Thanks for the comments, glad others have enjoyed the thread as well. I've been wearing some lighter 6 pocket denim pants while hiking that allow much more freedom of movement than the jeans I'd worn in the past. I was considering using those and the Medalist lightweight silvermax long underwear for a bottom layer. With this set-up I could replace the polypropylene long johns in the pack with a warmer pair of pants just in case. Who makes lightweight wool pants?
Current revised list
-100oz hydration bladder (usually 1/2 full)
-Gerber knife/saw set
-insulated baclava
-dry-plus insulated gloves
-extra socks
-polypropylene long underwear
-wooltimate fleece vest
-lightweight leather gloves
-cell phone
-140hr life headlamp with lithium batteries
-GPS with lithium batteries & trailhead marked
-2 space blankets (the biggest size)
-15ft of braided nylon cord 150lb test
- butane lighter
-magnesium firestarter
-pill bottle of cotton balls coated with vaseline (firestarter)
-6 energy bars
-Katadyn exstream water bottle
-small knife sharpener
-game tag/license & a copy of the rules/regs
A coupla more suggestions:
--zippered emergency bivvy sac in place of space blankets...this will work much better to heat a small space around you to keep you warma and dry and out of the wind/rain than space blankets--I've spent a few wet cold nights in space blankets and would much rather have had something like this. I can almost guarantee that it would be more comfortable. Several versions out there--get a zippered one to help 'seal' you in and the elements out.
ADVENTURE MEDICAL KITS Heatsheets Emergency Bivy - Eastern Mountain Sports
Thermo-Lite 2.0 Bivy Sack, 89033 | Emergency Shelters & Blankets | Survival | GEAR | items from Campmor.
These are probably not meant to be used repeatedly and you seem to indicate you do with your space blankets. In place of the use you mentioned you typically use your space blankets, I'd suggest a good
--waterproof/breathable/windproof jacket (w/ at least hood, hem cinch, pitzips) and pants with very warm w/b gloves and a warm hat. The warm balaclava's do an amazing job (as you've found) because they keep nearly you entire head and neck warm. We always talk about losing the majority of body heat out of our heads, but I bet an exposed neck loses a tremendous amount of heat as well and a
--balaclava helps with that immensely.
--jettison carrying the regs and either jot down a few notes or commit to memory what is needed. If you carry a PPC as many here at lrh.com do for lrh, then you can often download a .pdf version of the regs to your PPC and that version of the regs doesn't weigh too much and doesn't take up a whole lot of room. Just work with it before you leave and make sure you know what pages in the file you might need to get to so that you're not wasting a bunch of battery power searching for what you want in the document.
--butane performance really starts to drop off below 32F. If you might use it, keep in in a pocket next to skin for awhile before you do. I forgot to do this one night in the tent and woke up to 12F and could not get a flame until I warmed it up first.
--still carry waterproof 'storm' matches in waterproof container in case the butane lighter craps out for some other (mechanical) reason...make sure you have a dry surface (side of matchbox) that will ignite them
--absolutely no cotton in the mountains... There's a very old and time honored saying that 'cotton kills'. Probalem with cotton is that the entire fiber soaks in water to the very core and takes a tremendous amount of heat (yours) to dry it out. Which setting is highest on your dryer? Cotton, typically. Most 'wicking' fibers have what's called a hydrophobic core such that the moisture moves along the outside of the fiber, but does not soak into the core. For instance, you can take a fleece (or other 'wicking' fibers) garment completely soak it in water and swing it violently around your head to wring the water out and it will feel much drier to the touch and ready to trap heat in all its little airspaces immediately. Try that with cotton. Wool is great, but once it gets wet, it is also takes alot of heat to completely dry out. For this reason, I'd take fleece over wool any day.
--make sure your socks aren't cotton and this is one area that I'll use wool. It's a very durable fiber and not much else will make a good sock and hold up to hard use. The old advice is 2pr socks. A thin, tight fitting, wicking (keep that foot skin dry!) inner pair under a thicker, insulating pair. My current favorites:
http://www.e-omc.com/catalog/products/1843/Bridgedale-Coolmax-Liner-Sock-2pack-Mens.html and
http://www.altrec.com/bridgedale-socks/mens-endurance-summit-socks Bridgedale is known in the outdoor industry as likely the best sock out there.
The inner pair will almost act like a second skin if sized properly, helping to prevent hotspots/blisters. And get those socks off and dry them and your feet and boots out every night if possible, which reminds me of something else--
--Thinsulate seems like a great insulation, but my experience with it in boots anyway is that it seems to hold moisture and if you aren't diligent to dry those boots out every night, they will get wetter and heavier and colder. I'm not so sure the same thing doesn't happen it Thinsulate insulated gloves that get wet. This is how I deal with it:
Kifaru Parastove with special order 7' stove pipe pictures from hiking & backpacking photos on webshots .
--leather is heavy and will just soak up water typically.
--Since one of the most important things (if not just about the number one rule) about mtn. travel is to stay dry, I don't like having materials with me that literally soak up water and dry very slowly. Bad combination if the survival push ever came to a shove.
--ALWAYS make sure you have the '10 Essentials' with you at all times-
Ten Essentials - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ...besides the sunglasses and sunscreen, unles your hunting early season.
--I'm a big fan of down jackets with shells with a DWR (durable water repellent). The North Face, Marmot and Patagonia make some good ones. There is nothing that is as light as down and insulates as well for it's weight like down that will keep you warm and comfortable and help you survive a night out. But you MUST keep it dry. Being very lightweight and very compressilbe, it is the backpacker's friend. Look for at least 700 fill power. I jettisoned my heavy, not very compressible fleece jacket for a down jacket some years ago and have never looked back.
Just some more stuff to think about. I figure that even if I'm out for a day, if I don't have the stuff to be somewhat comfortable for a night out or be able to help someone else out for a night, I'm packing too lean. Just me. Opinions vary, but with as far as you are getting from the truck, I'd lean very heavily to this philosophy. Just me. Happy hunting!
Edit: I wear a pair of wool pants as well, I should say, as they are durable and warm. Haven't checked out the Sitka pants yet and probably won't with the price they are asking---for a pair of pants!! Gimme a break.
