Missing hiker wouldn’t drink untreated water

I would say that unless I am doing an urban hike (ie…Cougar/Tiger Mt's in the Issaquah Alps) my day pack is pretty much identical to my backpacking kit.

The items not in it?
Sleeping bag
Ursack bag
tent
sleeping pad

I carry EVERYTHING else. It isn't like it weighs that much, since most of my gear is lightweight to start with.

My day kit:

Daypack
pack cover
Prolite sit pad
Headlamp
2L of water
Micro Pur tablets
TP bag (TP, ziploc bags, hand cleaning packs)
Clothes bag (down vest, gloves, hat, socks, jacket/pants for rain unless wearing)
Kitchen set (lighter & matches, pot, cup, spork, cozy & paper towels)
Food (bag of snacks, food bag with an extra days worth of food)
first aid kit
GPS or compass
Maps
Knife
and whatever else is in there.

For me, I don't wear my insulating layer on my body while hiking (I get overheated) so I carry it with me, for stops and when we go downhill on the way home. I also rarely wear my rain jacket unless it is dumping or going downhill (overheating thing). Could I survive being lost with my kit? Maybe. Truly it relies on the brain for that to happen. I choose to carry a bit more than some, over the years I have used pretty much everything I carry with me. I have had sunny days turn nasty, I have had simple dayhikes become daylong trips from hell. My food bag easily weighs in at what some peoples butt packs weigh in at.

Still, my pack isn't heavy by any means…and I can say it is very nice to have a hot lunch in the alpine meadows…

Oh yes, and in winter it changes:
down jacket, outer gloves, face cover, snow shovel, etc.

Absolutely Sarah! It's good conditioning anyway. Humongous weights aside, when was the last time you read of someone getting in trouble because they were equipped? :)

I've said many times, if I get in trouble (like an injury), I want Search & Rescue to find me where I'm supposed to be (or at least close by) and warm, dry, well fed and a toothpick in my lips. "Hi, guys! Ready to carry me down 10 miles of rough trail?"

"I've said many times, if I get in trouble (like an injury), I want Search & Rescue to find me where I'm supposed to be (or at least close by) and warm, dry, well fed and a toothpick in my lips. "Hi, guys! Ready to carry me down 10 miles of rough trail?"

Oh, that is exactly my attitude! If I break a leg and have to sit there on the side of the trail, I am going to have a cup of tea and be warm…while I wait for the stretcher with the big off road tires to come get me! ;-) (One of the SAR groups was at WTA Trails Fest this summer showing off all the tools they use, and dang, that stretcher was the coolest thing!)

Dale… I love your list! Very nice. Soooo… a frog harpoon eh?! Never seen that on a list before. Very cool indeed :) And that "spy capsule" thing looks very cool!!!!

BTW… that survival course I was talking about is coming up in a few weeks. I can't wait. Should be interesting. I know the guy teaching it actually. Very nice guy. He's only young… early 20's. I built a surfboard with him last spring. He's been living in a Teepee for almost a year now. Works on an organic farm. He says that he could live in the woods with nothing but a good knife. We're going to learn fire making (from scratch), shelter building, food foraging… etc… over a 3 day weekend. Should be very informative and could save my life some day. The only gear we will be using (other than food and clothing I presume) will be a knife.

Okay, spy capsules first. Search on EDC Depot for the best selection of spy caspsules. What is a spy capsule? A small aluminum cylinder with a screw top and an o-ring seal. Perfect for carrying spare meds, matches, or in my example, it is stuffed with Tinder Quick tabs for fire starting. REI has 'em hanging with the rest of the keychain stuff– about $3 each. Handy little things. Some are the size of my thumb and look like a small SCUBA tank.

Frog harpoons….

FIrst of all there is a school of survival that includes animal snares, fishing gear and knives that can be lashed ot a stick for a spear. The knife thing is kind of useless, IMHO, but I got a frog gig– a gizmo that goes on the end of a stick and looks like Neptune's trident for spearing frogs. They are cheap enough, and not at all heavy, but they take up a fair amount of space, particularly in a compact PSK (Person Survival Kit) like the ones I make.

So I happened upon a type of frog gig that uses replaceable tines, (see http://www.sbtoutdoors.com/mobley's-frog-gig-head-light.htm ) and ordered a few tines to use in kits. The weight is tiny and it can be lashed to a stick for spearing fish, frogs, birds, small mammals, snakes, etc. It's just a heavy wire with a barbed point– a straight fish hook if you will.

I also made up a tiny fishing kit with a few pre-tied leaders with snelled hooks (to hold bait like bugs), some split shot for weight, and a plastic bobbin full of 30# test Sprectra line. The hooks can snag small game too. Also, I carry a tiny roll of 26ga wire that can be used for snares and improvised repairs to gear. I carry a little roll of braided nylon seine twine too.

Lest you think I'm loading up, this all comes to a couple ounces. The idea is to be self sustainable if lost in the back country– I hike solo a lot. UL hiking principle abhors carrying anything that is not used on a regular basis, but I can aford the extra bit of weight for survival and first aid items.

Dale, thanks for the detailed list, I had not known those single-use sunscreen packs existed; Im going to wait for the price to come down a bit. And the smoke grenade pouch looks like a good size for a day kit; going to find one of those..
You might replace your pen with a Fisher space pen refil, smaller, waterproof, cheap.

Single use sunscreen? You can get that at Minimus btw!

Yes, I got mine at Minimus.biz, along with way too much other stuff. They do have some first aid things that are hard to find in small packs– neosporin being one. Their hotel-style sewing kits are great. It didn't take long to burn up $20 and get free shipping.

The pouch came from my favorite surplus store, Federal Army Navy in Seattle (http://www.gr8gear.com/catalog/index.php). Try using a sunglass case if you can't find the smoke grenade pouch. Small camera pouches, one liter Sea to Summit silnylon stuff sacks or just the Aloksak with do the job.