My Backpacking And Bushcraft Gear

The other day I shot a short video going over my backpacking and bushcraft gear. Since my three season and my winter gear are so similar, I decided to combine the two in this video. I've left out of the discussion task specific equipment such as hunting gear, climbing gear, snowshoeing gear, etc, as they get added onto the equipment you see in the video. This gear list will allow me to stay in the woods anywhere from an overnight to an extended stay.

I tried to provide all of the weights of the gear in the video because I think it is very important. Without keeping track, it is very easy for your pack weight to balloon up. When you hold an item in your hand, it rarely seems heavy, but together it all adds up. Keep in mind, there are only 16 ounces in a pound. Since my approach to the woods involves mobility, I try to keep the weight as low as possible while still preserving the functionality of the gear.

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To summarize from the video, my three season weight (down to 32F or 0C) is 12 lb 7.1 oz. My winter weight (down to 0F or –18C) is 12 lb 8.8 oz. The weights are very similar because the only major change is the sleeping bag. My down winter sleeping bag compresses to and weighs about the same as my old synthetic three season bag, keeping the weights similar. If I use the thicker winter sleeping bag (down to –25F or –32C) and the larger pack, my base weight would be 16 lb 14.8 oz.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2014/02/my-backpacking-and-bushcraft-gear.html

The Importance Of Breathability Of Clothing In Cold Weather

Breathability is a very important aspect of clothing designed for the woods. Working and traveling through the woods is an energy consuming activity, which produces a lot of perspiration. A breathable material is one which allows that moisture, accumulating on top of the skin, to pass survival kits through the clothing and out into the surrounding air.

Many fabrics such as Goretex, eVent, and even older materials like oiled canvas and Ventile strive to balance the ability to be breathable, i.e. allow moisture produced by the body to pass through, with being waterproof, i.e. preventing rain from getting into the clothing from the outside. Each material does that with a varying degree of success. Some end up being more breathable, others more waterproof.

It is said by many that in cold weather, a material being waterproof, is not particularly important, as there is no rain to worry about. The colder the weather, the drier the snow, and the less likely it is to melt and get your clothing wet from the outside. As a result, breathability is prioritized when it comes to cold weather clothing. The image that is often presented and that comes to mind most often is a clothing system comprised of different insulation layers covered by a canvas anorak, resembling the clothing of Scott and Nansen.

The theory goes that since there is no moisture on the outside which can get your clothing wet, and all of the moisture which is produced by your body can pass freely through all of the layers of the clothing system, the clothing will stay dry, and consequently maintain its insulation. Speaking in general terms, all of this is correct. However, I would like to put forward some issues which I believe significantly complicate this thinking, and has lead me to the conclusion that breathability in cold weather clothing, while being a good thing, is overrated.

The issue which I have encountered, and I am certainly not the first to note it, is that when the temperature differential between the human body on one side of the insulation and the outside temperature on the other side of the insulation is significant, water vapor produced by the skin will not actually pass through the full clothing system, but will rather condense and then freeze within survival gear the insulation before it can escape.

Your body produces moisture. The heat from your body then pushes it out, usually in the form of vapor through the clothing. Under warm conditions, the process will continue until the vapor passes through all of the clothing and out into the surrounding air. That is why it is beneficial to have a shell layer which will allow the moisture to pass rather than trapping it just before it can reach the air surrounding the clothing. If the temperature outside is low however, the heat from the body will not be sufficient to push the moisture all the way out. Somewhere along the way, the water vapor will cool down enough to condense into liquid water, and then altogether freeze, while still within the insulation.

Imagine that the temperature right next to your body is 98.6 F. Also imagine that the outside temperature is 0 F. Since no insulation is 100% thermally efficient, somewhere within the insulation, between the 98.6 F right next to the body and the 0 F outside, the temperature will reach 32 F, the freezing point of water. When the moisture traveling outward from your body reaches that point, it will start to freeze.

The frozen or condensed moisture then starts to accumulate within the insulation, further decreasing its effectiveness. All of this occurs before the moisture ever reaches the shell layer.

The result is that all insulation, no matter how breathable the system, will accumulate moisture within the insulation when the outside temperature is cold enough. No matter the material, you will have to find a way to remove that moisture.

In the above picture you can see the effects of such freezing, happening in temperatures around 25 F. What you see in not snow on top of the jacket, but rather ice formed inside that is protruding through the shell material. It is in effect imbedded ice within the material.

This phenomenon is well known to people who travel in cold weather. On arctic expeditions, very often two sleeping bags are carried and layered. After some use, the top bag will become saturates with moisture and become a block of ice, at which point it is discarded.

All of this occurs not because of lack of breathability, but because the dew point (the temperature at which a particular density of water vapor condenses into a liquid) occurs within the insulation layers because of the temperature differential between the inside and the outside of the insulation.

An interesting side note is that if this wasn't the case, and the insulation maintained the same temperature throughout, allowing for the water vapor to move through the full clothing system, the exiting vapor would be warm enough to melt the snow surrounding the person, and in turn requiring a waterproof layer to be worn. 

The breathability of fabrics is often held as a solution to the water management issue in cold weather. In my experience, for the reasons I have outlined above, I don't believe that to be the case. No matter how breathable your shell layer, whether it be made from Gore-Tex, cotton, or mesh netting, the moisture from your body will accumulate within the insulation. Your clothing has to be dried out using an external heat source, or it will lose efficiency.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-importance-of-breathability-of.html

Trip Report: Bear Mountain 12/14/13 – 12/15/13

Last week we had a few days of decent snow, so when camping gear the snow started falling, I decided to do a little trip. As with most winter trips, the biggest problem for me is actually driving to the mountains. My original plan was to go further north to a lake with the hopes that it would not be completely frozen and I could do some fishing. Unfortunately, the roads were not plowed, and with the snow continuing to come down, there was more than a good chance that even if I made it there, I would not be able to get the car out the next day. So, I drove to a spot near the forest, and parked on a street that I expected would be plowed. From there I set on foot.

My adjusted trip goal was to climb up to one of the ridges and get above the tree line, camp up on the mountain, and then come back down the following day.

There still wasn't too much snow accumulation, and there was even some running water, which would have been a huge fuel saver. Unfortunately, there was none further up the mountain.

The elevation increase was rather quick, and after a few hours on walking, I started to reach more exposed area.

Soon after a I found a sheltered area where I could stop for lunch. I didn't bring my usual tortilla wrap type of stuff because it is hard to make and eat in the snow. I opted for bars which I would eat without too much hassle and while keeping my gloves on. While I was searing only liner gloves, they make a big difference, especially when there is wind. 

After this quick stop, I kept heading up, until I was on top of the ridge. It is not particularly high, but the winds were pretty severe. They served to sweep away most of the snow, which made walking easier.

 

The sun didn't come out from behind the clouds all day. survival gear I figured it would get dark quickly, so I decided to set up camp. I found a flat are to the side of the ridge, where there had been very little snow accumulation, but the wind was not bad. It was to be home for the night.

I made a small fire for cooking and melting snow. Usually I don't like to use a fire while it is snowing because the heat tends to melt the snow and get you more wet than you would be without the fire. In this instance however, the weather was not bad, so I didn't mind. I still kept the fire small. It was enough to dry my gloves and cook my food.

It continued to snow on and off the whole night. I set out earlier than I ordinarily would have because I was worried about being able to get my car out. I just retraced my steps back.

My worries were for nothing. The car got out just fine. Despite the snow the weather was rather warm. The lowest it fell down to was 23F (-5C) during the night.

Nothing special to report on this trip. Just a bit of fun in the snow. Sometimes it's fun to get out without doing anything too serious.

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/12/trip-report-bear-mountain-121413-121513.html

Trip Report: Sundown Forest Deer Hunt 11/16/13 – 11/19/13

On November 16 dear rifle season opened in my part of New York State. So, I planned a four day trip into the woods to see if I can actually get one. survival kits I will not keep you in suspense; I came home empty handed. Regardless, I figured I would share the trip with you.

My plan was to hunt the southern section of the Catskill mountains. Specifically, I headed for the southern tip of Sundown Forest. I like the area because it offers relatively flat ground, at least what I would consider flat for these mountains, and I have previously spotted deer sign in the area. The down side of the area is that it has antler restriction. Generally speaking I am restricted to taking six pointers and up.

I intended to spend the opening day, Saturday, backpacking into the forest. I would set up camp, and then hunt the following two days, making my way out on the fourth.

So, on day one, I got to the forest and started making my way in. I would be bushwhacking the whole way in, trying to use the terrain features to make my way.

The are has some beautiful forest, starting with beech and hickory, and eventually transitioning into pine.

As you can see from the picture, I was carrying my Gregory Palisade 80 pack. That's not because I had survival gear any extra gear. The pack was largely empty, and I had to leave my sleeping bag and jacket uncompressed to fill up the empty space. I brought the larger pack in case I got a kill. That way I would be able to carry out the meat.

I made my way into the pine forest, which was more open, and kept my eye out for signs. I didn't have a specific spot in mind, so I had to figure out exactly where I was going to hunt. After some searching, I noticed a pattern in the direction of travel of the deer. There were a few rubs and crossing points that gave me the general direction.

It wasn't sign of a huge buck, but it was a place to start. There was also some scat which looked like it may belong to a buck, although it was at least a few days old.

I made good progress, and in the early afternoon, stopped for lunch close to the part of the forest where I planned to hunt the next few days.

With sunset being at 5PM, soon after I started looking for a good camp site, which would offer me a direct route to an area where I could hunt in the morning. The fresh bear scat in the area gave me a pause, but it was too late to change plans.

I set up camp, and got dinner ready. It was a warm evening. I was a bit surprised, considering it had been snowing earlier in the week.

I spent the rest of the evening marking my way from camp to the spot where I was going to hunt in the morning, using biodegradable marking ribbon. Even though this is relatively open forest, if you travel out 50 yards from your tent, you will lose sight of it; 100 yards out, and you will have trouble making your way back.

Ironically, before getting into my tent for the night, I heard and then noticed that a bunch of turkeys were roosting in the trees next to my tent. The irony being that the Fall turkey season ended the day before. It's as if they know, and come out to mock us.

The night was also warm. I had brought my Western Mountaineering Antelope MF 0F sleeping bag, which was overkill. Another thing I didn't expect was the rain that started coming down during the night. I woke up around 5AM, and it was really coming down. When the sun came up, I got out to briefly to pick up my food bag, and then hunkered down in the tent, waiting for the rain to stop.

I hoped in vain that the rain would stop, but it just kept going. I personally don't mind the rain, and typically backpack while it is raining, but the deer tend to bed down in weather like this, which makes spotting one difficult, particularly where I was. I came to this part of the forest because I think it is an area where the deer travel between their bedding areas and their food sources. The food sources usually tend to be fields and farms on private land, but I figured I can hunt them while they are on the move. Since they weren't moving, there was nothing to hunt. When the rain didn't stop after a few hours, I decided to get out anyway, and spend some time in the area I wanted to hunt.

As expected, no luck. I spent the rest of the day in the tent. I had myself some lunch in bed, and read from the book I had brought. I usually don't bring things like books, but I expected periods of inactivity, and wanted to keep busy. The book? Early Riders: The Beginning of Mounted Warfare in Asia and Europe, by Robert Drews. If you like his other books, you'll love this one.

I spent the rest of the day taking naps, reading, eating, and getting up to pee. When the sun started going down, I cooked dinner.

The following day was more of the same. The rain continued, getting even heavier at times. Fog blanketed the ridgeline where I had set up camp.

I mostly stayed in the tent and repeated the routine from the previous day.

I got out of the tent a few times to scout around and look at different spots. The trick in these forests is to find an area that is open enough where you can take advantage of the rifle, and be able to place a shot before a deer comes too close. Mostly, it was just a way to kill time.

Then, once again cooked dinner when the evening came, and went to sleep.

During the night the rain got even worse, turning into a storm. I figured I would have to walk out in some pretty bad weather in the worming and try to get out of the forest. However, around 4AM, the rain stopped. By the time I had packed up camp, you could even see some sunshine making its way through the trees.

It was day four in the woods, and I had to make my way out. I wasn't in a rush however, so before starting, I spent a few hours early in the morning calling and waiting.

After being unsuccessful, I set out, heading west, and hoping to hit a ridgeline which would then take me out of the forest.

Eventually I made my way out of the pines, and entered into the deciduous part of the forest. I kept the rifle at the ready just in case. As a general rue of thumb, the moment you put the rifle away, you will accidentally run right into an eight pointer and beat yourself up for the next year. As I was walking, I noticed some fresh deer scat.

 

I was making good time, so I decided to stop again and spend a few more hours hunting the area. I set up near a dead tree, called, and waited. The weather was nice, and the ridge I had set up on was getting some nice sunshine.

After about two hours, I got up and continued on my way out of the forest. It was a very disappointing trip. Out of full four days, I only ended up hunting for a few hours on the last day. Not a good way to start the season.

For those of you who are interested, I had my usual backpacking gear with me. The "hunting" additions you can see in the picture below.

The rifle is a Savage 11-111 F in .308 with a Nikon Prostaff 3-9x40 scope. I also had a pair of Bushnell Legend Ultra HD 10x25 binoculars, a small bottle of doe urine, some marking ribbon, a Primos bleat in a can call, a Primos grunt tube, some T.A.G. bags (the B.O.M.B. kit) along with a few zip ties, and some Nose Jammer spray.

So, that's it; a very uneventful trip. I wish I had something more interesting to share with you, but I don't. I did get a chance to catch up on sleep, so I suppose that's a plus.  

For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2013/11/trip-report-sundown-forest-deer-hunt.html