Hunting Gear List - Need suggestions to lighten

Just getting into hunting in the Tarawera and Urewera bush Rounded up some gear and weighed it, would like to lighten my gear but have a pretty tight budget at the moment, few items in yellow im still in the process of replacing/buying

Would welcome some suggestions on what else I need or what can cheaply be upgraded.
eg is a Saw worth while?

Tents a Raider XL quite like it over ultralight weight single skin tents & bivys, used it last weekend and it held up in the rain & wind. But did wick up water through the PU5000mm floor but was very wet.

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Looks fairly reasonable, not too much fat in there. Ditch the hip flask and bipod and that’s half a kg saved. If you need a rest for shooting prone, just throw your pack down and shoot over that. Unlikely to be needed for bush hunting though?

If it’s not an essential/safety item, and you go three trips without using it, you probably don’t need to carry it..

Disclaimer: I always take way too much, making me a hypocrite, so feel free to ignore me

keen man even weighed your undies was that with or without skids :D

Yeah looks like a decent list to me I’d ditch the bivvy bag if your using a tent . Clothing I just wear the same hunting gear every day and then have a change for evenings 1 spare lot of undies if you get drenched and 2 extra pairs of socks one for the tent another if the first lot freezes or if they are still drenched from being wet . Food is always the most weight in your pack so look for calories dense things like nuts . But as striker said I’m a hypocrite as well! I’m carrying 20kgs of fat to burn so can skimp on the food a bit without much harm

Interesting, looks pretty good to me. I'd leave the biviy bag as long as the tent is decent, and I never normally carry water unless I'm headed to a dry camp

2kgs of water from home......maybe get purifyingtablets of a straw and use whats out there...I will happily drink from streams,when boiling water anyway its a moot point.
cloths,I take it you are weighing what you wear in???
personally I wouldnt take extra thermal longs AND trousers.....definately not extra pair of shorts
eg would wear in thermal tights and shorts and have ONE spare set of trou of some sort...usually thermals and long sleavethermal top...they are CAMP cloths or emergency cold only...
wouldnt carry spare shirt
undies/thermals....thermals ARE undies...and vasoline is your friend in wet weather.
but a 20 kg load seems ok.....hunter go in with heavy pack and hope to come out heavier...
I try to look at unused items after a trip so can slim it down next time.
2 minute noodles are great tucker,weigh stuff all and bulk out a meal well. soup ,salami and noodles on your list and you have question mark on lunch...I would say your answer is there already. you also carry tuna...a dehy meal and noodles is a good main meal..noodles for breakfast,handfull of nuts and small chocolate bar is lunch.
porridge and milk powder...you can buy little sachets of porridge with fruity bits and milk powder in them...i often carry them at work for mid afternoon pickme up when worms are biting....

The toilet paper is unnecessary. Use moss, ferns or stinging nettle.

You already have some great lightweight gear there mate.

Possibly spare clothing might be a bit over kill.

My spare clothing would be ‘camp set’ of thermals and socks, a down jacket, one spare thermal top, beenie, gloves and neck warmer.

I also use a siltarp fly at 447g which is a great weight saving and luckily I prefer the fly to a tent or bivvy bag.

Take it all in on a trip and when you get home think if you could have gotten by with fewer items of clothing in your pack.

Thanks All Very useful input

Seems like i'm on the rite track! Just need to spend more time in there learning what gets used and will lose a little from that process.

Was interested to understand if people take

• Saws - if you need to run a fire over night
• Drones - could see this being super useful to scout slips & river beds for sign
• Fruit or Veges - as it very carbo/oil rich food presently, possible multi vitamin pills

And as a number have mentioned I also could loose more from body weight than i could from my pack.

I would also ditch the Kindle then you might not need the battery bank either. I always carry a second torch and spare batteries anyway. My biggest problem has always been food, I'm 60Kg and need to consume vast quantities of food to keep me going.

@Vandros i don't do enough extended pack trips so when i do i also suffer from mainly to many cloths. One day it will pay off.
Another forum member said they keep a diary on every trip what they take and what they don't use and NOT just after one trip they start dumping gear after multiple trips.

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Originally Posted by mimms2

Oh, and it's illegal to fly a drone over most public land.

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And fucking annoying

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vandros

Thanks All Very useful input

Seems like i'm on the rite track! Just need to spend more time in there learning what gets used and will lose a little from that process.

Was interested to understand if people take

• Saws - if you need to run a fire over night
• Drones - could see this being super useful to scout slips & river beds for sign
• Fruit or Veges - as it very carbo/oil rich food presently, possible multi vitamin pills

And as a number have mentioned I also could loose more from body weight than i could from my pack.

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Regarding a saw a mitre 10 mega Bahco folder is all you need at just over 200g which is another good weight saving for you.

LASIK surgery saves you 0.024kg. Alternatively a monocle could just halve it, but at much less cost.

But seriously, think of ADDING something maybe - a pair of spring buffered carbon tramping poles will increase your carry capacity significantly.

Swap suppressor for moulded ear plugs?

Drop the bipod in favour of a small pack?

Everything is a compromise in the end.

And a bipod in the bush obeys Murphey's law to a Tee...anything that it can be snagged on, will be snagged on.

Looks pretty well dialed man. That saw is pretty heavy, would prob ditch that.

I'd consider dropping: bivvy bag, saw, hipflask, bipod, kindle. I'd also consider dropping one of your thermal tops and your packed shorts, if you are taking pants, although I'd also just skip those as well and use the spare thermal longs as campsite clothing.

What are you eating with? some sort of spork? Any spare batteries being taken for your head torch or is it re-chargeable? Do you carry any any extra rope (for hanging meat, just in case pack ties, laces, etc)?

No extra weight calculated for your packed pants btw.

Just glancing at the list, ditch the kindle, saw and hip flask and ask if yourself if you need the battery bank. You shouldn't for one night trips. Food could be simplified. I "like" OSM because of high calorie content and no preparation required. I just take OSM and dehydrated meals for short trips. It's no fun, but does the job. There's no right answer, just a question of food preference vs weight. No need for vitamins over the time periods you are likely to be hunting. I only carry 500ml water unless I know there won't be water available. I'd also consider ditching the bipod and gun cleaning stuff unless you really need them. No need for binos where I hunt in Northland bush, but might be different where you are. As for clothes, I generally carry just two sets. Wet/dirty stuff for hunting and dry/cleanish stuff for camp.

Easy and cheap weight saving in there if your a bush hunter, get a decent fly/tarp. Versatile and heaps more room than a tent and your carrying a bivy anyway. Thats a kg right there. Once you get used to the fly they are an awesome way to camp.

Ditch some of the spare clothing. You need a basic dry set. Puffer, thermal top and bottom sleeping socks spare undies, your waterproof jacket, and whatever you are wearing

Ditch the bipod, no needed in the bush plenty of makeshift rests.

Personally I don't bother with saws etc unless in for a few days as I usually am hunting from dark to dark and can't be arsed faffing around with a fire. If stuck in a pinch you can scrounge up enough wood without a saw anyway

Better off with a gym membership and running shoes. Get fitter and the pack will be lighter

I always pack on a "what if" basis: what if I have an immobilising injury- how to: summon help/ cater for an extra 2 days till I'm found? So, implications there for communications and extra food. What if my gear gets soaked: so everything goes into a waterproof liner, etc. Forty five years as a search and rescue ranger taught me the things that people wished they had with them while they were waiting for rescue during a long, wet, cold, hungry, thirsty wait period. Some of those were hunters.

@Vandros

Did you see this thread?
Some good info in here [emoji106]

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app


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Originally Posted by Russian 22.

Better off with a gym membership and running shoes. Get fitter and the pack will be lighter

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Too sensible! If we all took that advice, we'd be much better off.

If I left behind things I didn't use after 3 trips I might have to leave my rifle at home:D

Different tent and rifle/scope would be areas of significant saving but they are not unreasonable.

About the same as I take and similar weight.
I just load pack.
Scales with and with pack and rifle etc.
Not weighing individually.
There are a few articles on going too light interesting reading.
If you want a fire take a saw.
If you want a tipple take some spirits.
A good tent takes some beating.
Have a margin of safety with tucker and some gear.

My philosophy when I was travelling was to buy a smaller pack and what didn't fit didn't go.

My gear list for an overnighter or multi day trip

Pack and waterproof liner
Sleeping bag
Sleeping mat
Fly light weight
Woollen socks beanie and polyprops puffer jacket amd jandals for camp ( all stays dry no matter what )

Hunting gear ~ rifle full mag plus 3 rounds knife and sharpener poly cord epirb binos cleaning cloth for lenses , bug repellent , compass , phone lighter- all fits in bum bag.

Swazi tahr lightweight for rain coat. Pillowcase for meat.

Toilet bag. Soap toothbrush contact lenses micro fibre towel ( sometimes flag this for an overnight trip )
Bog roll.

Cooking - one billy. One cup. One spoon. Small cooker and can of gas. Try to cook on open fire.

Apart from the clothes I wear that’s really it. The only variation is food. I can get by on 800 gms a day but prefer more. Eat a bit of venison while I’m out.

If your going for longer take more food.

Plus a head torch.

You left out a small AM radio receiver. You can get a tiny one running off one AAA with earbuds. Good replacement for the kindle and you get weather reports (and occasionally other news to really piss you off, like the odd Cahill soundbite.)

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Originally Posted by Cordite

You left out a small AM radio receiver. You can get a tiny one running off one AAA with earbuds. Good replacement for the kindle and you get weather reports (and occasionally other news to really piss you off, like the odd Cahill soundbite.)

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I've got a little pocket multiband shortwave radio which is awesome out in the sticks Can pick up overseas stations or listen to shipping and airband etc or just normal am/fm, I've never found a place where I can't pick up at least a few stations including deep in South Westland etc