Whats in your bag?

[Astro_D]

In my pack, I carry the following items:

batteries
small first aid kit
compass
pen & pencil
small notebook
firetacks
flint fire starter kit
whistle
emergency blanket
poncho
power bars
trade items
tick extractor (seasonal)
100% Deet (seasonal)
hand warmers (seasonal)
list of medications I’m allergic too
my tetanus shot card
my blood type card
fem hygeine (hey ya never know)

The pack is always in the car, but if I’m caching around a small city park for example or at a park and ride, the pack is left in the car. If it’s a longer hike, the pack goes with me.

While it amy seem silly to carry the flint, it actually came in handy last time we went to Rock Island. We forgot to pack matches, lighters etc, but I just so happened to have my caching bag on me and the flint was in it. Here I thought I would actually need it.

[greyhounder]

@AstroD-Team wrote:

In my pack, I carry the following items:

While it amy seem silly to carry the flint, it actually came in handy last time we went to Rock Island. We forgot to pack matches, lighters etc, but I just so happened to have my caching bag on me and the flint was in it. Here I thought I would actually need it.

And I saw it happen, and was quite impressed!!

Bec

[Team Margaritaville]

Good then I guess im not the only SICK person in the world. I know myself or my family wouldn’t be able to out run a pack of wolves. But I would be able to level the playing field.. What about Methheads.. If you ever done some remote caches theres a possiblity of crossing paths with them aswell.

Other things in my bag are

Swag
Pen/Pencils
Bug Spray
Cell Phone
PDA

[Mrskracker]

Great! I’m not too far off then from what you guys have in your bags.
We probably aren’t done with it yet since we are just starting and its winter now, so as the seasons change we’ll put more in. Currently:

3 glow sticks
mini-mag flashlight
extra batteries
small first aid kit
pens and pencils
pencil sharpener
compass
swag and trackables
hand warmers
gloves and hat

[GrouseTales]

Contents of my backpack, plus or minus a few items:

• Compass with mirror sight
• spare AA batteries
• Digital camera
• Water
• Smore granola bars
• Bug spray
• bunch of pens, pencils, markers.
• spare notebooks
• swag/trinkets
• handcuffs (don’t ask)
• spare gps
• PDA (if it’s not in my pocket)
• Meds – Ibuprofen, Claritin, amodium.
• Partial roll of toilet paper in a gallon ziplock bag.
• spare zip-lock bags.
• Ham radio
• WGA Laminated nametag
• Small flash light
• LED headlamp, especially if caching near dusk

[Team Deejay]

Not to be a nag, but you really need sunscreen this time of year, unless you are REALLY bundled (like a full face ski mask). The sun reflects off the snow and you can get burned in the winter, just like the summer. Of course, if you are just running from guardrail to guardrail, that is probably not necessary.

[cheezehead]

@GrouseTales wrote:

Contents of my backpack, plus or minus a few items:

• Compass with mirror sight
• spare AA batteries
• Digital camera
• Water
• Smore granola bars
• Bug spray
• bunch of pens, pencils, markers.
• spare notebooks
• swag/trinkets
• handcuffs (don’t ask)
• spare gps
• PDA (if it’s not in my pocket)
• Meds – Ibuprofen, Claritin, amodium.
• Partial roll of toilet paper in a gallon ziplock bag.
• spare zip-lock bags.
• Ham radio
• WGA Laminated nametag
• Small flash light
• LED headlamp, especially if caching near dusk

Oh no! I askin!! What the heck do ya need them for????!!!!! 😯 😯 😯

[Jeremy]

There were some good winter caching gear suggestions posted in this topic. I’ve added a folding metal army entrenching shovel and a mason’s hammer (no cache is too iced in with this! :)) to my winter arsenal since that time. And I can’t stress enough how helpful carrying a snowbrush has been.

I have a little fanny pack of “essentials” or emergency gear that I carry inside my main backpack. When I’m going to a cache that requires a decent hike (maybe over a half mile) but appears easy enough that I don’t want to bother with the full backpack, I can just pull it out. What I have in the fanny pack doesn’t weigh much, but covers most situations:

– First aid kit (including tick remover)
– Notebook
– Pens, pencils, markers
– Stormproof matches
– Plastic bags
– Spare compass
– Mini Mag flashlight
– Extra AA batteries
– Knife
– Multitool (i.e. Leatherman)
– Pencil torch
– Handkerchief
– Mini roll of duct tape (handyman’s secret weapon)
– Short length of rope
– Handwarmers in winter, small bottle of 100% DEET repellent in summer

[furfool]

Don’t always assume that just because you are only hiking in 3/4 of a mile that everything will be ok. About 4 years ago I was pheasant hunting and thought I would take a short cut from one area to another. I had done this many times but it had been a few years since I hunted this area. Well I get into the woods and things were a little wet. I started going from one tussock to the next as there became more and more water. After about 15 minutes I ran out of places to go where I could stay dry. I turned around to head out and had absolutely no idea which way I came from. Everything looked the same. I did not have a compass or my gps because this is not a big area. There are roads on 3 sides and a set of R.R. tracks on the 4th side. Anyway, the spot where I was standing was big enough for me to sit down and have a little room left over. I reached all of the dead branches I could so I could at least start a small fire. It was about a 1/2 hour before dark and I figured that I would spend the night. I pulled out my trusty zippo and it’s out of fluid. By this time I can’t stop shivering because I was sweating so much from walking in there, the sky was clear and I knew it was going to get a lot colder, and I didn’t want to get hypothermic. I decided to go for it and stepped down into the water. Wow was that cold. I took a few more steps and sank about 1/2 way to my knees in all the muck. It took a while, but I finally worked my way out. After that I had to use my shot gun as a walking stick. I would probe the ground ahead of me to find some more solid footing. After what seemed like a mile, but was probably closer to a 100 yards, things were a lot more solid. I saw what looked like a deer trail and followed it out, although I was still in about 4 inches of water. After I got the truck started and I warmed up a bit, I took a short drive to the area that I wanted to go to. As it turns out, there was another area that I had forgotten about in between the two spots.

Was I lost? No. I was tuned around and knew where I was by the sound of traffic on Hwy 41 and the train that went by once. Was I prepared? No. This was not a huge area and I thought I knew it very well. At least a few years earlier I did. After all, I had been there dozens of times and nothing is going to happen. And of course I should have used a bit more common sense. But hey, I knew this area and nothing was going to happen.

[GrouseTales]

Thanks for sharing your story Furfool. You never know when you will spend the night in the woods. A short hike can turn into a life threatening one.

Whenever we are deer hunting, I go prepared to spend the night in the woods. I have a small quart sized ziplock bag that contains most of my “survival items”. The bag is waterproof, and easy to bring along whenever appropriate.

My survival bag contains:

• Mylar space blanket
• spare compass
• water purification tablets (in case I run out of water)
• magnesium fire starter
• waterproof matches
• cheap butane lighter
• fire starter sticks
• trioxane fuel bars (military fire starters)
• cheap folding knife
• about 25′ of orange surveyors marking tape. (works great for marking your trail. Rolls up to the size of a tootsie roll)
• Small LED light
• 25′ of strong cord (rope).

Again, this all fits in a quart ziplock bag and can easily be added to any of my packs.

[Timberline Echoes]

WE carry much of what has already been listed. We also have a “ticked off” for removing stuck in ticks and a roll of clear tape for removing creeping crawling ones.

TE

[Bart Flentje]

@marc_54140 wrote:

The GC forum dealing with this question was …..gun orientated! One cacher admitted to packing two handguns. This is a sick world…………..

Yes, this is a sick world. But not because some geocacher carried a handgun or two.

[EnergySaver]

Spare Batteries (rechargable and standard just in case)
Very Small First Aid Kit
Small Flashlight
Small Glow Stick
Small Pocket Knife
A couple spare pencils and sheet of paper
Waterproof bag (for cell phone, palm when crossing deeper creeks)
Pepper Spray

All of the above are in a medium fanny pack … along with some geo-trinkets.

I also have my cell phone and my favorite pen, which are always on me.
I also bring my Palm (with cachemate) and a camera … which usually are on me, but sometimes end up in the fanny pack.

We have a larger bag that’s always in the car when we’re caching … with “extras”, such as: a couple pairs of socks, a can of peanuts, more batteries, more trinkets, and a 50′ light weight rope.

The rope, comes along with us if we head out into a park/woods that I think might have steep climbs … not that this is an official climbing rope … just sometimes I use it sort of as a “handrail” for the wife and kids to get up behind me, but rarely does that happen.

[Timberline Echoes]

Did anyone list TP?

TE

[EnergySaver]

nope … but yes

[Author]

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