I haven’t been backpacking since the beginning of December. The weather looks good, and I’ve cleared enough work for me to take a couple of nights away in Hercules Glades.
I won’t be able to get away until late in the day (it’s Saturday), so I’m going to have to do another night hike. This time, I’m planning to hike over six miles, with a third of it on a difficult trail, and then do some bushwhacking too. If everything goes according to plan, I should be at my destination by nine-thirty. I have the option to stop halfway if the night hiking is too slow.
The temperature is forecast to vary from the mid-twenties overnight Saturday to the mid-sixties on Monday, so I’m packing a full winter load-out plus some spring additions. Altogether, including food, water, and fuel, it weighs in at around 26 lbs.
Cook Kit (not substantially changed since 2020)
My current cook kit looks like it’s a lot, but it packs down very small.
- Toaks 850ml Ti pot.
- Firebox Nano stainless steel wood burner, with cotton wool & Vaseline fire starters.
- Toaks 450ml double-walled Ti cup.
- Pot cozy.
- Ti long-handled spoon.
- Small washcloth.
- 12oz fuel bottle (I should probably carry a smaller 4oz bottle in the summer).
- Fancee Feest cat-can alcohol stove.
- Ti windscreen for the Fancee Feest.
And as you can see, the wood burner packs away into its base, and most of the rest nests inside the the Cozy. It’s like one of those Russian dolls:
- The Ti windscreen goes inside the Fancee Feest stove.
- The fire starters and cloth go inside the Fancee Feest stove/Ti windscreen.
- The Fancee Feest stove fits inside the 450 ml cup.
- The cup sits inside the 850ml pot.
- The pot goes in the cozy.
My Electronics, Spares and ‘Go-bag’
The bag itself is water resistant, and I keep the contents in ditty bags to make finding things easy. Clockwise from the left, I have my headlamp, power brick and charging cables, camp light, and finally, spares, first aid, and odds and ends bag.
My Go-bag holds a lot and has proved helpful more than once.
And, all unpacked. From the contents of my Odds and Ends bag, I’ve never had to use the fire steel, needle and thread, or the repair tape (duct tape has always got me sorted out so far).
Everything else I’ve had to dip into at one point or another. Allen keys for my camera and hiking poles, my meds — obviously. The line I use to suspend my camp light above my cooking area, the khaki strap holds my tripod onto larger trees than its Velcro straps can cope with, and the black straps fit the bag, so I can carry it around my neck or over my shoulder.
Copyright © 2023 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.