ear buds, a battery stick/speaker combo, spare batteries, spare pens and pencils, spare clothes, under clothes, and socks, in case I have some sort of need to change. A fixed blade knife and a leatherman. A boo-boo kit. A quality tourniquet! Not one of the cheap knock-offs, or RATS crap. Wound packing compound, so forth and so on.
The bigger bag is getting streamlined down hard. I had it under 40 pounds without water. There's a Camelback and 2 smaller 1 liter collapsible canteens in the bag and I want to get it to 40 pounds or less with the water. Yes I have a filter. Yes I know how to use it. The point is That's roughly 11 pounds off the pack weight without the water. Most of my food is either freeze dried or packets of instant oatmeal and grits, (cheese grits, no sugar.
,) so I'm rather dependent on having a source of clean water for food. I do have some power bars and the like, but they tend to take up space.In conclusion, I spent the last twenty minutes thinking about and typing this not because I have a better setup or mindset than anyone else, but because I want to see everyone here be successful should we ever have to face an emergency that requires the use of the contents of our pack, bags, rucks, trash bags, etc.
