The Tramp Life

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This is my winter day pack and I know it's a little overkill, but I enjoy warm meals on cold days. So in my opinion, the stove and pot are worth the extra weight. One day I’ll get a better set up for boiling water but for now it works. I also carry a decent sized knife and saw because I enjoy Bushcraft whenever I find it possible, a lot like the other things within my pack... you never know when you're going to need it. Speaking of those "just in case" scenarios, I find two cans of pepper spray a necessity when taking on the wilderness and it's unexpected encounters. One is a small Sabre red keychain can and is kept on my hip belt pocket. The other is a large can of Udap Pepper Power Bear Spray (found cheapest on Amazon) kept in the side pocket of my pack. Two cans might be over kill but being in the automotive field for almost 20 years I have found aerosol cans in general to be unreliable, hence the reason for two. Also, it's convenient to have one for easy access on my hip belt pocket and another for back up. I use to carry a gun but found it unreasonably heavy and I don't like the idea of shooting a curious bear or fellow human no matter how much of an asshole they're being. As far as water goes I usually carry a hydration bag as well but the one I’ve had for the last 5 years is in need of a replacement. Something I haven’t gotten around to yet, lots of research to do.

• REI Trail 30 Back Pack

• Camera Sony A6000*

• 16- 50 lens

• 55- 210 lens

• Benchmade 162 Bushcrafter knife

• Silky f180 Saw

• Primus stove and tank  

• Stainless Steel Stanley 40oz cook pot

• REI Microfiber towel

• The North Face rain coat

• Eddie Bower down jacket

• Convoy s2+ flashlight with 2 Samsung 18650 batteries*

• Compass

• Two way radio with weather ban*

• Water bottle

• Map

• Trusty old BIC lighter

• Toilet paper and Wet Wipes

• First Aid kit

• Bear Spray and Pepper Spray

A thought about hardware. Axes are a thing of beauty, they’ll cut down trees, they can be used as a hammer, not to mention they make great weapons for both hand to hand combat and as projectiles. Either as a tool or weapon, an axe is very simple in design- attach a sharp piece of anything to a stick and you’ve got an axe. So, the real question for any outdoorsman is, what axe is the one to buy? For most of us the answer is any one that we do not own already and so we find ourselves possessing a collection. However we can not carry a collection on our back so depending on the attributes that each of them hold, distinguishes which one we chose to pack. Picking the right axe for a trip is like, pairing a fine wine with a meal. But regardless I have a few favorites… Currently my go to is my Fiskers its light and very effective. It stays sharp and is dependable for splitting as well as chopping, hammering tent pegs, and just about anything I ask of it. It's even fun to throw with its bright orange handle that seems to be indestructible. But sometimes I miss the Estwing hatchet I grew up with, I find myself wondering if their full sized axes would be as good and why it is that I don’t have one currently. Of course nothing beats the feeling of a hickory handle smashing a forged finely sharpened chunk of steel into a piece of wood, especially on a foggy cool fall morning. The appeal of being able to make your own handle from your surroundings is especially nice for anyone living off the grid. A thought that is always open to interpretation.

I’ll do some more comprehensive reviews of axes and hatchets. But I’d love to see some from you as well. So my friends click here and share with us some of your experiences and what you think.