What kit do you carry & what do you carry it in ?

[bullterrier]

I`ve used waist bags but discarded them for various reasons; the main one being kit isn`t immediately at hand with out having to pull the waist bag round to reach into the rear pouches which can be time consuming, uncomfortable & irritating. This was compounded even more on buying some 8x42 binos.

 

Bearing this all in mind I searched high & low for a bag that was comfortable & large enough to take everything needed for a days air rifle hunting. What I found was a tactical type bag called the Maxpedition Versipak, it has 5 zippered pouches, 7 sleeve/mesh type seperators, a bottle pouch which can be velcroed & compressed flat, a main pocket that has a fastex buckle closure, velcro patches for attaching things on to the outside of the bag as well as various tape type (molle) attachment points on the outside.

 

I use the main pouch for a fairly large medical kit containing various items from After Bite, insect repellent, wound dressings, blister kits, plasters to a spare lip salve etc. It also takes various soft items such as face veils spare gloves & hats (weather dependent), face veils etsc. Behind one of the mesh seperators I keep a pellet pouch & Fiskars knife sharpening tool, behind the other seperator I keep my insurance etc. The main pouch is also large enough for sandwiches as long as spare soft items (gloves etc) aren`t carried. This pouch has draw cord storm flap whilst the lid is a buckle closure.

 

On the outside of the main compartments lid is a flat zippered pocket that I keep spare magazines available & easily to hand in. These are the only items kept in this pocket to avoid confusion when it`s dark & needing a reload due to it being easily accessible.

 

Above the previous pocket sits another zipped pocket of sun glass case dimensions, in this I place a bottle of hand wash gel & some latex gloves. On top of this pocket is a strip of velcro to which I`ve velcroed a Lowe Alpine sun glasses case with some sports sun glasses inside.

 

Underneath this lid lies a second fairly large pouch which I keep my 8x42 binos in & behind the mesh seperator I keep a lens pen, lens cleaning cloth x 2 & an allen key for the scope mounts. This pouch is zip closure & sits under the previous pouches flap.There is also a key fob in this pocket. This has made my binos much more readily available than if in a waist bag (bum bag) therefore enabling me to use them more often. When lamping the Binos are substituted for a lamp battery pack. A small head torch is also carried in here when lamping.

 

On the side at the front of the bag is another zipped pocket in which I keep two small sealed packs of tissues in the likelihood of being caught short, I also carry a lip salve in this pocket as well. Behind this pouch is sleeve type pcket that I keep a small, slender CRKT fixed blade knife in which is in a hard platic sheath. Only the top half inch of the knifes handle is visible from this pouch.

 

On the side at the rear of the bag is a bottle pouch of the correct dimensions for a Nalgene type water bottle & that is what is carried in this more often than not. This pouch can be velcroed flat whilst the neck of the pouch can be can pulled shut with a cord that is also adjustable from inside the main pouch.

 

There is another zipped pocket behind the main pouch, this is flat & I have found no use for it as yet.

 

The shoulder strap is a permanent fixture to the bag with an adjustable shoulder pad, the strap is adjustable for length as well. The front part of the strap has a fastex buckle ,at the end of the buckle is a molle type tape fixture point to which I have attached a Berghaus pouch containing a Victorinox Swiss Army knife (climber). The other end of the strap has the same Molle type attachments but with a sleeve type pocket behind in which I keep a safety whistle attached by a piece of cord to a hook on the strap.

 

The equipement I carry can be supplemented with various bits of kit such as a folding saw, hatchett larger fixed blade knife dependent on whether I`m hide shooting or mobile.

 

This bag has been an excellent acquisition for me, no faffing about doing buckles up whilst my shooting bud looked on in despair at me trying to get buckled into a bum bag whilst he was already sorted. It doesn`t slip down, when pushed behind it stays there till I swing it back to where i need it.

Everything is now easily at hand in situated in it`s own compartment, a bit anal I know but I`m a bit of a neat freak !

 

So what do you fellas use, do you have any tips that might come in handy ?

[Baldrick]

My God, how do you even move (quietly and quickly) while carrying all that?! You must look slightly like Arnie does in 'Commando':

 

What I carry depends very much on what I'm planning to shoot (I don't have to be self-sufficient when woodland stalking, unlike on a Highland hillside). If I'm stalking or lamping on foot on familar territory, I take the bare minimum, all of it rattle-proof. I'm rarely more than a few miles from civilisation (even in deepest darkest Essex).

Edited May 11, 2008 by Baldrick

[marlin1]

Rambo

[chrispti]

Gun, Ammo, game bag.

[sandy22]

Why do you need a second lip salve and carry it in the same pocket as the ***-wipes?

 

Are you trying to tell us something?

 

Wouldn't a tube of KY or just a tub of Vaseline be better?

[bullterrier]

I always lose my lipsalves & now you mention it maybe it isn`t such a good idea to carry it with me bog roll (believe me when I say I need the tissue, my outdoor toilet habits are notorious). Who needs KY jelly when using lipsalve gets to the area with less mess !

 

The bag may sound huge but for the most part it isn`t particularly big, most of the accessory pockets are small. I adjust what I need depending on what I`m doing or how long I may be doing it for. The lid strap on the main compartment is not very long therefore prventing the carriage of to much kit.

 

One thing I will say if you don`t take something & start wishing you had due to heat, cold etc what could have been a good day or nights hunting can turn very uncomfortable & a spare pair of fleece gloves, buff & a fleece hat don`t weigh much & compress down easily.

 

I always take the medical kit with me, safety first. You don`t have to shoot yourself to get injured. Easy enough to cut yourself on a blade or injure yourself or your shooting partner. I may never need this but don`t want to find out the hard way that I shouldn`t have left it at home.

 

The whistle is for safety only, it`s tiny & unobtrusive.

 

The binos enable me to glass wider areas safely, not much chance of me getting trigger happy with a pair of binos in my hands, but they do enable me to identify quarry safely. Again, safety first.

 

The fixed blade knife is small, basically a neck knife & fits in it`s pocket & is pretty much invisible & therefore unobtrusive. The Swiss army knife gets taken along for one reason, it`s got scissors.

 

The mags, can`t have to many.

 

The lens cleaning kit is small & when you pay alot of money for a scope you don`t want to be using your snot rag to clean it !

 

It doesn`t make any noise because everything can be stored in it`s own compartment & I don`t tend to run when hunting.

 

The bag is not large but ergonomically designed, if you google it the reallity is that its smaller than what it appears to be.

 

I would say the bag & kit together doesn`t weigh much more than 4-5 pnds & everything is more accessible than in a waist/bum bag.

[chrispti]

Why do you need a second lip salve and carry it in the same pocket as the ***-wipes?

 

Are you trying to tell us something?

 

Wouldn't a tube of KY or just a tub of Vaseline be better?

youve just made me cry!