A ? for you die hard hunters

There is another topin on Jungle hammocks here. From what I have read on the thread and on the site they seem like a great way to go instead of a tent. You may want to look into it.

I'd get a one man tent. And the best you can afford. Get a quality and light weight tent. Hilleberg is likely the best. I have a Big Agnes seedhouse 1, and it is pretty good. Other brands also offer quality tents. Get a quality sleeping bag, but get a light one. Much depends upon where and when you'll be hunting. if it's early and heavy snow is unlikely, the needs change dramatically.

Get a quality pack, too. And make sure you have a decent pad to sleep on. Have fun and good luck.

Here's a few things I've learned over the years about knocking around remote places.
Tents-I much prefer an actual tent over a bivy sack; I use what I call the "+1" method-if I'm alone, I take a 2 person tent; if I have a partner I'll take a 3 person tent. If there's more than 2 in the group allow for tent space accordingly. There's a real good chance of bad weather at some point on any hunt in the mountains, and I feel you need that tent space to move around a little bit as well as keep at least some of your gear (like rifle/bow, and at least some spare clothes) in with you. I've used a single person shelter and it just was not comfortable enough for me (the shelter I used is an REI "Roadster"-a single person tent geared towards cyclists. It's bigger height-wise than a bivy sack, with about the same footprint. I can sit up in the thing but changing clothes or even putting shoes on kind of made me feel like Gumby-and that's getting tougher as age creeps up on me. I'd like to unload this shelter if anyone's interested).

Sleeping pads-After suffering for years on the standard issue Thermarest, I broke down this year and bought a Big Agnes insulated inflatable pad. I used it over a weekend trip a couple weeks ago and there is just no comparison between it and my old Thermarest. You have to inflate the thing, which means blowing it up, but I was able to do it an 11,760' without problem.

Sleeping bags-I'm a cold sleeper; I crawl in my bag and am plenty comfortable 'til the wee hours of the morning then I wake up cold. I keep several bags and pick the one best suited to the weather when I'm going. Since I'm a cold sleeper, I use what I call the '-20 degrees" method. If the low temp is supposed to be in the 20's, I'll take a 0 degree bag; if it's getting colder than that I'll take my -20 bag. Everyone knows it's a no-no to keep food in your tent, but since I know I'll wake up cold I keep some cookies or a candy bar handy, to provide some "fuel for the furnace".
Here's a tip that a mountaineering friend gave me-if you wake up in the wee hours with a full bladder, don't try to tough it out 'til wake-up time. Your body spends a lot of energy keeping all that fluid warmed to body temperature, so you end up getting colder, and having to pee all the worse. Just get up and drain that bladder; that's a good time to have a candy bar too.

Backpacks-I used an old Camp Trails external frame pack for years. I've packed deer, elk, sheep, goat, and caribou on that thing, and still keep it in camp as a spare. I bought a Cabela's Alaskan Outfitter Extreme last year and have had it on several trips so far and it seems to work well. For hunting use I think an external frame pack is superior to an internal frame. When it's time to pack quarters or some other awkward size/shape thing, get the bag off and use the frame...that's not an option with an internal frame pack. I've never used an internal frame pack; I've read that they're more comfortable to pack with than an external frame, but this is for hunting, right? where the ultimate goal is to harvest an animal and pack out the pieces, right? I haven't seen an internal frame pack that will hold an elk hind quarter.

Water filter-use it!! I used to have a Sweetwater filter that worked OK, but on a trip 2 years ago an O-ring crapped out that I couldn't get at to lubricate or replace. I replaced it with a Katadyn filter that has worked well on a bunch of trips. Some recommend using purification tablets, and I keep a bottle of them in my pack, but the directions say that colder water takes longer to treat, and if you're thirsty and getting dehydrated you need that water in you right away...I'm not going to watch those tablets do their thing for an hour before drinking. I got dehydrated once and I'm tellin' you don't under estimate the trouble you can get into from dehydration...it truly can turn into a life threatening situation quickly.

Food/cooking-I use the "+1/+1" method-I have enough food to have an extra meal every day, even if it's just cup-a-soup. I also try to have an extra days worth of food just in case. I've found that in high country (above 9,500' or so) I kind of lose my appetite. I'm not really spending time up there trying to lose weight up there so sometimes I have to force myself to eat.
For a stove, for the past couple years I've been taking one of the "pocket rocket" type deals, which uses one of the small iso-butane canisters. A small canister will get me through a weekend. I've heard those canisters don't work well much below 3o degrees and I can't comment on that, only that I used mine while hunkered down in a snowstorm at 11,000' last October and it worked OK. I've also used a Coleman Peak 1 feather white gas stove that usually works OK, but messing with fuel and lighting the thing can be a pain. It also seems to flood easily at high altitude. I used it while sheep scouting where I spent a night at 12,200' and it worked OK (comment-that's too high to spend a night).

You'll notice that most of the stuff I'm, recommending is not the ultimate in lightweight gear, but my philosophy is you've got to do the most to make yourself comfortable. If it means packing an extra 3-4# then so be it, cause if you can't keep warm, comfortable, and ingest enough calories to work hard, you're much more bound to chalk this up as a bad idea and quit and go home early.

There's a website called "Lightweight backpacker" or something like that...I haven't been on that site for a couple years, but there's some serious gear-heads on there and lots of experience & knowledge to tap into. Lots of those folks sell stuff on there too, so that might be a good way to try out different kinds of gear without spending as much moolah for all new stuff.

There are people who teach survival that you can learn lots from. Tom Brown is my favorite, probably because I was taught as a child, many of the things he teaches. You can travel much lighter and be much more comfortable (especially if you underestimate the severity of the weather) if you can use what's around you quickly and effectively. It takes some practice but is well worth the effort.
Mark

David:

sheephunter gave some outstanding advise........me personally, I have been using the entire Big Agnes sleep system (tent, sleeping bag, pad)on my last few alpine hunts, making my Marmot and Northface gear second string. I prefer a tent over a bivy sack as well. I've had to stay in shelter for 12 hours one day......it's no fun in a bivy!

The SL1 tent is extremely lightweight, packs small, and has a lot of room for a one-man tent. It has a vestibule, bombproof rain fly, and well ventilated. The Pomer Hoit 0 degree sleeping bag is the bomb! It comes with 800 fill-power goose down, is light weight, and packs the size of a football. This sleep system comes with a sewn in sleeve on the bottom of the bag where the air mattress slides into.......no more rolling off your pad in the middle of the night. Sleeping on a couple inches of insulated air versus an ol' Thermarest is not even a comparison, IMO. This entire system is the best out there right now, IMO. Hope it helps and good luck this year.

Here's their website to look at the products: http://www.bigagnes.com

The best store to supply yourself for your upcoming hunt is REI!!! Do yourself and your back a favor and check them out. Also on the note of sleeping bags.. check out 'Wiggies'. Sweet bags! Look into Moutain House Dehydrated meals that just need hot water. Lots of calories for energy and light weight to pack in. Katadyne is your best option for a water filter. All others are crap. I use to sell water filters and camping gear, trust me when I tell you they are the easiest to clean, use, and carry. I'd also look into Mystery Ranch out of Bozeman Montana for a pack if you dont have one already. The former chief designer at Dana Designes started his own company in Bozeman years ago. They make packs for the Military as well. Your comfort will make all the difference between a fun and successful hunt or a terrible and exhausting hunt.

Teton Sports Celsius XL 0-Degree Sleeping Bag

Weighs 7.5 lbs, but definitely worth its weight. Waterproof, big enough to turn over in, matches your body temp quickly and is just plain comfy.

Weighs 7.5 lbs, but definitely worth its weight.

Heck, my combined weight of a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, stove, fuel & utensils isn't 7.5 pounds.......it's probably an awesome bag, but way too much carry weight for this ol' bowhunter to pack. I guess I am getting old! :)

Heck, I'm trying to decrease my overall backpack weight from last years weight (57 pounds).......it's tough when you pack for a 10 day back country hunt........as most of the weight ends up being food.

I'll only add Bonehead, I prefer an external frame pack for my hunts. NOTHING carries weight like they do, IMO. I have several internal packs (Gregory, Northface, etc.) and they can't touch my external Pack (Kelty Tioga 5500) for comfort and weight distribution while hiking with a lot of weight. When you pack meat out, you'll be glad you you have an external frame. It allows you to de-bone an entire deer and pack it, along with the cape/antlers, out in one trip with as much comfort as physically possible. Hope it helps.

i agree 7.5 is way to much. my northface is in the upper 2 lbs, and it does a great job.

MULEY SHED FREAK: i've used 2 different katadyne filters on hunts before and really didn't like them at all. 1 was a mini- filter, it does pump both ways but pumps very hard with little water output. the other [ although this was 8 yrs ago and i'm sure they have gotten way better] was one of the first ones and it to pumped extremly hard. they both were plunger style pumps that make it harder to use.
i have a MSR filter [ micro something, would have to go look at the name] but it works on a lever style pump which makes pumping WAY easier. it pumps water on both the up and down strokes for higher water output. i have a buddy who bought a new katadyne this offseason that is a lever pump , so hopefully it's better. but for the 3 or 4 different pumps i've used the MSR is by far the best i've tried.