Advice on backpack hunt gear list

[Jake Levi]

Thanks for the input, it is well said,

a bad shoelace can spoil a good walk, being up to date on the gear makes a big difference.

What high end products do you reccommend?

Myself this time next year I will be in Alaska, for that matter within 3 mos I will be.

 

[coyotelite]

CLOTHING-sitka or kuiu are the top of the heap. I am leaning toward kuiu now because the quality is just as good and the prices are a little more reasonable. On the other hand, they do not have the selection sitka does.

BOOTS-lowa, hanwag, kenetrek and crispi are all equally good. All depends on fit. Each one has a unique fit but all are superior to danner and the like. All will run upwards of $300

PACKS-This is where the money gets crazy. My personal preferance is kifaru. My kifaru timberline T2 is 5400ci. with the multicam pattern, grab-it and xtl lid it cost me $796. However, this pack will carry more weight with more comfort than any other pack on the market. My next choice would be mystery ranch. These packs are bullet proof as well. The only drawback is that The load lifter angle on the MR packs makes them more of a load stabilizer than a lifter. In my opinion, the Timberline line from kifaru is the ultimate bivy hunting pack on the market.

MISC GEAR-Go to REI and ask for help. Their staff is the best and their warranty can't be beat. All of their products are good quality as well.

I see a lot of hunters spend top money on their bows or rifles and then skimp on everything else. Getting to where the animals are comes first and sub-par gear will make that part harder.

 

[Jake Levi]

Great list,

for very cold I love my Steeger Mukluks, not bad priced, under $200 with extra liners and inner soles, good for -20F and more depending on how many and types of socks on.

 

[coyotelite]

one thing my lists will not include is cold weather gear. when I say cold I mean sub 20 degree weather constantly. I am mainly an archery hunter which puts me out in september. I rifle hunt for mule deer every other year and the temps occasionally dip to freezing but not that often. My knowledge of cold weather gear is very limited

 

[jmden]

An item I ran across recently is the new Nemo Obi Elite 1P one man tent that weighs only 2 lbs. 7 oz. and is 6 x 6 inches when packed in it's waterproof quasi-compression stuffsack: NEMO: Tents including camping and mountaineering tents from NEMO

I'll be checking this out more carefully in the near future, but as far as I can tell, it's the lightest 3 season, 1 man tent on the market and it's floor is 39" wide! And, it has a 9 sq. ft. vestibule--so there's plenty of room in the tent for you and a long, long range rifle and room in the vestibule for your pack.


That's huge for one man and makes it even more amazing to be as light as it is. Check out other manufactures one man tents and you won't see too many that even approach this weight, especially at this size. Now, is uses alot of 10 denier and 20 denier PU coated nylon to be as light as it is and this definietly makes it a bit more fragile than some other designs that use tougher, but heavier fabric. But, this seems like a great product for the solo backpack wilderness hunter in late spring/summer/fall.

I hope to be using it on my solo wilderness deer and bear hunts in late summer/early fall this year.

I've got a Nemo Gogo bivvy (anyone want to buy it?--it's only been slept in 2x) but doesn't have the room to store gear. I'd much rather wait out a storm in a one man tent than bivvy. If you've waited out a storm in a bivvy, you know what I mean.

 

[jmden]

Fly Creek UL 1 Tent - 1 Person

Here's another even lighter one (and less money)--somehow I'd missed this one in looking around a the last few days.

Here is is for cheaper: http://www.gearforadventure.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BAFlyCreekUL1&click=2

Here's a new Big Agnes Fly Creek 2 Platinum that is a small 2 person tent with a 2lb. 3 oz. total packed weight. Same weight as the ultra-lightweight one person tent above. They are pretty proud of it at $500, but less weight equals more fun to a point!

https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Tent/FlyCreek2Platinum

 

[jmden]

Here's another hyperlight 1 man tent I just found. 2lbs. 1 oz. total weight.

Apparently due to be released at any point now:

Easton Mountain Products

It's good to see a 30 denier silnylon PU coated floor to 2500mm water column. Some of these hyperlight designs compromise in how watertight the floor material is. I tend to think that 2500mm is about as low as floor material should be and I really wouldn't want to go with any smaller nylon fibers for a floor than what is in 30 denier nylon either. You don't want a stream running through your tent and the floor needs to have some abrasion resistance.

Easton Mountain Products is part of Easton, the folks that make Easton arrows that many of us are familiar with. They are using some of their carbon arrow technology in the single pole this shelter incorporates and that is one area they are able to shave weight to produce this very lightweight shelter.

Side entrance is a big plus over end entrance as well--only have to do that once to realize why.

 

[tt35]

Great stuff, jmden. Thanks for the research and post.

 

[jmden]

This is another new addition to the Thermarest line that just came out mid last year. It is only filled with air, but has heat reflective technology to give it an R value of 4.9 and at only 19 ounces! That's enough R value for year around use for most people and it is very comfortable:

Neo Air All Season:

Therm-a-Rest NeoAir All Season Sleeping Pad - Free Shipping at REI.com

I'll be picking this up for hunting this year, but will get it soon here as we need it for a family backpacking trip down into the Grand Canyon in April.

Right before it came out I purchased its immediate predacessor which weighs and feels exactly the same but has a much lower R value of 2.0--OK for summer/early fall stuff although I used it alone this year on a November and December elk hunts with temps down into the low teens:

Neo Air Trekker:

Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Trekker Sleeping Pad - Free Shipping at REI.com

With temps that low, though, I was using a -30F rated Feathered Friends bag of mine and would've been toasty warm almost no matter what.

I used this pad quite a bit throughout the summer and fall on ocean kayaking trips and backpack hunting and I can't tell you how comfortable it is to me. I actually think it's at least as comfortable as our mattress at home. The first time I blew it up, I was inadvertently and comfortably asleep in 5 minutes, with no intent to do so.

The predecessor to the Neo Air Trekker is the NeoAir:

THERM-A-REST NeoAir Sleeping Pad, Regular - Eastern Mountain Sports

It's lighter at 14 oz. and comfortable, BUT the material is very thin and VERY crinkly which results in it being very loud to sleep on if there is any movement. And, there have been many reports of punctures due in part to the very thin material. If you take care of it carefully and don't mind how loud it is, 14 oz. is pretty light for a comfortable nights sleep.

 

[jmden]

This was mentioned on another thread started by Tikkamike a few days ago, but I thought I might mention it here as well as folks checking out this thread might benefit from this emergency bivvy if they haven't seen it:

SOL Emergency Bivvy

It really is half the size of a soup can. No kidding. At 3.8 oz and $13 in the link above and as small as it is, it's probably a reasonable thing to pack if you don't always have your tent/bivvy and sleeping bag with you when you hunt.

 

[jmden]

Here's another hyperlight 1 man tent I just found. 2lbs. 1 oz. total weight.

Apparently due to be released at any point now:

Easton Mountain Products

It's good to see a 30 denier silnylon PU coated floor to 2500mm water column. Some of these hyperlight designs compromise in how watertight the floor material is. I tend to think that 2500mm is about as low as floor material should be and I really wouldn't want to go with any smaller nylon fibers for a floor than what is in 30 denier nylon either. You don't want a stream running through your tent and the floor needs to have some abrasion resistance.

Easton Mountain Products is part of Easton, the folks that make Easton arrows that many of us are familiar with. They are using some of their carbon arrow technology in the single pole this shelter incorporates and that is one area they are able to shave weight to produce this very lightweight shelter.

Side entrance is a big plus over end entrance as well--only have to do that once to realize why.

Here's an Easton Mountain Products video (HD on Vimeo) on the Kilo 1P:

[ame=http://vimeo.com/32537166]Kilo 1P on Vimeo[/ame]

 

[Tim in Washington]

I just replaced my Kifaru med stove with a T I 16 " from here Wix.com Edtbackcountryskillcamp created by Dtpatrick0706 based on Business Solutions it weighs a bit over 2 lbs and heats up my 6 man tipi to t shirt temps easily
Tim

 

[jmden]

Another lightweight 1P to look at is the MSR Carbon Reflex 1:

MSR® Carbon Reflex™ 1P Ultralight solo Backpacking Tent

It does weigh 3 lb. 3 oz total weight, but:

1) the solid tent body walls go a bit higher than most of these lightweight designs and that will help tremendously if you get in a situation with any blowing sand or snow as the fly overlaps these solid body panels substantially more than some other lightweight designs, the Big Anges Fly Creek one being an exception here.

2) the floor is made of a heavier 40 denier nylon which will take a little more abuse than the lighter 20 and 30 denier floors found in the other shelters

3) the floor has a 3000mm hydrostatic head (height of water column exerting pressure straight down before some amount of water will seep throug the material) watertight rated coating--the other three UL 1P shelters I mentioned above have ratings of 1200, 1200 and 2500mm hydrostatic head. 800mm is equivalent to 1 psi. If a 200lb person puts all or most of their weight on 1 knee on these floors with moisture underneath the floor, you'll exceed any of these floor's ability to keep water out. But 3000mm is much better than 1200mm.

4) it has a side door entry and good sized vestibule.

Might be the way to go, but for the extra weight...

 

[jmden]

I just replaced my Kifaru med stove with a T I 16 " from here Wix.com Edtbackcountryskillcamp created by Dtpatrick0706 based on Business Solutions it weighs a bit over 2 lbs and heats up my 6 man tipi to t shirt temps easily
Tim

Sounds like you think it puts out more heat for the size/weight, right?