What do you carry on hikes?

Also, my zip pull as a last resort back up blade.

 

I guess my backup is my Leatherman Ps4 Squirt. Used to be my little SOG Access Card 2.0. I will usually have a fixed blade and a folder with me while I'm in the woods.

 

I back pack, and do extended hunts every year, up to 10 days in the wilderness. 40 plus mile back pack trips. I have cut down my weight in the last few years, but 2 items I am never without is a stout fixed blade, and my glock 29 in 10mm. I take those everywhere I go, no matter what. You can cut weight some where else, but those items to me are a must! Of course I have about 2 different methods of starting a fire, something for water filtration, and all other necessities. Even on my extended archery hunts, the pistol and knife are with me everywhere. I built a nice stout fixed blade, five inch cutting edge, .210 thick blade in vanadis 4e. It goes everywhere with me!

 

I usually carry a SO TECH mission go bag
https://i.imgur.com/40YZTQv.png

Or a WW2 surplus m6 gas mask bag which I leave in my car.
https://i.imgur.com/oMAQIyu.jpg

Also use a Helicon Tex Bushcraft satchel too.

But I have a good selection of bags to choose from

https://i.imgur.com/lZelKVZ.jpg

I bring drinks for me and my 5 year old son, Mace. As well as snacks and a first aid kit.
Cell phone,fire starting kit,
Plus a lightweight fixed blade usually a Hultafors GK.

 

Being out with my boys in the woods is one of the great joys in my life, and right now they are 6 and 9 years old. I only have a few short years where they are going to want to be with me, when I can enjoy their company and pass on the things that I have found to be the most important. Dead serious, snacks are absolutely critical to making sure all they remember about the trip are the good things and not the grumpiness caused by the empty tummy. Dads rule!

 

Yeah, snacks are good when you have kids with you. In fact, you can make a woods excursion more memorable by building a fire and taking some hot dogs, buns, and so forth with you. Cut a weinie stick for each or let them cut their own and go to town roasting up some dogs. These woods trips are not about the distance hiked but what you do during the hike. Make it educational. My Dad always did.

 

Multiple day Loadout

First Aid Kit
Compass/Maps
LED head light
OD Pilot Cantean
Sawyer mini water filter (fits pilot cantean)
Back up water purification tablets
Magnesium starter, fire steel and lighter
150ft Paracord
50ft wire
123A/AA lithium batteries
Ultra-Lite multi-tool model
Ultra-Lite TI cup/pot, MSR mini burner and fuel ( all fit inside TI pot)
Fixed blade 4-5” blade
Folder 3-4” blade
Ultra light tarp/hammock or tent
SOS Ration Bars
Extra merno wool socks
Food of some sort

 

Switching between two cross-body bags this winter for mostly shorter, five mile hikes. Some gear is dedicated to each, but always fire, illumination, hydration / nutrition, sun protection, navigation, communication, and knives (fixed blades and folders). If it's a longer day I'll wear a backpack, which will also have shelter (bivy bag), first aid kit, and insulation (extra clothes and a ground pad).

 

On a short hike, I normally don't carry anything but, if I do, it would most like be a Swiss Army Explorer or a Spyderco Tenacious or Efficient.

For a long, multi-day backpack journey, probably something like a Cold Steel Code 4 or Finn Wolf in my pocket for fine work and maybe a long fixed blade of some kind strapped to my leg for more difficult tasks.

 

I normally carry a CS Hold Out 4" for day hikes, jogs, etc.

 

For hikes....a bottle of water and an Opi have always done me well.

 

I take a little pruning clipper, (to keep the briars and branches away from the trail) and either my Vic Soldier or Wenger 78. (With the big saw)

 

Sp101 .357 mag. Double tap 200 gr. Hard cast solid.

 

If I’m not hunting I’ll just have a PM2 in my pocket. If I’m hunting I’ll have my pm2 and my hunting knife. A mammoth ivory, S90v beauty I had Dan Crotts build me.

 

What did I carry on hikes?
I had an Old Timer 7OT on my belt, and a 4 blade Scout knife and a Stockman in my pocket.
I also had a two liter of Mountain Dew with me.

 

Non-knife, water, snakebite bandage, tarp. Plus other general crap, but those are the major things.
Knife, short walks its been the Bugout, or Vic Rucksack. Longer stuff might also have a fixed, but variety is the spice of life. Most timber here is either hand breakable or suitable for forging, so not much plan for bushcrafty stuff, short stout blades for me. I always have more crap than I need, which sucks because I don't like carrying it. I guess I don't have the trust in my skills that some have, but considering they are all skills I'd rather not test the hard way, its hard to break that. Its hard to leave stuff behind when you are used to being a highly paid baby-sitter, I still don't know how to turn that duty of care switch off.

 

Most of my hiking these days is in the 5 miles range, and I get by with my SAK Classic, with its awesome tweezers and scissors, and the Izula I throw in my bag. Most of my longer trips, Half Dome, Mount Baldy, portions of the Malibu backbone trail, I've had a Pacific Salt in my pocket.

 

I carry a SAK, (one handed Trekker) and a 4 - 5 inch fixed blade knife in a Maxpedition FatBoy Versipack, and a decent folding knife in my pocket. In addition, map, compass, fire starting stuff, compact LED flashlight with spare battery, a CZ-75D 9MM in gun compartment, spare mag, and water.

 

I am super weight conscious. On multi-day backpacking trips in tough terrain, I take:
1. a Leather man PST and
2. either a small to medium folder or a very small fixed blade (think ... around 3 inches or so).

In 30 years of back country hiking and mountain climbing I have never needed more.