I learned a lot courtesy of Uncle Sam. I also became rather enlightened when it came to slimming down on pack weight. Nothing like a 30K hike through the mountains under constant opfor attack with either ALICE or MOLLE II on your back. You figure out after the first FTX what you need and what is dead weight and can be discarded.
I have the luxury now of doing primitive camping by simply stepping over my waist high back fence and I'm in an area unlikely to be populated or developed during my lifetime.
I have my 48 hour loadout very finely tuned at this point, and it rides in a Camelbak BFM with room to spare. Mosquitoes are the devil here in FL, and my area is surrounded by a creek, a river, and tons of swamp.
Your provided list is awesome for gathering and refining ideas, and NOTHING teaches like experience, particularly painful experience. My first multi day backpacking trip in FL taught me the value of obtaining potable water and keeping the skeeters somewhere besides my body. You can't move or fight effectively when you're exhausted or your eyes are swollen up from hundreds of bites.
Looking forward to cooler weather to get more active, as walks through "my" woods is misery in the summer as I age.
Good stuff, Lee, thanks for putting this together, and I may indeed take a refresher course through D-Dey in the next couple of months. Only a fool thinks he knows everything, and I'm open to new methods or just relearning forgotten skills. Keep it up brother, you're not screaming into a void.
I learned a lot courtesy of Uncle Sam. I also became rather enlightened when it came to slimming down on pack weight. Nothing like a 30K hike through the mountains under constant opfor attack with either ALICE or MOLLE II on your back. You figure out after the first FTX what you need and what is dead weight and can be discarded.
I have the luxury now of doing primitive camping by simply stepping over my waist high back fence and I'm in an area unlikely to be populated or developed during my lifetime.
I have my 48 hour loadout very finely tuned at this point, and it rides in a Camelbak BFM with room to spare. Mosquitoes are the devil here in FL, and my area is surrounded by a creek, a river, and tons of swamp.
Your provided list is awesome for gathering and refining ideas, and NOTHING teaches like experience, particularly painful experience. My first multi day backpacking trip in FL taught me the value of obtaining potable water and keeping the skeeters somewhere besides my body. You can't move or fight effectively when you're exhausted or your eyes are swollen up from hundreds of bites.
Looking forward to cooler weather to get more active, as walks through "my" woods is misery in the summer as I age.
Good stuff, Lee, thanks for putting this together, and I may indeed take a refresher course through D-Dey in the next couple of months. Only a fool thinks he knows everything, and I'm open to new methods or just relearning forgotten skills. Keep it up brother, you're not screaming into a void.