Editor’s Note: The following article presents a distinctly different approach to packs than that recently recommended by FDG in his two part article. While FDG recommended a lightweight approach, “Hawaiian K.” recommends and “ultralight” approach. Both approaches have their merits. What you select may depend on the severity /duration of your anticipated scenario(s) as well as the distance to your intended retreat or back-up retreat. Another variable is your fitness/health in general, and the condition of your back in particular. As they say in the car commercials: “Your mileage my vary.” (YMMV.)
One of the most common topics of conversation when survivalists get together is each individual’s take on the BOB (bug-out bag). We all have our own approach but some of us haven’t thought it completely through. I have a friend, for instance, who’d had the contents of his BOB gathering in his front closet for years. When I dared him to actually put it all together and weigh it, it topped out at a back-breaking 92 pounds! Needless to say, he was stunned and determined to trim it down to the bare bones. When he weighed it again, it was 64 pounds, which he felt was “doable”. I challenged him and a couple of pals to a weekend hike, each of us carrying the full contents of our BOBs.
I’ve had a serious back problem for many years and was overjoyed when I started reading about “ultralight” hiking. Everything you carry is weighed and the goal is keep your entire pack under 20 pounds. There are numerous advantages to doing so, for example, at the end of the day you’re not exhausted from carrying 60+ pounds! Heavy packs also throw off your center of balance, particularly when you’re trying to make it up a steep incline. A couple of the guys in our party ended up taking falls because of this, one of them resulting in a nasty wrist compression (it might’ve been a good deal worse). You also can’t travel as quickly when you’re dragging that anchor around. When we made camp that night I ended up eating alone as the dead-tired “freight-haulers” were out cold and snoring before they could get a fire going.
The average pair of “waffle stomper” style boots weigh in at about four pounds, while the ankle-high running shoes that I wear are less than 2 pounds. For every mile you walk in heavy boots, you’re lifting about a ton of weight (literally, 2000 pounds) more than you’d be hoisting in lighter shoes, and it all adds up! A heavy-duty combat style backpack can weigh 7 pounds empty, while the pack I carry is less than a pound. By the way, if you want to travel light, you’ll need to become familiar with a fabric called “silnylon” which is nylon treated with silicon (waterproof and featherweight). It’s a miracle to camp with but be *very* careful with flame (don’t get it near the stuff). Rather than travel with a 10 pound tent in your pack, try a silnylon tarp/poncho overhead and a bivy sack (which is a waterproof cover for your sleeping bag) which, combined, weigh well less than a pound. Some budget ultralight hikers use a 6’x8′ sheet of Tyvek as a ground cloth or tarp (weighs next to nothing). You get the idea?
Rather than invest in a Camelback-type rig for carrying water, I carry 2 liter soda bottles (which are free, weigh nothing and don’t develop that “funky” taste that the bladders get after a while). We weighed the canteen that one of the guys was carrying and it was a couple of pounds, empty! In lieu of a stove, the same guy carried a 4 pound ax (to gather “firewood”), while I carried a “Coke can” stove ( http://www.backpacking.net/makegear.html ) that, along with it’s fuel (denatured alcohol) weighs less than 3 ounces! The poor guy was hungry (no dinner the night before) and it took him almost an hour to gather his wood, split it and get a good fire going before he could start breakfast. I think it goes without saying that if we’d been “bugging out”, the time taken and the tell-tale smoke from the fire would’ve been unacceptable. That’s another aspect of ultralight hiking that works for survivalists, “leave no trace of your visit” to give away your position or make it easy to be tracked.
We felt it prudent to leave our rifles at home and stick with concealed carry (people get spooked seeing armed men marching in the woods out of hunting season). Keeping with the light BOB idea, I had my Glock 30 along with 2-10 round magazines (the idea is to make every shot count, if need be, and to travel so quietly as to be unseen and untargeted) and my favorite knife for this kind of hike, a CRKT M16- which is a skeletonized folder that thinks it’s a fixed blade knife (even has a true hilt) and weighs in at 5.6 ounces. True to the intent of this trip, I also wore my IIA [body armor] vest, being sure to wear a synthetic material tee-shirt under it. When you hike for any distance, the last material you’ll want against your skin is cotton, which will absorb sweat and make you miserable no matter if the weather is hot or cold. Though the hike was in the Summer in Vermont, we were all carrying everything we’d need, even in the dead of Winter. Clothing-wise, I carry synthetic underwear- long and short, Merino wool shirt and pants (which are convertible to shorts), a synthetic fleece jacket, a light insulated parka, and breathable rain gear. I also carry waterproof gaiters, vapor barrier socks, several pairs of technical, Merino wool socks, one pair saved for use only when sleeping (and therefore, always dry, a real treat after a day of hiking) and two pairs of gloves (one fits over the other) It pays to have either a synthetic balaclava or a “Buff” (a multipurpose head/neck wrap) along and I always carry my Tilley’s hat for shade, the only cotton piece in my kit. For light, I stick to tiny LEDs as a normal flashlight with 2 D cells weighs in at half a pound. I also try to utilize dried and freeze dried foods as much as possible to lighten the load.
The trick is to constantly look for places where you can cut weight. For example, most people don’t really need a full length pad to sleep on, so you trim the pad to 3/4 and you save a few ounces. You wear light layers rather than carry an entire wardrobe for each season. There are people who even go so far as to cut off any labels or trim that they deem unnecessary, trying to pare down another ounce. You also want to try to carry things that are “multi-purposed” so that you carry fewer items. Some things, like a one ounce mosquito head net, are worth their weight in gold and you’d be foolish to travel the back country without them. By the end of the second day of this trip, these ideas were starting to make sense to my fellow hikers. The ax carrier was starting to understand that twigs made more sense than logs for the fires he was making and all of them were cursing the weight (and unneeded items) they were carrying. They were converts by the time we got home again and each of them has completely reworked their BOB, thanks to the on the ground lessons we all learned. Even if the idea of an ultralight BOB doesn’t appeal to you, you owe it to yourself (and those who depend on you) to give your own BOB a “real world” trial, to see if it lives up to your needs and is actually as “haul-able” as you think it is.- Hawaiian K.