Jack / Mick
Over the years I've owned a lot of different packs and used a lot more that I've borrowed off others to try , and most of them have been good in their own right , had several packs with external frame and two of them I cut down to suit my needs better but I find a normal pack just isn't right for me , with a couple of damaged vertebrae down low , a curvature of the spine and a couple of damaged disks up high that give me grief and arthritis through pretty much every joint I've found the only system that works really well for me is a lumbar pack with shoulder straps ,
I can use this sort of pack all day with out trouble , most of the weight is taken on the hips with some being taken on the shoulders but not enough to make it stress my back , of course I have to make sure the pack is balanced so I'm not carrying more weight on one side but it's not as big a problem as it is with a normal back pack ,
In the past I've put my back out while out hunting and had to dump pretty much every thing I was carrying except my rifle just to make it back to my camp , I generally work on the idea that if I don't carry much out then I don't have to carry much back ,
I have a set amount of stuff that I carry in a day pack ,
Magnesium flint and striker ,
Waterproof / windproof matches ,
Half a expired flare [ can be used for signalling but mainly used for lighting fires when the timber is soaking wet ,
Poncho that doubles as a hoochie and folds up small ,
Net hammock that rolls up about the size of a tennis ball ,
Shower proof nylon jacket with silver coating inside that folds up small enough to fit into a pocket , very light weight ,
Old CD to use as signalling mirror ,
Pair of socks and spare jocks ,
Small space blanket ,
Small wet synthetic chamois in zip lock bag ,
Sunscreen/ bug lotion and lip balm ,
Condy's crystals (potassium permanganate) ,
Aluminium canteen cup to boil water in ,
Tea bags ,
Couple of packets of cup-a-soup ,
Dozen or so muesli bars ,
Pack of instant rice and pack of noodles ,
Zip lock pack of Jerky ,
Small pocket knife ,
Toilet paper and wet wipes ,
Haemorrhoid cream ,
Small tube of Savlon ,
Small roll of Elastoplast ,
4 Ultra thin Sanitary napkins
Dozen bandaids ,
Strip of Panadol Forte ,
Small bottle of Teatree oil ,
100 ml of Metho ,
10 metres thin nylon string ,
2 metres of stainless steel trace wire ,
Roll of duct tape ,
20 rds of ammo ,
The surprising thing is how little all this weighs and how small it packs , the weight of the pack actually doubles when I add 2 litres of water , all this fits into a army style bum pack with out any problem ,
When I was in my early twenties I used to carry more stuff but found I didn't need it , all the stuff on the list is there because It's stuff that got used
If I'm hunting in a area where I'm not far from the car or camp then I don't carry most of it , but I've often hunted areas that were very rough in variable weather where getting stuck out over night was always on the cards so the most of that gear is carried for that eventuality and it's been needed quite often , that bit of gear makes all the difference between being stuck out over night huddled under a tree trying not to freeze or being able to have a nice warming fire and sleep dry ,
I've often been caught out over night in hot dry areas where my natural curiosity about what lay beyond the next bend of the gorge or over the next ridge has found me too far from camp or the car to get back before dark and where trying to travel at night was just too foolhardy , and I have to say that being able to have some thing hot to eat , some where reasonably comfortable to sleep and being able to have a sponge down and change jocks and socks is very welcome ,
In high humidity areas like North Queensland I put a little Tee Tree Oil or condy's crystals into the zip lock packet with the chamois as it is a disinfectant and stops fungus forming on you ,
Some of the things on my list may have some people confused like the Sanitary napkin , but they are great as wound pad ,
I once slipped 50 metres down a almost vertical rocky slope and ripped a big gash in my leg , I didn't notice it at first because I was pretty banged up and hurting in so many other places that I didn't notice it until I started making sloshing sounds in my boot ,
Gash was a couple of inches long and about a inch deep , I washed the area off in Metho , put some Teatree oil on it and held it together with Elastoplast then put a sanitary napkin on it and wrapped the rest of the Elastoplast over it , took 5 Panadol Forte and made it back to camp , fell asleep as soon as I got back ,
Next morning I wasn't feeling too flash and my ankles were swollen up so bad there was no way I could put a boots on , funny thing was I hadn't realised I'd hurt my ankle , drove the 170 km into town and saw the doctor at the hospital ,
Well he just freaked , seems that I hadn't noticed that the whole back of my head was just a mass of dried blood , had a screaming headache and was dizzy , but as every other thing hurt just as much it didn't register ,
I had managed to tear up all the tendons and ligaments in my left ankle and knee , broke a couple of bones in my foot , fractured my knee cap , managed to do pretty much the same on the ankle and knee of the right leg just not as bad , also managed to put my back out bad and had a slight fracture of my collar bone , a broken rib and pretty much every thing else was just badly bruised
When the doctor had me strip down to my jocks I was just a black and blue mess , the left leg looked awful as it was still covered in dried blood , and to add insult to injury the fall had completely destroyed my scope , I looked so bad I wasn't game to go home , if Shirley had seen me like that she would have screamed bloody blue murder next time I wanted to go hunting alone , so went back and got my gear and moved down to my mates property close to town , that wasn't a fun job , driving 170 km each way with severe concussion on rough roads and then trying to pack up camp while getting around on crutches ,
Mate wasn't married at the time and was recovering from a appendicis operation , actually I run into him at the hospital as he was being released , we spent the next two weeks drinking beer smoking cigars and shooting rabbits from the window of his house , [ had to drink beer , bloody painful shooting from inside a house when you have concussion if your not ] , he had a mass of warrens about 200 to 300 metres from the house so we just sat there drinking beer and sniping rabbits as they put their heads up for the whole two weeks .
The set up I have now is near perfect except for the metal clips scratching up my rifle stocks and I've tried different things like Elastoplast over the clips and catches and while it works for a while it's not a long term solution , also the heat makes the Elastoplast sticky and gooey and it looks like crap , the Badlands monster looks like the perfect solution , if I can get down to Brisbane in a month or two them may be I can have a look at one , I hear my favourite gun store has them
Mick , if you want to get back into hunting you only have to join the SSAA , that will give you all the legal reason to own a firearm you need , they can also arrange for the safety course you will need , Hell I even have a few guns I can sell you , or if you don't want to go that way then take up bowhunting ,
David
