My BOB Post, Pic Heavy! (UPDATED 22MAR13)

[LJinFLA]

LJ, I'm going to try and put something together eventually. Others have ask as well.

I'm currently working on a "survival camp" outing coming up soon. Temps should be around 45F daytime and around freezeing, 32F, nightime. You don't have to train to be miserable so I train to overcome. Should have a write-up and pics after.

Thanks Mags. I look forward to your writeup. And i appreciate all the time you put into this thread.

I also agree with your cotton rounds thing. I stumbled onto this because my wife loves these things better than cotton balls for her makeup removal and she almost never has cotton balls for me to steal for my kit. These things turned out to be much better.

LJ

[Mags]

Weather outlook for "survival camp" outing........yuck! (Technical Meteorological term. )

Daytime; High 41F, Rain/Snow Mix, 50% Chance, 10-15MPH WNW Winds W/ 35MPH Gusts.
Nighttime; Low 30F, Partly Cloudy, Precip falls to 10%, 10MPH W Winds.
Daytime; High 44F, Partly Cloudy, Precip 10%, 10MPH W Winds.

Day time shouldn't be too bad with all the work to be done, constantly moving about. Looks like we should be able to dry out and warm up a bit round a fire during the evening. Stock up on some calories for the overnight, then wake to a decent day. WW's sig line will deffinetly play apart in this outing. I think they say the type of weather expected on the first day is perfect for hypothermia and exposure related deaths.

Should be fun! (Now, what to pack?................my GI Joe/Cobra jammies of course! DUH!)

[Woods Walker]

35MPH Gusts.... Maybe keep an eye out for widow makers but beyond that first day it seems ok. Still I would rather do negative 20F than 35-40F with rain/snow/sleet bullshit.

[Mags]

Amen brother, and I even have "widow maker" written on my paper as a comment under site selection! Great minds my man, great minds.

Two camp kit food related items I like so far.............

Bigger item is the Stanley Outdoors 20oz Food Jar.
Dims = 3.9375" diam X 7" tall
Capacity = 20oz.
Double Wall Stainless Steel Vacuum.
Gray finish.
Leak proof and packable.
Screw green poly top with flip up storage lid.
Includes compact folding SS spork.
Designed to hold a standard 2 person dehydrated food packet with water.
Perfect for base camp, O.P., or in your hide.
Keeps food piping hot and designed to mix and hold your standard 2-person freeze dried backpacking food packets.

Smaller item is the Stanley Outdoors 16oz Bowl/Mug Combo. They snap together nicely and making a double walled mug.
Doubles as Bowl & Mug.
Splash Proof Lid.
Two Cup Capacity.
Snap-Fit For Easy Transport.
Lifetime guarantee.

Food jar $27, Bowl/Mug Combo $15, custom badass LF'er touch......Priceless!

[Woods Walker]

Had a few trees and big branches go down around my camp during an ice storm. A bad night for sure . Now I am all spooked about them. So what are you taking for a shelter?

[Mags]

Don't even start with your fancy, warm, uberness!

I'm going native for this one. Hence the title "survival camp." We'll see how it goes but I'm expecting a long night. I haven't worked out all the kinks yet and will probably head out dead tired, dehydrated and hungover. Come to think of it, your heated shelter sounds pretty good! (or a Hamton Inn with the new comforters & pillows......mmmmm.) Wait a minute......back to "survival camp." A MF'ers got stay hard!


Pictures and write up will follow......

[Woods Walker]

If you are looking to make a bush shelter or even an improved tarp setup start early. I got caught out the other day hiking with 2 friends as we forgot that fall back spring ahead junk. As luck would have it packed 2 headlamps and a flashlight so everyone was set. On the downside my buddy was having a fight with his wife and intentionally hiked too fast for her. After her second near fall I slowed things down.

Anyways for marginal gear shelter here is what I did in the past.

1. Used bush materials for a very thick bed but once again this took time.
2. Setup my tarp as modified lean-to. Not the best but can't change that now.
3. Started a good fire with more wood than I needed. This takes time. I saved energy by pushing the fuel into the fire as needed rather than cutting it up.
4. Removed any wet clothing. My paints and socks got wet and was better off without them. Had backup pair of socks.
5. For my silly testing I used a cheaper tarp as pin holes can and do happen. No reason to mess up a 100 siltarp just to fool around. What worked with a cheap tarp will also do the same for more expensive gear.
6. Slept only until the fire died down and the chill got me up to add more wood. Repeat the process over and over again.
7. 3-4 am somehow seems to be the coldest and worse.

If looking to go native than maybe a UL bivy might be in order. A bivy shelter and true bag is kind of a joke as these are almost never packed on a bad day hike/hunt or similar fucked up survival misadventure gone wrong. Anyways no real expert as only had two unexpected nights out in maybe 25 years but just sayin set aside more time for setting up camp than you might expect.

[Canadian Guy]

This is an excellent thread, much appreciated Mags and Woods Walker.

Woods Walker wrote:

Still I would rather do negative 20F than 35-40F with rain/snow/sleet bullshit.

100% in agreement, I've been colder in 0 degree slushy wet crap weather then in -45 arctic ops. Dry cold (although cold) I find is much easier to stay warm and dry as long as you have the right kit!

[Mags]

In keeping with trying to get the most out of my gear and trips I thought of posting up about the “lowly notebook.” I always carry a RIR notebook on outings, trips and deployments. I keep track of gear and equipment during the event not after when I’ve forgotten most of things I did or did not want or use. Being able to put it all down on paper to be gone over once back home. It is very important to get this info on paper while it’s fresh in my mind.



I routinely carry either a RIR 4x6” or 3x5” spiral bound notebook. Both are carried in covers that allow for some minimal stowage. This feature gives me the ability to carry a few extra items right along with the notebooks. With the 4x6” covers I’ve had a small panel of orange fabric sewn in. This not only makes another pocket but is a signaling device good for close in link ups. Now I have a multi-use survival item not just a “lowly notebook.”

The variety of items I could carry is only limited by my imagination and the small available space. I also have pages filled in with lots of info. Everything from emergency contacts to survival notes etc. My normal writing instrument is a Fisher Bullet Space Pen and a mechanical pencil. The Government pencil shown is not fine enough for very precise map work but it gets the job done. I have also carried regular pencils cut in half shortening them allowing dual end sharpening.



In the 4x6” cover I sometimes carry the notebook, pen, pencil, mirror, whistle, Spark Lite, map protractor, fishing kit, razor blade, frensel lens, band-aids, alcohol wipes, survival and medical cheat sheets. (I forgot the small button compass inside the little pocket.)



In the 3x5” cover it’s the notebook, AMK cheat sheet, Brunton Life Card, Universal grid scale, pen and pencil.



I think these show how an item as “simple & lowly” as a notebook can be tweaked to become a valuable piece of survival kit. If not, at least there is some new pictures …………………


IMHO, YMMV.......

[Hanuman110]

Can you provide any additional info on the content of the cheat sheets? I like to keep a RIR notebook in my gear as well and I'm always looking for things like that to make it more useful.

[Woods Walker]

This is an excellent thread, much appreciated Mags and Woods Walker.

Woods Walker wrote:

Still I would rather do negative 20F than 35-40F with rain/snow/sleet bullshit.

100% in agreement, I've been colder in 0 degree slushy wet crap weather then in -45 arctic ops. Dry cold (although cold) I find is much easier to stay warm and dry as long as you have the right kit!

Thanks for the vote of confidence but this is Mag's threads. I am just a spectator here. I think the big problem with 35-40F and rain/sleet/snow horror show is people underestimate it. If you hike slow and setup a good fire in very cold conditions minus the wind it is very doable and in some ways if a person has the right gear kinda comfortable. But someone is never 100% ok in freezing rain. It sucks the life right out of a person and recovery is very hard in the field. Most gear can be full of fail too. Shelters condensate all to the hell and breatherable fabrics like Gortex can be a problem. Starting a fire is hard too. These are the conditions that can kill faster than anyone might expect. But many will not believe this for some reason.

[Mags]

Well an "emergency" delayed the "survival camp" outing several hours. Plans had to be modified but we still made it out for a decent overnight. Most of the rain stayed away, the wind howled, and only a dusting of snow over night. Getting out was a real pain but once there it was all good.

More pics and a short write up shortly.

[-Jason-]

Sorry if I missed it but where did you get those note book covers from?

Most of the ones I have come across were too complicated and thus thicker then I would want.

[91xlt]

looking forward to the next "chapter" in this thread...lol

i keep going over this thread with a fine toothed comb...it's been stated prior to this post, but, there is a lot of good gear/info in this thread!

i would like to see packing lists/pics also, as someone asked earlier.

keep up the good work there MAGS...
tis appreciated!

[Woods Walker]

Let’s see….

Kifaru ZXR, side pockets and E&E all stuffed full of goodness. A closed cell Ridgerest with maybe an open cell in the middle. Add to that an overstuffed medium (could also be large hard to tell) POD. Wondering if there isn't a Nalgene on the bottom of that E&E?

[Murph]

Awesome, I got a RidgeRest laying it my living room. Sooo much better then the USGI pad.

[Tperkins]

Mags, I got a little request. I've been looking at buying one of the new G2 ZXR's, but all the pics they have on Kifaru's site and forums are all packed up with either pouches or an XTL on it. Do you think you could do me a favor and just kind of pack it up with some minimal 2-3 day summer type gear and take some pictures how it looks compressed close to its smallest? The G2 verson is larger, but mainly the stays are 3" longer, I'd just like to see the ZXR you have compressed down, nice and simple, bag only. If you could do that favor for me, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I think I might have said it before, but this is one of the best BOB posts, I'll gladly say I learned a lot. (Along with wanting the kifaru kool aid )

[Mags]

Answers to follow, once sober!..........................

[91xlt]

Answers to follow, once sober!..........................

sober posts are SO f'in over-rated...LOL

[Woods Walker]

Answers to follow, once sober!..........................

sober posts are SO f'in over-rated...LOL

Yea I was looking forward to this report during my weekend conditioning hike. Been hanging out on this forum all night cuz I got nothing else to do and still all I see is that fucking hat pic. He better be spending quaility time with the GF or something. This is an outrage.

[Hanuman110]

Forget the Trip report. I want to hear about the drunken bender from which he's apparently still recovering.

[91xlt]

Forget the Trip report. I want to hear about the drunken bender from which he's apparently still recovering.

gotta go with you bro!...especially after this amount of "recovery" time ...LOL

[Mags]

I sobered up in time to see that Sgt. Joe shitbagman bumped me to page 2.................oh well. I'll try harder!

[Murph]

I sobered up in time to see that Sgt. Joe shitbagman bumped me to page 2.................oh well. I'll try harder!

Damn, that's a hell of a bender!