An Exercise In Selecting Gear

A recent post had me discussing gear. I will tell you that every single one of these items is my shopping list on Amazon. Now as to if anything is actually purchased is a different story and not important for this discussion. And this isn’t an endorsement of the seller, item or Amazon. It is an exercise in decision making. It also assumes the balance of your pack has needed items (clothes, paracord, knives, tools, cookware, etc).

Packing your BOB for a long term SHTF situation where you have to abandon your home and spend what could be years in the woods and you have to chose one of these items to squeeze into the last bit of space in your bag. Which one of these five items is the lucky item and why?

1. Firepit Tripod Hanging Chain This will allow you to select three branches to make a tripod and your cooking pot above a campfire. A hinted use is minor defense as a punch blade style weapon. The chain looks barely long enough to walk a poodle and maybe only that strong.

2. Mini Alcohol Stove Alcohol stove and stand. Uses denatured alcohol (HEET de-icer) Good for boiling water and preparing meals for one or two people. Have fried Spam sandwiches and a can of chicken noodle soup if you really want.

3. Ka-Bar Backpacker Caster Like to go fishing but don’t want to be burdened by a fishing pole and tackle box? Have it in a compact item that is best placed in a small drawstring bag instead of just dumped in your pack. But whatever floats your boat.

4. 50 D Rings 1” wide, welded 50 of them for $10.35 versus 10 for $9.95 because I shop around.

5. Canvas Leather Sewing Awl This tool helps you sew both canvas and leather. Handy item for making moccasins or clothes or repairs to either.

I just ordered a new tent off Amazon Japan. 1.8 kilo . Small and light to cycle with other camping gear on bike. Cost about 150 bucks. Reviews on it is good also.

www.amazon.co.jp...=sspa_dk_detail_4?pd_rd_i=B07HT5XD9D&pd_rd_w=aytAC&pf_rd_p=d33ff8eb-7fee-4a16-8ef7-469a9348381a&pd_rd_wg=lxB DA&pf_rd_r=TCMJTTFW33RRPFJ2NBAW&pd_rd_r=7613381a-8e4f-4939-9a3f-758ea23ff975&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFaWVBLUVdXQjRLRDUmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAxNDkx NjkyNUtaMlZGUEg3TlFMJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTMxUURPSTZWUzQ5VjImd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWwmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl&th=1

a reply to: Ahabstar

Well, I'd have to go for;

3. Ka-Bar Backpacker Caster

Naturally it depends on how bad things are, however, I'm going worst case scenario and assuming that, like all other wild animals on the planet, finding food is the priority from the moment we wake up. Obviously there are guns, traps and the like for other opportunities, but can you have too many options when sourcing food?

a reply to: Ahabstar
Its a little spendy, but I have quite a bit of KUIU gear.
Staying light, water proof, wicking moisture...keep any number of problems away, not the least of which: dumping gear because you're to weighed down.

Mobility is key. You won't be able to stay in one place long, nor should you want to.

Item
1 Not bad but why would you need something that you can make by learning how to lash and a simple dog chain and clip.

2 Yes but not that one. Twig stove and burner. With those you can burn anything but deisel. It will work with wood twigs, charcoal, wood pellets, etc.. with the burner it will burn alcohol (any kind) break fluid, hydraulic fluid, nail polish remover, paint thinner, white gas, colman fuel, and in a pinch vodka, whiskey, etc.

3 Nice but why. You can put fishing tackle in a jar or bag and simply use line on the small spool that it came on for fishing that way. Like this but much cheaper. Yoyato. If you want a larger spool get a cuban yoyo. There is a bigger version that is 9 inches across also.

4 Nice price if you have a use for them.

5 Nice price for what you are getting. You can sew anything with that. If you need to, you can pre punch holes with a nail and hammer.

Paracord is so last century. Look for Dyneema and Technora line. You can carry over 100 times the amount of them for the same load rating of paracord. I bought 1 km of 300 lb Dyneema fishing line (common braided fishing line) for about 40 dollars last year. It is not something you want to pull on with bare skin but lashes well and great guy lines and support lines for shelters and makes a super strong sewing line. Technora doesn't melt but Dyneema melts when overloaded. I have some 600 lb and 1200 lb Technora for heavier loads. The 1200 is I think 3 mm in diameter, about the size of that mini paracord you can get at craft stores. Dyneema is used on crains now as it is stronger and lighter than steel cable.

The sewing awl assumes you know how to sew in the first place but with the needles and line that comes with it could make a very strong argument for first place as you could have multiple uses with this type of item. The cordage alone would be worth including if you don't have any, but I imagine you have bank line or paracord.

Can't find much use for a short length of chain, the stove is nice but you should have other options for fire making, cooking, and purifying water. D rings are versatile but can't come up with a reason they would be included over the caster. The caster is a strong choice for second place, which if it included a fishing kit with it would probably be my pick. However I do like to look at items that can have multiple uses, the only one of which is the sewing awl set.

a reply to: Hypntick

What about some kind of combo - caster / sewing awl set. You could easily get the sewing set to fit inside the handle of the caster

a reply to: Ahabstar

Ka-Bar Backpacker Caster

i think i'll just stick with my ronco pocket fishermen. you know they've made a 2nd generation now. still making them 60 years later.

oh ron knew his sh@@.

ETA: and you can get it on amazon to for $29.99

a reply to: beyondknowledge
I have a different model of twig stove but I love mine even though it's old and weighs a full pound. When you can't get a fire going outside you can always make one in the stove. You can cook on it and use it indoors to heat a shelter with a little ventilation which is pretty much built in already if you made a natural shelter.

As for fishing that is where everyone is going to go looking for protein. Avoiding other people seems the safest option in any SHTF scenario and I'll get mine by seining minnows in streams. Don't taste great but dry them and crush with a rock, eat the whole thing so you waste nothing.

a reply to: Asktheanimals

The most common mistake I see in survival with avoiding people is an ax. Anyone can hear you chopping for many miles away. I have a small and large folding pruning saw along with a pocket chain saw in my kit. Much more quiet. How not to be seen needs to include how not to be heard.

I have to admit that I like these types of exercises. Generally you argue weight versus function when making decisions. This time I went for space versus function and everything on the list is basically the same size/weight as everything else. So really it is a function versus versatility.

My thoughts

1) Worthless beyond simple camping. And even then a lashing or S hook with the third leg wedged on top the s hook and tops of other two p9les can replace the triangle. The chain is easily replaced by cordage as flames should never hit it.

2) Again a nice camping item, but an empty metal can without the soon to be depleted alcohol. The smell of items being cooked ends any “stealth” this item grants.

3) Three words: Hobo Fishing Reel. That is what this is and traditionally they are carved from part of a small branch. You can also fashion one quickly from a plastic soda bottle or even a glass beer bottle. Hint:electrical tape can make the “raised lip” of your spool.

4) A surprisingly useful item. Mostly because making metal in the woods is a very hard process. It would be more useful if you had a mix of welded and not welded or substituted a handful of large nails to cold forge (pound the devil out of) edges for makeshift knives, reamers, drills and chisels. Two D rings on a strap is a friction buckle like an old chinstrap.

5) Sewing awl is a very handy tool. It does have limited functionality. And almost zero functionality if you don’t know how to sew with it as it is very different than whip stitching with needle and thread. That said. You can whip stitch with needle and thread, paracord internal strands, sinew. If you have a Leatherman or Gerber you probably have an awl. And many Swiss Army Knives have an eye on the reamer to use as a sewing awl (again learn how)

Overall my pick is 4) with 5) as a close second. Just because it is metal in my hand to make other items...including sewing needles and fish hooks. Now if I ran across some railroad spikes, that is a portable mini anvil among other things before trying to heat and forge new things.

My choice isn’t definitive as everyone looks at it differently, but for me I’d take the D rings. But I can replace their main function (strapping) with a length of cord with a couple knots and a stick as a toggle. But muck like a carabiner they make for a rather frictionless pulley substitute which is an area where they can shine. But again a wood pulley isn’t hard to make or overly time consuming.

a reply to: beyondknowledge

Very similar to mine only this is a new version than mine in which they added the circular grill. The bowl is for Esbit tabs. When doing twigs place it on the bottom to catch (somewhat) hot ashes and embers.

a reply to: Ahabstar

I have one of those takedown metal firestove the emberlit brand, but any other would do. There easy to take down and set up, and can pack up to a flat surface and take with you. Camping hiking, whatever, there not that much of a hassle to carry.
Emberlit stove

Then just a little pack of first aid material. You know bandages, and some super glue. A small bag you can find anywere.

Then some rope, is in the backpack as well. Any would do really, paracord is in the bag.

A little light cooking pan, mine is just some small pan if found in probably any store out there. Its just a camping one were the handles push over the top for easier carrying.

And usually a smaller knife and bigger knife. The smaller knife for everywere carry the big knife? Just in the bag for camp chores, you know making kindling for firestove or chopping down branches or wood for whatever reason. I used to have a hatchet in there, but I find a bigger knife does the same tasks and a bit more versatile. That and a fero rod and matches or even a lighter for starting fires, the fero rod mostley simply because it goes with the knife, and you can use it for years unlike mathes or a lighter, which you run out of fast.

I generally make my own knifes.

I used to carry the red and black handled one. But I broke it, so now I carry the black handled one in the bag, and that to isnt good. Need to make another.


And this thing I keep around as well sometimes, just for firewood making detail. I dont like it that much now, also need to make another.


I have some fishing line as well. But dont usually keep it around, in fact forgot were I put the dam thing. A fishing line and some hooks are an easy carry, even if you dont use them.

On a general term. In my hiking backpack or whatever. There are a bunch more items. But those items if I had to gut it out for light travel. Those items would be in there, and everything else would go.

I live out in the woods, I have five acres, lots of it woods. Across the road is a river with fish in it and some ponds. I don't plan on going hiking in the woods and survive without adequate toilet paper and an outhouse.

I usually have a roll of fishing line around and some hooks, government poles are out in the woods if I don't have a pole with me. When I was young I used to have about ten feet of fish line and a few hooks and sinkers in a little plastic bag in my wallet, just in case I was driving by a stream and felt like fresh brook trout for supper. I gave that up when I got married around thirty five years ago and had money to buy a Big Fish sandwich in my wallet at all times.

I taught my granddaughter to fish with a government pole, the string was bread ties and we bent a piece of welding rod into a hook with pliers. She initially looked at me really strange but once she caught two brookies on it she was smiling ear to ear. She also learned how to pluck turkeys and clean them at my friends house, so she can do fine with that part, she also was taught how to clean fish and cook them by the time before she was thirteen years old.

Everyone should be teaching their kids how to survive if things go wrong, now all they teach them is how to go through the drivethrough at McDs.

Those D hooks look kind of like something I would be interested in but I think I would rather have nonwelded ones for what I would use them for. I know how to sew, but would rather not. Cheap enough though. What are you planning to do with those D rings anyway? I have lots of zip ties myself.

a reply to: Ahabstar

Interesting topic for discussion.

Your primary concern would be the terrain in which you plan to bug out to, and how you plan to get there. I would have different items in mind if I lived in NYC and planned to go upstate, verses living in Las Vegas and planning to go to the desert.

Personally, I live in a coastal area and I have a spot picked out inland. I anticipate hotter summers with less available water, colder winters with less available food sources, and generally less access to any manufactured goods for scavenging, but fewer humans to deal with. With that in mind:

1. Nice, but not essential. Small enough to carry, but for its stated function, there are plenty of substitutes.

2. Unless you know how to make alcohol out of wood, this has limited uses. Unlike my ancestors, I never learned how to make moonshine. I should probably work on that, could be a useful skill.

3. I don't expect a lot of fish in my bug out area. I'm sure there are some, but I'm not counting on it. If there are fish available, I'm sure I can find a way to get them with a net or make some sort of fishing pole.

4. Interesting choice. I have a lot of D rings. It's one of those things where the use is limited only by your imagination. I suppose I should include a few of those in my bug out bag.

5. My top choice. When it comes right down to it, there is no substitute for a sharp piece of steel with a hole in it. Native Americans used bone, but, of course, steel is better. If you kill a deer or some other animal, the meat will feed you, the skins will keep you warm, you can use the sinews to make thread, but you need a needle to stitch them together. Having a sewing awl will save you a lot of time. And it will have so many other uses.

Of course, a good knife should still number one on anyone's list.

a reply to: Ahabstar


Ummm…I thought about the backpack caster for my BOB’s then purchased two of the pen telescopic rod and reel kits.

Another item I bought for my BOB’s are multiple filter straws for filtering water. Also multiple ferrous rods for the fire thing and pre shaved magnesium in small bags.
Some other things I purchased are two Ohuhu stoves, and water purification tablets.

I also have baggies with dryer lint and Vaseline mixed for starting wet fires.

For food I make my own beef and fish pemmican and spam which both keep for ages in vac sealed bags.

I saw that tripod hanging chain gizmo and put that on my saved list.
The leather sewing awl is also a great addition I’m going to have to add.






YouSir

To better demonstrate my point a few videos:

1)

3)

3) From a pill bottle

5)


Welded D rings don’t bend and warp under stress like unwelded ones do. Welded ones can be cut back open, but it is a pain. Even worse if all you have is a metal file on a multi tool.

Outside the box usages: if you have an old style canteen cup that does not have the newer butterfly handles. A couple D rings a stick make a great wooden handle to remove your cup from the fire/cooking surface.

A 22” x 22” bandana is about 30” folded on the diagonal. Fold it up to be roughly an inch wide and thread a D ring. Tying the two ends in a square knot you have a strap (use two for a bedroll) with a handy hook point for easy attachment to your pack.

A cotton bandana is probably second in usefulness only to a fixed blade knife and maybe slightly ahead of a folding pocket knife unless that folder is all you have. Carabiners of all sizes are as handy as a shirt pocket, even the two for a dollar aluminum ones meant to be keychains. Two of the little guys, 15’ of paracord, and I can have a ridge line between two trees almost as fast as people can unroll a sleeping bag. Which is just experience, because I can “tie” a cow hitch knot between my thumb and index finger and slip it onto the post...in this case an opened carabiner.

As a treat, how to make a block and tackle out of just rope...now imagine using those welded D rings threaded into the loops to reduce the friction on the “pulleys”

I went through the original OLS back in the early '80s (before it got all 'woke' and 'green' like it is now). Back then it was the real deal, after Outward Bound had caved to the corporate masses, yuppies and window lickers. I'm also a big fan of the TV show "Alone", for a variety of reasons. There are a number of fatal flaws in this show, but there are many, many, takeaways.

I love this subject because I have so many comments, it's almost like a traffic jam in my head. I've lived quite a bit of it in the remote mountains of Wyoming while camping, fishing and hunting. I also love the art of bushcraft, due to its basic skills and resourcefulness.

I don't have any significant comment on any of the gear items you've asked about. Take and use them if you wish. I probably would choose other stuff, but that's just me.

My comments would be this...

Hanging chain - Plenty of other ways to do that without lugging a chain around with you for solely that purpose. Suggest reading Kochansky's 'Bushcraft, or Ellsworth's 'Wildwood Wisdom'. Probably two of the greatest books ever written on the subject.

Mini Alcohol Stove - Meh, I can make a stove, and / or a fire, from just about anything, even in a pouring rainstorm at 34 degrees F. Just have to know how. Alcohol evaporates, so it doesn't keep long, and it loses it's effectiveness. There are many other, easier, fire starters (wax for example), and one of the absolutely BEST stoves you can buy is at (of all places) IKEA, and it's not even a stove! It's a silverware holder! I can create a virtual volcano in one of these things in a matter of minutes...which is enough to cook on, AND light a campfire...and even more!

Ka-Bar Caster - Meh, save your money! You can do the same thing with a stick or two. Small pieces of reflective metal and quality hooks (like snell hooks) are a far better investment, and much cheaper.

D-Rings - Of the few modern things I believe in, one of them is "Carabiners", This is one area were spending some money on modern stuff pays off. Go for high strength aluminum or titanium. They are definitely worth it, and infinitely useful!!!!!!

Sewing Awl - NO-body should be without one of these!!! AND, everyone should have a compliment of waxed thread also! Absolutely indispensable tool!! Fully agree on this one!

a reply to: Ahabstar

3. Ka-Bar Backpacker Caster Like to go fishing but don’t want to be burdened by a fishing pole and tackle box? Have it in a compact item that is best placed in a small drawstring bag instead of just dumped in your pack. But whatever floats your boat.

I don't get it.

Just bring the line and hooks, find a stick, catch a grasshopper. Now you're flyfishing.

Update - I watched "Alone" the other night and saw something which totally turned me off on the series!

One of the contestants had a perfect opportunity to catch / kill a squirrel for food, and the announcers jumped in on the show and said squirrels are protected and you can't kill them for food. 97% of squirrels are NOT protected! That was complete BS!! They lied!

There is no law I can find on hunting squirrels in western Canada, and I looked. That was contrived drama in the show, made up crap, to prevent competitors from being able to eat.

I'm very disappointed in "Alone" now...making up fake rules to make the show harder. Kill all the damn squirrels you need to in order to survive!!

**Raising the "Total Bullsh*t" flag on the "Alone" series!!!

Used to really like that show too, but I always wondered about why more people didn't kill easy prey like squirrels and other small critters. It's fish, or starve. That's BS!!