Bushcraft kit load out!

This is my basic equipment when I go walkabout, depending on the destination and purpose I will omit or add a few things. There’s no food or clothing here, we’ll talk about that in another article.

My bedroom:

Exped pillow, no need to suffer, my luxury item.
Warbonnet Mamajamba tarp, excellent, light and compact tarp.
Rab Event bivy sack
Exped Synmat UL mat
Carinthia Tropen bag, not for cold weather though.
Cheap sitting pad

For a hunting trip I’ll need to bring meat bags, rifle cleaning equipment and bullets. For a jungle trip, I’ll sleep in a Warbonnet Blackbird xlc hammock and leave the bivy sack at home.

The bathroom:

deodorant
toothpaste
toothbrush
nailclipper
towel
mosquito repellent, preferably the concentrated stuff
soap in a box

In warmer climats, Tiger Balm is always included in my kit.

Cordage
Lighter & firelighting stuff. To start a fire in any weather condition, my choice of tinder is cotton balls impregnated with vaseline in a waterproof Aloksak, easy & effective! Steal the cotton balls from your girlfriend, girls use them to wipe make up off their face.
Toiletpaper in a waterproof Sea to Summit bag. Important item, make sure you buy a good waterproof sack…
Repairs: Tear-aid is a good product for quick repairs in the field. A roll of Gaffa tape. A few Tie wraps

Navigation equipment:

Garmin Oregon 450
Seiko analog watch
Ortlieb waterproof map case, I tried a few others but this one is the best.
Recta global compass now available from Suunto.
Pencil & waterproof notebook
Topographic maps

Emergency stuff:

Israeli bandage
Celox hemostatic granules to stop severe bleeding wounds.
Band-aids for small cuts, Compeed for blisters.
Waterproof first aid kit (painkillers, thermometer, antihistamines, tape, alcohol wipes, tick remover, eye wash, dressings, gauzes, tweezer, antiseptic solution, broadrange anti-biotics, …..)
First aid & emergency satelitte beacon, a SPOT device. However they do not cover all continents! Check beforehand.

When travelling to third-world countries I include a sterile set of scalpels, syringes, hypodermic needles, etc. These can be hard to find in isolated places.

The kitchen:

Pepper & salt mix
Trangia alcohol stove
Swedish army plastic cup, highly recommended! They are 5 euro a piece and last very long. Mine is 4 years old.
Nalgene bottle & 750 ml cup. I often carry 2.
Primus fuel can
MSR MiniWorks EX water filter, heavy but durable.
Trangia stove holder
Titanium fork

The living room & electronic devices:

Iphone in Lifeproof cover & lightning cable. A Lifeproof case is essential, it saved my iphone many times. IMHO the best waterproof case for Iphone.
Xtorm power bank, waterproof( IP66). I use it to charge my iPhone & Kindle. Also it powers my GPS, very usefull as my Garmin drains batteries quickly. It has a LED light built in.
Kindle with custom made leather cover, I never carry books around anymore. It has a built-in backlit led light for the screen, you can read in the sunlight without sunglasses & the battery lasts forever.
Waterproof bag
Leather tobacco pouch & wallet, made it myself.
My old faithfull Petzl Tactikka headlamp
Havana Club Rum, a must!

The workshop:

Bahco Laplander saw
Studio Blade custom made neck knife
Cork screw, every trip should have a wine moment
Leatherman Charge TTI
Gransfors Bruks Small Forest axe
Boker Vox Rold, fantastic knife! The standard sheath is very bad, this one was custom built by Studio Blade.
Fire steel attached to my knife sheath

For a trip to a rainforest I prefer a machete instead of an axe.

Clothing:

A waterproof Exped bag that’s also used as a pump for the sleeping pad.
An old Gore-tex German army raincoat

The contents of my clothing bag differ from climate to climate, more on that later. Make sure you always have a complete set of fresh clothes in it.

Optics:

Canon G15 camera in a Pelican hardcase with extra batteries en SD-cards. A lot of pictures on this website are taken with this camera. Very good and compact.
Nikon Monarch 7 8X42 binoculars.
Gorilla stand

Observation is what it’s all about!

The backpack:

Fjäll Raven Kajka 85 liter backpack, it’s travelled to all continents with me. A bit heavy though at 3,5 kg, I am looking for a lighter option. This is a very comfortable backpack to carry heavy loads on longer trips.
A waterproof cover that doubles as a duffelbag, very usefull. You now how they treat your luggage in airports…