What would a mountain man use today?

silenthunterstudios

silenthunterstudios

Slipjoint Addict
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I don't know if this has been discussed, but what do you think a mountain man would use? He doesn't have to be the guy that is just fed up with life east of the Mississippi, he could be an established rifle man/trapper etc. He's going to be dropped in the back end of beyond, a long way from anyone or anything.

Look at his kit. What would he have changed differently today? Would he have gone with what he carried back then? Trade that old butcher knife he was given by his mother, probably the last time he saw her? Would he have that mummy space age sleeping bag, or the blanket he traded for with the tribe he wintered with?

I have been spending a lot of time recently in the Traditional subforum. Much is made of the slipjoints and old timey knives, and I have come to consider them, and custom bushcraft blades, my current obsession. I have been using custom Kephart blades for what little camping I can do. It is interesting to note that before, I was holding myself back from getting out there and doing stuff, letting my weight take the blame. Now, I am trying to force myself out there, but my back just won't have it. Anyway, I would like to hear your take on what the mountain man of today might have carried. Lots of trotliners out there over the years got along fine with a muskrat and a .22 pistol, and they weren't kids. I'm not talking about the mountain men of today though. Take Jim Bridger, Liver Eating Johnson, Kit Carson and a whole passel of hardened trappers and explorers, and put them smack dab in the middle of Cabelas, or hand them a catalog, and tell them they can order what they want, within reason.

I think that they would try most products out once, but they would probably go back to a carbon steel fixed blade, maybe trade their front stuffer for a bolt or lever action, and probably keep that capote or fur coat, and leave the Goretex parka on the shelf.

I would like to hear more from the learned members on here.
 
I still think that wool products would win out over the new synthetic stuff. Alot of the stuff we use today takes gas or batteries, so i don't think that there would be too much change from the traditional. Just my opinion.
 
You'd have to admit that old boys would probably pick up some 3.2 beer and some rubbers before they headed back.
 
There is a reason for "high tech" synthetics: if they are high quality they are warmer than traditional stuff and dry out a lot faster. I can't believe that anyone would opt for wool long johns over what we have available now. A modern parka is a lot warmer than a traditional one and is a lot lighter as well.
 
This seems like it will been a fun conversation, I'd its not derailed too badly.

First, for a main long gun I thinking the modern mountain man would been a fool not to pick up an over-under of some kind . For me, I'd have a .22 over 12 ga. For versitilities sake (maybe I've watched too many Dave Canterbury videos)

For a pistol, I'd say a double action revolver, either something bigish ,like a .357 or .44, or a .22.

Knife wise, I bet he'd go with a biggish carbon steel fixed blade, a frame lock, or beefy liner lock in the <3" range, and he'd been crazy not to get a good quality multi tool (leatherman,sog,gerber)

For clothing, its hard to say. Goretex and the like are much lighter than the only other waterproof stuff from the period that I can thinking of, which Is Waxed or oiled canvas, but I can't comment on which is more resilient.

He'd probably get a modern tent and sleeping bag.

I am a little biased though, because I am not now, nor have I ever been a mountain man. Lol
 
I would bring ... LOL! Sorry. I had to say that. I'm just an average guy from Iowa. I'm not an expert in anything related to the outdoors. A real mountain man would crap his buckskin britches laughing at me.
 
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I bet one of the things he would want is the new wood buring stoves that cabelas has with there tents.

Bolt action or even any of the semi autos.

Scopes and Binos.

NIGHT VISION scopes oh man that would be awesome lol.

Pack boots and liners for winter.

Fishing tackle that we have today.

Man there is to many items to list lol


Bryan
 
Zidfeldts said:
There is a reason for "high tech" synthetics: if they are high quality they are warmer than traditional stuff and dry out a lot faster. I can't believe that anyone would opt for wool long johns over what we have available now. A modern parka is a lot warmer than a traditional one and is a lot lighter as well.
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Says the guy who has never slept under the starts right next to the fire! The other day I tripped and fell onto part of the fire if I had anything but wool I would have a large burn on my clothes
 
Today a mountain man would want a portable computer and a good cell phone. Who wouldn't want access to good communications?

n2s
 
I think they would do what they did back then: they would try the "newfangled stuff", compare it to their traditional gear, and end up with a mix 'n'; match of the two to suit their tastes. If you look at the gear of the mountain men, some of it was the same stuff that had been used for hundreds of years, some was stuff that got invented since the last rendezvous. Each had individual preferences that gave them a unique, distinctive style.

I do find it hard to believe that they would turn down such things as at least a ferro rod, if not a pocket full of lighters. Probably a Snowmobile or Jeep instead of a horse, and no doubt a cartridge-based firearm of some sort. Canvas tents actually hold heat fairly well (better than I would have believed), and since they did use beasts of burden, such a ten would likely still be the choice, but being able to have a stove light enough to haul instead of cast iron, yeah I definitely see that.


Zidfeldts said:
There is a reason for "high tech" synthetics: if they are high quality they are warmer than traditional stuff and dry out a lot faster. I can't believe that anyone would opt for wool long johns over what we have available now. A modern parka is a lot warmer than a traditional one and is a lot lighter as well.
Click to expand...

This calls to mind a special, I think April Roberts did it, on the origins of mankind. When she was in Siberia, she went there with one of those new, space-age parkas, and kept talking about how she was freezing all the time. One of the locals gave her a traditional fur coat (fur on the inside and out), and she seemed surprised that she was comfortable in it, and remarked about how some of the traditional things still trumped the new.
 
They would be just the same as us.

Some would want all the newest gear in the newest materials and the most advanced weapons and take advantage of today's technology.

Some would prefer to stick with their traditional wool and canvas, tomahawk and butcher knife, because they just like the style, feel, and nostalgia of the old gear.

Others would use a mixture of the old gear and modern advanced gear.

Some would even get a traditional kit and a modern kit, and switch back and forth between the two depending on their mood, never being able to decide which they like better.
 
SaturatedShadow said:
They would be just the same as us.

Some would want all the newest gear in the newest materials and the most advanced weapons and take advantage of today's technology.

Some would prefer to stick with their traditional wool and canvas, tomahawk and butcher knife, because they just like the style, feel, and nostalgia of the old gear.

Others would use a mixture of the old gear and modern advanced gear.

Some would even get a traditional kit and a modern kit, and switch back and forth between the two depending on their mood, never being able to decide which they like better.
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^This.
There's no reason why something that would work for one of us wouldn't work for them. There's also no reason why every "mountain man" would have the exact same preferences and tastes. If you want to know what a modern one would carry, look no further than the Outdoor Gear sub forum. (Or BC USA, or any of the other dedicated outdoors forums out there.)
 
(Disclaimer: I am not attempting to derail)

Does anyone else have the mental image of Dan Haggerty staring at someone wearing layers of multi-colored Gore-Tex/Thinsulate/PolyPro gear with a "WTF" look in his eyes?

(Did I just date myself?)

Seriously, I find it difficult to visualize modern day mountain men dressed in bright colored/pastel gear, covered with velcro, MOLLE webbing, zipper pulls and elastic drawstrings...don't you?
 
Unless i have 2-3 ZT0500 (Mudd) with me, i wouldn't want to carry a folder other than a slipjoint to the wilderness.
A small fixed blade at 9" max with a stout machete will do fine for me.

I assume we are still in the context of blades.
 
As far as I know (which isn't very far):
They used the best gear they could get their hands on. I don't think too many of them turned up their noses at a state-of-the-art Hawken rifle, in favor of a self-made bow... or would have traded a factory-made butcher knife or hawk for one made of flint or stone.
They weren't nearly as hung up on what's "traditional" or "romantic" as we are today.
I suspect you'd see a lot more stainless steel and synthetics than we might like to think.
 
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